Qubes 4.1 & ThinkPad P15 Gen 2 (type 20YQ): Help in Remedying Reduced Functionality?

[Johannes Graumann]

Hi,

I got a new ThinkPad P15 Gen 2:

1x 11th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-11800H Processor(Core™ i7-11800H)

1x Bluetooth® 5.0 or above; Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX210 2x2 AX

1x Ethernet; Combo audio/microphone jack; HDMI 2.0; 1 Power button; 2x TBT (DP 1.4

USB 3.2 Gen2); 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type A); SIM Card (Nano SIM)

1x 720P HD with Dual Array Microphone & ThinkShutter

1x NVIDIA RTX A2000 4GB

As with a similar (even beefier) model https://www.qubes-os.org/hcl/#lenovo_thinkpad-p15-gen2-20yq004fus_i9-11950h_tiger-lake_integrated-graphics-uhd-rtx-a4000-mobile most things appear to work.

I had to disable Bluetooth in the BIOS, the system will only boot with hybrid and not discrete graphics, and WiFi required the fixed mentioned in above HCL entry.

Various reports seem to indicated, that USB-C docking stations have been found working (with reduced speed?) but I do not seem to be able to get the ThinkPad USB-C Dock Gen2 to jive with the system: neither web nor external screens work. Plugging it in does not do anything to `udevadmin` in either `dom0` nor `sys-usb`.

As the laptop's HDMI port also does not work (likely due to being hardwired to the NVDIA card), I currently have no means of setting up multiple screens.

I want to use Qubes and this machine as my daily driver and non functioning dock as well as the lack of a multiple screen options are show stoppers for this.

The latter is possibly fixable through NVIDIA support in `dom0` and that's what I'm working on next, but I would highly appreciate any hint on how to get the dock working.

Thank you for your consideration and any hints.

[Johannes Graumann]

On 24.03.2022 12:16 'Johannes Graumann' via qubes-users <qubes...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

...

As the laptop's HDMI port also does not work (likely due to being hardwired to the NVDIA card), I currently have no means of setting up multiple screens.

I want to use Qubes and this machine as my daily driver and non functioning dock as well as the lack of a multiple screen options are show stoppers for this.

The latter is possibly fixable through NVIDIA support in `dom0` and that's what I'm working on next, but I would highly appreciate any hint on how to get the dock working.

Installing `kernel-latest` in `dom0` (which currently brings in 5.16) and setting graphics to `discrete` in the BIOS renders the on board HDMI port active. `Hybrid` graphics settings results in a black screen when the display manager comes up.

Still having issues with the screens only being shown mirrored, but I'm getting somewhere.

No luck whatsoever with the USB-C dock. Pointers highly appreciated.

[Johannes Graumann]

To get the multiscreen setup to behave properly, I had to switch of the compositor:

` Q → System Tools → Window Manager Tweaks → Compositor → uncheck “Enable display compositing” `

[Demi Marie Obenour]

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Does unchecking the “Mirror displays” option (in Q → System Tools →
Display) also work? If not, that’s a bug; please report it. If so,
that’s a user experience problem and should also be reported.

- --
Sincerely,
Demi Marie Obenour (she/her/hers)
Invisible Things Lab
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[Johannes Graumann]

> On Thu, Mar 24, 2022 at 02:38:16PM +0100, 'Johannes Graumann' via qubes-users wrote:

> Does unchecking the “Mirror displays” option (in Q → System Tools →
> Display) also work? If not, that’s a bug; please report it. If so,
> that’s a user experience problem and should also be reported.

No it doesn't. See https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/7373. Does this serve?

[Demi Marie Obenour]

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Yes it does, thanks!

- --
Sincerely,
Demi Marie Obenour (she/her/hers)
Invisible Things Lab
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[Michał "rysiek" Woźniak]

Hey,

On Thursday, 24 March 2022 12:39:27 GMT 'Johannes Graumann' via qubes-users
wrote:

> > On 24.03.2022 12:16 'Johannes Graumann' via qubes-users
> > <qubes...@googlegroups.com> wrote: ...
> > As the laptop's HDMI port also does not work (likely due to being
> > hardwired to the NVDIA card), I currently have no means of setting up
> > multiple screens.
> >
> > I want to use Qubes and this machine as my daily driver and non
> > functioning dock as well as the lack of a multiple screen options are
> > show stoppers for this. The latter is possibly fixable through NVIDIA
> > support in `dom0` and that's what I'm working on next, but I would highly
> > appreciate any hint on how to get the dock working.
> Installing `kernel-latest` in `dom0` (which currently brings in 5.16) and
> setting graphics to `discrete` in the BIOS renders the on board HDMI port
> active. `Hybrid` graphics settings results in a black screen when the
> display manager comes up.

Interesting. I am on a P1 gen4 with a nVidia card (so, a similar hardware
config), and I simply cannot get any X when using the "discrete" UEFI setting.

In "hybrid" mode, initially `kernel-latest` here also meant no X. Only after
creating an `xorg.conf` file and *explicitly* setting "modesetting" driver for
the integrated card I got X to work with `kernel-latest`. X was working out of
the box with the original kernel though in "hybrid" mode (I am guessing some
timing changes leading to card initialization happening in different order or
some such).

HDMI ports refuse to work in X regardless of what I do. Tried the binary
driver, tried nVidia modesetting, tried nouveau. Tried "hybrid", tried
"discrete". To no avail. Best I got was the Qubes loading screen and FDE
password prompt on the external monitor -- both in "hybrid" and "discrete",
only with binary driver and nVidia modesetting.

Enabling nVidia binary driver and configuring it in `xorg.conf` always ends in
this line in `Xorg.0.conf`:
> Failed to allocate push buffer

What a mess!

--
Best,
rysiek