azserv

Update: the VM runs well in Safe mode with networking. Not sure what this could mean, though

Hi all, I'm having trouble with a Windows 11 VM on my server. It's running on a bare metal NVMe drive. The VM, which I previously used for gaming, now runs painfully slow. I'm unsure which change caused this issue, but I've tried reinstalling Windows, updating guest drivers and tools, and creating a new VM. I've tried following this guide too: https://forums.unraid.net/topic/134041-guide-optimizing-windows-vms-in-unraid/ I get CPU spikes, with qemu using upwards of 500% when the VM is idle. When I boot directly into Windows, everything runs great, so it's not a hardware problem. I've isolated the CPU cores to which my VM is pinned. I'm currently passing through a GPU, but the same happens with virtual graphics. I've tried changing practically every setting on the VM to no avail. Any guidance would be appreciated. <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?> <domain type='kvm' id='1'> <name>Windows 11</name> <uuid>afb5d5e8-786a-2373-c7e4-5817520a5d90</uuid> <metadata> <vmtemplate xmlns="http://unraid" name="Windows 11" icon="windows11.png" os="windowstpm" webui=""/> </metadata> <memory unit='KiB'>16777216</memory> <currentMemory unit='KiB'>16777216</currentMemory> <memoryBacking> <nosharepages/> </memoryBacking> <vcpu placement='static'>10</vcpu> <cputune> <vcpupin vcpu='0' cpuset='1'/> <vcpupin vcpu='1' cpuset='7'/> <vcpupin vcpu='2' cpuset='2'/> <vcpupin vcpu='3' cpuset='8'/> <vcpupin vcpu='4' cpuset='3'/> <vcpupin vcpu='5' cpuset='9'/> <vcpupin vcpu='6' cpuset='4'/> <vcpupin vcpu='7' cpuset='10'/> <vcpupin vcpu='8' cpuset='5'/> <vcpupin vcpu='9' cpuset='11'/> </cputune> <resource> <partition>/machine</partition> </resource> <os> <type arch='x86_64' machine='pc-i440fx-9.1'>hvm</type> <loader readonly='yes' type='pflash' format='raw'>/usr/share/qemu/ovmf-x64/OVMF_CODE-pure-efi-tpm.fd</loader> <nvram format='raw'>/etc/libvirt/qemu/nvram/afb5d5e8-786a-2373-c7e4-5817520a5d90_VARS-pure-efi-tpm.fd</nvram> <smbios mode='host'/> </os> <features> <acpi/> <apic/> <hyperv mode='custom'> <relaxed state='on'/> <vapic state='on'/> <spinlocks state='on' retries='8191'/> <vpindex state='on'/> <synic state='on'/> <stimer state='on'/> <vendor_id state='on' value='none'/> </hyperv> <kvm> <hidden state='on'/> </kvm> </features> <cpu mode='host-passthrough' check='none' migratable='off'> <topology sockets='1' dies='1' clusters='1' cores='5' threads='2'/> <cache mode='passthrough'/> </cpu> <clock offset='localtime'> <timer name='hpet' present='no'/> <timer name='hypervclock' present='yes'/> <timer name='pit' tickpolicy='delay'/> <timer name='rtc' tickpolicy='catchup'/> </clock> <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff> <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot> <on_crash>restart</on_crash> <devices> <emulator>/usr/local/sbin/qemu</emulator> <controller type='usb' index='0' model='nec-xhci' ports='15'> <alias name='usb'/> <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x07' function='0x0'/> </controller> <controller type='virtio-serial' index='0'> <alias name='virtio-serial0'/> <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x03' function='0x0'/> </controller> <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'> <alias name='pci.0'/> </controller> <interface type='bridge'> <mac address='52:54:00:42:7b:77'/> <source bridge='br0'/> <target dev='vnet0'/> <model type='virtio-net'/> <alias name='net0'/> <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x02' function='0x0'/> </interface> <serial type='pty'> <source path='/dev/pts/0'/> <target type='isa-serial' port='0'> <model name='isa-serial'/> </target> <alias name='serial0'/> </serial> <console type='pty' tty='/dev/pts/0'> <source path='/dev/pts/0'/> <target type='serial' port='0'/> <alias name='serial0'/> </console> <channel type='unix'> <source mode='bind' path='/run/libvirt/qemu/channel/1-Windows 11/org.qemu.guest_agent.0'/> <target type='virtio' name='org.qemu.guest_agent.0' state='connected'/> <alias name='channel0'/> <address type='virtio-serial' controller='0' bus='0' port='1'/> </channel> <input type='mouse' bus='ps2'> <alias name='input0'/> </input> <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'> <alias name='input1'/> </input> <tpm model='tpm-tis'> <backend type='emulator' version='2.0' persistent_state='yes'/> <alias name='tpm0'/> </tpm> <audio id='1' type='none'/> <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='pci' managed='yes'> <driver name='vfio'/> <source> <address domain='0x0000' bus='0x03' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/> </source> <alias name='hostdev0'/> <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x04' function='0x0'/> </hostdev> <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='pci' managed='yes'> <driver name='vfio'/> <source> <address domain='0x0000' bus='0x03' slot='0x00' function='0x1'/> </source> <alias name='hostdev1'/> <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x05' function='0x0'/> </hostdev> <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='pci' managed='yes'> <driver name='vfio'/> <source> <address domain='0x0000' bus='0x04' slot='0x00' function='0x0'/> </source> <boot order='1'/> <alias name='hostdev2'/> <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x06' function='0x0'/> </hostdev> <memballoon model='none'/> </devices> <seclabel type='dynamic' model='dac' relabel='yes'> <label>+0:+100</label> <imagelabel>+0:+100</imagelabel> </seclabel> </domain> diagnostics-20250629-2249.zip

It hung again, so I replaced the SATA cable and ran it again. SMART extended finished with 0 errors, and I haven't had a read error since - cheers!

diagnostics-20221005-1102.zip Hi Last night I had some read errors for the first time in my array. I ran a read-check, however, and it came back with no errors. I am not sure what I need to do. Searching previous posts indicates that I might need to replace my drive or my SATA cable, but I don't know how to work out which I need to do. I've attached my diagnostics here. I am doing a SMART extended test now. I tried one overnight but it hung at 10% so I restarted it (currently at 80%).