virtualbox.org

I'm trying to get netflix running in virtualbox so I don't need to dual-boot, but I can't seem to get the video to run smoothly (image quality is low - very "jaggy" - video stutters and falls behind the audio, etc.).

I've been working through the forum here, as well as several google searches, but none of the fixes other people found seem to have worked (I'll list what I tried in a second). From looking at the system monitor, it appears that host CPU usage on one core pegs 100% when I'm trying to play back video (network and memory don't look to be stressed). Guest CPU usage also hits 100% (although it only sees a single core).

The only thought I have left is that maybe my system doesn't have the horsepower to run VB, although I think I've seen posts from people with older CPU's having success. Any thoughts on whether my hardware should be able to handle the load?

Hardware:
AMD X2 BE-2400 (2.3 Ghz)
2 GB Ram (even with 768-1024 for the guest, ~300 mb stays free in host, consistently)

Software:
V-Box 3.0.6 r52128
Ubuntu 8.10 Host (Gnome/XFCE/LXDE)
Windows XP SP3 Guest
Chrome/Firefox/IE (tried all three)

So far I've tried: checking the HAL type (currently ACPI Uniprocessor); running with one CPU; running with two CPU's (in which case both cores max out at 100% and the video still stutters!); enabling AMD-V; disabling AMD-V; increasing guest memory; decreasing guest memory; running with guest addition video; running w/out guest addition video; turning off USB support; running a second "dummy" virtualbox simultaneously (although I didn't actually install an OS on the second one, just ran it at the "no bootable media" prompt); increasing video memory; decreasing video memory; setting hard drive to sata controller; and switching to a lighter-weight linux desktop (LXDE and XFCE).

I've primarily been attempting to run netflix, but I've also checked out test clips on youtube and HULU. They both play fine in the window, although the video for both freezes when set to full-screen (audio continues without a hiccup).

The one last thought I had (as I wrote) this was maybe setting CPU's to 2 and switching the HAL to ACPI multiprocessor, any thoughts on that?

Anyways, sorry for the long post, just wanted to make sure I covered everything. Thanks for the help!

You need more memory for sure. Not sure that will fix it for you totally but running video in a VM really needs the memory.
If you have 2 Gig to start with you will probably only have a little under 1 Gig available to use on the VM and that is in reality going to be like running it in a lot less with the intense use that video rendering puts on it. Also the amount of VRam really does not do that much as this too is system RAM and not the from the video card.