Installation problem on Dell Inspiron R15 laptop

[Omri]

Hello group,

 

I'm trying for the last few days to install Qubes OS (no matter what version) on my old laptop. 

The laptop is: 

• Dell Inspiron R15 (bought around 2013) 
• CPU – Intel Core i7 - 3517U 
  • VT-d ; VT-x ; EPT - included, according to Intel's website (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/65714/intel-core-i73517u-processor-4m-cache-up-to-3-00-ghz/specifications.html( 
  • On the BIOS though, there's no activation for any of these features specifically, but it has virtualization enable/unable in general. 
• RAM – 8 GB 
• Storage – 1 TB 

 

It currently runs Windows 10 with no apparent problems other than slow speed. 

When I tried to install Qubes, at first it looked ok but quickly becomes gibberish.

img 1 - first few lines. the camera lost focus (sorry) but everything (4 lines) is properly readable and makes sense.

img 2 - text appears in dotted characters of no language and doesn't make sense (it's not even Braille). Also, text cursor (underscore) appears oddly twice.

img 3 - more of this text... At the end it allows keyboard input but I can't know what input to enter. If pressing "Enter" key, it reshows the last line.

* Between each image there's an empty black screen for about half a second.

** Couldn't attache images\videos

It than accepts input, but I can't know what input to enter.

I tried numerous versions, almost all of them; some did better, some less. Version 4.0 looked better than all the others and this is what is shown in the video.

Other versions asked me first if I want to "test and install", "install" and so on, the normal menu.

I tried to look in the documentation and in forums. In addition, I've asked in some forums – none of them helped.

I'm new to Qubes so it's possible my answer is out there but I didn't notice.

 

Any tip, lead or advice would be much appreciated. 

 

Thanks in advance, 

Omri 

[Ulrich Windl (Google)]

Hi!

Actually you won't have much fun with only 8 GB RAM; 16 is probably OK, and 32 or more is nice. Remember that at least four operating systems have to run (Dom0, net, firewall, app).

Kind regards,
Ulrich

[Tobias Killer]

Am 01.08.23 um 16:29 schrieb Omri:

> Hello group,
>
>
>
> I'm trying for the last few days to install Qubes OS (no matter what
> version) on my old laptop.
>
> The laptop is:
>
>

> - Dell Inspiron R15 (bought around 2013)
> - CPU – Intel Core i7 - 3517U
> - VT-d ; VT-x ; EPT - included, according to Intel's website (
> https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/65714/intel-core-i73517u-processor-4m-cache-up-to-3-00-ghz/specifications.html
> (
> - On the BIOS though, there's no activation for any of these features

> specifically, but it has virtualization enable/unable in general.

> - RAM – 8 GB
> - Storage – 1 TB

Hello,

Is your installation medium fine? Maybe, you should check if there is no
difference between the image on the installation medium and the original
ISO image file. Do you use Linux? If yes, see

https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/7030#issuecomment-1042944011

(Do not forget to replace `/dev/sda` with the actual installation medium
and use the correct size and ISO image.)

If you need more help on this, don't hesitate to ask!

Best regards,
Tobias Killer

[Omri]

Hi,

Thanks for your kind help.

Regarding the installation media - I installed it according the installation instructions described on the website (with Rufus) and I use windows 11 to make the installation media.

According to what I understand, the bash command in the link compares the size of both the media and the file downloaded. I compared with the the "properties" window of the "File Explorer" and the media has almost 1 MB more than the ISO file I downloaded. Is it right?

Regarding the low RAM - I know it's not ideal but it's for educational purposes about the OS itself, nothing too demanding, so I don't expect it to run smoothly and I won't be using many softwares.

With this little RAM, should I be able to install it and use it at all, or will it probably not going to work?

Also, assuming I'll manage to install it, how bad will it behave? Should I give up on trying to install Qubes OS on this hardware at all?

Thanks in advance,

Omri

[Tobias Killer]

Am 04.08.23 um 08:36 schrieb Omri:

> Regarding the installation media - I installed it according the
> installation instructions described on the website (with Rufus) and I use
> windows 11 to make the installation media.

Okay.

> According to what I understand, the bash command in the link compares the
> size of both the media and the file downloaded. I compared with the the
> "properties" window of the "File Explorer" and the media has almost 1 MB
> more than the ISO file I downloaded. Is it right?

It is probably right that the "properties" window of the "File Explorer"
shows a size (partition size?) that is a little bit bigger than the ISO
file. At least, it makes sense.

However, the bash command does not compare the sizes. It compares the
relevant *content* on your installation medium with that of the ISO
file. If they are different, a message like

```
Binary files - and Qubes-R4.1.0-x86_64.iso differ
```

will show up when the command terminates, else not.

You may wonder why the content could be different. I don't know the
answer but my experience is that sometimes there are faulty spots on a
USB flash drive. This could lead to everything: Hanging installation,
graphical glitches or even an unbootable device (in this case, the
device is the mentioned USB flash drive).

Do you have an installed Linux anywhere (or a live Linux)? You could use
that in order to execute the appropriate command. Else: Does anybody
know how to compare the installation medium and the ISO file under
Windows 11?

You could also just rewrite your installation medium with Rufus again
and try installation again.

Best regards,
Tobias Killer