Qubes 4 Fails to Boot With Coreboot

[Protonmij]

As recommended by Qubes, I have installed Coreboot on my X230 - which successfully runs Debian, Tails etc. I've tried to run Qubes 3.2 but although the Installer process works OK, Qubes refuses to boot [hangs]. From what I can gather, its a Zen issue that's preventing the boot.

I had hoped the issue would be resolved in Qubes 4. However, I've been disappointed - I get exactly the same symptoms having downloaded the trial version from https://ftp.qubes-os.org/~marmarek/Qubes-DVD-x86_64-20170706.iso

Is this an isolated example or is there a wider problem with Coreboot and Qubes?

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[Andrew Morgan]

On 07/07/2017 10:20 AM, 'Protonmij' via qubes-users wrote:
> As recommended by Qubes, I have installed Coreboot on my X230 - which
> successfully runs Debian, Tails etc. I've tried to run Qubes 3.2 but
> although the Installer process works OK, Qubes refuses to boot [hangs].
> From what I can gather, its a Zen issue that's preventing the boot.
> I had hoped the issue would be resolved in Qubes 4. However, I've been
> disappointed - I get exactly the same symptoms having downloaded the
> trial version from
> https://ftp.qubes-os.org/~marmarek/Qubes-DVD-x86_64-20170706.iso

> <https://ftp.qubes-os.org/%7Emarmarek/Qubes-DVD-x86_64-20170706.iso>

> Is this an isolated example or is there a wider problem with Coreboot
> and Qubes?
>
>

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Can you provide any more details about at what point in the boot process
it hangs? It's hard to suggest anything to try based on the current
description.

Does it reach the Qubes loader-bar screen or do you just get a black
screen while booting?

I believe you can press ESC in the Qubes-logo booting process to show
more detailed information, as well as removing the 'quiet' entry in the
kernel arguments on boot (you can do this by pressing 'e' at the
grub/bootup screen, press right arrow-key to see the rest of the arguments).

Andrew Morgan

[Protonmij]

I see the Seabios screen "booting from hard drive", this hangs for 10 to 20 secs then goes the through the boot again endlessly

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[Noor Christensen]

On Sat, Jul 08, 2017 at 09:01:41AM -0700, Andrew Morgan wrote:
> On 07/07/2017 10:20 AM, 'Protonmij' via qubes-users wrote:
> > As recommended by Qubes, I have installed Coreboot on my X230 - which
> > successfully runs Debian, Tails etc. I've tried to run Qubes 3.2 but
> > although the Installer process works OK, Qubes refuses to boot [hangs].
> > From what I can gather, its a Zen issue that's preventing the boot.
> > I had hoped the issue would be resolved in Qubes 4. However, I've been
> > disappointed - I get exactly the same symptoms having downloaded the
> > trial version from
> > https://ftp.qubes-os.org/~marmarek/Qubes-DVD-x86_64-20170706.iso
> > <https://ftp.qubes-os.org/%7Emarmarek/Qubes-DVD-x86_64-20170706.iso>
> > Is this an isolated example or is there a wider problem with Coreboot
> > and Qubes?
>

> Can you provide any more details about at what point in the boot process
> it hangs? It's hard to suggest anything to try based on the current
> description.

Just want to add that there are no "wider problem" with Qubes and
Coreboot, that I know of. I've been using this setup on my X220 without
hurdles for 6 months now.

Protonmij,

* What payload are you using for Coreboot?
* Did you configure SeaBIOS and GRUB correctly?
* Did you flash a working GRUB config together with the firmware?

Also as Andrew mentioned it is very hard to diagnose anything without a
better description of what actually happens when you try to boot.

-- noor

|_|O|_|
|_|_|O| Noor Christensen
|O|O|O| no...@fripost.org ~ 0x401DA1E0

[Noor Christensen]

On Mon, Jul 10, 2017 at 03:55:09AM -0400, 'Protonmij' via qubes-users wrote:
> I see the Seabios screen "booting from hard drive", this hangs for 10
> to 20 secs then goes the through the boot again endlessly

What payload did you choose in SeaBIOS menuconfig?

[Protonmij]

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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [qubes-users] Re: Qubes 4 Fails to Boot With Coreboot
Local Time: July 11, 2017 8:28 AM
UTC Time: July 11, 2017 8:28 AM
From: prot...@protonmail.com
To: Noor Christensen <kchr+qub...@fripost.org>

The most significant fact about my post appears to have been overlooked - my x230 with Coreboot onboard boots all Linux distros I've tried, including;Tails, Debian, Fedora etc. Why does it not boot Qubes? Is there something special I need to do to get Qubes to boot. If so, I suggest Qubes post that installation information to the wider community.- after all Qubes recommended Coreboot in the first place.

From this post https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/2553 there is a clear acknowledgement from Qubes Developers that  there are significant problems with Coreboot/Qubes compatibility. Seemingly, those problems are not being formally acknowledged by Qubes.

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[Noor Christensen]

On Tue, Jul 11, 2017 at 04:52:27AM -0400, 'Protonmij' via qubes-users wrote:
> > The most significant fact about my post appears to have been
> > overlooked - my x230 with Coreboot onboard boots all Linux distros
> > I've tried, including;Tails, Debian, Fedora etc. Why does it not
> > boot Qubes? Is there something special I need to do to get Qubes to
> > boot. If so, I suggest Qubes post that installation information to
> > the wider community.- after all Qubes recommended Coreboot in the
> > first place.

Sorry, I did not realize you've had actual installs of the other
distributions. I was assuming you just tried to boot Live ISOs, which
could work even though you have a broken payload/boot loader after
SeaBIOS.

> > From this post https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/2553
> > there is a clear acknowledgement from Qubes Developers that there
> > are significant problems with Coreboot/Qubes compatibility.
> > Seemingly, those problems are not being formally acknowledged by
> > Qubes.

In my setup, I have chosen GRUB as the Coreboot payload. Then I copied
my grub.cfg from Qubes and added it to the Coreboot firmware.

Could you try this and see if it works better?

[Noor Christensen]

Also, did you try the workaround mentioned in the Github issue?

https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/2553#issuecomment-296442883

I remember doing this "for good measure" after flashing the firmware, so
maybe it was a crucial step...

[Protonmij]

I appreciate you are trying to help, but I have no desire to try unauthorised workarounds that potentially leave my machine compromised or in an undefined state.

I think I'll wait until Qubes get the Coreboot issues resolved and then formally issue a solution

Thank again for your efforts

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-------- Original Message --------

Subject: Re: Fw: Re: [qubes-users] Re: Qubes 4 Fails to Boot With Coreboot

Local Time: July 11, 2017 9:27 AM

UTC Time: July 11, 2017 9:27 AM

From: kchr+qub...@fripost.org

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[Noor Christensen]

On Tue, Jul 11, 2017 at 07:58:17AM -0400, Protonmij wrote:
> I appreciate you are trying to help, but I have no desire to try
> unauthorised workarounds that potentially leave my machine compromised
> or in an undefined state.
> I think I'll wait until Qubes get the Coreboot issues resolved and
> then formally issue a solution
> Thank again for your efforts

Sure, no problem.

Mind if I ask what makes you feel that updating your GRUB configuration
would be compromising and/or lead to undefined behavior?

These GRUB commands mentioned in the workaround are the same ones that
gets called by your Linux distribution upon upgrading the kernel, for
example. They are standard procedure for updating the GRUB
configuration.

[Franz]

On Tue, Jul 11, 2017 at 1:00 PM, Noor Christensen <kchr+qub...@fripost.org> wrote:

On Tue, Jul 11, 2017 at 07:58:17AM -0400, Protonmij wrote:
> I appreciate you are trying to help, but I have no desire to try
> unauthorised workarounds that potentially leave my machine compromised
> or in an undefined state.
> I think I'll wait until Qubes get the Coreboot issues resolved and
> then formally issue a solution
> Thank again for your efforts

Sure, no problem.

Mind if I ask what makes you feel that updating your GRUB configuration
would be compromising and/or lead to undefined behavior?

I was wondering the same.  And a part Qubes developers may have much more compelling problems related with R4 to find time to polish such minor x230 Coreboot issues. If they have a x230 at all since they once seem to like larger screens.

Best

Fran

These GRUB commands mentioned in the workaround are the same ones that
gets called by your Linux distribution upon upgrading the kernel, for
example. They are standard procedure for updating the GRUB
configuration.

-- noor

|_|O|_|
|_|_|O|  Noor Christensen
|O|O|O|  no...@fripost.org ~ 0x401DA1E0

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[prot...@protonmail.com]

Andrew Morgan:

I see welcome to Seabios ------> "booting from hard disk" ------> hangs
for 10 to 10 sec then tries to boot again endlessly

[Tai...@gmx.com]

You would be better off posting this on the coreboot mailing list with
serial console logs from both coreboot and the kernel (you will need a
null modem cable) along with the coreboot .config file and build log,
irregardless I use coreboot 4.6 and it works fine.

We need more information to be able to help you.