Sway is laggy/unresponsive on VirtualBox Arch guest

[cRaZy-bisCuiT]

When using sway in an Arch Linux virtual guest (4GB RAM, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6600U CPU) it's very unresponsive. I guess it's a fault of the virtualization, I just don't know what causes the issue. The hardware should not be the limiting factor.

Graphics adapter & kernel module in use

lspci -nnk | grep -i VGA -A2 
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH VirtualBox Graphics Adapter [80ee:beef]
    Kernel driver in use: vboxvideo
    Kernel modules: vboxvideo

OpenGL Core Profile

glxinfo | grep "OpenGL core profile version string" 
OpenGL core profile version string: 3.3 (Core Profile) Mesa 19.2.7

sway version

swaymsg -t get_version
sway version 1.2

debug log https://pastebin.com/raw/7dSH3RkL

sway config

# Default config for sway
#
# Copy this to ~/.config/sway/config and edit it to your liking.
#
# Read `man 5 sway` for a complete reference.

### Variables
#
# Logo key. Use Mod1 for Alt.
set $mod Mod4
# Home row direction keys, like vim
set $left h
set $down j
set $up k
set $right l
# Your preferred terminal emulator
set $term xfce4-terminal 
# Your preferred application launcher
# Note: it's recommended that you pass the final command to sway
#set $menu dmenu_path | dmenu | xargs swaymsg exec --
set $menu exec rofi -show run
bindsym $mod+s exec rofi -show ssh

### Output configuration
#
# Default wallpaper (more resolutions are available in /usr/share/backgrounds/sway/)
#output * bg /usr/share/backgrounds/sway/Sway_Wallpaper_Blue_1920x1080.png fill
output * bg /home/nikolaisen/Pictures/arch_01_bg.jpg fill
#
# Example configuration:
#
#   output HDMI-A-1 resolution 1920x1080 position 1920,0
#
# You can get the names of your outputs by running: swaymsg -t get_outputs
#output VGA-1 pos 0,0 res 2560x144
### Idle configuration
#
# Example configuration:
#
# exec swayidle -w \
#          timeout 300 'swaylock -f -c 000000' \
#          timeout 600 'swaymsg "output * dpms off"' \
#               resume 'swaymsg "output * dpms on"' \
#          before-sleep 'swaylock -f -c 000000'
#
# This will lock your screen after 300 seconds of inactivity, then turn off
# your displays after another 300 seconds, and turn your screens back on when
# resumed. It will also lock your screen before your computer goes to sleep.

### Input configuration
#
# Example configuration:
#
#   input "2:14:SynPS/2_Synaptics_TouchPad" {
#       dwt enabled
#       tap enabled
#       natural_scroll enabled
#       middle_emulation enabled
#   }
#
# You can get the names of your inputs by running: swaymsg -t get_inputs
# Read `man 5 sway-input` for more information about this section.

### Key bindings
#
# Basics:
#
    # Start a terminal
    bindsym $mod+Return exec $term

    # Kill focused window
    bindsym $mod+Shift+q kill

    # Start your launcher
    bindsym $mod+d exec $menu

    # Drag floating windows by holding down $mod and left mouse button.
    # Resize them with right mouse button + $mod.
    # Despite the name, also works for non-floating windows.
    # Change normal to inverse to use left mouse button for resizing and right
    # mouse button for dragging.
    floating_modifier $mod normal

    # Reload the configuration file
    bindsym $mod+Shift+c reload

    # Exit sway (logs you out of your Wayland session)
    bindsym $mod+Shift+e exec swaynag -t warning -m 'You pressed the exit shortcut. Do you really want to exit sway? This will end your Wayland session.' -b 'Yes, exit sway' 'swaymsg exit'
#
# Moving around:
#
    # Move your focus around
    bindsym $mod+$left focus left
    bindsym $mod+$down focus down
    bindsym $mod+$up focus up
    bindsym $mod+$right focus right
    # Or use $mod+[up|down|left|right]
    bindsym $mod+Left focus left
    bindsym $mod+Down focus down
    bindsym $mod+Up focus up
    bindsym $mod+Right focus right

    # Move the focused window with the same, but add Shift
    bindsym $mod+Shift+$left move left
    bindsym $mod+Shift+$down move down
    bindsym $mod+Shift+$up move up
    bindsym $mod+Shift+$right move right
    # Ditto, with arrow keys
    bindsym $mod+Shift+Left move left
    bindsym $mod+Shift+Down move down
    bindsym $mod+Shift+Up move up
    bindsym $mod+Shift+Right move right
#
# Workspaces:
#
    # Switch to workspace
    bindsym $mod+1 workspace 1
    bindsym $mod+2 workspace 2
    bindsym $mod+3 workspace 3
    bindsym $mod+4 workspace 4
    bindsym $mod+5 workspace 5
    bindsym $mod+6 workspace 6
    bindsym $mod+7 workspace 7
    bindsym $mod+8 workspace 8
    bindsym $mod+9 workspace 9
    bindsym $mod+0 workspace 10
    # Move focused container to workspace
    bindsym $mod+Shift+1 move container to workspace 1
    bindsym $mod+Shift+2 move container to workspace 2
    bindsym $mod+Shift+3 move container to workspace 3
    bindsym $mod+Shift+4 move container to workspace 4
    bindsym $mod+Shift+5 move container to workspace 5
    bindsym $mod+Shift+6 move container to workspace 6
    bindsym $mod+Shift+7 move container to workspace 7
    bindsym $mod+Shift+8 move container to workspace 8
    bindsym $mod+Shift+9 move container to workspace 9
    bindsym $mod+Shift+0 move container to workspace 10
    # Note: workspaces can have any name you want, not just numbers.
    # We just use 1-10 as the default.
#
# Layout stuff:
#
    # You can "split" the current object of your focus with
    # $mod+b or $mod+v, for horizontal and vertical splits
    # respectively.
    bindsym $mod+b splith
    bindsym $mod+v splitv

    # Switch the current container between different layout styles
    bindsym $mod+SHIFT+s layout stacking
    bindsym $mod+w layout tabbed
    bindsym $mod+e layout toggle split

    # Make the current focus fullscreen
    bindsym $mod+f fullscreen

    # Toggle the current focus between tiling and floating mode
    bindsym $mod+Shift+space floating toggle

    # Swap focus between the tiling area and the floating area
    bindsym $mod+space focus mode_toggle

    # Move focus to the parent container
    bindsym $mod+a focus parent
#
# Scratchpad:
#
    # Sway has a "scratchpad", which is a bag of holding for windows.
    # You can send windows there and get them back later.

    # Move the currently focused window to the scratchpad
    bindsym $mod+Shift+minus move scratchpad

    # Show the next scratchpad window or hide the focused scratchpad window.
    # If there are multiple scratchpad windows, this command cycles through them.
    bindsym $mod+minus scratchpad show
#
# Resizing containers:
#
mode "resize" {
    # left will shrink the containers width
    # right will grow the containers width
    # up will shrink the containers height
    # down will grow the containers height
    bindsym $left resize shrink width 10px
    bindsym $down resize grow height 10px
    bindsym $up resize shrink height 10px
    bindsym $right resize grow width 10px

    # Ditto, with arrow keys
    bindsym Left resize shrink width 10px
    bindsym Down resize grow height 10px
    bindsym Up resize shrink height 10px
    bindsym Right resize grow width 10px

    # Return to default mode
    bindsym Return mode "default"
    bindsym Escape mode "default"
}
bindsym $mod+r mode "resize"

#
# Status Bar:
#
# Read `man 5 sway-bar` for more information about this section.
bar {
    position top

    # When the status_command prints a new line to stdout, swaybar updates.
    # The default just shows the current date and time.
    status_command while date +'%Y-%m-%d %l:%M:%S %p'; do sleep 1; done

    colors {
        statusline #ffffff
        background #323232
        inactive_workspace #32323200 #32323200 #5c5c5c
    }
}

include /etc/sway/config.d/*

#!/bin/sh
#
# FS#63021
#

systemctl --user import-environment DISPLAY WAYLAND_DISPLAY SWAYSOCK XCURSOR_SIZE

if command -v dbus-update-activation-environment >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  dbus-update-activation-environment DISPLAY WAYLAND_DISPLAY SWAYSOCK XCURSOR_SIZE
fi

reproduce Start sway and use it.

[emersion]

It's using a software OpenGL renderer, so that's expected.

[cRaZy-bisCuiT]

Do I have a chance to fix that? I have no possibility to do VGA pass-through. It's a secured environment where I can not alter the host in any way.

[emersion]

The host would need to share the GPU with the guest. It may or may not be possible depending on your hw configuration.

[cRaZy-bisCuiT]

Well, the performance of vboxvideo got improved over time. Also, even Windows 10 is running pretty decent as well as i3 does. I guess the answer is a little less complex than it should be.

Since even W10 and also i3 (which should have similar resource needs) run pretty snappy in comparisio, I guess something is wrong either on the implementation of sway, wayland or on the driver side. It may also be a config issue. That's why I'm asking.

[emersion]

These probably use software rendering instead of llvmpipe. wlroots doesn't support software rendering yet.