[SOLVED] VMs created on QEMU/Virt Manager have terrible performance

user0984379 · 2024-02-10 03:44:36

Hello, I've been trying to troubleshoot a problem for a while that I've been having with trying to create VMs via virt-manager, which is that the VMs (Kali Linux and Linux Mint) that I have made have abhorrent graphical performance (windows are extremely choppy and slow) and that no sound is outputted from the VM at all. There are also a bunch of other minor miscellaneous errors that occur when running the VM (Eg. both the host and guest mouse cursors rendering at the same time). I have read the QEMU section on the arch wiki and I believe the problem is to do with KVM not being enabled on any of the VMs (At least for the graphical aspect of the issue). I have ran all the tests to see if my host OS supports KVM and all the outputs from these commands return that everything is in order.

'LC_ALL=C lscpu | grep Virtualization'
Virtualization: VT-x

'zgrep CONFIG_KVM= /proc/config.gz'
CONFIG_KVM=m

'lsmod | grep kvm'
kvm_intel 425984 6
kvm 1376256 5 kvm_intel
irqbypass 12288 1 kvm

Yet when I hop into a VM all of the aforementioned problems occur. When I go on my host OS's qemu monitor and type in 'info kvm' I get 'kvm support: disabled' outputted. I have been searching around for a solution to this but to no avail. I've heard that using an nvidia card has something to do with VMs not working properly (?) but I couldn't find any way to fix that if that is true. Is there some sort of dependency that I am missing that would get all of this to work or does the issue have to do with kvm not starting up properly?

Last edited by user0984379 (2024-02-11 18:57:20)

Lone_Wolf · 2024-02-10 12:39:48

Please post the output of lspci -k from one of the guest.

Also the xml file created by virtmanager for that guest.

user0984379 · 2024-02-10 23:48:39

Lone_Wolf wrote:

Please post the output of lspci -k from one of the guest.
Also the xml file created by virtmanager for that guest.

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU Virtual Machine
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Device 1234:1111 (rev 02)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. Device 1100
Kernel driver in use: bochs-drm
Kernel modules: bochs
00:02.0 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:02.1 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:02.2 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:02.3 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:02.4 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:02.5 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:02.6 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:02.7 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:03.0 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:03.1 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:03.2 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:03.3 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:03.4 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:03.5 PCI bridge: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU PCIe Root port
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801IB (ICH9) LPC Interface Controller (rev 02)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU Virtual Machine
Kernel driver in use: lpc_ich
Kernel modules: lpc_ich
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801IR/IO/IH (ICH9R/DO/DH) 6 port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU Virtual Machine
Kernel driver in use: ahci
Kernel modules: ahci
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU Virtual Machine
Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus
Kernel modules: i2c_i801
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Red Hat, Inc. Virtio 1.0 network device (rev 01)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. Virtio 1.0 network device
Kernel driver in use: virtio-pci
Kernel modules: virtio_pci
02:00.0 USB controller: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU XHCI Host Controller (rev 01)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. QEMU XHCI Host Controller
Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
Kernel modules: xhci_pci
03:00.0 Communication controller: Red Hat, Inc. Virtio 1.0 console (rev 01)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. Virtio 1.0 console
Kernel driver in use: virtio-pci
Kernel modules: virtio_pci
04:00.0 SCSI storage controller: Red Hat, Inc. Virtio 1.0 block device (rev 01)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. Virtio 1.0 block device
Kernel driver in use: virtio-pci
Kernel modules: virtio_pci
05:00.0 Unclassified device [00ff]: Red Hat, Inc. Virtio 1.0 memory balloon (rev 01)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. Virtio 1.0 memory balloon
Kernel driver in use: virtio-pci
Kernel modules: virtio_pci
06:00.0 Unclassified device [00ff]: Red Hat, Inc. Virtio 1.0 RNG (rev 01)
Subsystem: Red Hat, Inc. Virtio 1.0 RNG
Kernel driver in use: virtio-pci
Kernel modules: virtio_pci

user0984379 · 2024-02-10 23:50:42

Lone_Wolf wrote:

Please post the output of lspci -k from one of the guest.
Also the xml file created by virtmanager for that guest.

<domain type="kvm">
<name>kali-linux</name>
<uuid>8147c116-fff9-4d0d-9d16-bfeb1249c7e6</uuid>
<metadata>
<libosinfo:libosinfo xmlns:libosinfo="http://libosinfo.org/xmlns/libvirt/domain/1.0">
<libosinfo:os id="http://debian.org/debian/11"/>
</libosinfo:libosinfo>
</metadata>
<memory unit="KiB">8290304</memory>
<currentMemory unit="KiB">8290304</currentMemory>
<vcpu placement="static">4</vcpu>
<os>
<type arch="x86_64" machine="pc-q35-8.2">hvm</type>
<boot dev="hd"/>
</os>
<features>
<acpi/>
<apic/>
</features>
<cpu mode="host-passthrough" check="none" migratable="on"/>
<clock offset="utc">
<timer name="rtc" tickpolicy="catchup"/>
<timer name="pit" tickpolicy="delay"/>
<timer name="hpet" present="no"/>
</clock>
<on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
<on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
<on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
<pm>
<suspend-to-mem enabled="no"/>
<suspend-to-disk enabled="no"/>
</pm>
<devices>
<emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64</emulator>
<disk type="file" device="disk">
<driver name="qemu" type="qcow2" discard="unmap"/>
<source file="/var/lib/libvirt/images/kali-linux.qcow2"/>
<target dev="vda" bus="virtio"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x04" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</disk>
<disk type="file" device="cdrom">
<driver name="qemu" type="raw"/>
<target dev="sda" bus="sata"/>
<readonly/>
<address type="drive" controller="0" bus="0" target="0" unit="0"/>
</disk>
<controller type="usb" index="0" model="qemu-xhci" ports="15">
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x02" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="0" model="pcie-root"/>
<controller type="pci" index="1" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="1" port="0x10"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x0" multifunction="on"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="2" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="2" port="0x11"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x1"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="3" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="3" port="0x12"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x2"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="4" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="4" port="0x13"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x3"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="5" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="5" port="0x14"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x4"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="6" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="6" port="0x15"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x5"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="7" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="7" port="0x16"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x6"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="8" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="8" port="0x17"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x7"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="9" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="9" port="0x18"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x0" multifunction="on"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="10" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="10" port="0x19"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x1"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="11" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="11" port="0x1a"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x2"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="12" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="12" port="0x1b"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x3"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="13" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="13" port="0x1c"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x4"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="14" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="14" port="0x1d"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x5"/>
</controller>
<controller type="sata" index="0">
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x1f" function="0x2"/>
</controller>
<controller type="virtio-serial" index="0">
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x03" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</controller>
<interface type="network">
<mac address="52:54:00:23:68:3d"/>
<source network="default"/>
<model type="virtio"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x01" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</interface>
<serial type="pty">
<target type="isa-serial" port="0">
<model name="isa-serial"/>
</target>
</serial>
<console type="pty">
<target type="serial" port="0"/>
</console>
<channel type="unix">
<target type="virtio" name="org.qemu.guest_agent.0"/>
<address type="virtio-serial" controller="0" bus="0" port="1"/>
</channel>
<input type="tablet" bus="usb">
<address type="usb" bus="0" port="1"/>
</input>
<input type="mouse" bus="ps2"/>
<input type="keyboard" bus="ps2"/>
<graphics type="vnc" port="-1" autoport="yes">
<listen type="address"/>
</graphics>
<audio id="1" type="none"/>
<video>
<model type="vga" vram="16384" heads="1" primary="yes"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x0"/>
</video>
<watchdog model="itco" action="reset"/>
<memballoon model="virtio">
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x05" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</memballoon>
<rng model="virtio">
<backend model="random">/dev/urandom</backend>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x06" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</rng>
</devices>
</domain>

cryptearth · 2024-02-11 12:33:58

Although I don't know much about virtualization issues within (k)vm guests often caused by issues of the host system.
So, a few questions about the host system:

- motherboard (manufacturer, model, bios-version)
- cpu
- ram (model, speed, timings)

Also: Please check if you have IOMMU and Virtualization enabled in your bios.
Also also: Have you selected CSM or regular UEFI boot mode?

Lone_Wolf · 2024-02-11 13:05:28

user0984379, pleaase use [ code ] [ /code ] tags for such output , see https://bbs.archlinux.org/help.php#bbcode for details .

    <video>
      <model type="vga" vram="16384" heads="1" primary="yes"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x0"/>
    </video>

You're giving the guest a very simple videocard that is useful for terminal output but not much more.
See https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/QEMU#Graphic_card for other options and what drivers they need.

virtmanager should allow you to set the devices, the guest drivers you'll have to install yourself in the guest.

user0984379 · 2024-02-11 18:55:07

Lone_Wolf wrote:

user0984379, pleaase use [ code ] [ /code ] tags for such output , see https://bbs.archlinux.org/help.php#bbcode for details .
    <video>
      <model type="vga" vram="16384" heads="1" primary="yes"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x0"/>
    </video>
You're giving the guest a very simple videocard that is useful for terminal output but not much more.
See https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/QEMU#Graphic_card for other options and what drivers they need.
virtmanager should allow you to set the devices, the guest drivers you'll have to install yourself in the guest.

I tried switching to the virtio video card but it gave some error saying that Virt Manager doesn't support it -
Error changing VM configuration: unsupported configuration: domain configuration does not support video model 'virtio'

I searched around and it turns out that the problem was that I only installed the base package of qemu (qemu) instead of the full package (qemu-full) (What I get for watching a youtube video installation guide). After I had the package installed, I rebooted my system and made a new VM and all of the problems went away. Thank you for your help friend

Arch Linux

#1 2024-02-10 03:44:36

[SOLVED] VMs created on QEMU/Virt Manager have terrible performance

#2 2024-02-10 12:39:48

Re: [SOLVED] VMs created on QEMU/Virt Manager have terrible performance

#3 2024-02-10 23:48:39

Re: [SOLVED] VMs created on QEMU/Virt Manager have terrible performance

#4 2024-02-10 23:50:42

Re: [SOLVED] VMs created on QEMU/Virt Manager have terrible performance

#5 2024-02-11 12:33:58

Re: [SOLVED] VMs created on QEMU/Virt Manager have terrible performance

#6 2024-02-11 13:05:28

Re: [SOLVED] VMs created on QEMU/Virt Manager have terrible performance

#7 2024-02-11 18:55:07

Re: [SOLVED] VMs created on QEMU/Virt Manager have terrible performance

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