Ubuntu 25.10: Fresh install: No GPU acceleration on Firefox

Framework Desktop Linux
1

Hi all,

I just installed a fresh version of Ubuntu 25.10 on my Framework Desktop.

Unfotunately, Firefox appears to not be using the GPU for GL stuff? Screenshot attached:

Screenshot From 2026-01-06 09-28-22
Screenshot From 2026-01-06 09-28-221920×906 429 KB

Regarding the ‘rainforest’ test I’m using (link): I tried it on the latest Fedora Workstation 43 and get atleast 30 FPS in full-screen, whereas I only get 2-3 FPS in Firefox in full-screen.

Kernel version:

$ uname -a
Linux framework 6.17.0-8-generic #8-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Nov 14 21:44:46 UTC 2025 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Framework Desktop model is 395+.

2

I should have guessed: Gemini diagnosed the issue, which is that Firefox is a snap app by default, and it seems that snap apps do not have access to the GPU.

You can confirm this by going to about:support and going to the “Graphics” section - if its llvmpipe or something like that, its using software rendering.

Instructions I followed from Gemini:

1: Nuke Firefox:

$ sudo snap remove firefox

2: Add the upstream Firefox repos:

# Create the directory for the keys
sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings

# Import the Mozilla signing key
wget -q https://packages.mozilla.org/apt/repo-signing-key.gpg -O- | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc > /dev/null

# Add the repository to sources
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc] https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.list > /dev/null

3: ‘Pin’ the version of Firefox that is published from the Mozilla repo:

echo '
Package: *
Pin: origin packages.mozilla.org
Pin-Priority: 1000
' | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla

4: Install

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install firefox

Navigating to about:support now shows:

image

P.S. For the Install command, I got this warning:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install firefox
Hit:1 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu questing InRelease
Hit:2 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu questing-updates InRelease
Hit:3 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu questing-backports InRelease            
Hit:4 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu questing-security InRelease               
Get:5 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla InRelease [1,520 B]
Get:6 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla/main amd64 Packages [99.4 kB]
Get:7 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla/main all Packages [5,106 kB]
Fetched 5,206 kB in 2s (2,299 kB/s)   
All packages are up to date.    
DOWNGRADING:                    
  firefox

Summary:
  Upgrading: 0, Installing: 0, Downgrading: 1, Removing: 0, Not Upgrading: 0
  Download size: 82.5 MB
  Space needed: 301 MB / 1,849 GB available

Continue? [Y/n]

According to Gemini this is innocuous and has to do with how the firefox package is really a meta-package that points to the snap store, and has a higher version number than the ‘real’ firefox from Mozilla (or something like that… I’m not a packaging guy.)