Rapid mouse movement lags on Windows7 guest

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
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loostro
Posts: 5
Joined: 20. Feb 2014, 22:32

Rapid mouse movement lags on Windows7 guest

Post by loostro »

Hi,

I managed to install Windows7 and Photoshop CS5 on it. Also installed and confgured my WACOM tablet. Everything works great, except for one problem:

if I input (with mouse, or my tablet) in normal speed (regular usage), everything is OK

but if I make rapid mouse/tablet (or any input device) movements, there is a clear 2-3 more seconds lag

This is really a problem when painting with my WACOM, as some strokes can't be drawn slowly. Sometimes you have to draw with fast brush movements. And if i draw with e.g. 20% transparent brush I cannot lift my LMB, wait to see my line, and then continue drawing, becouse another LMB click would overlay on what I've drawn before (meaning: 20% black on 20% black ==> darker than 20%).

I've tried increasing VRAM, I've tried with/without mouse integration - still the same problem.
How can I fix that?
Host:
Ubuntu 12.04
VirtualBox 4.3.6
Intel Core i7-720QM processor
GeForce GTS 360M (1GB VRAM) graphic card
8GB RAM

Guest:
Windows 7 Home 64bit (installed from official Microsoft ISO, activated with CD-KEY printed on the back of my laptop)
Guest Additions with 3D experimental (i tried also without 3d experimental - the same effect)
Assigned:
1 processor (100%)
4GB RAM
192 MB VRAM (with 2D video and 3D acceleration enabled)
40 GB HDD space
loostro
Posts: 5
Joined: 20. Feb 2014, 22:32

Re: Rapid mouse movement lags on Windows7 guest

Post by loostro »

Update: testing with Task Manager open I see that CPU usage (with Photoshop opened) is 1% or less... but when I start drawing (LPM + random moveing mouse) it quickly spikes to 100%.

Why does mouse input cause such heavy CPU usage? And maybe more important.. why does it at all cause CPU usage?
loostro
Posts: 5
Joined: 20. Feb 2014, 22:32

Re: Rapid mouse movement lags on Windows7 guest

Post by loostro »

Update2: Increasing the number of CPU from 1 to 4 has improved performance, but it does not completely solve the problem. It's at acceptable level now, but if I move around for longer than 5 seconds rapidly, I still experience as if mouse movements were recorded, and then played on my VM in slow motion...
Rishabh1x
Posts: 1
Joined: 24. Feb 2014, 16:53

Re: Rapid mouse movement lags on Windows7 guest

Post by Rishabh1x »

hi
i understand what u want to say...i also got this lag when i was installing windows7 in VB but then i deleted my VM and created a new one and when it asks you the name OS type etc i selected Other/Unknown in all fields and my mouse lag was fixed...
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27329
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Rapid mouse movement lags on Windows7 guest

Post by socratis »

Rishabh1x wrote:i selected Other/Unknown in all fields and my mouse lag was fixed
That's the wrong kind of advice, especially if you want to take advantages of all the optimizations for your guest OS.

@loostro
Under VM Settings -> System -> Pointing Device. Try the 3 different settings. The reason that Rishabh1x probably saw a difference is because for the Windows 7 template it defaults to "USB Tablet", while for Other/Unknown it defaults to "PS/2 Mouse".
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.
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thanar
Posts: 40
Joined: 21. Nov 2013, 19:18
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: winXP, win7
Location: Kozani, Greece
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Re: Rapid mouse movement lags on Windows7 guest

Post by thanar »

Hello,

Is this issue the same as this one? I've also uploaded a video of the issue.
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