A ChromeOS issue
Posted on 2015-06-21 20:05 +0100 in Tech • 2 min read
Since the last update I've being having a rather odd issue on my old Chromebook. This is my Samsung Series 5, the "original" commercial Chromebook to be released (in the UK anyway). I first noticed it in TweetDeck but have since noticed that it's affecting any browser tab. Simply put, sections of the display either "lag" in their content or they simply show up empty.
First I tried to get a screenshot of what was going on but it didn't work. I did get to show that there was a problem, but what was grabbed by the screenshot wasn't what I saw seeing on the screen. Here's the screenshot:
The only way I can show how it looked to me on the screen is with a (rather horrible I'm afraid) photo:
It's unclear to me if this is something wrong with the Chromebook itself, or in this release of the OS. It is running the beta channel -- currently on 44.0.2403.54 -- so, of course, this sort of thing is to be expected.
If it is the case that that Chromebook is on its way out -- either in terms of that actual machine dying or support for it at the OS level going away -- it won't be a terrible loss. It's been a great machine and has served me well and wasn't terribly expensive to begin with (the lack of expense is one of the things I really like about Chromebooks, which is why the Pixel continues to perplex me), replacing it with one of the newer crop of Chromebooks won't break the bank.
But I'd be a little sad to see it go, I've done some pretty significant things on it and it is, in some ways, a little bit of computer history.
Edit to add: I've now moved it back over to the stable channel, with a powerwash on the way (of course) and this seems to have done the trick. I'm no longer seeing any problems. The switch to stable even had the problem showing. Here's a video of stable downloading:
That's pretty much the sort of thing I was seeing all over the place, and it appeared to be getting worse as time went on.
Hopefully this was a one-off and the problem isn't simply up in the beta cannel and waiting to head down to stable.