El Capitan, VMWare Workstation 12 & Skylake = dog slow

[barneyc]

Hey all.  New poster so be a little (or not) kind.

 

Just gotten around to building a new rig at home so I can finish working on my PhD.  By default my work machine is MacBook Pro (13 Retina for those wanting to know) but I also use Windows for a little dev work and the odd game.   Was going to dual boot this new box but disk encryption pains mean that a VM for the El Capitan build would be far more usable day to day.

 

So Far

I've followed the advice I can find on the forum and created a VM in Workstation 12 Pro (luckily part of the University's standard tools).  As it stands the specs are...

 

Host: Win10Edu, Intel i5 6600k, 32Gb DDR4, 2x 240Gb SSD & GTX970 GPU

OSX VM:  2 cores, 16Gb RAM and the VM having raw disk to one of those 240Gb SSD's exclusively (this way being damn close to the same spec as my MacBook)

 

The VM installed fine with things like Unlocker, SMC=0 and such.  BUT once booted and the VMWare Tools shipping with 12Pro were installed it was obvious things are not quite right.

 

Problems

 

1.  Everything is sluggish as.  Granted with only 128Mb of VRAM I'm not expecting super smooth desktops or to run games but simple things like opening Safari and using it should be ok.   I installed Geekbench (32bit) for a quick sanity check and am getting scores of 994 single, 1701 multi - which are a fraction of what my three year old MacBook manages.

 

Looking at the host OS I can see the memory allocation slowly creeping up but no where near 16Gb and the CPU utilisation even when running GeekBench is not a lot more than idle.  

 

2. I cannot seem to get the bluetooth driver to be added to the VM so I can use my Apple Magic Keyboard or Trackpad properly.  Basic functionality under Windows (host) is there but no gestures in OSX at all.

 

Questions

Does anyone have any suggestions on what might be holding the VM back?  Is this a Skylake host issue or does VMWare abstract so far from that?  Anything, please?

 

Bluetooth, is what I want even possible in the VM?

 

 

Thanks in advance.

[gnop]

I'm also a new poster. I just installed an OS X El Capitan VM under VMWare Workstation Pro running on Windows 10 Pro. I followed the instructions here: http://www.pcsteps.com/2157-mac-os-x-virtual-machine-vmware-player/ and upgraded from Yosemite to El Capitan. I have a bit more hardware than you do but I don't believe that is the issue.

 

You probably need to install the VMWare tools for darwin that come with the VMWare fusion product versus the tools that come with the Windows version of VMWare workstation.  The performance, especially the mouse, was very bad until I had installed the tools. 

 

I have several Mac's at home including a MacBook Pro 15 I use on the road, but do a lot of my research on a Windows server I built using VMWare workstation Pro and it is easier to fire up the VM than to switch to one of the Macs for some of the programs I prefer. I haven't tried to set up BlueTooth.

[barneyc]

Righty ho then.  Off to try the Darwin tools.  I might even try upping the cores available to the VM.  Thanks for heads up.

BINGO.  So OS X really needs the OS X tools from Fusion then.  Even with 2 cores and my CMOS re-stocked (so this host is back at 3.5 - 3.9 GHz) I'm now getting 3751 single / 6545 multi-core scores in GeekBench which out performs my MacBook Pro.

 

I'll post the bluetooth issue in another thread as I can now only consider the speed issue DONE!

[PGHammer21B]

Righty ho then.  Off to try the Darwin tools.  I might even try upping the cores available to the VM.  Thanks for heads up.

BINGO.  So OS X really needs the OS X tools from Fusion then.  Even with 2 cores and my CMOS re-stocked (so this host is back at 3.5 - 3.9 GHz) I'm now getting 3751 single / 6545 multi-core scores in GeekBench which out performs my MacBook Pro.

 

I'll post the bluetooth issue in another thread as I can now only consider the speed issue DONE!

I followed the same steps you did (different host, though - Intel G3258, therefore I left the core settings at their defaults), and left the memory settings at their defaults as well (2048MB, though I have 8192MB total, with a max of 4096MB available).  I have to use the vmWare method, because of the motherboard + CPU having issues with a straightforward native install.  I'm actually posting via the VM; therefore, it definitely works.  I mounted the Tools ISO manually, which is included with the Unlocker (I used 207, which I downloaded from here).

 

While I WOULD rather do a native install (which I did before my (necessary) hardware upgrade due to motherboard failure), until I can manage to get a native install that can cooperate with Haswell, I'll have to use this method instead.

 

Native installs fail with panics with any OX S version later than 10.8 - nertz.

[MSoK]

Righty ho then.  Off to try the Darwin tools.  I might even try upping the cores available to the VM.  Thanks for heads up.

BINGO.  So OS X really needs the OS X tools from Fusion then.  Even with 2 cores and my CMOS re-stocked (so this host is back at 3.5 - 3.9 GHz) I'm now getting 3751 single / 6545 multi-core scores in GeekBench which out performs my MacBook Pro.

 

I'll post the bluetooth issue in another thread as I can now only consider the speed issue DONE!

Barney,

 

Just for information using the latest unlocker 2.0.8 installs the latest darwin.iso for Fusion 8.1.0 as part of the install and in Workstation Pro 12.1 allows you to install the VMware Tools for OS X from the menu.

[alexdi]

I'm in a similar situation, less the Skylake. On on overclocked 6-core Haswell-E, the install was plenty quick, but the OS in use is incredibly sluggish. Like keyboard delays sluggish. Installing VMWare tools (multiple times, multiple versions, unless it's just lying to me) doesn't change anything. 

 

Any ideas?

[Donk]

I'm in a similar situation, less the Skylake. On on overclocked 6-core Haswell-E, the install was plenty quick, but the OS in use is incredibly sluggish. Like keyboard delays sluggish. Installing VMWare tools (multiple times, multiple versions, unless it's just lying to me) doesn't change anything. 

 

Any ideas?

 

Overclocking is not recommended with hypervisors as CPU frequency many not be reported accurately in a guest. What happens if you set the host machine back to the recommended clock speed?

[alexdi]

It doesn't make a difference. The CPU is dynamically clocked, it's rarely above 2 GHz when the VM is running anyway. 

 

Could this be attributable to a lack of 3D acceleration? That box is grayed out in settings. 

[Donk]

It doesn't make a difference. The CPU is dynamically clocked, it's rarely above 2 GHz when the VM is running anyway. 

 

Could this be attributable to a lack of 3D acceleration? That box is grayed out in settings. 

 

There are no virtualization products that support 3D acceleration, but that should not impact the performance like it is doing. Let's check to see if the VMware tools are installed correclty. Open a Terminal windows and run:

/Library/Application\ Support/VMware\ Tools/vmware-tools-cli -v

What version does it report as being installed?

[alexdi]

This is what it reports:

 

9.9.0.41534 (build-2304977)

 

I just updated to 10.0.0.8, downloaded directly from VMWare. This seems to be the most current version. Performance seems a bit better, but it's still not animating anywhere near full-framerate. My dual-core 2013 rMBP is considerably smoother. 

[LuXs]

Graphics on os x vmware workstation will be bad since there is no proper graphic card driver it uses ram and not the gpu so anything that demands 3D or anything like this will be be slow and bad.
except for the slow graphics it should work nice.
And no there is no way yet to get your graphic card into the vm with wmvare workstation 

[alexdi]

Does that apply to even things like moving windows around?

 

The VM isn't unusable, it's just too sluggish to be a daily driver. M system is 2011-based with an AsRock board, I don't think the transition to bare metal would go smoothly. 

[LuXs]

nope my windows are moving super fast like it should be.
Is it lagging or dragging behind when you move it compared to when you use windows?
 

you do have the proper drivers on windows (latest) and installed vmware tools on the mac? 

How much ram did you give the VM and how many cpu's?

I give it 4gb of ram and 1 cpu with 2 cores.
 

[Zenith432]

Workstation 12.1.1 works a lot better than 12.1.0.  They fixed something...

 

[with updated vmware tools from fusion 8.1.1]

[alexdi]

I've got it set up with 8GB of RAM, 1 processor with 4 cores (though this is no different than 2 cores). Updating to 12.1.1 didn't affect performance. Updating VMWare tools crashed the VM. It gets all the way to the end of the loading bar, then crashes with graphical corruption. Not sure how to fix this one. 

[Donk]

I've got it set up with 8GB of RAM, 1 processor with 4 cores (though this is no different than 2 cores). Updating to 12.1.1 didn't affect performance. Updating VMWare tools crashed the VM. It gets all the way to the end of the loading bar, then crashes with graphical corruption. Not sure how to fix this one. 

 

Looking around it seems there are issues with power management states on real Hackintosh's with Haswell-E. As a quick test can you add these lines to your VMX file and see if it makes the situation better:

# Spoof an iMac 5,1 with Core 2 CPU
hw.model.reflectHost = "FALSE"
hw.model = "iMac5,1"

cpuid.inhibitDarwinMasks = "TRUE"
monitor_control.enable_fullcpuid = "TRUE"
cpuid.0.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:1010"
cpuid.0.ebx = "0111:0101:0110:1110:0110:0101:0100:0111"
cpuid.0.ecx = "0110:1100:0110:0101:0111:0100:0110:1110"
cpuid.0.edx = "0100:1001:0110:0101:0110:1110:0110:1001"
cpuid.1.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0110:1111:0110"
cpuid.1.ebx = "0000:0001:0000:0010:0000:1000:0000:0000"
cpuid.1.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:1110:0011:1011:1101"
cpuid.1.edx = "1011:1111:1110:1011:1111:1011:1111:1111"
cpuid.2.eax = "0000:0101:1011:0000:1011:0001:0000:0001"
cpuid.2.ebx = "0000:0000:0101:0110:0101:0111:1111:0000"
cpuid.2.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.2.edx = "0010:1100:1011:0100:0011:0000:0100:1001"
cpuid.3.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.3.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.3.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.3.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.4.0.eax = "0000:0100:0000:0000:0000:0001:0010:0001"
cpuid.4.0.ebx = "0000:0001:1100:0000:0000:0000:0011:1111"
cpuid.4.0.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0011:1111"
cpuid.4.0.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001"
cpuid.4.1.eax = "0000:0100:0000:0000:0000:0001:0010:0010"
cpuid.4.1.ebx = "0000:0001:1100:0000:0000:0000:0011:1111"
cpuid.4.1.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0011:1111"
cpuid.4.1.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001"
cpuid.4.2.eax = "0000:0100:0000:0000:0100:0001:0100:0011"
cpuid.4.2.ebx = "0000:0011:1100:0000:0000:0000:0011:1111"
cpuid.4.2.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:1111:1111:1111"
cpuid.4.2.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001"
cpuid.4.3.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.4.3.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.4.3.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.4.3.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.5.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0100:0000"
cpuid.5.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0100:0000"
cpuid.5.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0011"
cpuid.5.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0010:0010:0010:0010:0000"
cpuid.6.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001"
cpuid.6.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0010"
cpuid.6.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001"
cpuid.6.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.7.0.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.7.0.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.7.0.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.7.0.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.8.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0100:0000:0000"
cpuid.8.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.8.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.8.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.9.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.9.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.9.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.9.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.a.eax = "0000:0111:0010:1000:0000:0010:0000:0010"
cpuid.a.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.a.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.a.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000000.eax = "1000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:1000"
cpuid.80000000.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000000.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000000.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000001.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000001.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000001.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001"
cpuid.80000001.edx = "0010:0000:0001:0000:0000:1000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000002.eax = "0110:0101:0111:0100:0110:1110:0100:1001"
cpuid.80000002.ebx = "0010:1001:0101:0010:0010:1000:0110:1100"
cpuid.80000002.ecx = "0111:0010:0110:1111:0100:0011:0010:0000"
cpuid.80000002.edx = "0100:1101:0101:0100:0010:1000:0110:0101"
cpuid.80000003.eax = "0100:0011:0010:0000:0011:0010:0010:1001"
cpuid.80000003.ebx = "0010:0000:0010:0000:0101:0101:0101:0000"
cpuid.80000003.ecx = "0010:0000:0010:0000:0010:0000:0010:0000"
cpuid.80000003.edx = "0101:0100:0010:0000:0010:0000:0010:0000"
cpuid.80000004.eax = "0011:0000:0011:0000:0011:0110:0011:0111"
cpuid.80000004.ebx = "0010:0000:0100:0000:0010:0000:0010:0000"
cpuid.80000004.ecx = "0011:0011:0011:0011:0010:1110:0011:0010"
cpuid.80000004.edx = "0000:0000:0111:1010:0100:1000:0100:0111"
cpuid.80000005.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000005.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000005.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000005.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000006.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000006.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000006.ecx = "0001:0000:0000:0000:1000:0000:0100:0000"
cpuid.80000006.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000007.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000007.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000007.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
cpuid.80000007.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
#cpuid.80000008.eax = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0011:0000:0010:0100"
#cpuid.80000008.ebx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
#cpuid.80000008.ecx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"
#cpuid.80000008.edx = "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000"

[MSoK]

Workstation 12.1.1 works a lot better than 12.1.0.  They fixed something...

 

[with updated vmware tools from fusion 8.1.1]

Zenith432,

Thanks for the heads up, but the VMware CDS Repository is still only showing 8.1.0, so not sure VMware Tools were updated in 8.1.1, can you confirm version update?

 

The command line recommended by Donk may assist:

 

/Library/Application\ Support/VMware\ Tools/vmware-tools-cli -v

[Donk]

Zenith432,

Thanks for the heads up, but the VMware CDS Repository is still only showing 8.1.0, so not sure VMware Tools were updated in 8.1.1, can you confirm version update?

 

The command line recommended by Donk may assist:

 

/Library/Application\ Support/VMware\ Tools/vmware-tools-cli -v

 

8.1.0 tools - 10.0.5.520 (build-3228253)

8.1.1.tools - 10.0.6.1643 (build-3595377)

[JJTagy]

Thanks for the heads up, but the VMware CDS Repository is still only showing 8.1.0, so not sure VMware Tools were updated in 8.1.1, can you confirm version update?

8.1.1 has been out for about a week now in the CDS repository. You may want to refresh your browser. I had to on one of my machines to see the new link.

[MSoK]

 

8.1.0 tools - 10.0.5.520 (build-3228253)

8.1.1.tools - 10.0.6.1643 (build-3595377)

 

Donk,

 

Thanks for the heads up, I followed JJTagy suggestion and can now see 8.1.1 in the CDS Repository.

8.1.1 has been out for about a week now in the CDS repository. You may want to refresh your browser. I had to on one of my machines to see the new link.

JJTagy,

 

Followed your suggestion and can now see 8.1.1 in the VMware CDS Repository.

 

Thanks.