Sudden issue of sluggish browser scrolling

[schwim]

Hi there everyone!

Win 8 host/Debian stable/ubu 14.04/Firefox, Chrome and Opera

I've used a VB guest for work every day for years. Recently, the scrolling in browsers only has gotten so bad that I'm having problems working. If I roll the mouse wheel a little bit, it won't respond at all. If I scroll it quickly it will respond after a lag, but it won't scroll as much as it would in a normal browser experience.

Some stuff:

1) It doesn't happen in other applications. My text editor still scrolls as it should.
2) It's all browsers and it's not just one VM. It happens in all the virtual machines I have installed(differen't OS's)
3) It's already set to one processor core
4) 3d acceleration didn't not resolve the issue
5) this problem began within the last month. There have been host, guest, graphics and VBox updates during that time
6) Guest is using little of the available resources. It's nowhere near struggling. Same with host.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I can do to try to resolve or lessen the impact of this issue?

Thanks for your time!

[Perryg]

What you are describing is usually due to guest 3D acceleration or the lack thereof.

Start by following the instruction below:
Post the guests log file ( as an attachment ). Right click on the guest in the Main Manager then click show log. Save and post as an attachment. Compress if it is too large to post.

It may also be due to a setting in the web browser that is enabled called always use GPU acceleration by default or similar.

[schwim]

Thanks very much for taking the time to help me out. I really appreciate it!

My log is attached. I didn't think it was a browser-specific setting due to the fact that all my browsers inherited the issue at the same time. I will, however, search in the browser settings page to see if I can try it enabled/disabled.

Thank you again!

[Perryg]

3D acceleration does not seem to be enabled. I would enable it and try again.

[schwim]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. Performance is still poor with 3d acceleration enabled. I've posted an updated log.

[Perryg]

Very well. I assume you looked and made sure that the browser was not set to us GPU by default. Several things you can try. I can not tell what version of Debian you are using but if it is new enough there might be an issue where they are switching Xorg to not run in root. VBox has release a test version of the GAs 5.0.17 to address this and I will see if I can find the link and provide it here. If not you can revert to 5.0.14 and remove the 5.0.16 GAs and install the 5.0.14 ones and see if it helps. Other than that you would need to wait for 5.0.18 to come out which may be a while since 5.0.16 just releasd this month. By the way the guest should always run smoother and faster with 3D enabled unless there is a problem, but then it should be investigated.

VirtualBox 5.0.17 r106108 Guest Additions installer image

Download VirtualBox (Old Builds): VirtualBox 5.0

[schwim]

Thanks very much Perry, rolling back to .14 resolved the issue and gave me back my scrolling.

Seems I spoke too soon. I guess I need to mess around some before claiming success or failure.

By the way the guest should always run smoother and faster with 3D enabled unless there is a problem, but then it should be investigated.

The only reason I run with it disabled by default is because having it enabled mucks up my conky/openbox transparencies.

[schwim]

Hi there folks, I return seeking help as the issue has worsened to the point that I'm unable to use my OS'es in VBox(VMWare does not suffer the same issues). With the sluggish scrolling causing an unusable workspace, I enabled 3D acceleration as instructed. Upon reboot, I noticed that my conky was no longer transparent, which didn't concern me much.

However, when I opened my browser, This is what I was greeted with:



Some details concerning what you're seeing. Even with 3D acceleration disabled, my browsers had quit being able to display video like youtube in the browsers. I have to load the URLS into a browser on my host side to view them. I think it may be HTML5 only as downloading the video and playing it locally works. The picture I posted is what's happening with 3DA enabled: the browser window is open and when it first does, the black squares move around the space. I'm assuming it's stopping because the page has quit loading. This happens with all browsers I have, Chrome, Firefox and Vivaldi. The controls are still there, although hidden. Clicking the upper right closes the browser still.

Things like VLC, Dolphin file manager, Geany text editor, etc. looks as it should, it seems to be the browser and conky that's suffering this issue.

My log is attached.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I really don't want to make the move to another VM system.

Thanks!

VBox 5.0.20 r106931 with matching guest additions and extras pack.
Windows 8.1 host
Debian Jessie guest

[schwim]

To update, I have now tried:

VBox test build 5.0.21 r107302 with GA
Latest nVidia drivers
Loading the vbox drivers during boot

The issue persists.

[socratis]

So, wait a minute, it's only the video that you're having problems with?
What happens if you do not play video? Do you have a problem with scrolling?
What happens if you downgrade your browsers? I mean really downgrade like 2-3 years back.

[schwim]

So, wait a minute, it's only the video that you're having problems with?
What happens if you do not play video? Do you have a problem with scrolling?
What happens if you downgrade your browsers? I mean really downgrade like 2-3 years back.

Thanks a bunch for your help. To clarify, the issue is not video, but the browsers. The image above is of the Chrome browser with a "new tab" page up, so no video in it. Firefox acts in the same way.

I have not tried downgrading to that old. Will that cause any issues with my current vms?

[Perryg]

I still need you to verify that the browser is *not* set to use hardware acceleration. With that setting the browser will try to use the GPU and it is not going to work well in a virtual environment.
Not sure about where it is in chrome but it is in the advanced section or preferences in FireFox.

[socratis]

I've been reading your thread from the beginning once more. Here are some things that don't quite seem right:

Recently, the scrolling in browsers only has gotten so bad that I'm having problems working.

2) It's all browsers and it's not just one VM. It happens in all the virtual machines I have installed(differen't OS's)

5) this problem began within the last month.

To me that seems like there is something that is going south in the guests. Most probably advancements in the browsers as mpack suspects as well. To prove it, you could go back a couple of VirtualBox versions and install the appropriate Guest Additions.

As about the downgrading your browser, I was thinking of video playback, and I wanted to take out of the equation the advanced HTML5 video capabilities that are plaguing the web browsers these days.

[socratis]

I forgot to mention, for future reference, that you should completely shut down the VM before grabbing the VBox.log and then ZIP it.

[schwim]

Thanks very much for your help. I rolled back to 4.3.38 and all issues have disappeared, except that although the scrolling issue is better, it's still a bit laggy. All browsers operate as they should and video is working as well. I guess I'll just stick with that version for the foreseeable future.