[DEV] An attempt to package chromium for ppc64le in the official Fedora DNF repo

[tle]

UPDATE 31 July 2024: Fedora has adopted the patchset that Debian and other distros are using (https://gitlab.solidsilicon.io/public-development/open-source/chromium/openpower-patches). Great thanks to Than Ngo of RedHat, Timothy Pearson (Debian package maintainer)

EDIT: Than Ngo of Red Hat has cherry-picked all ppc64le patches into the main trunk. Now we officially have chromium for Fedora 40 or newer!

URL https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/chromium/pull-request/37 *STILL WORK IN PROGRESS*

The last time I was successful at getting Chromium up and running in Fedora is 3 years ago. That was version 88. Now Chromium has reached version 117.

This weekend I've spent a bit of time to adapt Timothy Pearson's patchset from Debian deb package for the official chromium Fedora RPM. So far I could get the whole application compiled and running HOWEVER the browser get into SIGSEGV or SIGTRAP with web pages that has JavaScript. So I speculate this might be related to the V8 engine.

The error outputs in the console is not so much helpful:

Code: [Select]

[1961086:1961086:0910/235841.808221:ERROR:CONSOLE(1)] "Uncaught SyntaxError: Invalid regular expression: /([^\s]+?)\(([\s\S]*)\)/: Maximum call stack size exceeded", source: chrome://resources/polymer/v3_0/polymer/polymer_bundled.min.js (1)
[0910/235911.891648:ERROR:check.cc(298)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[0911/000357.201831:ERROR:check.cc(298)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!

I also attempt to gdb and could not find any useful backtrace (NOTE: I manually commented out all `strip` symbols in the build spec file).

The full log out when trying to open a webpage https://gist.github.com/runlevel5/3c85515c521ebcfb6ca65e4697b6b1d1

Any idea how to get more logs out of V8 in Chromium?

[Hasturtium]

I just want to say how much I appreciate this. Though I love using Firefox as my daily driver and ClassicHasClass is making great progress toward fully porting its JIT for everyone, it would be nice to have Chromium to fall back on for the odd page that doesn't test on as many other browsers as it should.

[tle]

These days I am using GNOME Web simply because I loves its simplicity. However the WebkitGTK is pretty poor in performance.

I am too grateful for all the works the OpenPOWER community has done.

@ClassicHasClass is there anything I could assist with the firefox JIT?

[ClassicHasClass]

It's just a matter of sitting down and doing the work. I'm reassembling everything against the current ESR so I have a stable base again.

[MauryG5]

Do you mean that Chromium could officially return to Fedora complete with a Raptor repository as already happens on Debian?  It would be a great thing... I just recently picked up Fedora and updated it to version 37 at the moment because it seems to be the one that goes best with Gnome.  I didn't upgrade to 38 because my TLE friend said that unfortunately Gnome on 38 is slow and ugly again... 37 instead finally works quite well for Fedora.

[tle]

Yes chromium will be back officially in Fedora 41
https://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=2420288

[MauryG5]

Well this is excellent news, up to now in fact on Power, Chromium is only found on Debian and it works really very well.  So it's very good to see it again on Fedora after a long time.

[tle]

Rejoice! Chromium is also now available for Fedora 40! It takes years to get to this stage. Now we could all relax

[rheaplex]

🥳

[MauryG5]

 Perfect, then all that remains is to wait for the update to Fedora 40. But what procedure should be used to install it?  Do we need new repositories to install?

[tle]

Simply dnf install chromium

No extra repos are required to be added

[MauryG5]

Perfect then I'll wait for Fedora 40 to arrive, I hope they don't ruin it with the new release obviously and then after the update I'll try to install Chromium.  Thanks for everything TLE.

[rheaplex]

chromium-browser from 40 prerelease is crashing for me (on Gnome under X and Wayland, and under Hyprland).

With my standard set of plug-ins and pages open:

Code: [Select]

> chromium-browser
[0412/102708.587427:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[364318:364318:0412/102708.559539:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[364318:364318:0412/102709.204710:ERROR:policy_logger.cc(157)] :components/enterprise/browser/controller/chrome_browser_cloud_management_controller.cc(161) Cloud management controller initialization aborted as CBCM is not enabled. Please use the `--enable-chrome-browser-cloud-management` command line flag to enable it if you are not using the official Google Chrome build.
[364318:364318:0412/102713.344891:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[364392:364392:0412/102720.809604:ERROR:gl_surface_presentation_helper.cc(260)] GetVSyncParametersIfAvailable() failed for 1 times!
[364392:364392:0412/102722.572608:ERROR:gl_surface_presentation_helper.cc(260)] GetVSyncParametersIfAvailable() failed for 2 times!
[364392:364392:0412/102724.714188:ERROR:gl_surface_presentation_helper.cc(260)] GetVSyncParametersIfAvailable() failed for 3 times!
[0412/103107.321681:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103107.334242:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103107.338864:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103107.340250:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103107.435499:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[1]    364318 trace trap (core dumped)  chromium-browser
The GetVSyncParametersIfAvailable() error occurs when the window changes focus, I think.

In guest mode, just idling:

Code: [Select]

> chromium-browser --guest
[0412/103708.627004:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[369882:369882:0412/103708.582956:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[369882:369882:0412/103708.831739:ERROR:policy_logger.cc(157)] :components/enterprise/browser/controller/chrome_browser_cloud_management_controller.cc(161) Cloud management controller initialization aborted as CBCM is not enabled. Please use the `--enable-chrome-browser-cloud-management` command line flag to enable it if you are not using the official Google Chrome build.
[369882:369882:0412/103711.858597:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[369929:369929:0412/103713.406984:ERROR:gl_surface_presentation_helper.cc(260)] GetVSyncParametersIfAvailable() failed for 1 times!
[0412/103939.744484:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103939.747291:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103939.751427:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103939.752799:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103939.853552:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[1]    369882 trace trap (core dumped)  chromium-browser --guest
Initial research indicated this might be a Wayland issue, but it also occurs under X.

Possibly I don't have a dependency installed or at the correct version. chromium-browser was installed with dnf, though.

If the correct procedure is "wait for the actual 40 release" I'm happy to do that. 

[MauryG5]

Well I think it's still early in fact, then as we know Fedora being a constant test bed has several defects which the developers then correct by running it on the various platforms of us end users and therefore I think that the beta releases are even worse in terms of bugs. Let's wait for the final version of Fedora to arrive and then see how Chromium runs. We have to start again after years of missing this browser. However, for some time now I have seen that the original Google search engine can be used again and now Chromium is also coming out and no longer ungoogled Chromium like a short time ago. Maybe Google has allowed us to use Power again, who knows... Or maybe Raptor still manages to run the regular version, bypassing the block they put in place at the time, I don't know...

[tle]

chromium-browser from 40 prerelease is crashing for me (on Gnome under X and Wayland, and under Hyprland).

With my standard set of plug-ins and pages open:

Code: [Select]

> chromium-browser
[0412/102708.587427:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[364318:364318:0412/102708.559539:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[364318:364318:0412/102709.204710:ERROR:policy_logger.cc(157)] :components/enterprise/browser/controller/chrome_browser_cloud_management_controller.cc(161) Cloud management controller initialization aborted as CBCM is not enabled. Please use the `--enable-chrome-browser-cloud-management` command line flag to enable it if you are not using the official Google Chrome build.
[364318:364318:0412/102713.344891:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[364392:364392:0412/102720.809604:ERROR:gl_surface_presentation_helper.cc(260)] GetVSyncParametersIfAvailable() failed for 1 times!
[364392:364392:0412/102722.572608:ERROR:gl_surface_presentation_helper.cc(260)] GetVSyncParametersIfAvailable() failed for 2 times!
[364392:364392:0412/102724.714188:ERROR:gl_surface_presentation_helper.cc(260)] GetVSyncParametersIfAvailable() failed for 3 times!
[0412/103107.321681:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103107.334242:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103107.338864:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103107.340250:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103107.435499:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[1]    364318 trace trap (core dumped)  chromium-browser
The GetVSyncParametersIfAvailable() error occurs when the window changes focus, I think.

In guest mode, just idling:

Code: [Select]

> chromium-browser --guest
[0412/103708.627004:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[369882:369882:0412/103708.582956:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[369882:369882:0412/103708.831739:ERROR:policy_logger.cc(157)] :components/enterprise/browser/controller/chrome_browser_cloud_management_controller.cc(161) Cloud management controller initialization aborted as CBCM is not enabled. Please use the `--enable-chrome-browser-cloud-management` command line flag to enable it if you are not using the official Google Chrome build.
[369882:369882:0412/103711.858597:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[369929:369929:0412/103713.406984:ERROR:gl_surface_presentation_helper.cc(260)] GetVSyncParametersIfAvailable() failed for 1 times!
[0412/103939.744484:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103939.747291:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103939.751427:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103939.752799:ERROR:elf_dynamic_array_reader.h(64)] tag not found
[0412/103939.853552:ERROR:check.cc(365)] Check failed: false. NOTREACHED log messages are omitted in official builds. Sorry!
[1]    369882 trace trap (core dumped)  chromium-browser --guest
Initial research indicated this might be a Wayland issue, but it also occurs under X.

Possibly I don't have a dependency installed or at the correct version. chromium-browser was installed with dnf, though.

If the correct procedure is "wait for the actual 40 release" I'm happy to do that. 

I would totally expect rough edges because it's been like few years gap since that last effort from the community to support latest version on Fedora/RHEL.

I highly recommend you file report any bug to Fedora, I know Than Ngo is actively working on polishing things up for the Fedora 40 release tomorrow.