Google Maps gone black

Question

Bog standard Kubuntu machine, AMD 5950X + RTX 3080 ti, uses Ubuntu Pro for updates and has been working fine for the year I've owned it.

This morning I did updates using Ubuntu Pro. The Google Chrome tab for Google Maps (one of 7 standard tabs when I open Chrome) is all black where you expect to see the map. The page appears to be working - buttons for Hotels, Things to do, etc. are all visible. I can choose different layers, etc. I sometimes see a bit of a map which is then immediately covered by a black layer.

All other web pages I've tried appear to be working normally.

Using my phone and the chrome browser (not the google maps app) the same web page renders normally so it's not specifically a problem with that page.

I see nothing out of line in /var/log/syslog. The machine is idle and doesn't appear to be waiting for anything. I've done a power down/ reboot. No changes. Where might I look next?

My machine specifics:

mark@science2:~$ uname -a
Linux science2 5.15.0-76-generic #83-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jun 15 19:16:32 UTC 2023 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
mark@science2:~$ lsb_release 
No LSB modules are available.
mark@science2:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS
Release:        22.04
Codename:       jammy
mark@science2:~$

Just started to run into this myself on Ubuntu 23.04, rtx 2060 using nvidia 525 (535 gives me a black screen), 6.2.0-25-gen, I'd ideally want to keep my hardware acceleration on to use google maps as otherwise it's a bit slow and frustrating using it, so I'd love to see any other fixes that preserve hardware acceleration. — Nobilis, Jul 14 '23 at 11:02
My hardware acceleration setting has been off since Terrance recommended that I try it. I turned it back on a couple of times over the last week and it was still bad. However this morning it seems to be working fine. I'm using Chrome 114.0.5735.198 and the machine is up to date as per Ubuntu Pro. I've been considering going to 23.04. Please post back if you see an improvement. I'm currently using 525.125.06-0ubuntu0.22.04.1 — LGTrader, Jul 15 '23 at 17:21

score 5 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 07 '23 at 03:27

5

I had the same problem and disabling Hardware Acceleration does work.

However I found a better solution by clearing GPU cache. In .config/google-chrome, do find . -name 'GPU*', then delete all files in those directories.

After this mine works with acceleration.

edited Aug 07 '23 at 03:27

andrew.46

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answered Jul 25 '23 at 00:29

byzanzm

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I tried it and it seems to work for me. Thanks! – LGTrader Jul 26 '23 at 13:24
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This should really be included in the accepted answer as a first troubleshooting step. It has zero downsides, and fixed the problem for at least three people (author, other comment and myself). Disabling hardware acceleration should not be the first step. – Caleb Stewart Aug 06 '23 at 20:36
This also worked for me. – Miles Sabin Aug 15 '23 at 18:25

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 03 '23 at 17:18

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Try either enabling or disabling "Use hardware acceleration when available" in Google Chrome settings.

Hope this helps!

answered Jul 03 '23 at 17:18

Terrance

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Google Maps gone black

2 Answers2