virtualbox.org

Hello,

I want to install Kubuntu 9.04 under VirtualBox on Windows XP. My computer is an HP a430n, which has an AMD Athlon 3200+ CPU and 2 GB of RAM. Windows XP is a fresh install and I have the latest version of VirtualBox, version 2.2.2.

I'm using these instructions for the installation process. I have allocated 1 GB of RAM to the Kubuntu VM, which should be plenty.

As soon as I start the Kubuntu VM that points to the ISO image, CPU usage spikes to 100% and stays there. The Kubuntu installation screen appears and I select English as the language. Then, from the menu, I key down to "Install Kubuntu" and hit Enter. It must be trying to do something, because after then I can't key up or down to the different options, but nothing more happens. The CPU is still pegged at 100% so I'm guessing nothing else can get done.

Any idea why VirtualBox spikes the CPU to 100%? I'm guessing it's not a Kubuntu thing and instead is a VirtualBox thing, but I'm not sure. Plus, I figure lots of people are using VirtualBox so maybe somebody has a tip.

Thank you!!!

-Ryan

If you selected the default setting you should not have a problem. It is not unusual to have the processor at 100% while installing a program as long as it does not lock up. One thing that I would suggest is set the RAM at 512, that will be plenty for Kubuntu 9.04. That is what I have and it works fine. Be sure that your install software is not bad. Check it against the MD5 that came with the ISO.

The high CPU usage occurs even when the screen is sitting idle at the opening "Install Kubuntu" screen. Other than displaying that screen nothing is happening yet, so I'm not sure that it's the installation process that's taking up all of the CPU. If I select "Install Kubuntu" it just sits there -- the screen doesn't change and I can't key up or down to any of the other install options. I let it sit there for 20 minutes and there was no change. I can only assume that the installation doesn't progress because the CPU is being hogged by something else, presumably VirtualBox.

I've seen various reports of VirtualBox using high CPU but it seems to be for previous versions. Can anybody direct me as to what might be wrong or what I can do?

Check the VM settings such as vt-x to see if any of them make a difference.