Updated HCL report - Dell Precision 5520

[Yassine]

Updating previous report as reinstalling from 4.0-rc3 to 4.0

Needed to edit xen EFI config to remove mapbs/noexitboot keys and disable nouveau modesetting (nouveau.modeset=0)

[Yassine]

On Sunday, 6 May 2018 14:46:32 UTC+1, Yassine wrote:
> Updating previous report as reinstalling from 4.0-rc3 to 4.0
>
> Needed to edit xen EFI config to remove mapbs/noexitboot keys and disable nouveau modesetting (nouveau.modeset=0)

After install I tested different configuration and was able to get discrete gpu hardware support:
- Removed nouveau.modeset=0
- Added kernel param: acpi_osi=!
- Changed iommu support from iommu=no-igfx to iommu=on

[jim.h....@gmail.com]

Yassine

I have a Dell Precision 5520 like yours except mine has the Xeon E3-1505M v6 processor, so I think your solution should work on my Dell. I have not been able to get it to work.

Problem : Qubes 4.0 Installer hangs at anaconda screen.

I made the install USB using Rufus 3.1 in dd mode. I have tried and tried to edit the BOOTX64.cfg on the USB install drive but it is write protected and I have not been able to writew changes using several different approaches.
I booted UEFI, The results of the install:

message : "Not asking for VNC because we don't have a network"
message : "44.288997 watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#5 stuck fot 23s! [Xorg:1383]

I then made a ISO mode install USB using Rufus and edited the BOOTX64.cfg as follows:

[global]
default=qubes-verbose

[qubes-check]
options=console=none
kernel=vmlinuz inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=Qubes-R4.0-x86_64 i915.alpha_support=1 quiet rhgb rd.live.check
ramdisk=initrd.img

[qubes]
options=console=none
kernel=vmlinuz inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=Qubes-R4.0-x86_64 i915.alpha_support=1 quiet rhgb
ramdisk=initrd.img

[qubes-verbose]
options=console=vga efi=attr=uc
# noexitboot=1
# mapbs=1
kernel=vmlinuz inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=Qubes-R4.0-x86_64 i915.alpha_support=1
ramdisk=initrd.img

[qubes-rescue]
options=loglvl=all
kernel=vmlinuz inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=Qubes-R4.0-x86_64 rescue
ramdisk=initrd.img

I booted the ISO USB Legacy, At Blue Qubes screen, Trouble Shooting, TAB, added nouveau.modeset=0
The results of the install:

message : "Not asking for VNC because we don't have a network"
message : "X starting failed, aborting installation"
message : "The installation cannot continue the system will be rebooted Press ENTER to continue"

Yassine,

I have searched high and low on the internet and your 5520 / Qubes sucess is rare. There is very little discussion of this specific combination.

If you could Please give me some guidance and edit my BOOTX64 above to match yours verbatim, I can try that.

Anyone else reading this post that may have suggestions, please add to the discussion

Thank you so much

[awokd]

On Tue, August 7, 2018 1:49 pm, jim.h....@gmail.com wrote:

Can you disable the nvidia in your UEFI config? Try that first if so.

> I booted the ISO USB Legacy, At Blue Qubes screen, Trouble Shooting, TAB,
> added nouveau.modeset=0 The results of the install:
>
>
> message : "Not asking for VNC because we don't have a network" message :
> "X starting failed, aborting installation"
> message : "The installation cannot continue the system will be rebooted
> Press ENTER to continue"

At this point in the install, can you ctrl-C that and get to a prompt? Or
try ctrl-alt-F1 through ctrl-alt-F10 (not sure which is the right one). If
you can get to a prompt, check the install logs in /var/log and see if you
can figure out what's causing X to fail (probably some issue loading the
video driver).

[Yassine]

Hi Jim,

Try changing the default boot entry to the following:

[qubes-verbose]
options=console=vga efi=attr=uc
kernel=vmlinuz inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=Qubes-R4.0-x86_64 i915.alpha_support=1 nouveau.modeset=1
ramdisk=initrd.img

Once you've installed Qubes successfully, try tuning your xen.cfg file from dom0 with the following configuration:

[global]
default=4.14.57-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64

[4.14.57-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64]
options=loglvl=all dom0_mem=min:1024M dom0_mem=max:4096M iommu=on ucode=scan
kernel=vmlinuz-4.14.57-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64 root=/dev/mapper/qubes_dom0-root rd.luks.uuid=luks-some-uuid rd.lvm.lv=qubes_dom0/root rd.lvm.lv=qubes_dom0/swap i915.alpha_support=1 acpi_osi=! rhgb rd.qubes.hide_all_usb
ramdisk=initramfs-4.14.57-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64.img

Hope this help

Yassine

[Yassine ILMI]

There was a mistake in the install kernel parameter I shared, instead of "nouveau.modeset=1" it should be "nouveau.modeset=0"

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[Jim Snider]

I managed to get Qubes installed but it was difficult

steps
1) Make Qubes 4.0 boot usb with Rufus 3.1 in ISO mode.... note not dd
2) Boot and enter F12 boot menu and Change boot setting Legacy - Secure Boot Off
3) Boot and press f12 again and select Legacy - Usb storage device
4) Qubes Blue Install screen appears, select Test this media and Install Qubes (the second option) and hit TAB
5) This will display kernel options, add nouvea.modeset=0

This stopped X from crashing and allowed anaconda to display setup screens.
Note: the touch pad did not function, but USB wireless mouse worked. Alternatively you can use the arrow keys and alt-"X", where "X" is the first letter of button you want to click.

There was still a problem with the install, It kept hanging about half way. The progress line was reading "Installing Storaged.x86_64 (733/1019
I tried several times and the results were the same. After further research I found others with this behavior so I tried their solution. Remove "rhgb" from Kernel options, and add modprobe.blacklist=bochs_drm.

This is how I finally got Qubes to install completely.

6)Bios boot settings as before
7)Boot and press f12 again and select Legacy - Usb storage device
8) Qubes Blue Install screen appears, select Test this media and Install Qubes (the second option) and hit TAB
9) This will display kernel options, remove "rhgb", add "nouvea.modeset=0 modprobe.blacklist=bochs_drm"

I am not sure what these parameters do but they seem to work in my case. I have Qubes fully functional on my Dell Precision 5520, Xeon E3-1505M, Quadro M1200, Samsung SM961 NVMe

The only caveat is that my system has to be set in Legacy Mode to boot, even on the NVMe. Is this a security faux pas? Does it undermine Qubes inherent security? What are my options to harden this?


Yassine, I am still interested in tuning post install as you suggested.

I have 2 questions:
1) What editor do you use in dom0 to edit xen.cfg
2) Are you certain that this is the right parameter ? acpi_osi=!

Thank You Yassine and others for your help on this.

[Jim Snider]

FOLLOW UP NOTE: I would like to try again to install Qubes UEFI from the dd produced usb but I have not been able to edit the READ-ONLY /EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.cfg file to make the needed kernel options. Either, I have not been able to get the option line to display options to make edits during install, so i had to resort to installing Legacy so I could edit BOOTX64.cfg and/or make boot option changes from the install screen.

Any guidance in this situation will be much appreciated

[awokd]

On Thu, August 9, 2018 4:29 pm, Jim Snider wrote:

> FOLLOW UP NOTE: I would like to try again to install Qubes UEFI from the
> dd produced usb but I have not been able to edit the READ-ONLY
> /EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.cfg file to make the needed kernel options. Either, I
> have not been able to get the option line to display options to make
> edits during install, so i had to resort to installing Legacy so I could
> edit BOOTX64.cfg and/or make boot option changes from the install screen.

Did you see the steps here?
https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/uefi-troubleshooting/#change-installer-kernel-parameters-in-uefi

You have to boot some other Linux instance, then mount the partition in
there to edit it.

[robertw...@gmail.com]

On Sunday, May 6, 2018 at 9:46:32 AM UTC-4, Yassine wrote:
> Updating previous report as reinstalling from 4.0-rc3 to 4.0
>
> Needed to edit xen EFI config to remove mapbs/noexitboot keys and disable nouveau modesetting (nouveau.modeset=0)

Jim,
Were you able to successfully install Qubes UEFI from the dd produced usb on your Dell Precision 5520?

[smvi...@invisson.com]

So I have a Precision 5530, and after some similar tweaks to those described here, I managed to install Qubes 4.0. Everything seem to be working perfectly fine (Including Wi-Fi) except for the Ethernet adapter that I need to connect to the USB-C (Thunderbolt) port. The adapter is detected and I can use other connectors (DP, USBs) but the ethernet adapter is not listed. I've tried assigning devices, connecting it to sys-net, etc but no luck...

Asking this here because in the Precision 5520 you also need a similar adapter if you want to use Ethernet... so hopefully you have figured it out already?

Thank you in advance.

[Brian C. Duggan]

I have a Precision 5520 and the USB-C Ethernet adapter that came with
it. I'm running Qubes R4.0.

I've been able to use the adapter once per boot before I unplug it. If I
unplug it and plug it back in, then it doesn't show up as an Ethernet
device in the NetVM, and I have to reboot to use it again.

If I boot the laptop with the adapter plugged in, dom0 sees four PCI
bridge devices and one USB 3.1 controller associated with the adapter:

[user@dom0 ~]$ lspci
...
05:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6340 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge
[Alpine Ridge 2C 2015]
06:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6340 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge
[Alpine Ridge 2C 2015]
06:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6340 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge
[Alpine Ridge 2C 2015]
06:02.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6340 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge
[Alpine Ridge 2C 2015]
3d:00.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation DSL6340 USB 3.1 Controller
[Alpine Ridge]

I can create a NetVM and assign the last PCI device listed here to it.
NetworkManager recognizes the USB device as an Ethernet device in the
NetVM.

However, if I plug the adapter in after I boot, then I have to rescan
the PCI bus to see those devices:

[root@dom0 ~]# echo 1 > /sys/bus/pci/rescan

Then, lspci will show the USB 3.1 controller. This works the first time
I plug the adapter in after boot. But the NetVM still won't see an
Ethernet adapter if I've already unplugged it.

Adding and removing a PCI device creates other issues. If I unplug the
adapter, the NetVM that I attached the device to will hang on shutdown.
And the same VM will fail to boot if the adapter isn't plugged in:

[user@dom0 ~]$ qvm-start sys-dongle
Logical Volume "vm-sys-dongle-root-snap" already exists in volume
group "qubes_dom0"

I haven't investigated further since I use WiFi almost exclusively on
that laptop. But maybe you'll have better luck with plugging and
unplugging the adapter on the 5530.

Brian

--
Brian C. Duggan
he/him/his

[smvi...@invisson.com]

This is great Brian! thanks for your help!

I have already figure it out how to make it work thanks to your description, and something similar is happening now with the plug/unplugging... I'll try to dig deeper but at least now I can use it!

Best regards.

[Yassine]

Regarding issues with when unplugging thunderbolt after boot, this is due to PCI hotplugging being disabled (for obvious security reasons) - more details here https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/1673

@Jim: following awokd's procedure you should be able to get UEFI working, also the configuration that I described for installation and post-installation were tested with UEFI only

Now if you reboot and the PCI devices served by the thunderbolt/usb-c are not present anymore, you'll have to manually remove them from the list of pci devices that are passed through to your NetVM or UsbVM.
Same for when you boot with the thunderbolt attached, you'll have to reattach the pci devices to the VM for passthrough.

[smvi...@invisson.com]

El martes, 18 de diciembre de 2018, 6:05:18 (UTC+1), Yassine escribió:
>
> Regarding issues with when unplugging thunderbolt after boot, this is due to PCI hotplugging being disabled (for obvious security reasons) - more details here https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/1673
>
> @Jim: following awokd's procedure you should be able to get UEFI working, also the configuration that I described for installation and post-installation were tested with UEFI only
>
> Now if you reboot and the PCI devices served by the thunderbolt/usb-c are not present anymore, you'll have to manually remove them from the list of pci devices that are passed through to your NetVM or UsbVM.
> Same for when you boot with the thunderbolt attached, you'll have to reattach the pci devices to the VM for passthrough.

Thank you Yassine! now I fully understand why this happens.

I don't really care if I have to reboot to make it work, but the problem is even after reboot, it is not detected, so I have to turn off sys-firewall + sys-net, unplug the adapter and plug it again and finally start the VMs again for it to work, what is a bit of a PITA. I'd be happy if it was recognized directly when booting, even if a later disconnects make it stop working... Have any of you been able to achieve something like this at least?

Thank you!!

[Yassine]

Ok then, you might want to test different thunderbolt BIOS configurations. TB Security and TB Device enumeration mode for example.

I also know from experience that some docking stations firmware have bugs that might require a reboot and the boot process of the docking station can itself take a bit of time (~20s).

[nicklas...@gmail.com]

I Bought a new precision 5530 recently for Qubes but I have been unable to get the Qubes install to work. I find that I am forced to use UEFI because the 5530 doesnt allow legacy boot from internal HDs. I'm trying to make the edits to the cfg files on a linux system now to try again. I was wondering if you had any tips?

[smvi...@invisson.com]

Hi Nicklas!

So besides following the steps described here under "Installation freezes before getting to Anaconda": https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/uefi-troubleshooting/

I blacklisted Nouveau adding the following line as kernel option: "nouveau.modeset=0 rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau video=vesa:off"

With that you should be able to install Qubes. During the installation process the mousepad wasn't working for me, but you can do it anyway just using the keyboard or attaching an external one. After the installation it was working again though.

And finally, after the installation, in order to fix suspend, I had to add the following also as kernel option: "mem_sleep_default=deep"

And I think that's it. Hope this helps!

[Nicklas Williams]

Thanks for your assistance.

I have attempted these options but I am not able to get it installed on UEFI. I cannot install it on legacy mode because the system does not permit booting from internal drives on legacy mode. My system will not even get to the installer because i cannot edit the xen.cfg or boot.cfg files unless i burn to USB as an ISO. When I burn with DD (rufus) it wont let me edit those files at all because theyre "read only"

[0brand]

Nicklas Williams:

The xen,cfg abd boot.cfg files need to be edited from a root prompt.

First run.

sudo su -

Then change file permissions

chmod +w /path/to/file

You should be all set to edit the files now.

--
GPG Public Key: 0x09B31BA99EC051FE
Fingerprint: 4452 4D54 4EB2 53E8 1EE9 223A 09B3 1BA9 9EC0 51FE

[Nicklas Williams]

Thanks for your help. The issue here is that I cannot get to the loader. If i boot to USB it works after the kernel params listed above, but this model cannot do legacy boot to internal drives. I have to do UEFI install but UEFI fails before I get to anaconda. I need to be able to change the original ISO somehow to add the kernal params to turn off nouveau but because ISO is a read only file, it doesn't work. I tried copying the files to a folder, then making an ISO from the folder, but that method does the same thing. It will attempt to boot, then either go to the "dracut timeout" screen, or it just goes to a blank screen with no further activity. Very frustrating, since I bought this laptop specifically to use Qubes, now im finding out that I can't install it. Is there any way to edit the qubes ISO file so I dont have the nouveau driver activated? Every method ive tried tells me "read only file"

[awokd]

Nicklas Williams wrote on 4/3/19 9:30 PM:

> Thanks for your help. The issue here is that I cannot get to the loader. If i boot to USB it works after the kernel params listed above, but this model cannot do legacy boot to internal drives. I have to do UEFI install but UEFI fails before I get to anaconda. I need to be able to change the original ISO somehow to add the kernal params to turn off nouveau but because ISO is a read only file, it doesn't work. I tried copying the files to a folder, then making an ISO from the folder, but that method does the same thing. It will attempt to boot, then either go to the "dracut timeout" screen, or it just goes to a blank screen with no further activity. Very frustrating, since I bought this laptop specifically to use Qubes, now im finding out that I can't install it. Is there any way to edit the qubes ISO file so I dont have the nouveau driver activated? Every method ive tried tells me "read only file"
>

Try "apt install isomaster" in Debian.

[Nicklas Williams]

Thanks Awokd. I see you responding to a lot of threads and its greatly appreciated. I'll try with debian and let you all know the results.

[Nicklas Williams]

On Wednesday, April 3, 2019 at 2:33:16 PM UTC-7, awokd wrote:

So I attempted to use ISOmaster and it worked fine, however whenever I tried to write the file in rufus it wouldnt give me the option of creating it in DD mode. No matter how I save this ISO after editing, it never allows me to write it in DD mode like the original ISO. I can still attempt to boot but it takes me to the "dracut initqueue error" and fails. The issue here is getting the ISO created properly and after 100 tries on multiple systems, USBs etc i still havent managed to get it working. I've tried every procedure I found online and I have not gotten it to install other than on USB legacy mode, but then it wont boot from the internal drive in legacy mode.

[awokd]

Nicklas Williams wrote on 4/5/19 9:43 PM:

Sorry, hoped that would be a shortcut! Here's a different way:
https://www.engetsu-consulting.com/blog/installing-qubes-4-0-on-laptops-with-nvidia-gpus-that-do-not-support-the-nouveau-driver.
Got it from
https://www.mail-archive.com/qubes...@googlegroups.com/msg27111.html.
Step #4 doesn't look right to me in that email, I think you'd only want
to use one editor.

[RWTenor]

Nicklas, (understanding you have a 5530): I successfully installed qubesos on my 5520, but I had to disable my second physical hard drive in the bios. This was the hard drive I was not installing qubes onto. Once I disabled the non-qubes drive, Jim Snider's 8/9/18 install steps above worked for me. I also was not able to get UEFI boot to work, so I ultimately went with the legacy boot option. Hope this helps.

[awokd]

Came across the right way to do this. See the "Change xen configuration
directly in an iso image" section under
https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/uefi-troubleshooting/#change-installer-kernel-parameters-in-uefi.

[Nicklas Williams]

I tried to change that file multiple different ways. Ultimately, I was able to edit the ISO file with GVIM on windows but then I got the dracut timeout error when I tried to boot from it in UEFI.