---
description: >-
  Chrome 148 on NVIDIA Wayland (Hyprland) — full GPU/video acceleration config.
  Replaced the 2026-03-11 WebGPU flags with state-of-the-art NVIDIA VA-API setup.
tags: [chrome, nvidia, wayland, vaapi, gpu, acceleration]
last_updated: '2026-05-21'
---

# Chrome 148 — NVIDIA Wayland Hardware Acceleration

Date: 2026-05-21 (updated from 2026-03-11)

## Context

Chrome on NVIDIA + Wayland has three known issues:
1. **GBM "Permission denied"**: Chrome's seccomp sandbox blocks NVIDIA's `nvidia-drm_gbm.so` on Wayland.
2. **Vulkan/Wayland incompatibility**: `--ozone-platform=wayland` is not compatible with Vulkan rendering (Chromium issue 334275637).
3. **NVIDIA VA-API allowlist**: Hardware video decode is blocked on NVIDIA without explicit flags.

The old WebGPU config (`--enable-unsafe-webgpu`, `--enable-vulkan`) is obsolete —
WebGPU works natively in Chrome 148 via ANGLE+OpenGL on Wayland without Vulkan flags.

## Required Packages

| Package | Reason |
|---------|--------|
| `libva-utils` | Verification: `vainfo` |
| `libva-nvidia-driver` | VA-API NVDEC bridge (already installed, was `nvidia-vaapi-driver`) |

Note: `libva-utils` was installed 2026-05-21. `libva-nvidia-driver` (0.0.17-1) was already present.

## Configuration: `~/.config/chrome-flags.conf`

```
--ozone-platform=wayland
--disable-seccomp-filter-sandbox
--disable-features=Vulkan,VulkanFromANGLE,DefaultANGLEVulkan
--use-angle=gl
--enable-features=VaapiOnNvidiaGPUs,VaapiIgnoreDriverChecks,AcceleratedVideoDecodeLinuxZeroCopyGL,AcceleratedVideoDecodeLinuxGL
--password-store=gnome-libsecret
```

### Flag Rationale

| Flag | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `--ozone-platform=wayland` | Force Wayland; auto-detect unreliable on Hyprland |
| `--disable-seccomp-filter-sandbox` | Fixes GBM `Permission denied` (Chrome sandbox blocks NVIDIA GBM on Wayland) |
| `--disable-features=Vulkan,VulkanFromANGLE,DefaultANGLEVulkan` | Vulkan incompatible with Ozone Wayland; all three must be disabled |
| `--use-angle=gl` | Force ANGLE→OpenGL backend; prevents auto-selection of Vulkan |
| `--enable-features=VaapiOnNvidiaGPUs,...` | Bypass NVIDIA video decode allowlist; modern flags (replaced deprecated `VaapiVideoDecoder`) |
| `--password-store=gnome-libsecret` | gnome-keyring integration (not auto-detected outside GNOME DE) |

## Verification

```bash
vainfo                              # Shows VA-API NVDEC decoder capabilities
LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=nvidia vainfo     # Explicit NVIDIA VA-API check
```

Expected `chrome://gpu` results:
- Canvas: **Hardware accelerated**
- Compositing: **Hardware accelerated**
- Video Decode: **Hardware accelerated** (H.264, VP9, HEVC)
- WebGL: **Hardware accelerated**
- WebGPU: **Hardware accelerated**
- GPU: GTX 1050 Ti / NVIDIA 580.159.03
- GL implementation: `gl=egl-angle,angle=opengl`
- GPU process crash count: **0**
- Ozone platform: **wayland**

## Known Warnings

Three log lines persist despite correct config — these are upstream Chromium warnings:

```
ERROR:ui/ozone/platform/wayland/gpu/wayland_surface_factory.cc:252: '--ozone-platform=wayland' is not compatible with Vulkan
WARNING:sandbox/policy/linux/sandbox_linux.cc:404: InitializeSandbox() called with multiple threads in process gpu-process
ERROR:ui/gl/egl_util.cc:92: EGL Driver message (Error) eglCreateContext: Requested version is not supported
```

These are cosmetic. Chrome falls back to ANGLE+OpenGL before they print.
No fix exists upstream yet (Chromium issue 334275637).

## Key Learnings

1. **Deprecated flags**: `VaapiVideoDecoder`, `VaapiVideoDecodeLinuxGL` replaced by `AcceleratedVideoDecodeLinuxZeroCopyGL`, `AcceleratedVideoDecodeLinuxGL` since Chrome ≥131.
2. **Vulkan is opt-in, not opt-out**: `--disable-features=Vulkan` alone is insufficient; `VulkanFromANGLE` and `DefaultANGLEVulkan` are auto-enabled and must be listed.
3. **GBM "Permission denied" is not file perms**: It's seccomp sandbox + NVIDIA GBM. `--disable-seccomp-filter-sandbox` is the confirmed workaround.
4. **Password store**: Hyprland ≠ GNOME, so `--password-store=gnome-libsecret` explicit flag needed.
5. **`--ignore-gpu-blocklist` no longer needed**: Chrome 148 recognizes the GTX 1050 Ti + current driver without it.

## Ansible Integration

The `dev-tools` role manages this file. Update both:
- `ansible/roles/dev-tools/tasks/main.yml` (the copy task content)
- This learning doc (the rationale)