Thorium

[UCyborg]

That was with defaults such as stock progwrp.dll as it comes with Supermium and no special flags, especially not the ones dealing with hardware acceleration.

[Dixel]

13 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

Eureka!  THAT explains it all.  The *two* (and only two) members that shout from rooftops to delete vulkan files also do not enable WebGL.

I didn't used to enable WebGL, not even for my uploaded releases here at MSFN.

But I do enable WebGL nowadays.  Partly because each and every "bug report" for my uploaded releases were dang near ALWAYS tied to the end-user needing WebGL.  Partly because the "security risk" associated with WebGL is "much ado about nothing".

 

It can only be used as the WebGL fallback, if you borked something in your release, we aren't at fault Web-Gl didn't work for you. Here, you can familiarise yourself with the official Google docs.

 

https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git/+/refs/heads/main/docs/gpu/swiftshader.md

 

 

[Dixel]

14 hours ago, UCyborg said:

vulkan-1.dll is still used to load software-backed Vulkan implementation for running WebGL content.

https://github.com/google/swiftshader

"SwiftShader is a high-performance CPU-based implementation of the Vulkan graphics API. Its goal is to provide hardware independence for advanced 3D graphics."

I don't see it's demanded for running Web-GL at all.

[Dixel]

And most importantly, in Thorium and Supermium, they all are disabled by default, you'd need to force 'em via those flags to even get the idea of how they may work/don't work. I'm pretty sure it was disabled in 360EE, too.

Relevant Chromium command line switches

When running the chrome executable from the command line, SwiftShader can be enabled using the following Switches:

1. As the OpenGL ES driver, SwANGLE (ANGLE + SwiftShader Vulkan)

--use-gl=angle --use-angle=swiftshader

2. As the WebGL fallback, SwANGLE (ANGLE + SwiftShader Vulkan)

--use-gl=angle --use-angle=swiftshader-webgl

3. As the Vulkan driver (requires the enable_swiftshader_vulkan feature)

--use-vulkan=swiftshader

https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git/+/refs/heads/main/docs/gpu/swiftshader.md

Edited August 14, 2024 by Dixel
link

[NotHereToPlayGames]

10 minutes ago, Dixel said:

It can only be used as the WebGL fallback, if you borked something in your release, we aren't at fault Web-Gl didn't work for you.

WebGL *DOES* work in my releases.  I was originally DISABLING it via --disable-webgl

I later STOPPED disabling WebGL because the only comments in my threads were "This web site doesn't work".  And the solution was ALWAYS to enable WebGL.

Which *DOES* and always *HAS* worked in my releases - when not disabled via --disable-webgl

[NotHereToPlayGames]

12 minutes ago, Dixel said:

I don't see it's demanded for running Web-GL at all.

I'm kind of taking UCyborg's word on this.  I personally have no insight here.

At any rate, I'm kind of moving on now.  Good discussion though.

[Dixel]

11 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

WebGL *DOES* work in my releases.  I was originally DISABLING it via --disable-webgl

I later STOPPED disabling WebGL because the only comments in my threads were "This web site doesn't work".  And the solution was ALWAYS to enable WebGL.

Which *DOES* and always *HAS* worked in my releases - when not disabled via --disable-webgl

Then it's like we both told from the very beginning, those files aren't needed for Web-GL, and @UCyborg may be  confusing stuff.

[AstroSkipper]

Regarding my issue with sudden Thorium crashes, I performed the following measures so far:

• Checking the file system for errors.
• Checking the integrity of the partition structure.
• Purging the partition in terms of trash/temp files.
• Complete defragmentation of the partition.
• Offline defragmentation of pagefile and registry files.
• Clearing and reorganising of the prefetch files.
• Checking the registry for errors and fixing them.
• Checking for missing updates performed by Legacy Update.
• Adding a couple of Windows updates which weren't offered by WU/MU.
• Installation of the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 - 2019 Redistributable Package as it is also installed in the POSReady partition.
• Verifying the integrity of the DirectX 9.0c installation.
• Verifying the integrity of all .NET Framework installations.
• Uninstalling or disabling programmes which are permanently loaded and don't exist in my POSReady installation.
• Checking all autostart programmes and services.
• Fixing of all errors from the event log.
• Configuration of all services corresponding to my POSReady installation.
• Updating of programmes, which are permanently loaded, to the same version as in the POSReady installation.
• Update of the root certificates.
• Fixing a network error and adjusting all network settings.
• Graphics card driver completely uninstalled, all leftovers cleaned and more recent driver version installed.

Now, my Windows XP Pro SP3 installation without POSReady updates is completely error-free  except the issue with sudden Thorium crashes . The good is this Windows XP installation is now even fresher and faster than ever.  My next measure is the check of all other drivers in that partition which might be problematic. 

Edited August 15, 2024 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[NotHereToPlayGames]

As far as my Thorium and Supermium and 360Chrome and Ungoogled first-launch crashes on XP x64 and only on nVidia GPU computers.

I "thought" these crashes were 100% of first-launches.  Turns out, it is closer to 65-70% of first-launches.

I did try to video-capture a first-launch crash last night, but the failure rate had me not spending the time to start video-capture each and every first-launch.

For one, my only remaining XP machines are ABSOLUTE JUNK, SLLOOWWW POS, et cetera!

For two, I was in a bit of a "wtf" mood when trying to capture and a first-launch NOT crashing - because I thought they were 100%, they are not.

This does remain true - I never get that first-launch crash if I keep the "vulkan" files.  Though this recent round of investigation reveals I only need to keep ONE of the two "vulkan" files.

At any rate, I'm hereby ending this investigation for the time being.  I no longer use 360Chrome and Thorium/Superium is only on my radar for future-use if-and-only-if one-or-both becomes "ungoogled".

[UCyborg]

12 hours ago, Dixel said:

Then it's like we both told from the very beginning, those files aren't needed for Web-GL, and @UCyborg may be  confusing stuff.

I haven't confused anything. I even showed a screencap of Supermium on XP showing the used WebGL renderer. But I won't go out of my way to screenshot every small detail as those who genuinely care and don't spend enormous amount of time here arguing to prove something can simply test and see for themselves.

12 hours ago, Dixel said:

It can only be used as the WebGL fallback

Well, duh, because nothing else works on XP.

12 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

At any rate, I'm kind of moving on now.  Good discussion though.

Me too, life's too short to waste on cyclical arguments. This topic of inability to use GPU for graphics as intended on XP has been done to death. And the solution to have these functioning as intended is very simple, use supported hardware running a supported OS. Everything else is just pointless politics and reinventing the wheel that takes a lot of time that would be better off spend on other endeavors IMO.

Edited August 15, 2024 by UCyborg
Typo

[AstroSkipper]

My investigation of all other drivers, which might be problematic in that partition, has been finally finished. After all these already performed measures and all this hypothesis stuff , here's now a little and in my opinion quite interesting proof (what else could you expect from me ):

Prerequisites:

A native Windows XP Professional SP3 32-bit without any POSReady updates, Thorium SSE2 122.0.6261.171 WINXP x32, Total Commander and Process Hacker.

Assertion:

Driver remnants from previously uninstalled programmes can cause spontaneous, irregular crashes of the Thorium browser under Windows XP Professional 32-bit.

Proof:

The current status at the beginning of this proof: Thorium is still crashing spontaneously, sooner or later, without any recognisable pattern.
After a thorough investigation of all installed drivers in this Windows XP partition listed in the prerequisites, I found three drivers in the c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\ folder in the form of SYS files, which are loaded correctly after system startup, though. These files are avgntflt.sys, avipbb.sys and avkmgr.sys whose manufacturer is Avira. They are automatically loaded at system startup and logged in the Event Viewer as properly loaded drivers. That's why I didn't notice them earlier as I only looked there for errors.  However, there are no programmes of this manufacturer installed any longer in this partition. This was indeed the crucial hint. After checking and unpacking all installation files that could have installed these drivers in the past, I was able to identify the culprit. It was the crappy Wise Anti Malware 2.2.1, which was installed for a short time for testing purposes only.  With the help of Process Hacker and Total Commander, I was able to stop the associated processes and completely remove all three driver files, but only after restarting the system.  Immediately afterwards, I opened the Thorium browser, configured it completely and restarted the browser several times. No first launch crashes anymore! Various pages were called up. The browser did not crash even once, no matter what actions were performed. Now, Thorium is working absolute stably in this partition as it is in my POSReady partition. So, these three drivers or at least, one of them (probably the avgntflt.sys driver as it is a filter driver and was more difficult to remove), were definitely the cause of the permanent Thorium crashes.

q.e.d.

PS: So, forget about my formerly created hypotheses H0! They all have to be rejected with an empirically determined probability of type I error of nearly 0.  There is no indication that Thorium requires POSReady updates under Windows XP 32-bit, at least at the moment.

Edited August 15, 2024 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[NotHereToPlayGames]

AWESOME !!!

One more reason why I do not, never have, and never will install any "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" programs!

I've always also preferred REFORMAT and REINSTALL versus relying on "uninstall and hunt for left-behinds".

Glad you got to the bottom of it!

[Dixel]

14 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

So, these three drivers or at least, one of them (probably the avgntflt.sys

So much for Revo Uninstaller or similar popular "uninstallers". Nevertheless, congratulations!

I frequently check the driver folder and sort out non-Vista junk by the date.

[Dixel]

21 hours ago, UCyborg said:

Well, duh, because nothing else works on XP.

Perhaps you missed, @NotHereToPlayGames told - WebGL works regardless of that file, he simply blocked it via the flag, at first. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

AWESOME !!!

One more reason why I do not, never have, and never will install any "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" programs!

I've always also preferred REFORMAT and REINSTALL versus relying on "uninstall and hunt for left-behinds".

Glad you got to the bottom of it!

Yes, even my security configuration when I was using Windows XP, even after the end of extended support, was never equipped with real-time AV.
The vast majority of today's malwares are x64.
Probably irrelevant in an OS like Windows XP (x32).