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Letharion
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Location: Sweden
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 Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 2:13 pm Post subject: KVM Interface feels sluggish |
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Mainly my mouse pointer is quite awkward to work with as it's a bit slow to follow movements.
Is there a way to fix this? |
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gami
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Joined: 02 Jun 2006
Posts: 297
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| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:20 pm Post subject: |
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I assume that you refer to the graphical interface to kvm provided by virt-manager, or similar. Most of these GUIs use the VNC protocol to provide a graphical console to your virtual machine. And as you describe, VNC can feel a bit sluggish.
To work with your VM on a regular basis, I suggest you install the NX server (net-misc/nxserver-{freeedition,freenx}) software on the VM, and access it from the host (or any other machine on your network) with nxclient (net-misc/nxclient). You will get a much smoother user experience that way. |
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Hu
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| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 10:21 pm Post subject: |
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| The mouse seems fine to me using the SDL interface. What version of KVM are you using, how are you starting the guest, and what is running in the guest? |
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Mad Merlin
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| Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:31 am Post subject: |
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Both the SDL and VNC viewers for KVM normally have rather choppy mouse pointers (they update probably 1/5th as frequently as a native mouse cursor), at least for me. The better option is to use NX as suggested above, or (heaven forbid!) for 'doze guests, use RDP.
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Hu
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| Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:38 am Post subject: |
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| The USB tablet is as responsive in the guest as my normal USB and PS/2 mice in the host. How are you invoking KVM to get such bad performance? |
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Mad Merlin
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| Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:47 am Post subject: |
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| Hu wrote: | | The USB tablet is as responsive in the guest as my normal USB and PS/2 mice in the host. How are you invoking KVM to get such bad performance? |
VNC is usually better than SDL for this, but it's definitely choppier than a native mouse. I've seen this with and without -usbdevice tablet across about half a dozen hosts with a variety of configs. I've always used KRDC 3.5 or 4.3 for connecting via VNC though.
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Letharion
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| Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:10 am Post subject: |
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| Mad Merlin wrote: | | they update probably 1/5th as frequently as a native mouse cursor |
That would be an fairly accurate description of my experience.
| Quote: | | The mouse seems fine to me using the SDL interface. What version of KVM are you using, how are you starting the guest, and what is running in the guest? |
qemu-kvm-0.11.1, compiled with sdl. Starting with | Code: | | qemu -net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:12:34:56 -net tap,ifname=qtap0,script=no,downscript=no image.kvm |
. What runs varies, currently it's used mainly for StarCraft.
As NX has been suggested by both gami and Mad Merlin, I'm gonna try it see what happens. |
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Mad Merlin
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| Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Letharion wrote: | | Mad Merlin wrote: | | they update probably 1/5th as frequently as a native mouse cursor |
That would be an fairly accurate description of my experience.
| Quote: | | The mouse seems fine to me using the SDL interface. What version of KVM are you using, how are you starting the guest, and what is running in the guest? |
qemu-kvm-0.11.1, compiled with sdl. Starting with | Code: | | qemu -net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:12:34:56 -net tap,ifname=qtap0,script=no,downscript=no image.kvm |
. What runs varies, currently it's used mainly for StarCraft.
As NX has been suggested by both gami and Mad Merlin, I'm gonna try it see what happens. |
For Starcraft, you'd be much better off using Wine. I play it quite frequently, The battle.net lobby doesn't quite display properly, but it's completely usable, and everything else (including in game) is flawless.
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Hu
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| Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 3:15 am Post subject: |
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| Letharion wrote: | qemu-kvm-0.11.1, compiled with sdl. Starting with | Code: | | qemu -net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:12:34:56 -net tap,ifname=qtap0,script=no,downscript=no image.kvm |
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This uses the emulated PS/2 mouse, which is not nearly as good. Add -usbdevice tablet to switch to the USB tablet mouse. It works without grabbing the mouse, and has generally been more reliable for me. I have seen some comments from Avi that it causes more interrupts and therefore more wakeups, but if you are running the guest at 100% CPU in a game, extra mouse interrupts are the least of your problems. |
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Letharion
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| Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 9:50 am Post subject: |
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| Mad Merlin wrote: | | For Starcraft, you'd be much better off using Wine. I play it quite frequently, The battle.net lobby doesn't quite display properly, but it's completely usable, and everything else (including in game) is flawless. |
I'm aware, but I can't. I'm working on: http://eis.ucsc.edu/StarCraftAICompetition, which uses dll injection, and no one I've talked to seems to know what needs to be done to get this working in wine.
| Hu wrote: | | Letharion wrote: | qemu-kvm-0.11.1, compiled with sdl. Starting with | Code: | | qemu -net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:12:34:56 -net tap,ifname=qtap0,script=no,downscript=no image.kvm |
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This uses the emulated PS/2 mouse, which is not nearly as good. Add -usbdevice tablet to switch to the USB tablet mouse. It works without grabbing the mouse, and has generally been more reliable for me. I have seen some comments from Avi that it causes more interrupts and therefore more wakeups, but if you are running the guest at 100% CPU in a game, extra mouse interrupts are the least of your problems. |
Nice, thanks! |
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Letharion
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| Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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I tried it quickly, and it seems to be a lot better with the usb tablet. Thanks  |
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