Evdev mouse passthrough with 1000hz mouse causes lag

Update - This has been solved
The issue was caused by enabling Hyper-V inside the VM. Turning it off in the “turn windows features on or off” fixes all performance issues. This of course isn’t optimal, but hey, at least my VM works.


So I’ve seeked helped on Reddit as well, and even though i got a lot of possible solutions, nothing really helped. I’m hoping some smart person here knows what’s going on.

After switching from a 125hz mouse (Logitech MX Master 2S), to a 1000hz one (Razer Viper Ultimate), my Windows VM have become extremely laggy, every time i move the mouse. Even just loading a website, if i move my mouse during the loading, it takes like 3 times as long. In some games, moving the mouse causes the framerate to drop dramatically, in others it just causes extreme input latency.

I am using virt manager, i have the guest addons installed, and the mouse is passed through evdev with a virtio pci device. Using the old mouse, both heavy applications like After Effects and games work perfectly.

I am quite the newbie when it comes to actually properly setting up vms, so honestly I highly expect this to be like one line in the XML that i just messed up lol. Really couldn’t find any solutions that worked on Google though. So yea, apologies if I’m just overlooking something simple, or using the wrong terms for things.

I have tried reducing the polling rate to 125hz, which seems to remove most of the issue, but i have not tested this very thoroughly, as it kinda defeats the purpose of a faster mouse, and noticeably increases input latency (on games on the host, cant really say for the vm, as im currently getting the like 1 second of input latency lmao)

Host specs

OS: Manjaro Linux x86_64

Kernel: 5.9.16-1-MANJARO

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (16) @ 3.600GHz

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (i have two, one is passed through to vm)

Memory: 32GB

Storage: 500GB NVMe (128GB are used for the VM), 1TB SATA SSD, 3TB HDD and a 500GB SATA attached to the vm with virtio SCSI full disk block (is that what thats called?)

Versions of things:

libvirtd (libvirt) 7.0.0

QEMU emulator version 5.2.0

virtio-win 0.1.190

XML:

<domain xmlns:qemu="http://libvirt.org/schemas/domain/qemu/1.0" type="kvm">
  <name>Windows10</name>
  <uuid>IS THIS SENSITIVE? IDK. BUT I DONT REALLY FEEL LIKE LEAKING ANYTHING</uuid>
  <metadata>
    <libosinfo:libosinfo xmlns:libosinfo="http://libosinfo.org/xmlns/libvirt/domain/1.0">
      <libosinfo:os id="http://microsoft.com/win/10"/>
    </libosinfo:libosinfo>
  </metadata>
  <memory unit="KiB">16777216</memory>
  <currentMemory unit="KiB">16777216</currentMemory>
  <vcpu placement="static">12</vcpu>
  <iothreads>1</iothreads>
  <cputune>
    <vcpupin vcpu="0" cpuset="2"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="1" cpuset="10"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="2" cpuset="3"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="3" cpuset="11"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="4" cpuset="4"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="5" cpuset="12"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="6" cpuset="5"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="7" cpuset="13"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="8" cpuset="6"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="9" cpuset="14"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="10" cpuset="7"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="11" cpuset="15"/>
    <emulatorpin cpuset="0-1,8-9"/>
    <iothreadpin iothread="1" cpuset="0-1,8-9"/>
  </cputune>
  <os>
    <type arch="x86_64" machine="pc-q35-5.2">hvm</type>
    <loader readonly="yes" type="pflash">/usr/share/edk2-ovmf/x64/OVMF_CODE.fd</loader>
    <nvram>/var/lib/libvirt/qemu/nvram/Windows10_VARS.fd</nvram>
    <boot dev="hd"/>
  </os>
  <features>
    <acpi/>
    <apic/>
    <hyperv>
      <relaxed state="on"/>
      <vapic state="on"/>
      <spinlocks state="on" retries="8191"/>
      <vpindex state="on"/>
      <runtime state="on"/>
      <synic state="on"/>
      <stimer state="on"/>
      <vendor_id state="on" value="getfucked"/>
    </hyperv>
    <kvm>
      <hidden state="on"/>
    </kvm>
    <vmport state="off"/>
    <ioapic driver="kvm"/>
  </features>
  <cpu mode="host-passthrough" check="none" migratable="on">
    <topology sockets="1" dies="1" cores="6" threads="2"/>
    <feature policy="require" name="topoext"/>
  </cpu>
  <clock offset="localtime">
    <timer name="rtc" tickpolicy="catchup"/>
    <timer name="pit" tickpolicy="delay"/>
    <timer name="hpet" present="no"/>
    <timer name="hypervclock" present="yes"/>
  </clock>
  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
  <pm>
    <suspend-to-mem enabled="no"/>
    <suspend-to-disk enabled="no"/>
  </pm>
  <devices>
    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64</emulator>
    <disk type="file" device="disk">
      <driver name="qemu" type="raw" cache="none" io="threads" discard="unmap" iothread="1" queues="8"/>
      <source file="/var/lib/libvirt/images/Windows10.img"/>
      <target dev="vda" bus="virtio"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x05" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </disk>
    <disk type="block" device="disk">
      <driver name="qemu" type="raw" cache="none" io="threads"/>
      <source dev="/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WDS500G2B0A-00SM50_2044FK483414"/>
      <target dev="sda" bus="scsi"/>
      <address type="drive" controller="0" bus="0" target="0" unit="0"/>
    </disk>
    <controller type="usb" index="0" model="qemu-xhci" ports="15">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x03" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="sata" index="0">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x1f" function="0x2"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="0" model="pcie-root"/>
    <controller type="pci" index="1" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="1" port="0x10"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x0" multifunction="on"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="2" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="2" port="0x11"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x1"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="3" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="3" port="0x12"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x2"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="4" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="4" port="0x13"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x3"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="5" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="5" port="0x14"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x4"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="6" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="6" port="0x15"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x5"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="7" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="7" port="0x16"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x6"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="8" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="8" port="0x17"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x7"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="9" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="9" port="0x18"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x0" multifunction="on"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="10" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="10" port="0x19"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x1"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="11" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="11" port="0x8"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x0" multifunction="on"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="12" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="12" port="0x9"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x1"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="virtio-serial" index="0">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x04" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="scsi" index="0" model="virtio-scsi">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x0c" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </controller>
    <interface type="direct">
      <mac address="52:54:00:25:df:4d"/>
      <source dev="enp5s0" mode="bridge"/>
      <model type="virtio"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x01" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </interface>
    <interface type="network">
      <mac address="52:54:00:43:42:a8"/>
      <source network="host"/>
      <model type="virtio"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x02" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </interface>
    <serial type="pty">
      <target type="isa-serial" port="0">
        <model name="isa-serial"/>
      </target>
    </serial>
    <console type="pty">
      <target type="serial" port="0"/>
    </console>
    <channel type="spicevmc">
      <target type="virtio" name="com.redhat.spice.0"/>
      <address type="virtio-serial" controller="0" bus="0" port="1"/>
    </channel>
    <input type="mouse" bus="virtio">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x07" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </input>
    <input type="keyboard" bus="virtio">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x08" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </input>
    <input type="mouse" bus="ps2"/>
    <input type="keyboard" bus="ps2"/>
    <hostdev mode="subsystem" type="pci" managed="yes">
      <source>
        <address domain="0x0000" bus="0x0c" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
      </source>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x09" slot="0x00" function="0x0" multifunction="on"/>
    </hostdev>
    <hostdev mode="subsystem" type="pci" managed="yes">
      <source>
        <address domain="0x0000" bus="0x0c" slot="0x00" function="0x1"/>
      </source>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x09" slot="0x00" function="0x1"/>
    </hostdev>
    <memballoon model="virtio">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x06" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </memballoon>
  </devices>
  <qemu:commandline>
    <qemu:arg value="-device"/>
    <qemu:arg value="ich9-intel-hda,bus=pcie.0,addr=0x1b"/>
    <qemu:arg value="-device"/>
    <qemu:arg value="hda-micro,audiodev=hda"/>
    <qemu:arg value="-audiodev"/>
    <qemu:arg value="pa,id=hda,server=unix:/run/user/1000/pulse/native"/>
    <qemu:arg value="-object"/>
    <qemu:arg value="input-linux,id=mouse1,evdev=/dev/input/by-id/usb-Razer_Razer_Viper_Ultimate_Dongle-event-mouse"/>
    <qemu:arg value="-object"/>
    <qemu:arg value="input-linux,id=kbd1,evdev=/dev/input/by-id/usb-Logitech_G413_Silver_Mechanical_Gaming_Keyboard_188436543635-event-kbd,grab_all=on,repeat=on"/>
  </qemu:commandline>
</domain>

Thanks for reading my post!

1 Like

i am having the same problem :confused:

in this reddit post they state that enabling hyper v timing would fix the issue (sadly it is already enabled for me)

did you find a fix?

<domain xmlns:qemu="http://libvirt.org/schemas/domain/qemu/1.0" type="kvm">
  <name>win10-gaming</name>
  <metadata>
    <libosinfo:libosinfo xmlns:libosinfo="http://libvirt.org/schemas/domain/qemu/1.0">
      <libosinfo:os id="http://microsoft.com/win/10"/>
    </libosinfo:libosinfo>
  </metadata>
  <memory unit="KiB">16776192</memory>
  <currentMemory unit="KiB">16775168</currentMemory>
  <memoryBacking>
    <hugepages/>
  </memoryBacking>
  <vcpu placement="static">8</vcpu>
  <cputune>
    <vcpupin vcpu="0" cpuset="2,8"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="1" cpuset="3,9"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="2" cpuset="4,10"/>
    <vcpupin vcpu="3" cpuset="5,11"/>
    <emulatorpin cpuset="1,7"/>
  </cputune>
  <os>
    <type arch="x86_64" machine="pc-q35-7.0">hvm</type>
    <loader readonly="yes" secure="yes" type="pflash">/usr/share/edk2-ovmf/x64/OVMF_CODE.secboot.fd</loader>
    <nvram>/var/lib/libvirt/qemu/nvram/win10-gaming_VARS.fd</nvram>
  </os>
  <features>
    <acpi/>
    <apic/>
    <hyperv mode="custom">
      <relaxed state="on"/>
      <vapic state="on"/>
      <spinlocks state="on" retries="8191"/>
      <vpindex state="on"/>
      <runtime state="on"/>
      <synic state="on"/>
      <stimer state="on">
        <direct state="on"/>
      </stimer>
      <reset state="on"/>
      <vendor_id state="on" value="123456789ab"/>
      <frequencies state="on"/>
      <reenlightenment state="on"/>
      <tlbflush state="on"/>
      <ipi state="on"/>
      <evmcs state="off"/>
    </hyperv>
    <kvm>
      <hidden state="on"/>
    </kvm>
    <vmport state="off"/>
    <smm state="on"/>
  </features>
  <cpu mode="host-passthrough" check="none" migratable="on">
    <topology sockets="1" dies="1" cores="4" threads="2"/>
    <feature policy="require" name="topoext"/>
    <feature policy="disable" name="hypervisor"/>
    <feature policy="require" name="svm"/>
  </cpu>
  <clock offset="localtime">
    <timer name="rtc" tickpolicy="catchup"/>
    <timer name="pit" tickpolicy="delay"/>
    <timer name="hpet" present="no"/>
    <timer name="hypervclock" present="yes"/>
    <timer name="tsc" present="yes" mode="native"/>
  </clock>
  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
  <pm>
    <suspend-to-mem enabled="no"/>
    <suspend-to-disk enabled="no"/>
  </pm>
  <devices>
    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64</emulator>
    <disk type="file" device="disk">
      <driver name="qemu" type="qcow2" discard="unmap"/>
      <source file="/var/lib/libvirt/images/win10-gaming.qcow2"/>
      <target dev="vda" bus="virtio"/>
      <boot order="1"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x04" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </disk>
    <disk type="block" device="disk">
      <driver name="qemu" type="raw" cache="none" io="native" discard="unmap"/>
      <source dev="/dev/sda"/>
      <target dev="vdb" bus="virtio"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x0b" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </disk>
    <controller type="usb" index="0" model="qemu-xhci" ports="15">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x02" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="0" model="pcie-root"/>
    <controller type="pci" index="1" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="1" port="0x8"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x0" multifunction="on"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="2" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="2" port="0x9"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x1"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="3" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="3" port="0xa"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x2"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="4" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="4" port="0xb"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x3"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="5" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="5" port="0xc"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x4"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="6" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="6" port="0xd"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x5"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="7" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="7" port="0xe"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x6"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="8" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="8" port="0xf"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x7"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="9" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="9" port="0x10"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x0" multifunction="on"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="10" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="10" port="0x11"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x1"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="11" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="11" port="0x12"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x2"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="12" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="12" port="0x13"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x3"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="13" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="13" port="0x14"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x4"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="14" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="14" port="0x15"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x5"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="15" model="pcie-root-port">
      <model name="pcie-root-port"/>
      <target chassis="15" port="0x16"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x6"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="pci" index="16" model="pcie-to-pci-bridge">
      <model name="pcie-pci-bridge"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x08" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="sata" index="0">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x1f" function="0x2"/>
    </controller>
    <controller type="virtio-serial" index="0">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x03" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </controller>
    <interface type="bridge">
      <mac address="52:54:00:61:37:aa"/>
      <source bridge="bridge0"/>
      <model type="virtio"/>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x01" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </interface>
    <channel type="spicevmc">
      <target type="virtio" name="com.redhat.spice.0"/>
      <address type="virtio-serial" controller="0" bus="0" port="1"/>
    </channel>
    <input type="mouse" bus="virtio">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x09" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </input>
    <input type="keyboard" bus="virtio">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x0a" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </input>
    <input type="mouse" bus="ps2"/>
    <input type="keyboard" bus="ps2"/>
    <graphics type="spice" autoport="yes">
      <listen type="address"/>
      <image compression="off"/>
    </graphics>
    <sound model="ich9">
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x1b" function="0x0"/>
    </sound>
    <audio id="1" type="jack">
      <input clientName="win10-gaming" connectPorts="RODE NT-USB Analog Stereo"/>
      <output clientName="win10-gaming" connectPorts="SMSL USB AUDIO Analog Stereo"/>
    </audio>
    <video>
      <model type="none"/>
    </video>
    <hostdev mode="subsystem" type="pci" managed="yes">
      <source>
        <address domain="0x0000" bus="0x0e" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
      </source>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x05" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </hostdev>
    <hostdev mode="subsystem" type="pci" managed="yes">
      <source>
        <address domain="0x0000" bus="0x0e" slot="0x00" function="0x1"/>
      </source>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x06" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </hostdev>
    <hostdev mode="subsystem" type="pci" managed="yes">
      <source>
        <address domain="0x0000" bus="0x10" slot="0x00" function="0x4"/>
      </source>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x07" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </hostdev>
    <hostdev mode="subsystem" type="pci" managed="yes">
      <source>
        <address domain="0x0000" bus="0x10" slot="0x00" function="0x3"/>
      </source>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x0c" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
    </hostdev>
    <hostdev mode="subsystem" type="usb" managed="yes">
      <source>
        <vendor id="0x045e"/>
        <product id="0x02fe"/>
      </source>
      <address type="usb" bus="0" port="1"/>
    </hostdev>
    <memballoon model="none"/>
    <shmem name="looking-glass">
      <model type="ivshmem-plain"/>
      <size unit="M">256</size>
      <address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x10" slot="0x01" function="0x0"/>
    </shmem>
  </devices>
  <qemu:commandline>
    <qemu:env name="PIPEWIRE_RUNTIME_DIR" value="/srv/win10-gaming"/>
    <qemu:env name="PIPEWIRE_LATENCY" value="512/48000"/>
  </qemu:commandline>
</domain>

this is my current xml if someone has a clue how to fix those performance issues