Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Mac OS X hosts.
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saledan
Posts: 9
Joined: 6. Jul 2015, 18:03

Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by saledan »

Hi all,
I have a macbook running osx 10.15.7 and virtualbox 6.1 I just updated ubuntu from 19.04 to 21.04
Now when I login into ubuntu every few (randomly) seconds I get a black screen just for a while.
It seems as slow flickering effect.
I updated guest addition but not solved the issue.

Also I have a performance issue, the system is very slow.

Up to version 20.04 (step before 21.04) it worked properly.

Please may you help me? In this way I cannot use the system
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by scottgus1 »

Start the VM from full power off, not save-state. Run until you see the problem happen, then shut down the VM from within the VM OS if possible. If not possible, close the Virtualbox window for the VM with the Power Off option set.

Please right-click the VM in the main Virtualbox window's VM list, choose Show Log. Save the far left tab's log, zip the log file, and post the zip file, using the forum's Upload Attachment tab.
saledan
Posts: 9
Joined: 6. Jul 2015, 18:03

Re: Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by saledan »

Hi, thank you.
log attached.


I tried with WaylandEnable=false, or selecting xorg at login, but it doesn't work for me
Attachments
Ubuntu-2021-09-16-20-53-12.log.zip
(32.68 KiB) Downloaded 29 times
saledan
Posts: 9
Joined: 6. Jul 2015, 18:03

Re: Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by saledan »

Hi,
I found the issue for flickering. It's the graphic card selected on vm settings. Change from VBoxVGA to VMSVGA.
Now I have a resolution issue. on mac I use 1440x900 otherwise for me it's very high resolution (no good eyes :-/).
On previous configuration I didn't remember what I changed. Now I'll try with xrandr.

Now I have to increase performance. I'll try to add a CPU. Now I have 3, but I can add just one more CPU.
saledan
Posts: 9
Joined: 6. Jul 2015, 18:03

Re: Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by saledan »

Resolution stuck at 2880x1800 I don't know how to change.
If I click on Display Settings menu, nothing opens.
granada29
Volunteer
Posts: 687
Joined: 3. Mar 2015, 07:27
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Linux, macOS, Windows

Re: Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by granada29 »

You have overcommitted your RAM allocation. I suggest reducing to 4GB (currently it is set to 8GB but you only have 6.9GB available).

You could also try setting the Scale Factor to 200% in VirtualBox -> Preferences -> Display
saledan
Posts: 9
Joined: 6. Jul 2015, 18:03

Re: Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by saledan »

display settings doesn't appear.
gnome-control-center wasn't installed (I don't know why). I installed it and fix with 200% scale as suggested.
Thank you
Anyway scale setting is not saved at reboot :-/

About Ram I don't understand. I reduced it to 4gb but no performance increased.
I free ram on osx, but again no success.
granada29
Volunteer
Posts: 687
Joined: 3. Mar 2015, 07:27
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Linux, macOS, Windows

Re: Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by granada29 »

saledan wrote:display settings doesn't appear.
gnome-control-center wasn't installed (I don't know why). I installed it and fix with 200% scale as suggested.
Thank you
Anyway scale setting is not saved at reboot :-/
The Scale Factor setting is applied in the host VirtualBox Preferences - i.e. the VirtualBox app on your Mac. It appears you are setting it in your Ubuntu guest.
saledan
Posts: 9
Joined: 6. Jul 2015, 18:03

Re: Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by saledan »

Yes sure, I applied it to ubuntu.
Scaling on virtualbox is not really good. Fonts are a little bit out of focus.
Scaling on ubuntu works fine and fonts are rendered sharp.

Anyway .. the main issue now is slow performance.
My guest pc is a MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) 2,9 GHz Intel Core i7 quad-core 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
I tried to enable 3d acceleration, but no performance enanched.
is Ubuntu 21.04 more heavy now than 19.04?
granada29
Volunteer
Posts: 687
Joined: 3. Mar 2015, 07:27
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Linux, macOS, Windows

Re: Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by granada29 »

saledan wrote: My guest pc is a MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) 2,9 GHz Intel Core i7 quad-core 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Just to get the terminology correct:
Your GUEST is Ubuntu
Your HOST is your MacBook Pro

I don't use Ubuntu so cannot comment on relative performance of different versions. However, my Debian Bullseye VM with KDE gives adequate/acceptable performance and no screen flickering with:

Linux Guest Additions installed
Video Ram 128MB
Scale factor 200%
Graphics Controller VMSVGA
3D Accel: disabled
GUEST resolution 1920x1080
No additional video scaling in the GUEST
saledan
Posts: 9
Joined: 6. Jul 2015, 18:03

Re: Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by saledan »

granada29 wrote: Just to get the terminology correct:
Your GUEST is Ubuntu
Your HOST is your MacBook Pro
Yes sure!
granada29 wrote: I don't use Ubuntu so cannot comment on relative performance of different versions. However, my Debian Bullseye VM with KDE gives adequate/acceptable performance and no screen flickering with:

Linux Guest Additions installed
Video Ram 128MB
Scale factor 200%
Graphics Controller VMSVGA
3D Accel: disabled
GUEST resolution 1920x1080
No additional video scaling in the GUEST
ok thanks a lot!

Now I'm trying with gnome flashback
saledan
Posts: 9
Joined: 6. Jul 2015, 18:03

Re: Flickering and slow performance ubuntu 21.04

Post by saledan »

granada29 wrote:
saledan wrote: My guest pc is a MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) 2,9 GHz Intel Core i7 quad-core 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Just to get the terminology correct:
Your GUEST is Ubuntu
Your HOST is your MacBook Pro

I don't use Ubuntu so cannot comment on relative performance of different versions. However, my Debian Bullseye VM with KDE gives adequate/acceptable performance and no screen flickering with:

Linux Guest Additions installed
Video Ram 128MB
Scale factor 200%
Graphics Controller VMSVGA
3D Accel: disabled
GUEST resolution 1920x1080
No additional video scaling in the GUEST

which is you mac?
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