Very poor performance on iMac 2017 5K (#18108)

[socratis]

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ModEdit; related ticket: #18108: Very poor performance on iMac 2017 5K

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I have a new iMac 2017, 27 inch, 5K, 32 GB RAM. This iMac is a replacement for my old iMac, 2011 model, 27 inches, 16 GB. The virtual machines of my old iMac run extremely slowly on the new iMac 2017. Not only is the graphics slow, but the keyboard input behavior is also delayed. It is impossible to work properly on these virtual machines. My old iMac still runs, for comparison, everything runs super fast there. The virtual machines are Windows 10, Windows 7 and Windows XP. All systems run badly. I've tried a lot of setting without success. A trial version of Parallels software works, but not as well as VirtualBox with iMac 2011. What's the matter with VirtualBox 5K Retine display support?

[socratis]

What's the matter with VirtualBox 5K Retine display support?

I think you highlighted the culprit...

Let me try a wild guess here... you're running the guests full screen, right? If yes, that's to be expected. You're dealing with 5120x2880 (iMac18,3) versus the old 2560x1440 (iMac12,2)^[1]. That's 4 times (!) the amount of pixels that have to be moved around. And with the GPU of a VM being circa 1995-2000, that's to be expected. Can you try windowed mode, with something like 1280x1024 and see if you get a more responsive VM?

We need to see a complete VBox.log, from a complete VM run:

• Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe the problem / Shutdown the VM (force close it if you have to).
• With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
• Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response. See the "Upload attachment" tab below the reply form.

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^[1]: Can you please confirm that I got the models right? Apple menu » Hold Opt, System Information... » Hardware » Model Identifier.

[macjacke]

I had also tested the window mode. I had created a window with 1280 x 720. Inside the window the client indeed reacted faster. But noticeably slower than my old iMac with 2560 x 1440. I'm also worried about the delayed keystrokes. The amount of graphics data with a factor of 4 doesn't seem to be the only problem. Written on an old MacBook. I will create the log file tomorrow .

[macjacke]

Are there users with iMac 5k Retina who can successfully use VirtualBox? Or do iMac 5k retina users need to use paid software such as Parallels or VMWare Fusion?

[socratis]

Are there users with iMac 5k Retina who can successfully use VirtualBox?

You already opened a ticket (without a log as per the instructions) and a post in the forums. Give it a week or two...

[andyp73]

Are there users with iMac 5k Retina who can successfully use VirtualBox?

Yes! Me! (and mine only has 8GB RAM in it). Currently it is running macOS 10.13.6 and VirtualBox 5.2.18 because I am too busy to upgrade either.

-Andy.

[mpack]

The ticket seems pointless. In a ticket like this, no log == no attention from devs. Automatic close.

[michaln]

The ticket seems pointless. In a ticket like this, no log == no attention from devs. Automatic close.

This. After reminding users five hundred times that they need to provide diagnostic information, it gets really old. If you can't bother to provide what you have, we'll instead look at some other ticket where the user did attach the log.

[macjacke]

Attached you find the log file.

[macjacke]

Are there users with iMac 5k Retina who can successfully use VirtualBox?

Yes! Me! (and mine only has 8GB RAM in it). Currently it is running macOS 10.13.6 and VirtualBox 5.2.18 because I am too busy to upgrade either.

-Andy.

The version macOS High Sierra with which the iMac was delivered, I had finally also tested. No solution. That was a waste of time. The sent log file is of it. Of course, the client looks great, but it doesn't work smoothly, keystrokes appear delayed, in regular intervals the system stops, when moving windows within the client, the windows are only moved falteringly.
Do you have a iMac 27 inch, model 2017 with 5K display? Can we compare the log files? Please send a log.

[socratis]

I don't think we're going to need Andy's log any time soon, not until you correct some things in your guest.

00:00:02.202372 GUI: 2D video acceleration is disabled

And so is the 3D acceleration. Shutdown the VM and enable them in the VM settings » Display. You'll also notice that the max VRAM will jump from a max value of 128 to 256 MB after that; max the VRAM as well. Then re-install the Guest Additions (GAs) in the guest.

00:00:01.514736 GUI: UIMachineLogicFullscreen::sltHandleNativeFullscreenWillEnter:
      Machine-window #0 will enter native fullscreen

I thought I mentioned to avoid full screen... I also asked you to verify your model at some point.

00:00:01.542979 CableConnected <integer> = 0x0000000000000000 (0)

You have your network cable disconnected, you won't be able to see or be seen from the network.

00:00:01.543119 [/GIM/] (level 1)
00:00:01.543119   Provider <string>  = "None" (cb=5)

Any particular reason for disabling the paravirtualization? Out of curiosity...

Address the 2D/3D acceleration issue and the full-screen, at a minimum. See if that improves the situation...

[macjacke]

I don't think we're going to need Andy's log any time soon, not until you correct some things in your guest. ...

I would very much like to see a log file of a user who is satisfied with the performance.

[socratis]

Fix your problems first, and then I think we can compare logs...

[macjacke]

I have made the desired changes. 2D acceleration enabled. 3D acceleration enabled. 256 MB VRAM. Paravirtualization enabled. Note that Windows generally runs in 2560 x 1440 mode. Worst-case I only tested two machines Windows XP and Windows 10. There is no improvement for Windows XP. But Windows 10 runs much better. I did not perform any further tests under Windows 10. But the first impression is that I could work with it.

Now we have to make Windows XP, Windows 7 and Ubutu 16.04 workable.

I have added the Windows XP log file.

[macjacke]

I have carried out another test. I bought a much too expensive Thundebolt 3 on Thunderbolt 2 cable. With this cable I connected the iMac 2560x1440 as monitor to the iMac 5K. The monitors were mirrored so that they display the same content. And all guest systems run internally with 2560x1440.
When switching the monitor from primary internal to iMac (external) with Virtualbox running, Windows becomes super fast with external monitor (2560x1440) or dead slow with internal monitor (5K).
The guest software doesn't notice the switching. There is only a "virtual" monitor set with 2560x1440. The problem of the bad performance doesn't seem to be at the client but rather in the connection between Virtualbox and Host.