7.0.2: Legacy Windows XP 32 bits very slow on MacBook Pro Intel

[philippelt]

Hello,

I am running Ventura 13.0 on a MacBook Pro 2018 i9/32Go
I used this legacy XP (Pro 32bits) for more than 10 years without changes on many VirtualBox versions. Everything was working fine up to 6.x without even installing updated guest Extensions.

This morning, I was always in Monterey and decided to upgrade Virtualbox. I installed the last 7.0.2 version.
The VM started without problem except that performance where massively slower (100x slower ?). Monitoring stated that the VM is using 200%-300% cpu but I have no comparison with previous version.

I noticed that Virtualbox 7 was introduced for MacOS Ventura and that major changes occurs (no longer kexts for example). I then upgraded my macOS to Ventura 13.0 and, by security reinstalled Virtualbox 7.0.2. In the preferences panel, security, I see a message some system software require authorization. There was an Oracle extension (already on) that I approved. I rebooted my mac.

The VM still works but performances makes it unusable. I did not change VM characteristics for years but maybe some components of the VM setup may require attention ?

I tested with a TrueNAS VM I already setup with the previous version and it was performing normally. Only the XP 32bits VM seems affected.

If you had any idea for investigation, I don't know how to print a manifest of XP VM setup characteristics. In case there would be no other solution, is it possible to downgrade Virtualbox to 6.x ?

Many thanks for any help

Additional info: I tried to update Guest Addition and I am now rebooting. macOS monitoring says Virtualbox VM use 201% cpu, 4,18Go memory. Virtualbox tools (VM Activity) says Guest Load 94%, VMM load 4%. Virtualbox tools, Activity overview says Host CPU Load 1% Kernel 17%, Host RAM Used 10,21GB. I don't know how many time it will requires to boot...

[granada29]

I have noticed a performance hit with my VMs under VirtualBox 7.0.2, but nowhere near what you have described. My Linux VM has gone from using about 5% of the host at idle to something like 12%. It's early days for VirtualBox 7 so I expect it will get better over the next few releases.

You should not have seen any requests for permissions in the macOS Security settings. I suspect you have not uninstalled VirtualBox 6.x from your system. It would be a good idea to uninstall VirtualBox 7 (using the script on the .dmg image) then reinstall VirtualBox 7 to remove any traces of VirtualBox 6

[philippelt]

Thanks for the suggestion, you are right, for my first upgrade to 7.0.2, I did not used the uninstall tool of the 6.1.40. As far as I remember, I never used such tools between Virtualbox upgrades.

I already tried to use the uninstall tool on 7.02 then the uninstall tool of 6.1.40 just in case there would be other pieces that
could have stay in place followed by reinstallation of 7.0.2 without success.

I tried to remove 7.0.2 and reinstall 6.1.40 but it fails launching any VM. I revert to 7.0.2 with always the same behavior.

As I said, the trueNAS VM is running with normal performance, thus I suspect a specific problem with XP 32bits. Guest additions update did not changed anything to the VM behavior. I am not sure of correct parameters for such VM, there are numerous options that I didn't changed over the years but they may become inadequate with 7.0.2 (nested pages and so on...).

It would certainly be interesting to test a fresh XP 32bits install but I am not sure there is any way to find a distro today for such an old OS.

Thanks again for the suggestion

[mpack]

As I said, the trueNAS VM is running with normal performance, thus I suspect a specific problem with XP 32bits.

I wouldn't jump to conclusions. IME XP slowness is often a result of an outdated network stack, servers that no longer exist etc.

[MikeN]

I haven't used it before, but while I can install it, boot time for 32-bit XP from the official image with no network is over an hour. VB 7.0.10, 4GB ram, 30 GB disk. brand-new install.