Why has chrome so many processes with 1 tab?
I have already read this answer but in my case I am puzzled that just launching chrome, with only one tab open (google), would give me the following output with ps -aux | grep chrome:
38.2 1.3 906908 213872 tty1 SLl+ 10:58 0:02 /opt/google/chrome/chrome
0.4 0.3 431084 52732 tty1 S+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote --no-zygote-sandbox
0.4 0.3 431084 52360 tty1 S+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
0.0 0.0 27332 4204 tty1 S+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/nacl_helper
0.1 0.0 431084 15216 tty1 S+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
10.8 0.9 709252 149584 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=gpu-process --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --gpu-preferences=QAAAAAAAAAAgAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgAAAAAAAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgAAAAAAAAA --shared-files
10.2 0.5 529892 84036 tty1 SLl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=utility --utility-sub-type=network.mojom.NetworkService --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --service-sandbox-type=network --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
0.5 0.2 475520 36340 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=utility --utility-sub-type=storage.mojom.StorageService --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --service-sandbox-type=utility --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
0.0 0.1 517864 31208 tty1 S+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=broker
4.5 0.6 4768136 101568 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --origin-trial-disabled-features=SecurePaymentConfirmation --num-raster-threads=4 --enable-main-frame-before-activation --renderer-client-id=10 --no-v8-untrusted-code-mitigations --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
8.7 0.6 4769868 110192 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --origin-trial-disabled-features=SecurePaymentConfirmation --num-raster-threads=4 --enable-main-frame-before-activation --renderer-client-id=9 --no-v8-untrusted-code-mitigations --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
1.2 0.5 4754992 89304 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --extension-process --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --origin-trial-disabled-features=SecurePaymentConfirmation --num-raster-threads=4 --enable-main-frame-before-activation --renderer-client-id=5 --no-v8-untrusted-code-mitigations --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
1.1 0.5 4745764 81900 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --extension-process --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --origin-trial-disabled-features=SecurePaymentConfirmation --num-raster-threads=4 --enable-main-frame-before-activation --renderer-client-id=6 --no-v8-untrusted-code-mitigations --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
1.1 0.4 4747812 79564 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --extension-process --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --origin-trial-disabled-features=SecurePaymentConfirmation --num-raster-threads=4 --enable-main-frame-before-activation --renderer-client-id=7 --no-v8-untrusted-code-mitigations --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
3.1 0.5 4762152 90288 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --extension-process --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --origin-trial-disabled-features=SecurePaymentConfirmation --num-raster-threads=4 --enable-main-frame-before-activation --renderer-client-id=8 --no-v8-untrusted-code-mitigations --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
2.1 0.5 4760104 83992 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --extension-process --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --origin-trial-disabled-features=SecurePaymentConfirmation --num-raster-threads=4 --enable-main-frame-before-activation --renderer-client-id=11 --no-v8-untrusted-code-mitigations --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
4.5 0.6 4765288 103976 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --origin-trial-disabled-features=SecurePaymentConfirmation --num-raster-threads=4 --enable-main-frame-before-activation --renderer-client-id=12 --no-v8-untrusted-code-mitigations --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
0.0 0.1 469756 29404 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=utility --utility-sub-type=data_decoder.mojom.DataDecoderService --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --service-sandbox-type=utility --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
0.5 0.3 4736288 51700 tty1 Sl+ 10:58 0:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --field-trial-handle=1441856381286841073,7865066266003832000,131072 --lang=en-US --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --origin-trial-disabled-features=SecurePaymentConfirmation --num-raster-threads=4 --enable-main-frame-before-activation --renderer-client-id=17 --no-v8-untrusted-code-mitigations --shared-files=v8_context_snapshot_data:100
0.0 0.0 14432 1116 pts/0 R+ 10:58 0:00 grep --color=auto chrome
Especially --gpu-preferences=QAAAAAAAAAAgAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgAAAAAAAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgAAAAAAAAA --shared-files ??
edit: found answer here
output of nvidia-smi:
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 450.102.04 Driver Version: 450.102.04 CUDA Version: 11.0 |
|-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| GPU Name Persistence-M| Bus-Id Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan Temp Perf Pwr:Usage/Cap| Memory-Usage | GPU-Util Compute M. |
| | | MIG M. |
|===============================+======================+======================|
| 0 GeForce MX150 Off | 00000000:01:00.0 Off | N/A |
| N/A 43C P0 N/A / N/A | 521MiB / 2002MiB | 3% Default |
| | | N/A |
+-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes: |
| GPU GI CI PID Type Process name GPU Memory |
| ID ID Usage |
|=============================================================================|
| 0 N/A N/A 1492 G /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg 204MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 1876 G /usr/bin/gnome-shell 153MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 15171 G ...gAAAAAAAAA --shared-files 135MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 21514 G ...AAAAAAAAA= --shared-files 25MiB |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I use Ubuntu 18.04
Is it normal that so many processes are running?
Solution 1:
This really isn't an answer of why Chrome launches so many processes but more of an answer to show that Chrome in general uses more resources than other browsers. I am comparing Firefox with it as an example.
Web browsers use both CPU and RAM when they launch. Unfortunately, you are not only launching the web browser, but also launch the plug-ins, etc. Also, a lot of it is up to the programmers of the web browsers in how they actually run in the system and what they feel needs to be running at the same time.
The following examples of using inxi (one of my favorite tools to see usage on a system) to see both CPU and RAM usage of Chrome and Firefox compared to each other.
From the examples of the top 1000 CPU and RAM listings from inxi and both browsers having 1 tab open. From these examples we can see that Firefox uses a bit more of the overall CPU usage than Chrome does. But, we can also see that Chrome uses more of the overall used RAM. A lot of this really boils down to preference of what browser you want to use.
CPU usage:
terrance@terrance-ubuntu:~$ inxi -t c1000 | grep -E "firefox|chrome"
1: cpu: 17.3% command: firefox pid: 3910531
3: cpu: 9.5% command: firefox pid: 3910586
4: cpu: 6.2% command: firefox pid: 3910656
6: cpu: 4.7% command: chrome pid: 3900194
8: cpu: 2.0% command: firefox pid: 3910707
9: cpu: 1.3% command: chrome pid: 3900266
11: cpu: 1.0% command: chrome pid: 3900302
13: cpu: 0.9% command: chrome pid: 3900235
14: cpu: 0.8% command: chrome pid: 3900233
15: cpu: 0.8% command: firefox pid: 3910735
17: cpu: 0.5% command: chrome-gnome-shell started by: python3 pid: 3910759
20: cpu: 0.2% command: chrome pid: 3900333
21: cpu: 0.2% command: chrome pid: 3900339
24: cpu: 0.1% command: chrome pid: 3900369
25: cpu: 0.1% command: chrome-gnome-shell started by: python3 pid: 3900463
26: cpu: 0.1% command: chrome-gnome-shell started by: python3 pid: 3900470
326: cpu: 0.0% command: chrome pid: 3900204
327: cpu: 0.0% command: chrome pid: 3900205
329: cpu: 0.0% command: chrome pid: 3900209
330: cpu: 0.0% command: chrome pid: 3900240
331: cpu: 0.0% command: chrome pid: 3900257
332: cpu: 0.0% command: chrome pid: 3900316
333: cpu: 0.0% command: chrome pid: 3900321
334: cpu: 0.0% command: chrome pid: 3900349
335: cpu: 0.0% command: chrome pid: 3900426
336: cpu: 0.0% command: chrome pid: 3900449
337: cpu: 0.0% command: chrome pid: 3900478
RAM usage:
terrance@terrance-ubuntu:~$ inxi -t m1000 | grep -E "firefox|chrome"
1: mem: 330.1 MiB (1.3%) command: firefox pid: 3910531
2: mem: 230.6 MiB (0.9%) command: firefox pid: 3910586
3: mem: 222.3 MiB (0.9%) command: firefox pid: 3910656
4: mem: 198.4 MiB (0.8%) command: chrome pid: 3900194
5: mem: 149.2 MiB (0.6%) command: chrome pid: 3900233
6: mem: 137.7 MiB (0.5%) command: firefox pid: 3910707
7: mem: 124.8 MiB (0.5%) command: chrome pid: 3900266
9: mem: 111.6 MiB (0.4%) command: chrome pid: 3900302
10: mem: 94.5 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 3900339
11: mem: 94.3 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 3900333
12: mem: 86.3 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 3900369
13: mem: 85.5 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 3900449
14: mem: 83.9 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 3900321
15: mem: 83.7 MiB (0.3%) command: firefox pid: 3910735
18: mem: 80.2 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 3900316
19: mem: 79.5 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 3900235
21: mem: 75.6 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 3900349
30: mem: 56.0 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 3900478
33: mem: 53.4 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 3900204
34: mem: 52.9 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 3900205
35: mem: 51.0 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 3900426
52: mem: 34.9 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome-gnome-shell started by: python3
53: mem: 34.8 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome-gnome-shell started by: python3
54: mem: 34.5 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome-gnome-shell started by: python3
56: mem: 31.9 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome pid: 3900240
58: mem: 31.1 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome pid: 3900257
82: mem: 14.9 MiB (0.0%) command: chrome pid: 3900209
Also to note that each tab you open uses more RAM as well, but very little extra CPU.
Firefox with 1 tab:
terrance@terrance-ubuntu:~$ inxi -t m1000 | grep firefox
1: mem: 394.1 MiB (1.6%) command: firefox pid: 3910531
2: mem: 351.5 MiB (1.4%) command: firefox pid: 3910586
3: mem: 175.7 MiB (0.7%) command: firefox pid: 3910656
4: mem: 137.3 MiB (0.5%) command: firefox pid: 3910707
6: mem: 83.9 MiB (0.3%) command: firefox pid: 3910735
Firefox with 3 tabs:
terrance@terrance-ubuntu:~$ inxi -t m1000 | grep firefox
1: mem: 354.3 MiB (1.4%) command: firefox pid: 3910531
2: mem: 313.5 MiB (1.3%) command: firefox pid: 3910586
3: mem: 177.1 MiB (0.7%) command: firefox pid: 3910656
4: mem: 170.7 MiB (0.7%) command: firefox pid: 3910707
6: mem: 83.9 MiB (0.3%) command: firefox pid: 3910735
Firefox with 5 tabs:
terrance@terrance-ubuntu:~$ inxi -t m1000 | grep firefox
1: mem: 358.6 MiB (1.4%) command: firefox pid: 3910531
2: mem: 313.2 MiB (1.3%) command: firefox pid: 3910586
3: mem: 177.7 MiB (0.7%) command: firefox pid: 3910656
4: mem: 177.7 MiB (0.7%) command: firefox pid: 3910707
6: mem: 83.9 MiB (0.3%) command: firefox pid: 3910735
Chrome with 1 tab:
terrance@terrance-ubuntu:~$ inxi -t m1000 | grep chrome
3: mem: 201.3 MiB (0.8%) command: chrome pid: 4007777
6: mem: 145.7 MiB (0.6%) command: chrome pid: 4007815
7: mem: 122.3 MiB (0.5%) command: chrome pid: 4007853
9: mem: 111.1 MiB (0.4%) command: chrome pid: 4007889
10: mem: 92.7 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007920
11: mem: 91.8 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007923
12: mem: 85.4 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007981
13: mem: 85.0 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007962
15: mem: 82.5 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007916
18: mem: 79.2 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007903
20: mem: 76.2 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007817
21: mem: 74.5 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007925
30: mem: 56.2 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4008026
33: mem: 53.6 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4007786
34: mem: 53.5 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4007787
35: mem: 51.9 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4008005
52: mem: 34.8 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome-gnome-shell started by: python3
54: mem: 32.1 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome pid: 4007822
56: mem: 31.0 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome pid: 4007844
80: mem: 14.9 MiB (0.0%) command: chrome pid: 4007791
Chrome with 3 tabs:
terrance@terrance-ubuntu:~$ inxi -t m1000 | grep chrome
3: mem: 205.7 MiB (0.8%) command: chrome pid: 4007777
6: mem: 156.8 MiB (0.6%) command: chrome pid: 4007815
7: mem: 126.5 MiB (0.5%) command: chrome pid: 4007853
8: mem: 115.2 MiB (0.4%) command: chrome pid: 4008005
10: mem: 110.9 MiB (0.4%) command: chrome pid: 4007889
11: mem: 100.4 MiB (0.4%) command: chrome pid: 4012062
12: mem: 92.7 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007923
13: mem: 92.5 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007920
14: mem: 85.2 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007962
16: mem: 82.5 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007916
19: mem: 79.2 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007903
20: mem: 76.7 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007817
22: mem: 74.6 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007925
31: mem: 56.3 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4008026
34: mem: 53.6 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4007786
35: mem: 53.5 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4007787
36: mem: 51.0 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4012075
53: mem: 34.8 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome-gnome-shell started by: python3
55: mem: 32.2 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome pid: 4007822
57: mem: 31.0 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome pid: 4007844
81: mem: 15.0 MiB (0.0%) command: chrome pid: 4007791
Chrome with 5 tabs:
terrance@terrance-ubuntu:~$ inxi -t m1000 | grep chrome
3: mem: 211.4 MiB (0.8%) command: chrome pid: 4007777
5: mem: 158.7 MiB (0.6%) command: chrome pid: 4007815
7: mem: 131.2 MiB (0.5%) command: chrome pid: 4007853
8: mem: 129.3 MiB (0.5%) command: chrome pid: 4008005
10: mem: 109.5 MiB (0.4%) command: chrome pid: 4007889
11: mem: 105.8 MiB (0.4%) command: chrome pid: 4012062
12: mem: 92.9 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007923
13: mem: 92.8 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007920
14: mem: 85.2 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007962
16: mem: 82.6 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007916
19: mem: 79.4 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007903
20: mem: 77.9 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007817
22: mem: 74.6 MiB (0.3%) command: chrome pid: 4007925
31: mem: 56.3 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4008026
34: mem: 53.6 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4007786
35: mem: 53.5 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4007787
36: mem: 51.2 MiB (0.2%) command: chrome pid: 4012075
53: mem: 34.8 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome-gnome-shell started by: python3
55: mem: 32.2 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome pid: 4007822
57: mem: 31.0 MiB (0.1%) command: chrome pid: 4007844
81: mem: 15.0 MiB (0.0%) command: chrome pid: 4007791