virtualbox.org

I have been running Virtual box on a 2011 Mac 27 inch for years with No problem. Install exactly the same software (5.2.20 r125813 (Qt5.6.3)and settings on Mac 2017 27 inch and although I can load the programs okay, when I click the mouse in the program(eg on a button), it locks up(or runs extremely slowly) for 15 or 20 seconds. This is also locks up the the toolbars(top and bottom) but eventually will free itself. Looks like it's running out of memory and struggling to keep up. Makes no difference between fullscreen and scaled mode. Have checked the CPU and memory, looks okay nothing outrageous. One difference in the two macs is that the 2011 model is running on an 1TB SSD and 2017 model on a 1 TB fusion Drive. The 2017 Mac is iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017), 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 16 GB 2400 MHz DDR4, Radeon Pro 575 4096 MB. I have attached a log and if anybody's got any information Will be very much appreciated before I pull all my hair out.

00:00:01.275617 VRamSize <integer> = 0x0000000004000000 (67 108 864, 64 MB)
...
00:13:48.026708 Display::handleDisplayResize: uScreenId=0 pvVRAM=000000011558a000 w=2560 h=1440 bpp=32 cbLine=0x2800 flags=0x1

That's a big display. A single frame requires 14MB RAM, so 64MB only allows ~4 frame buffers. You might want to increase your VRAM to 256MB.

I see the guest only uses one core too, so it's never going to be fast. Had I been creating this VM on this host I'd have given it 2048MB RAM, 256MB VRAM, 2 cores. Disk space seems ok at 32GB for Win7-32bit.

Note that I don't know how the Win7 guest will like it if the vCPU count suddenly increases. XP would ignore the change until the HAL was replaced. I've never needed to do it on Win7.

Hi thanks for the reply.
Firstly, the maximum video memory I can put in to Virtual box by the wizard 128mb. From here it will not allow any more than that. I do not know how to increase it otherwise. Secondly I do not know how to run virtual box with two cores. Again there is no allowance for this in the wizard. Any help would be appreciated.

Olliedog00 wrote: Firstly, the maximum video memory I can put in to Virtual box by the wizard 128mb.

From memory, the trick is to configure two monitors, that will allow you to configure 256MB VRAM, then you can set it back to one monitor.

Olliedog00 wrote:Secondly I do not know how to run virtual box with two cores. Again there is no allowance for this in the wizard.

The wizard is conservative by design, and in any case is not relevant if the VM is already created. You can increase the number of cores in the VM settings: <system>|Process tab|Processor count. Don't set more than 2, and bear in mind what I said earlier about this change: this could cause Win7 to lose activation, if it has any effect at all.

mpack wrote:From memory, the trick is to configure two monitors, that will allow you to configure 256MB VRAM, then you can set it back to one monitor.

Actually the trick is to enable 3D acceleration. The monitor count has an effect only on the minimum required VRAM.

mpack wrote:XP would ignore the change until the HAL was replaced. I've never needed to do it on Win7.

No problem. It works just fine. And a single change in the number of CPUs won't even affect the activation, AFAIK.

To add to mpack's suggestion about RAM and vCPUs:

00:00:01.891048 GUI: 2D video acceleration is disabled

And so is the 3D acceleration. Shutdown the VM and enable them in the VM settings » Display. You'll also notice that the max VRAM will jump from a max value of 128 to 256 MB after that; max the VRAM as well. Then re-install the Guest Additions (GAs) in the guest.

Hi guys
Many thanks for all your inputs, but this still doesn't work. I increased the vram to 256 and set it to maximum, enabled 3-D and 2-D acceleration, reinstalled Guest additions in the guest. I can start Virtual box, run Windows 7, load the program(which loads at normal speed) but with the first mouse click on any button within the program, it stops working and locks up the screen for poss 30 seconds. This also applies to the toolbars at the top and the bottom of the screen. The whole screen locks up and I have to Force quit the program. The programs I have try to run are Internet explorer 8, Explorer 11 and Webplus 8 (website creation program from serif).
any ideas ??

Post an updated complete zipped VBox.log, from a complete VM run:

• Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe error / Shutdown the VM (force close it if you have to).
• With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
• Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response. See the "Upload attachment" tab below the reply form.

Please find attached log as requested.

[ModEdit; uncompressed log removed, after repeated instructions on zipping the log]

I'm sorry, but *NOT* as requested.
I highlighted twice in bold red underlined font that you should ZIP the log. Please try again.

Sorry about that please find attached zip file

The new log is incomplete, just like the first one was. Clearly the VM was still running when the log was copied.

Hi
I did as you said and a log came up with three headings. Vbox.log(which is what I have now attached), VBox.log.1 and VBox.log.2 and VBox.log.3

Hope this is correct.

The .1, .2 etc files are simply the logs from the previous 3 VM sessions.

Have you got what you require ?

Since we still don't have a log from a complete session as requested, I'm afraid: no, it is still not sufficient.

You can't copy files that are still open for writing by the application (any application). You need to close the application first.

One more try:

1. Run the VM.
2. Do what is required to trigger the problem.
3. Power down (not suspend) the VM.
4. Use the manager to export/save the VBox.log file.
5. Zip the saved log.
6. Attach the zip here.