1768674 - Disable GPU process in GeckoView 101

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(GeckoView :: Sandboxing, task, P3)

Description

[Jamie Nicol [:jnicol]]

Due to bug 1767128 it makes sense to disable the GPU process for affected users, to give the fix adequete time to be tested.

Comment 1

[Jamie Nicol [:jnicol]]

Attachment: Bug 1768674 - Disable GPU process on Android on Beta. r?agi

Due to bug 1767128.

Comment 2

[Jamie Nicol [:jnicol]]

Comment on attachment 9275901 [details]
Bug 1768674 - Disable GPU process on Android on Beta. r?agi

Beta/Release Uplift Approval Request

• User impact if declined: The screen may become completely black after a while of usage, for example for users with some Japanese or other non-latin keyboards which frequently resize whilst typing
• Is this code covered by automated tests?: Yes
• Has the fix been verified in Nightly?: No
• Needs manual test from QE?: No
• If yes, steps to reproduce:
• List of other uplifts needed: None
• Risk to taking this patch: Low
• Why is the change risky/not risky? (and alternatives if risky): Disables GPU process for affected devices. Moves them to standard in-process code path which is not affected by this bug
• String changes made/needed:
• Is Android affected?: Yes

Comment 3

[[ex-Mozilla] Agi Sferro | :agi]

I think we should disable the GPU process on all versions. Disabling it on Android 12 only is making the feature invisible to the vast majority of users that report bugs. In general we should never disable features on the latest version only.

Comment 4

[Jamie Nicol [:jnicol]]

OK, happy to change the patch to do that. Understand your concerns.

But for what it's worth, the GPU process doesn't concern me on other Android versions, it's just the Android 12 implementation of SurfaceControl/BufferQueue that is worrying. Since this feature was set to ride the trains we've had one severe bug that affected all android versions, reported by an 11 user, and the rest were due to this android 12 thing.

Disabling it on Android 12 only is making the feature invisible to the vast majority of users that report bugs.

I'd be interested if we have any data about this (presumably not directly, but any useful proxies), as it doesn't match my experience in the past. Using release channel as a proxy for "likeliness to report bugs" I see no difference in proportion of Android 12 users across the channels.

Graphics code is a great big pile of device and OS-specific workarounds. Segmenting our population in to separate targets is standard practice for shipping features.

Comment 5

[BugBot [:suhaib / :marco/ :calixte]]

:jnicol, since this bug is a regression, could you fill (if possible) the regressed_by field?
For more information, please visit auto_nag documentation.

Comment 6

[Ryan VanderMeulen [:RyanVM]]

Comment on attachment 9275901 [details]
Bug 1768674 - Disable GPU process on Android on Beta. r?agi

Approved for Fenix/Focus 101.0.0-beta.4.

Comment 7

[Ryan VanderMeulen [:RyanVM]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-beta/rev/644ed8c1b0ee

Comment 8

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

Moving GPU process bugs to the new GeckoView::Sandboxing component.