Librem 13v2: Qubes 4.0 stuck at loading the desktop

[Thibaut Demmerlé]

Hello! 

Until now everything worked with Qubes 4.0 on my Librem 13v2 (with coreboot updated).

Now, when I boot I can still enter the encryption password, but when it comes to the user password, Qubes don’t load the desktop anymore and go back to the user password...

I feel desperate because I would really like to see my data again and some help to do it...

Would you be willing to show me what I could enter in “rescue a Qubes system”?

[awokd]

On Thu, May 17, 2018 12:17 pm, Thibaut Demmerlé wrote:
> Hello!
> Until now everything worked with Qubes 4.0 on my Librem 13v2 (with
> coreboot
> updated).
> Now, when I boot I can still enter the encryption password, but when it
> comes to the user password, Qubes don’t load the desktop anymore and go
> back to the user password...

Caps lock is off, right? See if you can switch to terminal at that point
with ctrl-alt-F2. Try the other function keys if that doesn't work. Then,
check log files in /var/log to try to figure out why it won't let you
login.

> I feel desperate because I would really like to see my data again and some
> help to do it...
> Would you be willing to show me what I could enter in “rescue a Qubes
> system”?

Sounds like your data is still intact. It's possible to recover it
manually, but it's an involved process so try to fix your current
installation first.

[plat...@gmail.com]

Same issue here. Might have o do with the latest dom0 updates. Getting a kernel panic.

When booting, in grub menu choose "advanced options" and try to boot with an older kernel. Then it should boot. 4.14.18-1 works fine here, 4.14.35-1 breaks everything.

Screenshot following

[platschi]

https://share.riseup.net/#9tAE4-t7G8clcYXQxGQQVA

sys-net not working properly with older kernel though :/

[Thib]

Le jeudi 17 mai 2018 15:11:21 UTC+2, platschi a écrit :
> https://share.riseup.net/#9tAE4-t7G8clcYXQxGQQVA
>
> sys-net not working properly with older kernel though :/

@awokd @platschi I'm grateful for your information. I tried what you said, but it still doesn't work:
When I select "Advanced options for Qubes" I have 3 alternatives:
<<
1. Xen hypervisor, version 4.8.3
2. Xen hypervisor, version 4.8.3.config
3. Xen hypervisor, version 4.8
>>

When I select the 1st alternative, I have:
<<
Qubes, with Xen 4.8.3 and Linux 4.14.18-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64
>>
Then I press Enter but at the end it still stuck at user-password after the following message: https://share.riseup.net/#j_PGs-isYm9Hot3AW2aSdQ

When I select the 2nd, I have:
<<
Loading Xen 4.8.3.config ...
error: no multiboot header found.
Loading Linux 4.14.18-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64 ...
error: you need to load the kernel first.
Loading initial ramdisk ...
error: you need to load the kernel first.

Press any key to continue...
>>
Here nothing happens.

When I select the 3rd, I have:
<<
Qubes, with Xen 4.8 and Linux 4.14.18-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64
>>
Then I press Enter but at the end it still stuck at user-password after the following message: https://share.riseup.net/#VogDUuIl4FHqx2_EetnhXA

I'm open for more advice :) My goal is to recover the documents from some VMs (accounting, vmWin7, vault, untrusted, personal, work, archives). So perhaps it's possible to create a backup of my VMs on my external drive by entering commands in "Rescue a Qubes system" and then reinstall Qubes 4.0? What do you think about it?

[awokd]

On Sun, May 20, 2018 11:00 am, Thib wrote:

> <<
> Qubes, with Xen 4.8.3 and Linux 4.14.18-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64
>>>
> Then I press Enter but at the end it still stuck at user-password after
> the following message: https://share.riseup.net/#j_PGs-isYm9Hot3AW2aSdQ

This rules out the recent kernel update then- 4.14.18-1 is the older one.

> I'm open for more advice :) My goal is to recover the documents from some
> VMs (accounting, vmWin7, vault, untrusted, personal, work, archives). So
> perhaps it's possible to create a backup of my VMs on my external drive by
> entering commands in "Rescue a Qubes system" and then reinstall Qubes 4.0?
> What do you think about it?

Yes, this approach should work but you'll have to use mount commands (and
possibly LVM) directly. Look in /dev/mapper/ to see if your -private
volumes are listed. If so, you should be able to do something like "mount
/dev/mapper/guest-private /mnt" (do a "mkdir mnt" first), then copy the
files out. "umount /mnt" when done and repeat for the next volume.

If you don't see the /dev/mapper/ entries, look into LVM commands like
vgscan and kpartx.

[Thib]

I can see my -private volumes like: <<qubes_dom0-vm--vmWin7--private>>
So, you suggest to copy my files within the VMs on my external drives, not an entire VM-backup just like the backup-tool in the Qubes VM Manager, right?
So, if I want to copy a document named "EN.docx" from the VM "vmWin7" to my external drive named "SAMSUNG", how could I proceed?

Please show me the required command lines only if you do it willingly, and if it's like a game for you. It can really make my life easier but a 2nd solution could be to recreate all the lost documents.

[Thib]

Finally when I enter ctrl+alt+F2 at the user-password area I can login with the dom0 terminal! So, now my solution is:
- to launch my VM "archives"
- to attach my external drive "SAMSUNG" to "archives"
- to backup my VMs into "SAMSUNG" via "archives" with the backup-tool of Qubes Manager

But I'm unsure: I need to know how to use the terminal to do all of that...
I'm reading the docs on the website to learn how to do but maybe someone is already familiar with the process, and could show me what I can write in the dom0 terminal?

[awokd]

On Mon, May 21, 2018 8:07 am, Thib wrote:
> Finally when I enter ctrl+alt+F2 at the user-password area I can login
> with the dom0 terminal!

Good, that should make the rest much easier. Are you logged in as root
when you do this? (Your prompt should end with a "#"). If so, maybe all
you need to do is reset the user passwd with "passwd user". Then reboot
and try to login. If that works, make sure to backup your VMs.

So, now my solution is:
> - to launch my VM "archives"

qvm-start archives

> - to attach my external drive "SAMSUNG" to "archives"

qvm-block to list, then qvm-block attach archives sys-usb:#.#
Not sure how to figure out where it's mounted at this point. Anyone have a
suggestion? You need to know to fill in /path/to/backupfileinbackupvm.

> - to backup my VMs into "SAMSUNG" via "archives" with the backup-tool of
> Qubes Manager

qvm-backup -d backup-vm /path/to/backupfileinbackupvm vmname1 vmname2 vmname3

[Thib]

> Good, that should make the rest much easier. Are you logged in as root
> when you do this? (Your prompt should end with a "#"). If so, maybe all
> you need to do is reset the user passwd with "passwd user". Then reboot
> and try to login. If that works, make sure to backup your VMs.

No I have a $, but I logged in as root in "rescue qubes system" --> by entering: chroot /mnt/sysimage then I changed my password, then reboot, but I'm still stuck at the user-menu...

> > - to attach my external drive "SAMSUNG" to "archives"
> qvm-block to list, then qvm-block attach archives sys-usb:#.#
> Not sure how to figure out where it's mounted at this point. Anyone have a
> suggestion? You need to know to fill in /path/to/backupfileinbackupvm.

For that I've entered : qvm-device block attach archives dom0:sdb
but I don't know how to mount SAMSUNG within archives and then find the path.. I tried commands like:
qvm-run archives fdisk -l --> doesn't work
qvm-run archives mkdir --> here it stuck and the text becomes red...
qvm-run archives mnt --> here it stuck and the text becomes red...

> > - to backup my VMs into "SAMSUNG" via "archives" with the backup-tool of
> > Qubes Manager
> qvm-backup -d backup-vm /path/to/backupfileinbackupvm vmname1 vmname2 vmname3

Thanks! Before that the challenge is to mount the device in archives and find the path...

[sevas]

I'm using kde and everything works.

[Thib]

Le mardi 22 mai 2018 01:39:38 UTC+2, sevas a écrit :
> I'm using kde and everything works.

Thanks for the info!

@awokd finally I've reinstalled Qubes 4.0 and I'll recreate my documents.
Thank you so much for your support and patience!