Running VMware6 on Feisty makes everything slow to a crawl

[Dexter Filmore]

Posted this on user list, no response, possibly a kernel config thing so I'd 
like to bring it up here:

Machine: 
AthlonXP 3200+ @2.2GHz, 1GB RAM, nForce2 mobo.

Operating systems:

-Kubuntu 7.04 with 2.6.22 kernel backported from gutsy, X on free r300
-debian 4.0r2, kernel 2.6.18-k7, X on free r300
-Slackware 11, kernel 2.6.17.9 custom, X on ATi fglrx

VMware6 installed on all 3 OSses, all can access the same VMs, I used the same 
WinXP on a 384MB RAM VM on all three environments, latest VMtools installed.

Results:
Slackware performs blazing fast, restoring the suspended XP takes 1 or 2 
seconds before Windows responds, about 15-30 seconds before the VM is fully 
restored. Suspend happens instantaneous, less than a second.
Can switch between VMware and other apps with neglectible performance impact.

Debian: similar, resume takes a little longer, up to about a minute, then 
everything is smooth, suspend instantaneous as on Slackware. 
Can switch between VMware and other apps with neglectible performance impact 
as on Slack. Kaffeine, Opera with Java, Google Earth all running, all fine, 
video encoder running in the VM. 

Kubuntu: VMware complains that /dev/rtc is not available because it is used by 
anothe application. lsof shows nothing accessing rtc. Hints on VMware site 
unuseful: this cpu doesn't even have throttling.

Resuming the suspended WinXP VM takes between 4 and 5 minutes (!!).
The system performs afterwards as if it was runnign on 256MB and with L2 cache 
diabled. Working impossible. Suspending the VM takes about 20-30 seconds.


Useful hints on where to investigate most welcome.

2.6.22 was backported to Feisty by me due to USB issues with the stock 2.6.20, 
but tests show same behaviour with 2.6.20.

Dex

-- 
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GCS d--(+)@ s-:+ a- C++++ UL++ P+>++ L+++>++++ E-- W++ N o? K-
w--(---) !O M+ V- PS+ PE Y++ PGP t++(---)@ 5 X+(++) R+(++) tv--(+)@ 
b++(+++) DI+++ D- G++ e* h>++ r* y?
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de