Qubes, with Xen 4.4.2 and Linux 3.18.10-2, gibberish graphics issue

[Patrick Schleizer]

Hi!

Installed Qubes using Qubes-R3.0-rc1-x86_64-DVD.iso.

kernel functional:
Qubes, with Xen 4.4.2 and Linux 3.12.40-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64

kernel broken:
Qubes, with Xen 4.4.2 and Linux 3.18.10-2.pvops.qubes.x86_64

graphic card:
Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M

Gibberish graphics. Bootup works but once kdm is started, graphics is
completely unusable gibberish.

How to proceed from here? Anything I could try or any debug output you
would like to see?

(Fedora-Live-Workstation-x86_64-22-3.iso works out of the box.)

Cheers,
Patrick

[Jason M]

Have you also tried the 3.19 kernel?
 

[Patrick Schleizer]

Jason M:

> Have you also tried the 3.19 kernel?

This is what I did:

sudo qubes-dom0-update kernel-3.19*

Output:

-----

Total download size: 34 M
Installed size: 145 M
Is this ok [y/d/N] y
Downloading packages:
Running transaction check
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction [shutdown inhibited]
Installing : kernel-3.19.8-1000.fc20.x86_64
grubby fatal error: unable to find a suitable template
Verifying : kernel-3.19.8-1000.fc20.x86_64

Installed:
kernel-3.19.8-1000.fc20.x86_64

Complete!

-----

And after booting in grub boot menu, only Xen 4.4.2 and Linux 3.18.10-2
is available. kernel-3.19 not. Output:

-----

Loading Xen 4.4.2 ...
error can't find command xen_rm_opts
Loading Linux 3.12.40-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64
Loading intial ramdisk ...

Press any key to continue

-----

Still bootable.

Cheers,
Patrick

[Marek Marczykowski-Górecki]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 10:51:30PM +0000, Patrick Schleizer wrote:
> Jason M:
> > Have you also tried the 3.19 kernel?
>
> This is what I did:
>
> sudo qubes-dom0-update kernel-3.19*
>
> Output:
>
> -----
>
> Total download size: 34 M
> Installed size: 145 M
> Is this ok [y/d/N] y
> Downloading packages:
> Running transaction check
> Running transaction test
> Transaction test succeeded
> Running transaction [shutdown inhibited]
> Installing : kernel-3.19.8-1000.fc20.x86_64
> grubby fatal error: unable to find a suitable template

Apparently grubby (the tool used in Fedora to update grub configuration)
does not support Xen :(

> Verifying : kernel-3.19.8-1000.fc20.x86_64
>
> Installed:
> kernel-3.19.8-1000.fc20.x86_64
>
> Complete!
>
> -----
>
> And after booting in grub boot menu, only Xen 4.4.2 and Linux 3.18.10-2
> is available. kernel-3.19 not.

You can regenerate grub configuration by:
sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

> Output:
>
> -----
>
> Loading Xen 4.4.2 ...
> error can't find command xen_rm_opts

This is bug in grubby, that cut of trailing '=' in configuration...

> Loading Linux 3.12.40-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64
> Loading intial ramdisk ...
>
> Press any key to continue
>
> -----
>
> Still bootable.

- --
Best Regards,
Marek Marczykowski-Górecki
Invisible Things Lab
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
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[Patrick Schleizer]

Marek Marczykowski-Górecki:

>> grubby fatal error: unable to find a suitable template
>
> Apparently grubby (the tool used in Fedora to update grub configuration)
> does not support Xen :(

Known issue at grubby upstream? Worth a bug report or feature request?

>> And after booting in grub boot menu, only Xen 4.4.2 and Linux 3.18.10-2
>> is available. kernel-3.19 not.
>
> You can regenerate grub configuration by:
> sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

That fixed the grub issue.

Cheers,
Patrick

[Marek Marczykowski-Górecki]

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Hash: SHA1

On Thu, Jun 25, 2015 at 12:33:59AM +0000, Patrick Schleizer wrote:
> Marek Marczykowski-Górecki:
> >> grubby fatal error: unable to find a suitable template
> >
> > Apparently grubby (the tool used in Fedora to update grub configuration)
> > does not support Xen :(
>
> Known issue at grubby upstream? Worth a bug report or feature request?

I've seen many similar complains there, but the exact problem is already
reported here:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1190519

Without any interest from their side...

> >> And after booting in grub boot menu, only Xen 4.4.2 and Linux 3.18.10-2
> >> is available. kernel-3.19 not.
> >
> > You can regenerate grub configuration by:
> > sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
>
> That fixed the grub issue.

Our kernel package have this command in %post. But not the original
Fedora one.

- --
Best Regards,
Marek Marczykowski-Górecki
Invisible Things Lab
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
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[Patrick Schleizer]

Jason M:

Tried it now...

Solves one issue. Another severe issue introduced.

Gibberish graphics issue solved.

[Same Qubes installation on USB that I use on notebook a or b to get to
the bottom of this.]

a) "notebook-medium": no issues noticed so far

b) "noteboot-fast" (Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M):

Qubes VM Manager shows only dom0. net-vm and firewall-vm are not
autostarted. Also I can not manually start them.

A known issue? Or you want more input?

(Certainly enough RAM, CPU, etc.)

So I conclude that hardware in notebook a) is compatible, while in
notebook b) something makes issues.

Any idea how to debug / solve these?

Cheers,
Patrick

[Marek Marczykowski-Górecki]

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Hash: SHA1

On Thu, Jun 25, 2015 at 01:17:34AM +0000, Patrick Schleizer wrote:
> Jason M:
> >
> >
> > On Wednesday, 3 June 2015 19:05:19 UTC-4, Patrick Schleizer wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi!
> >>
> >> Installed Qubes using Qubes-R3.0-rc1-x86_64-DVD.iso.
> >>
> >> kernel functional:
> >> Qubes, with Xen 4.4.2 and Linux 3.12.40-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64
> >>
> >> kernel broken:
> >> Qubes, with Xen 4.4.2 and Linux 3.18.10-2.pvops.qubes.x86_64
> >>
> >> graphic card:
> >> Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M
> >>
> >> Gibberish graphics. Bootup works but once kdm is started, graphics is
> >> completely unusable gibberish.
> >>
> >> How to proceed from here? Anything I could try or any debug output you
> >> would like to see?
> >>
> >> (Fedora-Live-Workstation-x86_64-22-3.iso works out of the box.)
> >>
> >>
> > Have you also tried the 3.19 kernel?
>
> Tried it now...
>
> Solves one issue. Another severe issue introduced.
>
> Gibberish graphics issue solved.

It is interesting what really fixed the problem. Just newer version? Or
some patch applied by Fedora (there are almost hundred of them...). Or
maybe some kernel configuration option?

Unfortunately I don't have hardware with such problems to perform
further experiments.

> [Same Qubes installation on USB that I use on notebook a or b to get to
> the bottom of this.]
>
> a) "notebook-medium": no issues noticed so far
>
> b) "noteboot-fast" (Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M):
>
> Qubes VM Manager shows only dom0. net-vm and firewall-vm are not
> autostarted. Also I can not manually start them.
>
> A known issue? Or you want more input?
>
> (Certainly enough RAM, CPU, etc.)
>
> So I conclude that hardware in notebook a) is compatible, while in
> notebook b) something makes issues.
>
> Any idea how to debug / solve these?

Try to start them from command line: qvm-start sys-net. You should
receive some more meaningful message.

- --
Best Regards,
Marek Marczykowski-Górecki
Invisible Things Lab
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
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[Patrick Schleizer]

Marek Marczykowski-Górecki:

> On Thu, Jun 25, 2015 at 01:17:34AM +0000, Patrick Schleizer wrote:
>> Jason M:
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wednesday, 3 June 2015 19:05:19 UTC-4, Patrick Schleizer wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi!
>>>>
>>>> Installed Qubes using Qubes-R3.0-rc1-x86_64-DVD.iso.
>>>>
>>>> kernel functional:
>>>> Qubes, with Xen 4.4.2 and Linux 3.12.40-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64
>>>>
>>>> kernel broken:
>>>> Qubes, with Xen 4.4.2 and Linux 3.18.10-2.pvops.qubes.x86_64
>>>>
>>>> graphic card:
>>>> Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M
>>>>
>>>> Gibberish graphics. Bootup works but once kdm is started, graphics is
>>>> completely unusable gibberish.
>>>>
>>>> How to proceed from here? Anything I could try or any debug output you
>>>> would like to see?
>>>>
>>>> (Fedora-Live-Workstation-x86_64-22-3.iso works out of the box.)
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Have you also tried the 3.19 kernel?
>
>> Tried it now...
>
>> Solves one issue. Another severe issue introduced.
>
>> Gibberish graphics issue solved.
>
> It is interesting what really fixed the problem. Just newer version? Or
> some patch applied by Fedora (there are almost hundred of them...). Or
> maybe some kernel configuration option?

No idea.

> Unfortunately I don't have hardware with such problems to perform
> further experiments.
>
>> [Same Qubes installation on USB that I use on notebook a or b to get to
>> the bottom of this.]
>
>> a) "notebook-medium": no issues noticed so far
>
>> b) "noteboot-fast" (Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M):
>
>> Qubes VM Manager shows only dom0. net-vm and firewall-vm are not
>> autostarted. Also I can not manually start them.
>
>> A known issue? Or you want more input?
>
>> (Certainly enough RAM, CPU, etc.)
>
>> So I conclude that hardware in notebook a) is compatible, while in
>> notebook b) something makes issues.
>
>> Any idea how to debug / solve these?
>
> Try to start them from command line: qvm-start sys-net. You should
> receive some more meaningful message.

Alright. Here it is.

qvm-start sys-net

--> Creating volatile image:
/var/lib/qubes/servicevms/sys-net/volatile.img...
--> Loading the VM (type = NetVM)...
Traceback (moste recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/qvm-start", line 125, in <module>
main()
File "/usr/binqvm-start", line 109, in main
xid = vm.start(verbose=options.verbose,
preparing_dvm=options.preparing_dmv, start_guid=not options s.tray else
None)
File
"/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/qubes/modules/005QUbesNetVM.ps",
line 121 in start
xid=super(QubesNetVM, self).start(**kwargs)
File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/qubes/modules/000QubesVm.py",
line 1816, in start
nd = vmm.libvirt_conn.nodeDeviceLookupByName('pci_0000_ +
pci.replace(':','_').replace('.','_'==
File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/libvirt.py", line 4092, in
nodeDeviceLookupByName
if ret is None:raise libvirtError('virNodeDeviceLookupByName()
failed', conn=self)
libvirt.libvirtError: Node device not found

Cheers,
Patrick

[Marek Marczykowski-Górecki]

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Hash: SHA1

Check what devices you have assigned to sys-net (qvm-pci sys-net). It
looks like you have there some non-existing entry.

- --
Best Regards,
Marek Marczykowski-Górecki
Invisible Things Lab
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
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[Patrick Schleizer]

Marek Marczykowski-Górecki:

You were probably right.

cmd:
qvm-pci sys-net

output was:
['02:00.0', '03:00.0']

Not very useful output? Anyhow...

This was probably happening, because I installed Qubes on USB using
"notebook-medium", before I attached that USB drive on "noteboot-fast"
(Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M) (gibberish graphics issue).

Why I didn't install right using "noteboot-fast"? Not for fun nor am I a
big USB traveler. Because otherwise I would not have got a
chance to try various fixes (3.19 kernel etc) without graphics.
(Debugging, experimenting, using console would have been difficult if I
could not even pass initial Qubes wizard that sets up initial VMs?)

Only AdminVM was listed in Qubes Manager. Neither sys-net nor
sys-firewall were listed there.

Could be indeed be the case, that some hardware from previous run on
"notebook-medium" was still attached, that prevented net-vm from
starting up in "notebook-fast". I would argue, that this should be
considered a bug, auto-detected/removed/ignored.

After checking Qubes Manger box to show inactive VMs, removing all
devices, starting it, shutting it down, attaching network devices again,
it's now functional.

Cheers,
Patrick

[Marek Marczykowski-Górecki]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

At least error message could be improved...

We'd need some automatic device assignment to implement Live USB/CD mode
though.

> After checking Qubes Manger box to show inactive VMs, removing all
> devices, starting it, shutting it down, attaching network devices again,
> it's now functional.

I think that start+shutdown was unnecessary. Just remove all the devices
and attach the right one(s), then start the VM.

- --
Best Regards,
Marek Marczykowski-Górecki
Invisible Things Lab
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
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