Chrome bug affecting PF chat input box

  • Thread starter Jonathan Scott
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In summary, users have reported experiencing problems with text going blank or being corrupted in Chrome, particularly when using the new PF chat. This issue has been found on both Windows Vista and Windows 7 systems, and has been linked to a Chrome bug or a closely related one. The problem can be resolved by turning off the "Disable DirectWrite" option in Chrome flags on Windows 7 or above, but unfortunately this option does not work on Windows Vista due to unsupported DirectWrite capabilities.
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Jonathan Scott
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Since the new PF chat was implemented, I've often had problems in Chrome with the input box intermittently going partly or totally blank (sometimes just certain letters go blank), and I've had to resort to using Firefox instead for chat.

I have also been having a problem with text going blank or being corrupted in Chrome (or sometime Chrome crashing completely) both on my Windows Vista family computer and my Windows 7 work computer, which I reported some months ago as Chrome issue 474156. I recently discovered that the problem went away on Windows 7 when I went back to default Chrome flag settings, at which point I realized that I had previously turned on "Disable DirectWrite" to get round a previous problem. I have furthermore confirmed that if I turn on "Disable DirectWrite" on my son's Windows 8 system, the problem occurs there too.

Anyway, now I've turned off "Disable DirectWrite" on Windows 7, I also no longer have the problem with the input line going partially or totally blank in PF chat, which suggests that the problem was due to the same Chrome bug or a closely related one. So if you have the problem on Windows 7 or above, it can be circumvented by turning off "Disable DirectWrite" in the Chrome flags.

Unfortunately, this Chrome flag option seems to be ignored on Windows Vista, because Chrome previously tried to use DirectWrite capabilities which were not supported in Vista and got into a mess, so I don't know of any way to avoid this bug on Vista at present.
 
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Thanks for the tip JS!
 

FAQ: Chrome bug affecting PF chat input box

What is the Chrome bug affecting PF chat input box?

The Chrome bug affecting PF chat input box is a technical issue that has been reported by users of the PF chat feature on Google Chrome web browsers. It causes the chat input box to freeze or become unresponsive, making it impossible for users to send messages.

How widespread is this issue?

The extent of this bug is not yet determined, but it has been reported by multiple users on different versions of Google Chrome. It seems to affect both desktop and mobile browsers.

Is there a workaround for this bug?

At the moment, there is no known workaround for this issue. However, some users have reported that clearing their browser cache or using a different browser has temporarily fixed the problem.

Has Google addressed this issue?

Google has acknowledged the bug and is currently investigating the cause. They have not yet released a fix for this issue, but it is expected to be resolved in a future update of Google Chrome.

How can I report this bug to Google?

If you encounter this bug, you can report it to Google by going to the Chrome menu, selecting "Help", and clicking on "Report an issue". You can also provide feedback directly through the Chrome browser by clicking on the three dots in the top-right corner and selecting "Help" and "Report an issue".

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