Optimizing Ubuntu 18.04 on Win10 host with VirtualBox 6 on Ryzen 7 system

Discussions about using Linux guests in VirtualBox.
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Mannekino
Posts: 17
Joined: 13. Feb 2019, 09:54

Optimizing Ubuntu 18.04 on Win10 host with VirtualBox 6 on Ryzen 7 system

Post by Mannekino »

This thread was split from another thread, so some context is missing. I had issues with getting my guest to resize resolution and go full screen

OK, so this should have been my opening post for this thread and I changed the title.

Basically I would like a sanity check if everything is configured correctly for my situation since I switched from an Intel based system to and AMD one a while ago. I'm a bit confused about certain settings and I would like know if there are commands to check performance inside the guest (benchmarks maybe or other settings to check if everything is working properly). I remember from a couple of years ago there was some command to check if Unity was working correctly in Ubuntu I can't remember what it was or if it's still relevant.

I don't have any issues anymore at the moment, everything seems to be working well. The only thing that could be a little better is the snappiness/smoothness of windows when I move them around. It's not as smooth as on my host operating system but maybe that's asking too much.

Specifications of my host
  • Motherboard: ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VII HERO (AMD X470 chipset)
  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
  • Memory: G.SKILL Flare X F4-3200C14D-16GFX
  • Storage: Samsung 970 EVO MZ-V7E500BW
  • Graphics card: SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX VEGA 56 (latest AMD drivers installed)
  • Host operating system: Windows 10 Pro build 1809 with all the latest updates installed
  • Guest operating system: Ubuntu 18.04
I've attached my VBox.log file for you to check if there is anything wrong. I have the following questions:

What should I do with these settings (what is optimal for my setup)?
  • Which chipset is best for my setup, PIIX3 or ICH9?
  • Enable I/O APIC was checked by default I believe but if I read the tool tip it says that enabling could negatively impact performance should I disable it?
  • Should I enable EFI? My host operating system is fully installed in UEFI mode, I disabled CSM.
  • Should I enable PEA/NX and/or Nested VT-x/AMD-V in the Processor tab?
  • Under the Acceleration tab VT-x/AMD-V and Nested Paging are enabled by default, I assume this is correct?
  • Is everything looking good with my display settings? I maxed out the Video Memory to 128 MB and enabled 3D Acceleration. I'm using VMSVGA which seems to be the best. VBoxVGA is really bad and VBoxSVGA doesn't work at all.
  • Which network adapter gives the best performance, should I keep the Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop or maybe switch to the virtio-net one? I'm using a Bridged Adapter.
  • Are there any commands inside the guest I can run to check if the guest is working optimally with my host and hardware, for example disk performance?
  • And lastly should I enable the UEFI network stack in the BIOS?
Attachments
Ubuntu-2019-02-13-17-55-30.zip
(31.98 KiB) Downloaded 32 times
Last edited by Mannekino on 14. Feb 2019, 20:38, edited 12 times in total.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Ubuntu 18.04 guest full screen optimization

Post by socratis »

@Mannekino
Since 6.0.0 came out, there are 3 different vGPUs (virtual GPUs) offered:
  • VBoxVGA: the traditional one, the one that was offered up to the 5.x series.
  • VBoxSVGA: the next-gen foundation for Windows mostly guests.
  • VMSVGA: the next-gen foundation for Linux mostly guests.
If you created the VM in 6.0.x and you chose a Linux based option, by default you're offered the VMSVGA option. This is as I said the next-gen foundation, but it still has some kinks to work over. If you're having problems with this, then try the older, trusted VBoxVGA (no S).
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
Mannekino
Posts: 17
Joined: 13. Feb 2019, 09:54

Re: Ubuntu 18.04 guest full screen optimization

Post by Mannekino »

@socratis

Hi, for the past two days I've been working on getting my Ubuntu 18.04 guest to work smoothly with my Windows 10 host. At first I couldn't get the VMSVGA adapter to work properly but I finally figured out to use the VBoxVGA adapter first, then properly install the Guest Additions and then switch back to the VMSVGA adapter.

Problems I experieced were:
  • Sluggish user interface
  • Unable to full screen and auto resize the window
  • Unable to boot (black screen)
I was planning to make a thread later today with my full system specification and the log file of my Ubuntu client. I think everything runs smoothly right now but I would like to know if I can optimize it further.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Ubuntu 18.04 guest full screen optimization

Post by socratis »

Mannekino wrote:I was planning to make a thread later today with my full system specification and the log file of my Ubuntu client
I did that for you. There's no point in hijacking a thread that's already marked [Solved], especially when you're dealing with a different guest altogether. It's easy as you said to create your own thread.
Mannekino wrote:I think everything runs smoothly right now but I would like to know if I can optimize it further.
That log that you mentioned might help.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
Mannekino
Posts: 17
Joined: 13. Feb 2019, 09:54

Re: Ubuntu 18.04 guest full screen optimization

Post by Mannekino »

I edited the opening post with my actual questions.
Mannekino
Posts: 17
Joined: 13. Feb 2019, 09:54

Re: Optimizing Ubuntu 18.04 on Win10 host with VirtualBox 6 on Ryzen 7 system

Post by Mannekino »

I added images but they don't display

Image
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Optimizing Ubuntu 18.04 on Win10 host with VirtualBox 6 on Ryzen 7 system

Post by socratis »

That's right. Hot-linking images to 3rd party sites is not supported. Do you really need the images? If so, attach them locally. Limit 3.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
Mannekino
Posts: 17
Joined: 13. Feb 2019, 09:54

Re: Optimizing Ubuntu 18.04 on Win10 host with VirtualBox 6 on Ryzen 7 system

Post by Mannekino »

Well I was trying to be as thorough as possible by making screenshots of my settings, and i had some BIOS screenshots also. I guess can't use them. But I rewrote my startpost to include all the information without the screenshots.

This forum seems a bit outdated compared to others. For example on the FreeNAS forums I can simply copy and paste images right in the post also "@" users and such.

Hopefully someone will respond. But the replies so far make it seems that we're already discussion my questions but that's not the case since the topic was split.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Optimizing Ubuntu 18.04 on Win10 host with VirtualBox 6 on Ryzen 7 system

Post by socratis »

Your settings look just fine. Two very minor things:
  • You don't have the Ext. Pack installed on your host. You may be missing functionality such as USB2-3, Webcam, VRDP, PXE, PCI passthrough on Linux hosts, VDI Encryption.
  • You have set your guest's screen at a really high resolution. You may be seeing signs of this, affecting the VM performance if you do a lot of graphics related stuff. If you're simply compiling the VirtualBox source code, I don't expect that to play a major role performance wise:
    00:00:03.156372 VMMDev: SetVideoModeHint: Got a video mode hint (2560x1335x32)@(0x0),(1;0) at 0
PS. If you edit your message next time, and there are already ModEdits, do not delete or alter them; mods don't like that. Plus if you edit a post, don't change its nature completely. The answers don't make sense after that. It's best if you simply have a follow-up post where you explain the whole thing, instead of editing 12 times the original...
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
Mannekino
Posts: 17
Joined: 13. Feb 2019, 09:54

Re: Optimizing Ubuntu 18.04 on Win10 host with VirtualBox 6 on Ryzen 7 system

Post by Mannekino »

Thanks, I've installed the Extension Pack. The resolution is the primary monitor which is a 1440p monitor where I have my VM running on in a window, so that explains the big resolution.
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