[Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

philc · 2026-07-05 15:20

Hi all,

After a Discover update notification and implementation 30 minutes ago, Chromium is not opening and neither is kWalletManager automatically. I can open the latter and sign in but this does not help Chromium.

Each time I try to open Chromium, it registers in Crashed Processes Viewer, but I don't seem to be able to make any improvements via the Interactive Debugger.

I'm running Q4OS Plasma on a Macbook Pro 2013, installed in December 2025 and updated at each suggestion. Running has been flawless up to now. I'm very anxious to fix this as I am tackling Harvard's CS50 course and am in the middle of the week 5 problem set! And I really enjoy all of Q4OS's many aspects.

I'm logging on here in Chrome on a Windows 11 machine.

Your suggestions are welcome.

Many thanks,
philc

Last edited by q4osteam (2026-07-09 10:23)

philc · 2026-07-05 15:40

Crashed process trace:

PID: 2897 (chromium)
UID: 1000 (philc)
GID: 1000 (philc)
Signal: 5 (TRAP)
Timestamp: Sun 2026-07-05 15:02:31 BST (31min ago)
Command Line: $'/usr/lib/chromium/chromium --wm-window-animations-disabled --show-component-extension-options --enable-gpu-rasterization --no-default-browser-check --disable-pings --media-router=0 --enable-remote-extensions --load-extension'
Executable: /usr/lib/chromium/chromium
Control Group: /user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/app.slice/app-chromium@1d111f0c83ab48dc929311540a33dfb0.service
Unit: user@1000.service
User Unit: app-chromium@1d111f0c83ab48dc929311540a33dfb0.service
Slice: user-1000.slice
Owner UID: 1000 (philc)
Boot ID: 9b1bbb8d127c40cbb19da983eb141d6b
Machine ID: e792170635c64b128013bceff3642263
Hostname: philip-macbookpro112
Storage: /var/lib/systemd/coredump/core.chromium.1000.9b1bbb8d127c40cbb19da983eb141d6b.2897.1783260151000000.zst (present)
Size on Disk: 5.1M
Message: Process 2897 (chromium) of user 1000 dumped core.
Module libblkid.so.1 from deb util-linux-2.41-5.amd64
Module libsystemd.so.0 from deb systemd-257.13-1~deb13u1.amd64
Module libmount.so.1 from deb util-linux-2.41-5.amd64
Module libstdc++.so.6 from deb gcc-14-14.2.0-19.amd64
Module libatomic.so.1 from deb gcc-14-14.2.0-19.amd64
Module libgcc_s.so.1 from deb gcc-14-14.2.0-19.amd64
Module libudev.so.1 from deb systemd-257.13-1~deb13u1.amd64
Module libzstd.so.1 from deb libzstd-1.5.7+dfsg-1.amd64
/* Stack traces removed */

Last edited by philc (2026-07-08 14:29)

philc · 2026-07-05 16:46

This is the output on running Chromium in Konsole:

MESA-INTEL: warning: Haswell Vulkan support is incomplete
libva error: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/iHD_drv_video.so init failed
[0705/163537.567476:ERROR:third_party/crashpad/crashpad/snapshot/elf/elf_dynamic_a
rray_reader.h:64] tag not found
Trace/breakpoint trap (core dumped)

q4osteam · 2026-07-05 20:38

We are not able to reproduce the issue, Chromium starts fine here. So it seems to be hardware dependent issue. We attach a few AI tips, some of them may help. Please try and post back results.

You could also try to install Firefox or Google Chrome from the Q4OS software center.

----
AI generated tips:

From the crash report, a few things stand out:

* Chromium **starts but immediately aborts with `SIGTRAP` (Trace/breakpoint trap)**.
* The console shows:

```
MESA-INTEL: warning: Haswell Vulkan support is incomplete
libva error: ... iHD_drv_video.so init failed
...
Trace/breakpoint trap (core dumped)
```
* This happened **immediately after a system update**, and **kWalletManager also stopped auto-starting**, suggesting the update changed a shared library or graphics component rather than Chromium itself.

The Vulkan and VA-API warnings are usually **warnings**, not fatal errors. The `SIGTRAP` strongly suggests Chromium is deliberately aborting because of an internal check failing—often due to a bad graphics stack, incompatible library, or packaging bug.

## First thing to try: disable GPU

From a terminal:

```bash
chromium --disable-gpu
```

If that works, the update likely introduced a Mesa/Vulkan regression.

If it starts, you can then try:

```bash
chromium --disable-vulkan
```

or permanently disable Vulkan in Chromium's flags.

---

## Try a clean profile

Sometimes an update changes the profile format.

```bash
mv ~/.config/chromium ~/.config/chromium.old
chromium
```

If Chromium starts, the browser itself is fine and the profile is the culprit.

---

## Check whether today's update upgraded Mesa

Run

```bash
apt history
```

or

```bash
grep " upgrade " /var/log/apt/history.log
```

and look for packages such as

* mesa
* libdrm
* chromium
* libva
* intel-media-driver

If Chromium and Mesa were upgraded together, that is a strong clue.

---

## Force Chromium to ignore VA-API

The

```
libva error: iHD_drv_video.so init failed
```

may indicate the Intel media driver is now incompatible.

Try

```bash
LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=i965 chromium
```

or

```bash
chromium --disable-accelerated-video-decode
```

Haswell machines sometimes behave better with the older `i965` VA driver than the newer `iHD` driver.

---

## Get a symbolic stack trace

The current backtrace contains only raw addresses, which isn't enough to identify the failure.

Please run:

```bash
coredumpctl info chromium
```

and especially

```bash
coredumpctl gdb chromium
```

Inside GDB, enter:

```
bt
```

That should reveal the function where Chromium is trapping.

---

## Check whether this is a packaging bug

Please also post the output of:

```bash
chromium --version
```

and

```bash
dpkg -l chromium
```

along with

```bash
cat /etc/os-release
```

Since this started immediately after a Discover update on a Haswell-based 2013 MacBook Pro, my suspicion is:

1. a Chromium package regression,
2. a Mesa/Vulkan regression,
3. or an Intel media-driver (`libva`) incompatibility introduced by the update.

Those are considerably more likely than filesystem corruption or a damaged user profile.

If you can provide the outputs of:

```bash
chromium --version
apt history
coredumpctl info chromium
```

I can usually narrow it down to the specific package responsible.

philc · 2026-07-05 23:01

Hi, thank you,

This is some of the core dump information you requested:

--show-component-extension-options\ --enable-gpu-rasterization\ --no-default-brow
ser-check\ --disable-pings\ --media-router=0\ --enable-remote-extensions\ --load-e
xtension --show-component-extension-options\ --enable-gpu-rasterization\ --no-defa
ult-browser-check\ --disable-pings\ --media-router=0\ --enable-remote-extensions\
--load-extension --enable-gpu-rasterization\ --no-default-browser-check\ --disable
-pings\ --media-router=0\ --enable-remote-extensions\ --load-extension --no-defaul
t-browser-check\ --disable-pings\ --media-router=0\ --enable-remote-extensions\ --
load-extension --disable-pings\ --media-router=0\ --enable-remote-extensions\ --lo
ad-extension --media-router=0\ --enable-remote-extensions\ --load-extension --enab
le-remote-extensions\ --load-extension --load-extension'.
Program terminated with signal SIGTRAP, Trace/breakpoint trap.
#0 0x0000559ee034edb7 in ?? ()
[Current thread is 1 (Thread 0x7f3b55f63300 (LWP 8935))]
(gdb)

None of the graphics bypasses worked and I got the same messages in Konsole.

Resetting the profile folder did not work.

Chromium version: Chromium 150.0.7871.46 built on GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)

Information from /var/log/apt/history.log:

Start-Date: 2026-07-05 14:35:04
Commandline: packagekit role='update-packages'
Requested-By: philc (1000)
Upgrade: chromium-sandbox:amd64 (149.0.7827.196-1~deb13u1, 150.0.7871.46-1~deb13u1
), chromium:amd64 (149.0.7827.196-1~deb13u1, 150.0.7871.46-1~deb13u1), chromium-l1
0n:amd64 (149.0.7827.196-1~deb13u1, 150.0.7871.46-1~deb13u1), chromium-common:amd6
4 (149.0.7827.196-1~deb13u1, 150.0.7871.46-1~deb13u1)
End-Date: 2026-07-05 14:35:12

Google AI opinion: Only the Chromium packages updated to version 150.0.7871.46 at 14:35. No Mesa or graphics drivers changed, confirming a direct package regression with Chromium 150 on Haswell hardware.

I hope this is of assistance.
philc

q4osteam · 2026-07-05 23:08

Please try the tips by AI below. The most related by our opinion would be:

$ chromium --disable-extensions
and
"Test with a completely new user"
see below.

----
AI generated:

The important points are:

* **Only Chromium packages were upgraded** (149 → 150).
* No Mesa, libdrm, libva, Intel driver, or kernel packages were updated.
* A **new profile** behaves identically.
* `--disable-gpu`, `--disable-vulkan`, etc. make no difference.
* The crash occurs immediately with **SIGTRAP**, before any useful backtrace is produced.

That combination makes me think this is **very likely a Chromium 150 regression** rather than anything wrong with your Q4OS installation.

### One thing I'd still like to check

The GDB session stopped here:

```
#0 0x0000559ee034edb7 in ?? ()
(gdb)
```

Could you type:

```
bt
```

or preferably

```
thread apply all bt
```

Sometimes GDB can resolve symbols that weren't shown in the initial stop message.

If it still shows only `??`, that's actually further evidence that Chromium intentionally triggered the trap before meaningful symbols could be produced.

## I'd now try two more tests

### 1. Disable extensions completely

Run

```bash
chromium --disable-extensions
```

or

```bash
chromium --disable-extensions --disable-component-extensions-with-background-pages
```

The command line in the core dump shows Chromium loading component extensions. If one of those is triggering the assertion, this may get past it.

---

### 2. Test with a completely new user

Create a temporary user:

```bash
sudo adduser testchrome
```

Log into Plasma as that user and launch Chromium.

If it crashes there too, you've essentially proved it's a system-wide packaging bug.

---

## The package history is the strongest evidence

This:

```
149.0.7827.196
→
150.0.7871.46
```

with absolutely nothing else changing is about as clean an A/B test as you can get.

If version 149 worked five minutes before and 150 crashes immediately afterwards—even with a new profile—that strongly implicates Chromium 150 itself.

## I would also try running without the sandbox

Just as a diagnostic:

```bash
chromium --no-sandbox
```

I **don't recommend using this permanently**, but if it suddenly starts, that points to a sandbox regression.

## If you need Chromium immediately

You have a few options:

* install Firefox temporarily so you can continue your CS50 coursework;
* downgrade to Chromium 149 if the package is still available in your package cache;
* wait for Debian/Q4OS to publish a fixed Chromium 150 build if this proves to be an upstream regression.

One question: **does Firefox (or another Chromium-based browser such as Brave, Edge, or Vivaldi, if installed) still work on this machine?** The answer to that will help determine whether this is specific to the Debian Chromium package or affects all Chromium-based browsers on your system.

maroc · 2026-07-06 09:30

I can confirm that after update Chromium does not start on my system running Q4OS Plasma—or rather, it only starts with an empty profile (chromium --temp-profile).

maroc · 2026-07-06 10:27

The problem has now been classified as a serious bug in Debian:

https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo … ug=1141488

q4osteam · 2026-07-06 10:39

@maroc
+1 Thanks for the info.

@philc
You could also try to run Chromium within x11 session instead of wayland.

q4osteam · 2026-07-06 10:49

Yes, we are able to reproduce the issue now. It's not Q4OS, but Debian upstream one https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo … ug=1141488 . We are waiting for the fix by Debian developers.

philc · 2026-07-06 15:08

I confirm that I'm up and running on Firefox ESR

essao · 2026-07-09 06:59

Is there a way to revert to/reinstall the previous version?

q4osteam · 2026-07-09 10:00

According to https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo … ug=1141488 the bug is now fixed for Debian/Q4OS so you only need to update from repositories:
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt -V full-upgrade
optionally reboot

Buggy version: chromium/150.0.7871.46-1~deb13u1, chromium/150.0.7871.46-1
Fixed version: chromium/150.0.7871.100-1

Q4OS Forum

#1 2026-07-05 15:20

[Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#2 2026-07-05 15:40

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#3 2026-07-05 16:46

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#4 2026-07-05 20:38

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#5 2026-07-05 23:01

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#6 2026-07-05 23:08

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#7 2026-07-06 09:30

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#8 2026-07-06 10:27

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#9 2026-07-06 10:39

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#10 2026-07-06 10:49

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#11 2026-07-06 15:08

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#12 2026-07-09 06:59

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

#13 2026-07-09 10:00

Re: [Fixed] Chromium not opening after update

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