Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
Post Reply
DjDave238
Posts: 14
Joined: 9. Nov 2018, 20:24

Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by DjDave238 »

I'm trying to run Windows 10 Pro OEM inside VBox 5.2.20 r125812 (Qt5.6.2) on Windows 8.1 Pro host. Both the audio and video are so choppy and buggy (including during installation) that it is practically unusable. Even simply moving the cursor around the screen in an exercise in sheer patience.

Host Specs:
  • Windows 8.1 Pro 64-Bit (6.3, Build 9600)
  • AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Eight-Core CPU (3.70 GHz)
  • 32 GB DDR4 RAM (@ 1866 MHz)
  • NVidia GeForce GTX 1070 Ti
Guest Config:
  • Base Memory - 8192 MB (8GB) (I've tried up to 16)
  • Enable I/O APIC
  • 1 Processor (tried up to 4)
  • 100% Execution Cap
  • Default Paravirtualization Interface (Runs Hyper-V)
  • Enable VT-x/AMD-V
  • Enable Nested Paging
  • 128 MB Video Memory
  • 1 Monitor
  • NO 2D Video Acceleration or 3D Acceleartion
I don't have the choppiness problem at all when using Ubuntu in VBox on the same host; it runs perfectly smooth. I've tried twisting the configuration every which way and all I've managed to do is mess it up SO bad that I had to start over from scratch.

I've tried just leaving the defaults when choosing the kind of Guest OS; I've tried the default for both Windows 10 64-bit and Windows 8.1 64-bit. Nothing works.

This host should be *plenty* strong enough to handle this; what's wrong?

P.S. Installing Guest Additions didn't do anything to fix it either. In case that's relevant information.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by socratis »

DjDave238 wrote:Windows 10 Pro OEM
Red flag right there. Why the OEM version? Why not the standard one? OEM versions often are tied to the OEM hardware, and may be missing support for other hardware, or may be looking for specific hardware features. Try with the standard Win10 ISO. If you're on a Win host (from what I've learned) you're going to be redirected to the MediaCreationTool, so just ask and I'll give you the direct links. Or you can tell your browser to fake its ID and pretend you're Safari on Fedora (or something non-Windows).

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 error / 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.
Image
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
DjDave238
Posts: 14
Joined: 9. Nov 2018, 20:24

Re: Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by DjDave238 »

Sorry, my bad - I used the media downloader from Microsoft. It's not pre-packaged or any thing like that at all.
DjDave238
Posts: 14
Joined: 9. Nov 2018, 20:24

Re: Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by DjDave238 »

So after trying once again with default W10-64bit settings, and using Guest Ext., it seems to be stable... but not until about 60 seconds after booting. Before then, the loading circle for windows 10 drags, the sound is choppy; all that good stuff. It's hit and miss. (Which I realize is very annoying to debug.)
Attachments
Windows 10 Professional-2018-11-09-14-17-34.zip
VBox Log File
(23.97 KiB) Downloaded 28 times
DjDave238
Posts: 14
Joined: 9. Nov 2018, 20:24

Re: Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by DjDave238 »

I've noticed that it gets really bad during increased disk-writing/reading. (Odd, since it's in SSD mode, running on an SSD host.)

During installation of SQL Server Express 2017 to the guest OS, the guest audio went to pot; totally back to normal again after install was finished.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by mpack »

VBox.log wrote: 00:00:01.129776 NumCPUs <integer> = 0x0000000000000001 (1)
I don't see how you could expect good Win10-64bit responsiveness with one core. Try giving it four (not more).

OTOH the log shows that the GAs were loaded in 5 seconds, which means that the Windows OS had booted by then, which seems pretty good to me.
DjDave238
Posts: 14
Joined: 9. Nov 2018, 20:24

Re: Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by DjDave238 »

As I said above, I've tried up to 4 (and up to 8 since then). When I've added more than 1 core, performance is so bad that Windows literally *never* loads. It freezes on boot.
DjDave238
Posts: 14
Joined: 9. Nov 2018, 20:24

Re: Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by DjDave238 »

If per chance Windows does boot with more than one core assigned, the sound is garbled the entire time.
DjDave238
Posts: 14
Joined: 9. Nov 2018, 20:24

Re: Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by DjDave238 »

Just to test, I installed the same Windows 10 image on a 10-year-old HDD inside the same computer; real installation. Works great. No choppiness. Whatever is happening is being caused by virtual box's configuration or coding.
DjDave238
Posts: 14
Joined: 9. Nov 2018, 20:24

Re: Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by DjDave238 »

Switching from PIIX3 to ICH9 was a massive improvement, still some minor choppiness now and then, but overall *massive* improvement. :D
DjDave238
Posts: 14
Joined: 9. Nov 2018, 20:24

Re: Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by DjDave238 »

Final assessment: switched Host I/O caching on, and used ICH9 chipset instead of the PIIX3 chipset (which I read is older and less supportive of modern OS's).

Runs like greased lightning now, tried hard drive and cpu stressing tools one by one, neither will bog down audio or graphics now. :mrgreen:
andyp73
Volunteer
Posts: 1631
Joined: 25. May 2010, 23:48
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Assorted Linux, Windows Server 2012, DOS, Windows 10, BIOS/UEFI emulation

Re: Windows 10 Pro on Windows 8.1 Pro Host

Post by andyp73 »

DjDave238 wrote:and used ICH9 chipset instead of the PIIX3 chipset
ICH9 is an experimental feature (see 14.1. Experimental Features and was added for supporting macOS guests on macOS hosts (or OS X as it was then). It isn't supported and if you use it for anything else you do so at your own risk!

-Andy.
My crystal ball is currently broken. If you want assistance you are going to have to give me all of the necessary information.
Please don't ask me to do your homework for you, I have more than enough of my own things to do.
Post Reply