Solved Mouse & Keyboard very slow in VirtualBox

I decided I would give Windows 8 a test run in a VM. This is my first attempt at VMs.
All is installed on the system in my System Specs.

So I installed Oracle VirtualBox v4.1.18, then installed the extensions, then installed Windows 8, then installed the Guest Additions.

The mouse and keyboard are captured and work both in and out of the VM. Mouse integration is ON in the VM.

But the mouse, while it moves around normally, takes a long time to select an item and it takes a long time after I click before there is a reaction. The long time can be 5 or 6 seconds.
The keyboard is even worse. It takes a good 7 or 8 seconds after pressing a key to see the character appear in the VM.

I gave the VM 2GB out of my 6GB RAM. I upped that to 3GB, but it did not make a difference. Virtualization (VT-x) is enabled in BIOS.

Opening the Task Manager in the host machine shows that the VM is running on 5 of 8 cores (5?), and there are spikes that reach 100% in a random pattern.
Ram is shown running at a flat line at 4.48GB. This line does not fluctuate.

So what can I do to correct this behavior? Am I doing something wrong? I haven't started really playing with W8 because this is so annoying.

Mmm. Odd that - is there some VMWare tools update happening in the background by any chance? Or, Windows 8 update?

Hi there
upping the RAM to 3GB won't buy you anything at all -- for a decent W8 X-64 Guest 1 GB is probably more than enough --even running photoshop on it.

First of all have you got the correct video drivers etc installed on your HOST machine. If that's OK then you should just install the VM with the default options -- don't specify any special hardware.

I don't use Virtual Box as I'm more than satisfied over the years with VMware workstation (the vmplayer is free if you want to try using VMware instead of vbox). I can't say I've had these issues on any sort of Virtual machine I've created.

Cheers
jimbo

Golden said:

Mmm. Odd that - is there some VMWare tools update happening in the background by any chance? Or, Windows 8 update?

Click to expand...

No, nothing that I can see. And I turn automatic updates OFF during OS installation as a rule just for that reason!

jimbo45 said:

Hi there
upping the RAM to 3GB won't buy you anything at all -- for a decent W8 X-64 Guest 1 GB is probably more than enough --even running photoshop on it.

First of all have you got the correct video drivers etc installed on your HOST machine. If that's OK then you should just install the VM with the default options -- don't specify any special hardware.

I don't use Virtual Box as I'm more than satisfied over the years with VMware workstation (the vmplayer is free if you want to try using VMware instead of vbox). I can't say I've had these issues on any sort of Virtual machine I've created.

Cheers
jimbo

Click to expand...

Mmmm. I did not install any special hardware for the VM - did not know that was an option.
My nVidia driver is most(ly) current. Haven't checked in a couple of weeks.

Is there such a thing as a bad VM install? Would it be worth it to erase the file a try again?
Is it possible it is W8? Could that be a bad install, or a tantrum working inside a VM?

Thanks for looking guys!

Nope, I don't think its a bad install of either VMBox or Windows 8. have you had a look at this:

VirtualBox - Install Windows 8

Yep. I actually printed that tutorial out o) and used it step by step to do the installations!
As well as the Clean install tutorial from over at EightForums.

Darn! Ermm. I'm at a loss....I'll see if I can frag Kari this way - he's the VBox guru I think. Standby.

Thanks Golden. There's got to be a solution somewhere. I usually find it between the keyboard and chair!

VBox 4.1.18 Guest additions don't play very well in some installations. You may find you need to disable or roll back the WDDM video driver which seems to be the cause in my case. This may help. http://www.eightforums.com/virtualization/6908-vm-trouble-2-a.html

Cool! I will give that a try tonight. Thanks Kado!

Mmmm. There was no option to Roll Back the driver.
I uninstalled it (and the files), and on restarting the VM the same one came back.

VirtualBox Graphics Adapter (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM)

So now I'm wondering if the Guest Additions are actually installing. When I run them the two options are checked but greyed out. I could not uncheck them if I wanted.

• VirtualBox Guest Additions Main Files
• Direct 3D support (Experimental)

I guess I will need to experiment with different setups and installs.
Any other ideas, send 'em along!

I stopped using Vbox for this very reason myself, VMware was just a better experience for me.

I don't have a solution for you, but I'd be curious to hear if you figure it out.

I will keep you all apprised.

I think I will first test by creating a new machine and installing Ubuntu on it. Just to try and determine whether the problem lies with the VM on my computer, or the VM and W8.

Probably not during the work week however...

TVeblen said:

Mmmm. There was no option to Roll Back the driver.
I uninstalled it (and the files), and on restarting the VM the same one came back.

VirtualBox Graphics Adapter (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM)

So now I'm wondering if the Guest Additions are actually installing. When I run them the two options are checked but greyed out. I could not uncheck them if I wanted.

• VirtualBox Guest Additions Main Files
• Direct 3D support (Experimental)

I guess I will need to experiment with different setups and installs.
Any other ideas, send 'em along!

Click to expand...

That's strange. When I uninstalled the WDDM driver it went back to the Microsoft basic display adapter. Windows 8 is the only OS I have tried where you can't uncheck the WDDM driver. I wonder what would happen in you try installing GAs without VBox being configured for 3D. Maybe I'll try it if I get time later today.

I did a quick test. Unchecked the 3D and reduced video ram to 32MB and the WDDM driver was still checked and greyed. Ho Hum.

Thanks Kado. Just knowing that this is strange is helpful. If it works on everyone else system then I know there must be a solution, and that I am probably doing something wrong.

The thing that I find strange is that the GAs are greyed out and I can't select which one to install. I can't uncheck 3D. Am I supposed to be downloading a separate GA file from Oracle before clicking "Add GA" in the VM?

No. I get both check marks greyed out as well. It seems to be that VBox insists that it needs 3D support for W8 even though it runs fine without it. There is a very long thread on W8 in the VBox forum. You may find something in there. https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=44577

Thanks again. I will check that out. I'm off to work now!

By Jove, Watson, I think I've got it!

VrtualBox Manager > select VM > Settings > System > Processor Tab >

The default setting was 1 CPU. I upped that to 4 CPU, started the machine, problem gone!

I've now got it running on 8 CPUs and what a difference! Lightening fast response across the board.

Interesting. I've never tried more than one CPU. I'll have to give it a try.