[Bug 482486] Re: Ubuntu 9.10 and Vbox 3.0.8-3.0.10 lag issue in XP vm.

[Mario Schwalbe]

Since this issue doesn't depend on Windows XP being run inside a virtual
machine, I tested some free operating systems:

Host: MacBook Pro 4,1, Core2 Duo T8300, 4GB RAM
    Ubuntu Karmic 64-bit running kernels:
        2.6.31-14-generic (*)
        2.6.31-14-server  (*)
        2.6.31-15-generic (*)
        2.6.31-15-server  (*)
        2.6.31-16-generic (*)
        2.6.31-16-server  (*)
        2.6.31-9-rt
        2.6.32-7-generic
        2.6.32-7-server

Virtualbox:
    Virtualbox OSE (3.0.8-dfsg-1ubuntu1)
    Virtualbox SUN (3.1.0 r55467)

Virtual machines:
    1 processor, 1GB RAM, ACPI, IO-APIC, PAE/NX, VT-x

Guests:
    Ubuntu Karmic 64-bit
    FreeBSD 8.0 64-bit

All host kernels marked with (*) show the same effect of the guest
kernel taking approximately 10 seconds between 2 consecutive kernel
messages (with usplash turned off) after the processor(s) have been
initialized/the IO-APIC gets used. The host kernels 2.6.31-9-rt,
2.6.32-7-generic, and 2.6.32-7-server, however, worked well.

I also considered the following alternatives:
    (a) Turning off ACPI by either turning off ACPI emulation (only Virtualbox OSE;
          Virtualbox 3.1 doesn't support this option anymore) or using the guest loader:
            Ubuntu Karmic 64-bit: works fine
            FreeBSD 8.0 64-bit:   cannot mount root fs
    (b) Turning off IO-APIC emulation in Virtualbox:
            Ubuntu Karmic 64-bit: works fine
            FreeBSD 8.0 64-bit:   cannot mount root fs

As it appears, this issue is not only related to the host kernel (timer
frequency?), but also to Virtualbox' IO-APIC emulation. According to
Virtualbox ifself, IO-APIC emulation may impact performance, and indeed,
it does. Since I need to run (the officially unsupported) FreeBSD, I
finally switched to host kernel 2.6.32-7-generic from lucid.

-- 
Ubuntu 9.10 and Vbox 3.0.8-3.0.10 lag issue in XP vm.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/482486
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu.

-- 
ubuntu-bugs mailing list
ubuntu-bugs at lists.ubuntu.com
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs