Win7 Host, Ubuntu Guest - Lagging Keyboard Stokes

[osborn]

I am experiencing painfully slow keyboard response with the following setup.

Windows 7 RC 64-Bit Host, VirtualBox 3.0.4, and Ubuntu 9.0.4 64-Bit Guest.

The PC is a AMD Phenom, 4GB RAM, and a ATI 4800 series graphics card, USB keyboard and Mouse.

There are two problems. The first problem is that when typing in a terminal box or editor in Ubuntu the characters are entered with a very noticeable lag. It can take up to a second for the display to recognize a keystroke. The other problem is that the fancy tilting fading window display when you open or close a window will leave ghosts of the windows partly closed on the desktop until another window or object is selected. The mouse response normally.

Any ideas on how to make the guest OS more responsive? Once a command is entered, the system seems to respond normally, and the CPU usage of the host is not being taken up.

Thanks.

[Perryg]

Are the guest additions installed?
Also how much RAM and Video memory have you assigned to the guest?

[osborn]

Yes, Guest Additions are installed.

The machine has 4GB of RAM. I gave 1GB to the Guest, and the total windows memory usage is at 2.87GB, so there is no shortage of RAM available.

The Guest has 128MB of video RAM.

I have tried adjusting the amounts of Video and System RAM and have had no success.

[dmcgraw]

Is Compiz enabled in the guest?

[osborn]

It appears that Compiz was installed by default during the Ubuntu installation.

[osborn]

Well, 3.0.6 did not fix the problem. Bummer.

For instance, if I type the word "command" in a terminal box the letters "comman" appear about as fast as I type them. The "d" shows up about 1 second after I quite typing. If I then press and hold the backspace key the "ommand" is erased immediately, but the cursor stops at the "c" then erases the "c" after a 1 second pause. This applies to all keys, even the cursor keys.

I still get the ghost images of closed windows until I click, but I can live with that. The typing delay is driving me crazy.

Any suggestions?

[Perryg]

Try setting the Vram down to 16 or 32 Meg.

[osborn]

I tried 8MB, 16MB, and 32MB. No change in behavior.

Thanks

[Brocky]

I too was having this problem, it sounds exactly the same, however i have more to add, that you may not have noticed or is an "additional feature" of mine.

At the log on screen this problem does not happen.
If you manage to open up a text editor quickly after logging you can type for a few seconds without problems.
Not only the arrow keys, but also using the mouse to go to a different place in a document.
This problem only started after applying about 200MB of updates from the update manager.

After many attempts that i wont go into detail of, it appears to have been the "Extra Visual Effects" for me.
This is also known as Compiz Fusion, as was suggested by dmcgraw.
As far as i know this is set to None by default, however when set to extra it has the effects on my sstem that you described.
To disable the effects, select System>Preferances>Appearance. Then select the Visual Effects tab and select the None option, click close and restart.
Hopefully it is just one specific effect that can be turned of or changed in the compiz settings, however having to restart after every attempt will make this a lengthy process
It may be an effect that is wanting keyboard input. But i am needing the VM for assignments, so i don't have time.
Unfortunatly my actual Ubuntu 9.04 computer with similar settings to the VM is not operational at the moment so I am unable to see if it is something to do with VirtualBox drivers or just a Compiz problem.

Edit:
I just disabled ALL effects in the compiz options (including window titles) and the problem still persists. Unfortunatly it seems we are going to have to go without our pretty visual effects and wobbly windows

Hope this helps you.
Brocky

[osborn]

Thanks Brocky!

The keyboard lag appears to have gone away. The appearance setting was "normal", I changed it to "none". I also have little time to fiddle with it, but I am doing a lot of text editing and the lag was driving me crazy. I can easily live/work without the nice fancy Visual Effects.

Thanks again.