TS08 works great under two cores but crashes with eight

[ToddAndMargo]

Hi All,

Host: CentOS 5.4 64 bit Guest: Windows Server 2008 SP2 32 bit as a Terminal Server (TS) Virtual Machine: Virtual Box 3.1.6 Virtual Box Guest Additions: 3.1.6

Over the weekend I upgraded my motherboard and processor:

Old:

Xeon 5130 (2 Cores) Supermicro MBD-X7DVL-E-O motherboard two cores assigned to the VM

New:

Xeon X5650 (6 core, 12 virtual cores) Supermicro X8SAX Eight cores assigned to the VM (reduced to two)

Problem: with eight cores assigned to the Terminal Server, my CPU's hit 100% for approximately 3 to 10 minutes when users try to log in to Terminal Services.

And, if more than two users are logged in, when the third user tries to log on, the Terminal Server freezes up (no notes in the event log either). The Terminal Server is very unstable

Work around: tell the VM it only has two cores.

Under two cores, this VM is a delight. My CPU only hits about 75% for about 5 seconds when someone tries to log on and the system is suddenly totally stable.

I also have a second Terminal Server 2003 on the same motherboard under the same conditions as above. The only two exeptions are Windows Server 2003 and an i7-920 processor. I have seven of the cores assigned to the guest. And, it work beautifully. Kind of fun to use.

Many thanks, -T

P.s as I am writing this, I have noticed that five users are now logged on and my CPU is only bobbing up to about 5%.

p.s.s I realized this could be a Microsoft problem, but since they already blamed it on you guys, I am reporting it to you.

[Sander van Leeuwen]

Without VBox.log there's nothing we can do.

[ToddAndMargo]

Log files for eight core crash

[ToddAndMargo]

Please reopen as critical. My customer is about to loose a $6,000.00 billing over this (they have already received a disengagement letter).

I have attached all four log files. I suspect that VBox.log.2 and VBox.log.3 are the ones you want. They state that they have 8 cores. VBox.log and VBox.log.1 state that they have 2 cores (it work fine under two cores).

Let me know if you have a problem with tar format and I will see if I can figure out zip on Linux.

I appreciate you guys working on this.

Many thanks, -T

[Technologov]

Not, that this is community bugzilla. This means low priority.

And if your customer is about to lose $6000, it makes sense to pay for VirtualBox to receive quicker replies from VirtualBox management and developers.

-Technologov

[ToddAndMargo]

Replying to Technologov:

...it makes sense to pay for VirtualBox to receive quicker replies from VirtualBox management and developers.

Hi Technologov,

A tech support contract does make sense. I looked all aver Oracle's web site with no joy. Do you know a URL that would have details on such a contract?

Many thanks, -T

[Sander van Leeuwen]

Turn on nested paging.

[ToddAndMargo]

Replying to sandervl73:

Turn on nested paging.

$ VBoxManage showvminfo WS08-1 grep -i -E "Nested|vpid" Nested Paging: off VT-x VPID: off

The next chance I get to turn these back on will be Tuesday evening, if I can kick all the users off. I will report back,

Reading the manual, this will switch memory functions from software to hardware. Does this mean that the software version of this is hosed?

Many thanks, -T

[ToddAndMargo]

Hi All,

Is this a clue?

​http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=30907&p=137375#p137375

Did I mistakenly tell the VM that I had twice the processors I actually have?

Many thanks, -T

[aeichner]

Please reopen if still relevant with a recent VirtualBox release.