Fusion 12.2 OpenGL performance in the tank

[Idontwanttobeab]

VMWare Fusion 12.2 OpenGL performance significantly reduced over previous versions.

The following is logged to the macOS system log:

Oct 17 10:56:59 designer VMware Fusion[48520]: getattrlist failed for /Library/GPUBundles/AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver.bundle/Contents/MacOS/ATIRadeonX4000SCLib.dylib: #2: No such file or directory
Oct 17 10:56:59 designer VMware Fusion[48520]: getattrlist failed for /System/Library/Extensions/AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver.bundle/Contents/MacOS/ATIRadeonX4000SCLib.dylib: #2: No such file or directory
Oct 17 10:56:59 designer VMware Fusion[48520]: getattrlist failed for /System/Library/Frameworks/OpenGL.framework/Resources//GLRendererFloat.bundle/GLRendererFloat: #2: No such file or directory

The directories and resources logged as missing does absolutely exist in the machine.

[s0lution123]

I've got similar problem. After update to VMware fusion to 12.2 the performance in my Linux Mint-VM is really poor now. When starting a video playback in VLC the VM freezes for about 20 seconds and video doesn't play smooth anymore.

MacBook Pro 15" Retina Mid 2015
2,2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB

[Min-Yu]

Could you please tell us what OpenGL app you are using in the VM?

Thanks!

[Idontwanttobeab]

Just starting up Fusion 12.2 on an iMac 2017 with macOS 11.6 produce the following entries in system.log:

Oct 20 07:11:21 designer VMware Fusion[58656]: getattrlist failed for /Library/GPUBundles/AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver.bundle/Contents/MacOS/ATIRadeonX4000SCLib.dylib: #2: No such file or directory
Oct 20 07:11:21 designer VMware Fusion[58656]: getattrlist failed for /System/Library/Extensions/AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver.bundle/Contents/MacOS/ATIRadeonX4000SCLib.dylib: #2: No such file or directory
Oct 20 07:11:21 designer VMware Fusion[58656]: getattrlist failed for /System/Library/Frameworks/OpenGL.framework/Resources//GLRendererFloat.bundle/GLRendererFloat: #2: No such file or directory

----------------

The directory /Library/GPUBundles exist but is empty.

The content of /System/Library/Extensions/AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver.bundle/Contents/MacOS/ is AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver

The content of /System/Library/Frameworks/OpenGL.framework/Resources/GLRendererFloat.bundle is empty

------------

The Windows version of the SecondLife viewer will on Fusion 12.2 render scenes at around 3-4 FPS, with the same viewer on Fusion 12.1.2 rendered the same scene at around 15-17 FPS. iStat shows no additional utilization of the GPU while running the viewer on Fusion 12.2 and it looks like it has fallen back to CPU rendering. 

The SecondLife viewer can be downloaded from https://secondlife.com/support/downloads/ You must register and log in to render scenes that loads the viewer.

[Min-Yu]

Hello Idontwanttobeab,

Those lines in the log file are not important at all, since Fusion is not using OpenGL on Mac anymore.

BTW, which Windows version/edition are you using in the VM?

If possible, please upload your vmware.log and mksSandbox.log for us to investigate this issue.

Thanks!

[Idontwanttobeab]

Using Windows 10 with the latest patches on the Mac the log is attached for.

Using both Windows 10 with latest patches + Windows 11 with latest patches on another Mac (Mac Pro 2013) that sees the same issue. 

I can't see that I have any mksSandbox.log on my Mac. Documentation indicates it is a VMWare Workstation log?

[Min-Yu]

Those two log files should be under your VM's folder.

BTW, I tried Second Life Viewer, but I have not seen huge performance difference so far between Fusion 12.1.2 and 12.2.

(From data in its built-in STATISTICS window by pressing Ctrl-Shift-1)

I do have some questions for you:

1) If your graphics settings in Second Life Viewer is using the default one (i.e., no preset), it's possible that the Viewer will use more OpenGL features introduced by Fusion 12.2 and slows down everything.

Could you please provide screen shots of both the following graphics settings in your Second Life Viewer?

(Under menu bar, "Me ---> Preferences --> Graphics", and "Me ---> Preferences --> Graphics ---> Advanced Settings")

2) Did you also update VMware Tools in your VM after you update to Fusion 12.2?

3) Did you also upgrade your VM version (from 18 to 19) when you update to Fusion 12.2?

If you did, could you please try to change it back to 18 and see if the performance is improved?

To change the version back to 18, please do:

a) power off your VM (DO NOT suspend)

b) In Virtual Machine --> Settings ---> Compatibility ---> Advanced options, change the "Use Hardware Version" to 18.

c) power up your VM again

[Idontwanttobeab]

There is no performance difference between version 18 and 19 that I can detect. 

Screenshot of tested graphics settings enclosed (Advanced settings). 

Turning on Ambient occlusion will set the VMware adapter in a state where it cannot render the content as intended. Turning on shadows will lower the frame rate beyond any usability ( it is for most scenes only usable for testing anyway). 

You also need to set the Fusion Display setting for the VM to turn off "Use full resolution for Retina display", otherwise the viewer will turn on rendering for Retina display which is beyond the capabilities of VMware adapter for any useable result , even for testing purposes.

Tools have been tested with:

a) automatic update on update from 12.1.2 to 12.2

b) repair tools after update

c) remove tools, reinstall tools including the required reboots

I cannot find the one log file anywhere on my system. 

[Idontwanttobeab]

It is worthwhile to note that the SL viewer (and third party versions of it) all use OpenGL 2.1, which is pretty outdated by any standard. 

[Idontwanttobeab]

I found the two log files you were asking for. They are inside the VM disk container, so you have to select the container, right click and select the "Show Package Content" menu item.

They are not in the standard VMware Fusion log location that the Console app sees, and therefore not exposed.

The enclosed files are from the Mac Pro 2013 machine.

[Idontwanttobeab]

I found the error messages logged to system.log disappeared if I deleted ~/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion Applications Menu and let Fusion recreate the folder.

The old folder had a number of files and directories not written to since 2018.

[Min-Yu]

I do not think so.

I can tell from our internal debug build that SL viewer will actually use OpenGL 3 and above features.

[Min-Yu]

Thank you very much for uploading the screenshots and log files.

So far, I cannot find any useful clue from them.

I also could not reproduce the performance regression.

On my machine, it has been always 3~5 FPS at the SL HOME location in both Fusion 12.1.2 and 12.2.

Next time, I will try to adjust my graphics settings to those you are using and try SL viewer again.

[Idontwanttobeab]

Since I happen to develop a socalled TPV version of the SL viewer, I know it use OpenGL 2.1 for virtually all rendering with the exception of a few OpenGL 3 extensions that has been enabled on the Windows version making it possible to use more advanced shaders. The macOS version is OpenGL 2.1 only. 

The Windows version of the viewer will report (when running in Fusion on my iMac) OpenGL Version: 4.1 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 20.2.0-devel, but the renderer is almost entirely built on OpenGL 2.1 to make it possible to share code between the Windows and macOS version

[Idontwanttobeab]

The viewer will struggle almost anywhere in SL unless you go to a sandbox location with little content. 

There is also a development grid with such regions, but you have to register your account with payment info to be able to go there. 

[Min-Yu]

Hello Idontwanttobeab,

One more question:

Which display mode did you use to run Second Life in the VM?

Full-Screen mode? Unity mode? or Windowed mode?

Thanks!

[Idontwanttobeab]

Windowed mode.  Unity has been slightly more performant on earlier versions. This also seems to be the case on 12.2