[FIXED] VBoxSVC runs at a constant 99% CPU usage on 2.1.2

chartek · Post by **chartek** » 23. Jan 2009, 19:34

Hello,

I just upgraded VirtualBox from 2.1.0 to 2.1.2 on my Ubuntu host, and now when I start up my one Windows 2008 Server guest, VBoxSVC runs at a constant 98-99% CPU. I am running Hardy with a kernel version of 2.6.24-22-generic, x86_64 (a 64-bit host with a 32-bit guest). This only started with 2.1.2; 2.1.0 and previous versions were fine. I hope I don't need to downgrade. Is anyone else experiencing the same thing or could possibly help me troubleshoot this issue?

Thanks for any help!
CharTek

Edit: I forgot to add - when I shutdown my guest VBoxSVC quits after a minute or two. However, it spikes right back up to 99% when I boot the guest again.

My host is also a console-only server. I run VBoxHeadless -startvm adama -vrdp=off & to start up the guest.

Here is my guest's configuration:

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<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- Sun xVM VirtualBox Machine Configuration -->
<VirtualBox xmlns="http://www.innotek.de/VirtualBox-settings" version="1.6-linux">
  <Machine OSType="Windows2003" uuid="{682603ca-20c3-43a9-a8f9-ced54a79a666}" name="adama" lastStateChange="2009-01-23T17:26:21Z">
    <Hardware>
      <CPU count="1">
        <HardwareVirtEx enabled="false"/>
      </CPU>
      <Memory RAMSize="1024"/>
      <Boot>
        <Order position="1" device="DVD"/>
        <Order position="2" device="DVD"/>
        <Order position="3" device="HardDisk"/>
      </Boot>
      <Display VRAMSize="32" monitorCount="1" accelerate3D="false"/>
      <RemoteDisplay enabled="false" port="13389" authType="Null" authTimeout="5000"/>
      <BIOS>
        <ACPI enabled="true"/>
        <IOAPIC enabled="false"/>
        <Logo fadeIn="true" fadeOut="true" displayTime="0"/>
        <BootMenu mode="MessageAndMenu"/>
        <TimeOffset value="0"/>
        <PXEDebug enabled="false"/>
        <IDEController type="PIIX4"/>
      </BIOS>
      <DVDDrive passthrough="false"/>
      <FloppyDrive enabled="true"/>
      <USBController enabled="false" enabledEhci="false"/>
      <SATAController enabled="true" PortCount="4" IDE0MasterEmulationPort="0" IDE0SlaveEmulationPort="1" IDE1MasterEmulationPort="2" IDE1SlaveEmulationPort="3"/>
	  <Network>
        <Adapter slot="0" enabled="true" MACAddress="080027827777" cable="true" speed="0" type="82540EM">
          <HostInterface name="eth0"/>
        </Adapter>
        <Adapter slot="1" enabled="false" MACAddress="080027AD9100" cable="true" speed="0" type="Am79C973"/>
        <Adapter slot="2" enabled="false" MACAddress="0800272BE3A9" cable="true" speed="0" type="Am79C973"/>
        <Adapter slot="3" enabled="false" MACAddress="080027339012" cable="true" speed="0" type="Am79C973"/>
        <Adapter slot="4" enabled="false" MACAddress="080027C77E78" cable="true" speed="0" type="Am79C973"/>
        <Adapter slot="5" enabled="false" MACAddress="080027E6122D" cable="true" speed="0" type="Am79C973"/>
        <Adapter slot="6" enabled="false" MACAddress="080027F18B2D" cable="true" speed="0" type="Am79C973"/>
        <Adapter slot="7" enabled="false" MACAddress="080027A3A95A" cable="true" speed="0" type="Am79C973"/>
      </Network>
      <UART>
        <Port slot="0" enabled="false" IOBase="0x3f8" IRQ="4" hostMode="Disconnected"/>
        <Port slot="1" enabled="false" IOBase="0x3f8" IRQ="4" hostMode="Disconnected"/>
      </UART>
      <LPT>
        <Port slot="0" enabled="false" IOBase="0x378" IRQ="4"/>
        <Port slot="1" enabled="false" IOBase="0x378" IRQ="4"/>
      </LPT>
      <AudioAdapter controller="AC97" driver="Null" enabled="false"/>
      <SharedFolders/>
      <Clipboard mode="Bidirectional"/>
      <Guest memoryBalloonSize="0" statisticsUpdateInterval="0"/>
      <GuestProperties>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Product" value="Windows Vista Server Standard Edition (full installation)" timestamp="1232731285070733000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Release" value="6.0.6001" timestamp="1232731285071396000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Version" value="" timestamp="1232731285071828000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/ServicePack" value="1" timestamp="1232731285072181000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/InstallDir" value="C:/Program Files/Sun/xVM VirtualBox Guest Additions" timestamp="1232731285073252000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Revision" value="36486" timestamp="1232731285073736000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Version" value="2.0.2" timestamp="1232731285074150000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxControl.exe" value="2.0.2r36486" timestamp="1232731285079448000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxHook.dll" value="2.0.2r36486" timestamp="1232731285085448000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxDisp.dll" value="2.0.2r36486" timestamp="1232731285088878000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxMRXNP.dll" value="2.0.2r36486" timestamp="1232731285093644000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxService.exe" value="2.0.2r36486" timestamp="1232731285094993000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxTray.exe" value="2.0.2r36486" timestamp="1232731285099335000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxGuest.sys" value="2.0.2r36486" timestamp="1232731285102505000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxMouse.sys" value="2.0.2r36486" timestamp="1232731285105472000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxSF.sys" value="2.0.2r36486" timestamp="1232731285108533000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxVideo.sys" value="2.0.2r36486" timestamp="1232731285111869000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/LoggedInUsers" value="0" timestamp="1232731573168863000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/Net/Count" value="1" timestamp="1232731573152165000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/Net/0/V4/IP" value="172.25.2.2" timestamp="1232731573152747000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/Net/0/V4/Broadcast" value="255.255.255.255" timestamp="1232731573153199000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/Net/0/V4/Netmask" value="255.255.255.0" timestamp="1232731573153648000" flags=""/>
        <GuestProperty name="/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/Net/0/Status" value="Up" timestamp="1232731573154090000" flags=""/>
      </GuestProperties>
    </Hardware>
    <HardDiskAttachments>
      <HardDiskAttachment hardDisk="{7512919d-688a-4cea-bb7f-16bce45c92fa}" bus="SATA" channel="0" device="0"/>
      <HardDiskAttachment hardDisk="{b1e53c4f-3186-4b64-84aa-deb1c281c884}" bus="SATA" channel="1" device="0"/>
    </HardDiskAttachments>
  </Machine>
</VirtualBox>

chartek · Post by **chartek** » 23. Jan 2009, 21:43

Okay, in order to eliminate the possibility of an upgrade problem, I removed and reinstalled VirtualBox 2.1.2, deleted the .VirtualBox directory, and then recreated the virtual machine. VBoxSVC still pegs out at 99% immediately after starting up the guest.

Anyone else having CPU issues with VBoxSVC?

dumbuser · Post by **dumbuser** » 23. Jan 2009, 22:04

similar trouble after I upgraded

is the cpu pegged on guest?

check in guest taskmanager to see what is peging cpu

I reverted the guest additions back to 2.1.0 and trouble went away.

chartek · Post by **chartek** » 23. Jan 2009, 22:42

Thanks for the reply! I just upgraded the guest additions on my guest to 2.1.2 and the VBoxSVC process on the host is still at 99%. Both guest process itself (VBoxHeadless) and the cpu inside the guest run normally. It is the VBoxSVC process that is the problem.

Here's the top few entries from the top command:

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top - 14:40:24 up  1:54,  1 user,  load average: 1.71, 1.56, 1.16
Tasks: 102 total,   1 running, 101 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
Cpu(s): 27.3%us, 23.3%sy,  0.0%ni, 49.0%id,  0.0%wa,  0.0%hi,  0.3%si,  0.0%st
Mem:   6053436k total,  2597516k used,  3455920k free,    31892k buffers
Swap:  8388600k total,        0k used,  8388600k free,  1239476k cached

  PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND
12047 vbox      20   0  173m 6016 3748 S   99  0.1  27:14.44 VBoxSVC
12027 vbox      20   0 1255m 1.0g 6268 S    5 17.6   7:44.75 VBoxHeadless
    4 root      15  -5     0    0    0 S    1  0.0   0:16.64 ksoftirqd/0
11970 chartek   20   0 68124 1868 1148 S    1  0.0   0:00.32 sshd
12354 vbox      20   0 18860 1244  932 R    1  0.0   0:00.22 top
    1 root      20   0  4020  884  600 S    0  0.0   0:01.68 init

singh.gurjeet · Post by **singh.gurjeet** » 24. Jan 2009, 23:24

I am facing the same issue... Upgraded to 2.1.2 and started consuming 100% on one of my 2 CPUs. Guest is idle. Guest: CentOS 5.2, Host Vista, Guest mem: 512MB.

I am really sorry to say, but.. is it Sun's policy to takeover a healthy software and riddle it with unstable releases???

chartek · Post by **chartek** » 29. Jan 2009, 18:00

So I went ahead and reinstalled 2.1.0 and that's working flawlessly. However, I did find a new ticket that matches this problem: http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/3136. Apparently this has to do with a dbus dependency, and according to the ticket, it should be fixed in svn.

chartek · Post by **chartek** » 20. Feb 2009, 22:20

Fixed in VirtualBox 2.1.4 release.