vmware.exe cpu usage is high when I start adb on ubuntu guest

[sdmurphy]

I have VMware Workstation 11 on a Windows 7 host. I am running Ubuntu 14.04 as a guest.

I use the Ubuntu guest primarily for Android development. And I have been having problems with IntelliJ IDEA became very sluggish. Which I thought was just because I had lot of processing going on. But then I noticed that my guest CPU utilization was very low and vmware-vmx.exe utilization on my host was very low, but the VMware Workstation was very sluggish and I couldn't even switch to another guest and I noticed that the vmware.exe process was very high at 12% (which normally tells me that one of my 8 cores is maxed out).

My assumptions:

vmware-vmx.exe on my host is where all guest processing is reported

vmware.exe is only responsible for the Workstation UI

My test:

I have my Ubuntu guest running (with no applications running) and vmware.exe utilization is low/normal:

I start the adb server on the guest:

I check the vmware.exe utilization on my host and it sits around 3% to 6%, and everything feels normal:

But then slowing (over about an hour), the vmware.exe process utilization slowly increases until it reaches approximately 12%.

and then everything inside of VMware Workstation becomes incredibly slow. (everything includes, this guest, other guests and the workstation UI) It become almost impossible to switch to another guest.

If I kill the adb server process, the vmware.exe utilization drops back to 0%.

But when I restart the adb service the vmware.exe utilization goes right back to where it was.

My current workaround: I enabled "Keep VMs running after Workstation closes", I then close VMware Workstation and everything runs smoothly for another hour.

Any ideas????

[KernelDev]

I am seeing the same issue with VMWare Workstation 11 and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on a Windows 8.1 host. My CPU usage on the VMWare Workstation process is ~19 percent yet the CPU usage in the guest is low. Furthermore, the guest is very sluggish when this happens. If I kill the VMWare Workstation process and start it again, the problem goes away, but then comes back after some time. This problem did not occur with VMWare Workstation 10 (which I recently upgraded from and was running without issue).

[sdmurphy]

@KernelDev, How many cores/vCPUs do you have on your host?

I have discovered that it has something to do with USB. Even when you do not have a USB device connect VM, but have the USB controller added to the guest. I changed my USB controller from 3.0 to 2.0 and had not change. I then removed the USB controller from the VM settings and vmware.exe runs normally.

@KernelDev can verify this by removing the USB controller from the guest VM?

-Shawn

[mcerickson]

I'm seeing this myself. Any updates?

[ctc53]

I reported this issue to VMWare few months ago. But I got no answer at that time.

Thanks for your tips. It really help to work for another hour.

[bonnie201110141]

Thank you for your investigation. When the issue reproduce, will you please run Help->Support->Collect support data? (please have the guest checked to collect logs). Please upload collected logs. Thank you very much!

[VooDiK]

Same situation with Windows 10 Host and Ubuntu 14.04.2 guest.

When using adb (over USB or over TCP) Workstation main window freezes after some time but guest is running normal. I can connect to it via ssh and do any job.

Because of this i can't connect or disconnect any USB device to guset.

[bonnie201110141]

I really tried to reproduce the issue on my Windows 7 host with Ubuntu 14.04.2 guest, but failed. Will you please kindly collect logs via Help->Support->Collect support data (have guest checked)? I will file a bug with collected logs. I will try later with a different hosts. Thank you very much!

[VooDiK]

i will try but It's very hard, because the Help menu is on the main window and it freezes.

[bonnie201110141]

Thank you for your response. Can you try vm-support from command line? You can navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation, and execute vm-support (you can run vm-support /? for the usage). Thanks!

[VooDiK]

I make some adb push and adb logcat from Ubuntu guest about a hour. After that main window freezes but it usable (every mouse action takes 5-10 seccond). And i make dump via Help->Support->Collect support data

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwX-aUs9_jXvc0kyNWI3WmUybnM/view?usp=sharing

[bonnie201110141]

Thank you! I have reported the issue locally with your logs. At the same time, I will continue to try to reproduce on other hosts.

[bonnie201110141]

Now I reproduced locally. Thanks for your feedback!

[admin]

Can you configure the VM to collect statistics?  Under VM->Settings->Options->Advanced, set "Gather debugging information" to "Statistics".

I'll send you a PM with directions for uploading the statistics.

[VooDiK]

Ok i enabled collect statistics, started VM, use it with adb until the main window totally freezes.

Copied stats folder from VM dir, and waiting for instructions.

[admin]

Apparently, I can't PM you any more unless we "follow" each other.  Would you mind following me, so I can send the instructions?

[admin]

Unfortunately, the stats just show that the guest is spending 99% of its time halted.

[VooDiK]

Can i collect more data ?

Here is screenshot freezed window.

[admin]

I'll try to replicate it here.  All that I have to do is 'adb start-server' in a Linux VM?

[VooDiK]

yes, only run

adb start-server

and wait about a 1-2 hour.