I also have a D810 but am using gentoo with 2.6.14-gentoo-r2 kernel with acpi enabled using cpufreqd and have exactly the same problem.

Disabling acpi or running the script above both work as a workaround.

The problem seems to be ACPI and the state >C1 (C2, C3, C4) the processor is in. (to see what state your processor is in, take a look at: cat /proc/acpi/processor/CPU0/power) The kernel automatically falls asleep running Vmware

To force a certain state, (C1 to have good performance), just do:
echo 1 > /sys/module/processor/parameters/max_cstate
To go back to the sleepy state, do:
echo 8 > /sys/module/processor/parameters/max_cstate
Only root can do this. Or do:
chmod 0+w /sys/module/processor/parameters/max_cstate
to change the user permissions. Be careful with this.

In a script, It could look like this:

#!/bin/bash
echo 1 > /sys/module/processor/parameters/max_cstate
vmware
echo 8 > /sys/module/processor/parameters/max_cstate

If this works for you, this is a better solution than the "busyloop".

I like this it worked for me. I just created a bash script and placed the lines in teh container, added vmwarearts instead of vmware and called it vmwarestart placed it in /etc/vmware. I then just point teh desktop or menu command to the script. The only problem is that I have to execute teh chmod as root every time I reboot. Is there a way to solve this? I don't want to run vmware as root, but want to run teh script as root? or a way to keep teh chmod settings so teh user can cexecute teh script and get teh cpu setting to stick after a boot?

Mike

Thanks for the solution to my problem. It looks like some people want to know how to do this without being root. Here is my solution:

First, you need a script to set the max_cstate. You're going to want to put this into the /usr/local/bin directory. You will need to be root to create the script. Create a file named setcstate in the /usr/local/bin directory and type (or cut/paste) the script:

#!/bin/bash
#
# Set the processor's maximum cstate
#
# Verify that the data is not out of range
if [ $1 -gt 8 ];
then
exit 1;
fi

if [ $1 -lt 1 ];
then
exit 1;
fi

# Set the max_cstate
echo $1 > /sys/module/processor/parameters/max_cstate
# END OF SCRIPT

You will want to make sure that the script can be executed, so set the executable flag on the file:
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/setcstate

This script will allow the max cstate to be set anywhere from 1 to 8. Unfortunately, you can only run this script successfully if you are root. To get around this, you want to use a program called sudo, which allows you to run programs as the root user. (Tech note: you can't just run the program setuid - most current distros won't allow you to setuid a script.) The sudo program is controlled by a file named /etc/sudoers. It is not recommended that you edit this file by hand. The package comes with a program called visudo which you can use to edit the file. It will check the file when you are finished to prevent errors. As the name suggests, it typically uses the vi command set, which can be ugly if you don't know how to use it. You need to add the following line to the file:

username ALL = NOPASSWD: /usr/local/bin/setcstate

and you need to put the username that you are going to run vmware as. If you are not familiar with vi commands, here is what you will need:

The arrow keys move around in the file. Move to where you want to add the line.
Press the i key to enter insert mode. You will see the word --INSERT-- at the bottom of the screen.
Enter your sudo line.
Press the ESC key to leave insert mode.
Press the : key to enter command mode. The cursor will move to the bottom of the screen
Press wq and press enter. w stands for write and q stands for quit.

Once you have this line in your sudoers file, the user can run the setcstate script as the root user by running:

sudo setcstate 1

to set the max_cstate to 1 or

sudo setcstate 8

to return the max_cstate to 8.

Now it is just a matter of creating a script to set the cstate, run vmware, then reset the cstate. Here is the script that I have in my home directory named runvmware:

#!/bin/bash
sudo setcstate 1
/usr/bin/vmware
sudo setcstate 8

Make sure to set this script to be executable also:
chmod +x ~/runvmware

The final step is to create an icon (or modify an existing one) to run your vmware script instead of /usr/bin/vmware. Now you can run vmware as your own user for security, but still have enough root access to modify and reset the max_cstate in the kernel.