VirtualBox runs slow on MacBook Pro 2018 (screen refreshes slow)

[W1W]

I have the same problem when using a screen resolution-scaling of 200%. It goes away when I change it back to 100% (unscaled) but the text is not legible.

As it was reported previously, if I move VirtualBox to an external monitor, the issue goes away! This is so annoying.

I have
x 2018 15" MacBook Pro. Screen resolution = 2880 x 1800.
x MacOS Mojave 10.14.4
x VirtualBox 6.0.6

[socratis]

@W1W
Go to the VirtualBox Preferences » Display » Scale Factor. Change the HiDPI monitor to 200% and the non-HiDPI monitors to 100%.

[W1W]

@socratis: I did what you suggested but the setting did not seem to do anything (i.e., had no effect).

I went back to VirtualBox 5.2.30 but could not say that the performance improved either

[Bryn]

Hi all,

I've been banging my head against wall and can't find anything about this for a brand new Macbook Pro. I installed Ubuntu 19.04 in the latest Virtualbox with plenty of RAM and Graphics RAM and had plenty to spare for my OSx.

Now....It runs GREAT when plugged into power. But when I'm on battery, it is too laggy to even browse a web page...

Any ideas...?

[Bryn]

I think this might be my issue as well. I've been racking my brain over the fact that I thought it was an issue with moving to battery, but it would make sense if it is a screen issue since I remove my external monitors when moving to battery....

[Bryn]

Though, I just found some threads about the Macbook Pro Retina screen being the issue... Didn't think of that since I was running this on my external screens before this... Could that be the culprit?

[socratis]

@Bryn
I merged your thread with the one that you found and posted. Can you post your complete setup and the test matrix that you've done? Does it happen with your MBP connected to power and no peripherals attached? What if you attach an external monitor? What monitor would that be (resolution, HiDPI)?

Apple recently changed the power management of OSX, and I think that this might have something to do with that.

[Bryn]

I currently have 2 external monitors hooked up to my Macbook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) 16GB

I've changed settings to 1 Proc all the way to 4 as well as changed memory size from 9GB to 2GB without any change.
It works great when on either of the secondary monitors when it is both windowed and full screen without any zoom.

When I unplug the monitors, the issue shows up no matter if the power supply was added or not (new testing done today). It comes down to a refresh or a resolution issue. I've tried also changing the display driver without any change.

[wildfire]

I'm also experiencing the same issue with my 15" mid-2014 Macbook Pro with 16GB RAM running Virtualbox 6.0. Like everyone else, it seems to be an issue with the scaling factor and the retina display.

Is there a workaround for now besides plugging an external display that has worked for anyone?

[socratis]

Just for the record, I'm on a 2015 MBP retina, running OSX 10.11.6, with 2 external displays. So, the external displays are not the problem, something else is, my feeling is OSX.

[AndrewVM]

Define issue:
When connected to external monitor system performs as expected. When I run the VM from the Mac screen without the dock connected it boots up and seems fine. I can create the state by launching Outlook. If I try to type a sentence the input will either be significantly delayed or the system will behave as though one of the keys is being pressed. Switching back to the external monitor resolves the performance issue. Another way to observe the issue is if I have an open excel document, click and hold in a cell and scroll down the scrolling may continue for minutes.

Interesting observation. I was without dock, issue encountered. I closed the screen, connected it to the dock, turned machine on, logged in, VM appeared and was laggy, I noticed it wasn’t the proper size so I closed full screen and reopened full screen and the performance returned to normal.

[socratis]

so I closed full screen and reopened full screen and the performance returned to normal

I've seen several reports where the combination of full-screen and external monitors seem to confuse VirtualBox and affect its performance. Maybe it's because I don't usually go full-screen, maybe because I go full-screen temporarily, maybe the sequence of doing things, but I haven't seen that performance issue.

When I talk about sequence and temporarily, I mean that I always start my VMs in normal, windowed mode in 1280x1024. I then move the VM window to the external monitor, or if the ext. monitor is not available, on my main MBP's monitor. After the VM is started and I'm logged in, then I switch with HostKey+F to full-screen mode, again either on the MBP or on the external monitor.

Just like you randomly came up with a combination that works, figure out the exact sequence and stick to it.

[AndrewVM]

I think my note of the observation was a distraction from the core issue. The core issue is that when run my VM on the Mac screen, the performance is terrible and unusable. If I run it on the external monitor it runs just fine.

[socratis]

No, it wasn't a distraction at all, as I said I've seen reports about the issue:

I've seen several reports where the combination of full-screen and external monitors seem to confuse VirtualBox and affect its performance ... but I haven't seen that performance issue. [sic: personally]

... and neither have the developers. And as I've explained several times in the past (not to you but generally):

• No reproducible problem by the developers.
  • => No way it can be addressed.
    • => No way it can be fixed.

• Can you list all the peripherals that are attached?
• Can you list all 3rd party applications installed and/or active when this happens?
• Can you post the output of the following commands:

  • kextstat | grep -v com.apple
    ls -ald /Applications/*/*
    ls -al /Library/Extensions

[AndrewVM]

Can you list all the peripherals that are attached?

To the MAC - Issue occurs without anything connected to the physical machine, Nothing is passed from the physical machine to the virtual machine
The monitor is connected to a Kingston SD4600P usb docking station. TV VM runs slow when its connected and when its not connected.

Can you list all 3rd party applications installed and/or active when this happens?

On the Virtual machine or the host?
While I am on the host, I can open notes and can type the input has minimal lag or sticky key symtproms. If I launch word, excel the issue is present.

Can you post the output of the following commands:
kextstat | grep -v com.apple

Andrews-MacBook-Pro:~ andrew$ kextstat | grep -v com.apple
Index Refs Address            Size       Wired      Name (Version) UUID <Linked Against>
  175    3 0xffffff7f850f7000 0xf0000    0xf0000    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (6.0.8) BA29BAA2-1460-3F53-BF68-E672C5115BF1 <8 6 5 3 1>
  180    0 0xffffff7f851e7000 0x8000     0x8000     org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (6.0.8) 9331EE7C-CCD1-3E6D-B1FA-5D1036B0C0FF <179 175 53 8 6 5 3 1>
  181    0 0xffffff7f851ef000 0x5000     0x5000     org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (6.0.8) 4F577315-BF94-3C7A-974B-48ECBE38B445 <175 8 6 5 3 1>
  182    0 0xffffff7f851f4000 0x6000     0x6000     org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (6.0.8) 3793177D-4D36-37D6-8B61-50E941DFC8FF <175 6 5 1>

ls -ald /Applications/*/*

Andrews-MacBook-Pro:~ andrew$ ls -ald /Applications/*/*
drwxr-xr-x@ 11 andrew  admin  352 Apr 26 06:02 /Applications/Accession Communicator.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  10 root    wheel  320 May 22 00:33 /Applications/App Store.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Automator.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  10 root    wheel  320 May  3 22:48 /Applications/Blackmagic Disk Speed Test.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  10 root    wheel  320 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Books.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   9 root    wheel  288 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Calculator.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   9 root    wheel  288 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Calendar.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Chess.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Contacts.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Dashboard.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Dictionary.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  10 root    wheel  320 May 22 00:33 /Applications/FaceTime.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 andrew  staff  256 Jan  8  2018 /Applications/Flux.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Font Book.app/Contents
drwxrwxr-x@ 10 andrew  admin  320 Jun 17 20:11 /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   9 root    wheel  288 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Home.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Image Capture.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  12 root    wheel  384 Jun 26 07:30 /Applications/Keynote.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  10 andrew  admin  320 Jun 28 08:52 /Applications/LastPass.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Launchpad.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   9 root    wheel  288 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Mail.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   9 root    wheel  288 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Maps.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  10 root    wheel  320 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Messages.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  10 root    wheel  320 Jun 18 07:35 /Applications/Microsoft Excel.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  12 root    wheel  384 Jun 18 07:50 /Applications/Microsoft Outlook.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  11 root    wheel  352 Jun 18 07:19 /Applications/Microsoft Word.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Mission Control.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/News.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   9 root    wheel  288 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Notes.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  12 root    wheel  384 Jun 26 07:30 /Applications/Numbers.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  12 root    wheel  384 Jun 26 07:29 /Applications/Pages.app/Contents
drwxrwxr-x  14 root    wheel  448 Mar 12 11:08 /Applications/Parallels Desktop.app/Contents
-rw-r--r--@  1 root    wheel    0 Mar 12 11:08 /Applications/Parallels Desktop.app/Icon?
drwxrwxr-x  12 andrew  admin  384 Feb  7 05:02 /Applications/Parallels Toolbox.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Photo Booth.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  11 root    wheel  352 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Photos.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Preview.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  10 root    wheel  320 May 22 00:33 /Applications/QuickTime Player.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   9 root    wheel  288 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Reminders.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  10 root    wheel  320 May  1 00:27 /Applications/Safari.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Siri.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Stickies.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Stocks.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  10 root    wheel  320 May 22 00:33 /Applications/System Preferences.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  10 root    wheel  320 Apr  9 04:28 /Applications/TeamViewer.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   8 root    wheel  256 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Time Machine.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/AirPort Utility.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Bluetooth File Exchange.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/ColorSync Utility.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Console.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Digital Color Meter.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Grapher.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Migration Assistant.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Screenshot.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Script Editor.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/System Information.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app
drwxr-xr-x@  3 root    wheel   96 May 22 00:33 /Applications/Utilities/VoiceOver Utility.app
drwxr-xr-x   8 andrew  staff  256 Jan  9 16:20 /Applications/VLC.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   9 root    admin  288 May 13 09:02 /Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x   9 root    wheel  288 May 22 00:33 /Applications/VoiceMemos.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x@  8 andrew  admin  256 May 14 03:48 /Applications/balenaEtcher.app/Contents
drwxr-xr-x  11 root    wheel  352 May 22 00:33 /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents