Linux Host - Linux guest v. slow, Win guest good
Posted: 23. May 2019, 15:04
Summary:
When attempting to install a Linux guest (Debian), the performance is dreadful - very slow and laggy - The install takes hours and does not "complete".
When Windows 7 Pro Retail is installed as a guest, the install was "quick" and the performance of the running VM is fine.
Summary-Hardware:
- Samsung NC10P, 2GB Ram, x86, CPU N450 @ 1.66GHz.
- Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB.
Summary-Host:
- Debian Stretch 9.9 x86.
- Linux version 4.9.0-9-686-pae (gcc version 6.3.0 20170516 (Debian 6.3.0-18+deb9u1) ) #1 SMP Debian 4.9.168-1+deb9u2 (2019-05-13)
Summary-Guest:
- Debian Stretch 9.9 x86, XFCE desktop, 768MB
Summary VirtualBox:
- VirtualBox VM 5.2.30 r130521 linux.x86
- Extension Pack (Version: 5.2.30 r130521; VRDE Module: VBoxVRDP)
Context:
Host-hdparm:
Host-fdisk:
Host-CPU:
DMI_decode (partial):
When attempting to install a Linux guest (Debian), the performance is dreadful - very slow and laggy - The install takes hours and does not "complete".
When Windows 7 Pro Retail is installed as a guest, the install was "quick" and the performance of the running VM is fine.
Summary-Hardware:
- Samsung NC10P, 2GB Ram, x86, CPU N450 @ 1.66GHz.
- Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB.
Summary-Host:
- Debian Stretch 9.9 x86.
- Linux version 4.9.0-9-686-pae (gcc version 6.3.0 20170516 (Debian 6.3.0-18+deb9u1) ) #1 SMP Debian 4.9.168-1+deb9u2 (2019-05-13)
Summary-Guest:
- Debian Stretch 9.9 x86, XFCE desktop, 768MB
Summary VirtualBox:
- VirtualBox VM 5.2.30 r130521 linux.x86
- Extension Pack (Version: 5.2.30 r130521; VRDE Module: VBoxVRDP)
Context:
- The laptop was originally running Win 7 Pro (SP1) x86 Retail as the host OS.
- It had VMWare Player hypervisor installed - v3.1.x as this was the last VMWare Player version that would run on this hardware.
- With Win 7 host OS and VMWare hypervisor, the guest performance was, given the host machine spec (x86, no hardware virt support) very good - entirely usable, for my limited needs.
- Guests on the Win 7 Host:
- Debian 8.x
- Raspberry Pi desktop (version unknown).
- Windows XP Pro SP3. - As Win7 is heading skyward, I rebuilt the machine using Debian Stretch x86 9.9
- The machine has the latest updates installed.
- Installing Windows 7 as a guest (from ISO file) was a fairly painless experience.
- The install completed in what seemed like about an hour.
- Updates to the Win 7 guest OS took a long time but this is expected and typical.
- The "finished" VM boots reasonably quickly and is usable for my limited needs.
- Installing Debian 9.8 with XFCE as a guest (from ISO file) starts poorly and does not improve.
- The initial splash screen renders in a slightly tardy fashion.
- I then pick "Install", not "Graphical Install".
- I then proceed to enter any required information and select require options (pretty much "default").
- At each step the installer is slow.
- When it gets to processes such as "Installing the base system" and similar it plods along but even making selections such as "language" takes some time - to populate and move on, once a selection is made.
- This process extends to hours.
- I have tried other flavours of Linux (older versions of Debian, Raspberry Pi desktop, etc.) resulting in the same experience.
- Recall: This same machine, with same spec, was much faster doing exactly the same things using Windows & VMWare, so I'm tending to think there is a software issue rather than a fundamental, hardware show stopper.
- I understand this is quite a shot in the dark - if I had not experienced the "better" performance with the previous Win 7 host and with the current Win 7 guest, I would have put the issue down to the lack of oomph given the hardware.
- Logs and details should be attached.
- The guest install had reached "Configuring apt" - 38%, when I copied the VM host log file.
- Host-dmesg-1.log - From the host, while the guest was attempting to install.
- As there is a limit of 3 attachments, some details are below:
Host-hdparm:
Code: Select all
/dev/sda:
Model=Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB, FwRev=EMT03B6Q, SerialNo=S3R0NF1JA29010N
Config={ Fixed }
RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=0
BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=unknown, MaxMultSect=1, MultSect=1
CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=488397168
IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
PIO modes: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
AdvancedPM=no WriteCache=enabled
Drive conforms to: unknown: ATA/ATAPI-2,3,4,5,6,7
Code: Select all
Disk /dev/sda: 232.9 GiB, 250059350016 bytes, 488397168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x3f63a394
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 * 2048 499711 497664 243M 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 501758 488396799 487895042 232.7G 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 501760 488396799 487895040 232.7G 83 Linux
Disk /dev/mapper/sda5_crypt: 232.7 GiB, 249800163328 bytes, 487890944 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mapper/XRCARBON--vg-root: 28 GiB, 29997662208 bytes, 58589184 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mapper/XRCARBON--vg-swap_1: 2 GiB, 2134900736 bytes, 4169728 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mapper/XRCARBON--vg-home: 202.7 GiB, 217663406080 bytes, 425123840 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Code: Select all
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 28
model name : Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N450 @ 1.66GHz
stepping : 10
microcode : 0x105
cpu MHz : 1000.000
cache size : 512 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 1
apicid : 0
initial apicid : 0
fdiv_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm movbe lahf_lm dtherm
bugs :
bogomips : 3325.15
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 32 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 28
model name : Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N450 @ 1.66GHz
stepping : 10
microcode : 0x105
cpu MHz : 1000.000
cache size : 512 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 1
apicid : 1
initial apicid : 1
fdiv_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm movbe lahf_lm dtherm
bugs :
bogomips : 3325.15
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 32 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
Code: Select all
# dmidecode 3.0
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.5 present.
29 structures occupying 1131 bytes.
Table at 0x000DF010.
Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 24 bytes
BIOS Information
Vendor: Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
Version: 02KY.M021.20101217.RHU
Release Date: 12/17/2010
Address: 0xE6310
Runtime Size: 105712 bytes
ROM Size: 2048 kB
Characteristics:
ISA is supported
PCI is supported
PNP is supported
BIOS is upgradeable
BIOS shadowing is allowed
ESCD support is available
Boot from CD is supported
Selectable boot is supported
BIOS ROM is socketed
EDD is supported
Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h)
Serial services are supported (int 14h)
Printer services are supported (int 17h)
CGA/mono video services are supported (int 10h)
USB legacy is supported
Smart battery is supported
BIOS boot specification is supported
Targeted content distribution is supported
BIOS Revision: 2.0
Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
Manufacturer: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Product Name: N150P/N210P/N220P
Version: Not Applicable
Serial Number: ZT2Y93KZ701779
UUID: 609FC7A9-DB1D-B211-8000-95DF574073F8
Wake-up Type: Power Switch
SKU Number: Not Specified
Family: Not Specified
Handle 0x0004, DMI type 4, 40 bytes
Processor Information
Socket Designation: CPU 1
Type: Central Processor
Family: Other
Manufacturer: Intel
ID: CA 06 01 00 FF FB E9 BF
Version: C1
Voltage: 1.8 V
External Clock: Unknown
Max Speed: 3300 MHz
Current Speed: 1600 MHz
Status: Populated, Enabled
Upgrade: Socket LGA775
L1 Cache Handle: 0x0005
L2 Cache Handle: 0x0006
L3 Cache Handle: Not Provided
Serial Number: Not Specified
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Part Number: Not Specified
Core Count: 1
Core Enabled: 1
Thread Count: 2
Characteristics:
64-bit capable
Handle 0x000F, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x000E
Error Information Handle: No Error
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 2048 MB
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: 1
Locator: J6G1
Bank Locator: DIMM 0
Type: DDR2
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 667 MHz
Manufacturer: 48spaces
Serial Number: 01234567
Asset Tag: 01234567
Part Number: 012345678901234567890123456789012345