Noticeable typing lag in Linux VM terminals since v16.2 upgrade on Linux host

[ajgringo619]

Upgraded my EndeavourOS host to version 16.2 yesterday. Now I'm noticing a lag when typing in any VM terminal window - Arch, Ubuntu, openSUSE are experiencing the same thing. I'm using open-vm-tools, which has never been a problem before. I have not changed any settings on the VMs since their creations: 8GB RAM, 4GB vGPU, 8 vCPUs.

Anyone else seeing this? I haven't tried with my Windows 10 host yet (also on v16.2).

UPDATE: working great with Windows 10 (Home) host.

[workstationboi]

Thank you, good stuff - i saw your reply to late tho but i saved it for next time 🙂.
And for those looking for windows binaries: https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/details?downloadGroup=WKST-1612-WIN&productId=1038&rPId...

I managed to resolve my lagg input by uninstalling 17.0.1 -> reboot -> Install "16.1.0 build-17198959", while installing i added the Hypervisor support and enhanced keyboard drivers. Now its smooth, no lagg, superresponsive terminals and textinputs from keyboard :).

[goldeneye_007]

Yes. A lot of people have seen the problem.

The issue is there is no clear consistent fix that works for all scenarios.

If you have success in coming up with a solution, post back what worked

for you. Aggregating 'fixes' that can be tried in this thread is about the best resource for

those with this problem.

[wila]

---

@workstationboi wrote:

I managed to resolve my lagg input by uninstalling 17.0.1 -> reboot -> Install "16.1.0 build-17198959", while installing i added the Hypervisor support and enhanced keyboard drivers. Now its smooth, no lagg, superresponsive terminals and textinputs from keyboard :).

---

Glad to hear you got it to work as expected.

One note.. I advise against installing the enhanced keyboard drivers for almost everyone. They only solve a very specific use case and I highly doubt that it addresses the "laggy keyboard" issue. They tend to generated more issues than solving them.

See: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Pro/What-exactly-is-the-quot-Enhanced-Keyboard-...

for what it actually does.

--
Wil

[workstationboi]

Im back with another issue that is directly linked to these versions.
When i reverted back to 16.1.2, i have no lagg in any of my ubuntu/debian vm's - everything works great - untill i try to install and boot a Windows 10,11 distrubution. Im unable to. I have a Intel 13900k and no matter what i do, the Windows 10,11 VM's will not boot unless i put them on 1 core 1 cpu in version 16.1.2 or below. Above this version, the Windows 10,11 dists works perfectly with as many cores as i like.

So, im now forced to upgrade to latest so i can run the windows dists. But forced to uninstall and install 16.1.2 as soon as i want to use the Linux dists.

its truly messed up.

I have to migrade to another platform, but after spending much on these licenses - and time - it feels like a massive letdown.

edit: note that windows server works fine in all versions....

[goldeneye_007]

I would suggest opening a ticket with VMware.

[marbaa]

I just randomly find out. When I'm on login screen - currently tested Alma 9.1 XFCE which is using sddm, the typing is instant. When it log me in to the desktop, then the typing lag is back. Weird.

[Bobe71]

I reply to myself...

After a recent hardware update, the keyboard lagging came back in a very bad way making the guest
useless unless giving the machine a dedicated keyboard....
I tried other ways to get rid of the problem and what worked for me now, was doing what @tempresidence suggested.
It is not a great deal to disable Hyper-V, but well, I don't need it so I disabled it.

There are several ways to disable Hyper-V (https://www.nakivo.com/blog/uninstalling-or-disabling-hyper-v-in-windows-10/)

What I did was

from the Windows Features panel (searched for "turn windows features on or off")
I disabled
- Hyper-V
- Virtual Machine Platform
- windows Hypervisor Platform

then from, a powershell console with administrator priviledge, ran

bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off

then rebooted the host.

Check, from a terminal console (cmd or powershell), run the command "systeminfo" and at the bottom end
you should read something like

Hyper-V Requirements: VM Monitor Mode Extensions: Yes
Virtualization Enabled In Firmware: Yes
Second Level Address Translation: Yes
Data Execution Prevention Available: Yes

Now, before starting my VM, I re-enabled "Virtualize Intel-VT-xEPT or AMD-V/RVI" from the Processor Settings.

The keyboard now works well.

System Infos

Workstation Pro 17.0.2
Host: Windows 11 Pro (22H2 Build 22621.1702)
Guest: Linux Mint 21.1 Vera (Hardware Compatibility 17.x)

Again, hope this can be helpful for someone.

[gregothemax]

I've had the same issues with 16, upgraded to 17.0.2 and still the same.  I followed what you did and the issues seems resolved.  Thanks a lot.

[kasumi1]

It's literally 2 years since the issue pops up. No one from VMWare is willing to fix this fatal issue?

[aiv00]

I have had the same issue and have tried many of the fixes from this thread.

I was chasing up any leads I could think of for this and long story short, I came across this article:

https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-11-disable-vbs/

I tried it and I don't seem to be having any issues any more. So could the issue be due to Windows 11 new Virtualization-Based Security?

While I may have been able to remedy my situation. It doesn't seem to me to be the ideal solution as I use my kali vm for ctfs which are typically considered to be hostile environments. The extra security that VBS supposedly provides seems desirable in my situation.

Perhaps someone smarter than I could try to replicate my "fix" to validate the suggestion

[davidjbaird]

Unfortunately, this did not work for me. This problem comes and goes without apparent rhyme or reason, and can be extremely frustrating. I use these virtual machines for software development, and this issue makes text editors or IDEs practically unusable.

[Mbkennel]

I have finally found a combination which mitigates the problem.

Number of processors/core per processor:  2/2, or 4/1

add highres=off to linux kernel command line (/etc/default/grub)

Host: Windows 11 Enterprise

Guest: Ubuntu MATE 22.04

I suspect it is a subtle CPU scheduling/processor affinity/cpu sleep state sleeping problem.

[Mbkennel]

Self update:

I found a somewhat better mitigation:  on the kernel boot parameters, add 'cpuidle.governor=teo'.

run update-grub after editing /etc/default/grub

check that the change is active took by 'cat /proc/cmdline'

As others have mentioned set VM config to 2 processors, 2 cores per proc.

[gausebeck]

I haven't seen anyone else explicitly confirm that 16.1.2 fixes this problem with Win11 and Hyper-V enabled, but it did for me.

I'm running Win11 as the host with Hyper-V enabled (I also use WSL2), and typing lag in my Ubuntu guest was making it pretty unusable.  Disabling 3D acceleration didn't help, but downgrading from Workstation 17 -> 16.1.2 fixed it, with Hyper-V still enabled.

In addition to the helpful link to the 16.1.2 installer above, I also needed to use vCenter Converter to convert my VM since the configuration from Workstation 17 was incompatible with 16.1.2.

[mwb1100v]

Yeah, at some point earlier in the thread it was verified that the problem began with 16.2 (at least for Linux guests on Win10/Win11 hosts). 

I tried Workstation v17 when it first came out and the problem was still there.  I'd bet that it's not fixed in 17.1 either.

Looks like I'm on 16.1.2 until it breaks for a newer processor or host/guest system I need.  At that point I'll probably move to VirtualBox now that they've GPL'ed the USB 2/3 support.

[kasumi1]

Since this issue haven't been solved for ~3 years, I decided to purchase a new license and then file a ticket. Here is their response:

We are glad to hear that after changing to 1 Vcpu and 1 core, the problem disappeared.

As a temporary workaround, we recommend continuing with this configuration until our team can thoroughly investigate the issue. Rest assured, we have already initiated an internal investigation to identify and resolve the root cause of the problem.

We will keep you updated with the progress of the issue and if any additional information is required we will get in touch with you.

[posthum4n]

What a farce!

I'm sorry to say they won't get back at you...

[JMA100]

Since I like Vmware player a lot, I decided to do some testing with the latest Technology Preview version of Workstation/Player.  I happen to have a spare PC right now, so I did the following tests:

I did a clean install of the following operating systems for the HOST:
CentOS 7
Ubuntu 18.04
Ubuntu 22.04

And tried the following Guest Operating Systems:
CentOS 7
Ubuntu 18.04
Ubuntu 22.04

In all combinations, the slow typing problem was observed.

[goldeneye_007]

Out of curiosity what desktop are you running on the guests?

KDE/XFCE/GNOME/None?

Try opening an SSH connection to one of the guests and see if it lags in the terminal.

[JMA100]

The typing lag appears to be everywhere when running the GUI as long as there's not too much happening in the background.  For example, I see the problem on the login screen when typing my username and password.  I see the problem in the terminal and in a text editor.

When testing CentOS7 host and guest, I used Gnome.
When testing Ubuntu, I used Mate for all versions.

No lag if you ssh into the box.  No lag if you drop out of X and go local console.

BTW, if you login, open a terminal, and run glxgears, the lag is gone.  If you stop glxgears, the lag is back.