wired problems with 4 screens and 2 graphics boards: ps/2 mouse and kbd lock up, machine still running, but not usable.

[ludwig jaffe]

wired problems with 4 screens and 2 graphics boards: ps/2 mouse and kbd lock up, machine still running, but not usable.

I have this machine:

 qubes-hcl-report
Qubes release 4.0 (R4.0)

Brand:        Dell Inc.
Model:        Precision WorkStation T7500 
BIOS:        A17

Xen:        4.8.5-19.fc25
Kernel:        4.19.128-1

RAM:        98301 Mb

CPU:
  Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           L5638  @ 2.00GHz
Chipset:
  Intel Corporation 5520 I/O Hub to ESI Port [8086:3406] (rev 22)
VGA:
  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cedar [Radeon HD 7350/8350 / R5 220] [1002:68fa] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cedar [Radeon HD 7350/8350 / R5 220] [1002:68fa] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])

Net:
  Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 01)
  Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 01)
  Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 01)
  Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 01)
  Broadcom Limited NetXtreme BCM5761 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 10)

SCSI:
  Samsung SSD 860  Rev: 1B6Q
  DVD+-RW DH-16ABS Rev: PD11

HVM:        Active
I/O MMU:    Active
HAP/SLAT:    Yes
TPM:        Device present
Remapping:    yes

Qubes HCL Files are copied to: 'dom0'
    Qubes-HCL-Dell_Inc_-Precision_WorkStation_T7500__-20200719-172829.yml    - HCL Info

///

lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 5520 I/O Hub to ESI Port (rev 22)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 22)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 22)
00:07.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 7 (rev 22)
00:14.0 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub System Management Registers (rev 22)
00:14.1 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub GPIO and Scratch Pad Registers (rev 22)
00:14.2 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub Control Status and RAS Registers (rev 22)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
00:1a.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
00:1a.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6
00:1a.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) HD Audio Controller
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 1
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 6
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 90)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JIR (ICH10R) LPC Interface Controller
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) SATA AHCI Controller
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) SMBus Controller
01:00.0 PCI bridge: Pericom Semiconductor PCI Express to PCI-XPI7C9X130 PCI-X Bridge (rev 04)
02:00.0 PCI bridge: IBM PCI-X to PCI-X Bridge (rev 02)
03:04.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 01)
03:04.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 01)
03:06.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 01)
03:06.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 01)
04:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cedar [Radeon HD 7350/8350 / R5 220]
04:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cedar HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5400/6300/7300 Series]
05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cedar [Radeon HD 7350/8350 / R5 220]
05:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cedar HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5400/6300/7300 Series]
06:00.0 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic SAS1068E PCI-Express Fusion-MPT SAS (rev 08)
07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Limited NetXtreme BCM5761 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 10)
08:0a.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB22A IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link) [iOHCI-Lynx]
20:03.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 22)
20:07.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 7 (rev 22)
20:09.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 9 (rev 22)
20:14.0 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub System Management Registers (rev 22)
20:14.1 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub GPIO and Scratch Pad Registers (rev 22)
20:14.2 PIC: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub Control Status and RAS Registers (rev 22)
3e:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 02)
3e:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 02)
3e:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QPI Link 0 (rev 02)
3e:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QPI Physical 0 (rev 02)
3e:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Mirror Port Link 0 (rev 02)
3e:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Mirror Port Link 1 (rev 02)
3e:02.4 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QPI Link 1 (rev 02)
3e:02.5 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QPI Physical 1 (rev 02)
3e:03.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Registers (rev 02)
3e:03.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Target Address Decoder (rev 02)
3e:03.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller RAS Registers (rev 02)
3e:03.4 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Test Registers (rev 02)
3e:04.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Control (rev 02)
3e:04.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Address (rev 02)
3e:04.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Rank (rev 02)
3e:04.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Thermal Control (rev 02)
3e:05.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Control (rev 02)
3e:05.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Address (rev 02)
3e:05.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Rank (rev 02)
3e:05.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Thermal Control (rev 02)
3e:06.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Control (rev 02)
3e:06.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Address (rev 02)
3e:06.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Rank (rev 02)
3e:06.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Thermal Control (rev 02)
3f:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 02)
3f:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 02)
3f:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QPI Link 0 (rev 02)
3f:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QPI Physical 0 (rev 02)
3f:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Mirror Port Link 0 (rev 02)
3f:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Mirror Port Link 1 (rev 02)
3f:02.4 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QPI Link 1 (rev 02)
3f:02.5 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series QPI Physical 1 (rev 02)
3f:03.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Registers (rev 02)
3f:03.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Target Address Decoder (rev 02)
3f:03.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller RAS Registers (rev 02)
3f:03.4 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Test Registers (rev 02)
3f:04.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Control (rev 02)
3f:04.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Address (rev 02)
3f:04.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Rank (rev 02)
3f:04.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Thermal Control (rev 02)
3f:05.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Control (rev 02)
3f:05.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Address (rev 02)
3f:05.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Rank (rev 02)
3f:05.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Thermal Control (rev 02)
3f:06.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Control (rev 02)
3f:06.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Address (rev 02)
3f:06.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Rank (rev 02)
3f:06.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon 5600 Series Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Thermal Control (rev 02)

//

I use 2 graphics boards with 2x DVI each to drive 4 screens.

04:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cedar [Radeon HD 7350/8350 / R5 220]
04:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cedar HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5400/6300/7300 Series]
05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cedar [Radeon HD 7350/8350 / R5 220]
05:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cedar HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5400/6300/7300 Series]

Some times the problem starts with 2 screens from one graphics board switching to standby and the mouse can only use

2 screens.

Sometimes I cant click into shell windows to get focus.

The Problem ends with a locked console, so I can see the other processes of the guest machines perfectly running,

but can not enter anything or move the mouse.

If I press the power button the dialog for shuting down the machine appears, but it does not help, as I cant click.

!!

Feature request: toggle through the power-button induced shutdown menue by shortly pressing the power button

again (catch the event and see if the menue is already active), and select the option by pressing the power button shortly

5 times within 4 seconds.

/feature request.

But it would be higher to solve the problem, as it is quite anoying.

How to debug?

It is quite random.

Cheers.

Ludwig

[ludwig jaffe]

I would suggest having a mgetty on dom0 attached to a serial interface like /dev/tty0 to be able to gracefilly restart the machine if

it locks up like that. I need to get a small dos laptop with vt220 emulation for just that purpose, to last resort log into the box.

[ludwig jaffe]

btw just for reference the machine takes about 250W while running some vms.

On Sunday, July 19, 2020 at 5:39:14 PM UTC, ludwig jaffe wrote:

[Qubes]

On 7/19/20 7:39 PM, ludwig jaffe wrote:
> wired problems with 4 screens and 2 graphics boards: ps/2 mouse and kbd
> lock up, machine still running, but not usable.

There is a page in the documentation that refers to 4K displays not
working correctly because not enough RAM gets allocated to the graphics
buffer. It could be that you may be experiencing this problem.

https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/gui-configuration-and-troubleshooting/

[ludwig jaffe]

So thanks for the tip, I have now put videoram min to 36000 and overhead to 0.

Lets see if the machine still bugs around.

BTW, any thoughts on fighting the ME using qubes, so no more

complete disassembly of laptops, de-soldering flash chips,

soldering some small circuits to the south bridge and so on.

Tricking around with the hw, is risky especially on a laptop, a honey pot

approach might be a solution against the ME, but it is ring -3, that evil beast.

Cheers

Ludwig

[ludwig jaffe]

Also I bought a new old graphics board. Lets see if a amd firepro w5100 with

4 dvi ports is better suitable, as here the graphics board supports 4 screens

out of the box, so x11 does not need to use 2 different graphics boards.

btw how to make use of opencl in qubes?

[ludwig jaffe]

Hi, the machine still crashed, so I need to give it a looooong memtest

to see if it has any loose bits, but ECC memory should protect against

such.

Other suggestions?

On Monday, July 20, 2020 at 6:36:24 AM UTC, ludwig jaffe wrote:

[ludwig jaffe]

I disabled hyper-threading, and the box feels more stable.

But I am not sure if it was the problem.

[awokd]

ludwig jaffe:

> I disabled hyper-threading, and the box feels more stable.
> But I am not sure if it was the problem.
>
> On Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 1:35:01 PM UTC, ludwig jaffe wrote:
>>
>> Hi, the machine still crashed, so I need to give it a looooong memtest
>> to see if it has any loose bits, but ECC memory should protect against
>> such.
>> Other suggestions?
>>
>>
>>
>> On Monday, July 20, 2020 at 6:36:24 AM UTC, ludwig jaffe wrote:
>>>
>>> So thanks for the tip, I have now put videoram min to 36000 and overhead
>>> to 0.
>>> Lets see if the machine still bugs around.
>>>
>>> BTW, any thoughts on fighting the ME using qubes, so no more
>>> complete disassembly of laptops, de-soldering flash chips,
>>> soldering some small circuits to the south bridge and so on.

All 4 monitors on the same graphics card is a good idea. You might also
try a different DE than XFCE. I'm basing that on some past posts here,
so don't have any specific recommendations on ones that better handle
multiple displays.

Disabling ME is specific to your hardware, and not really Qubes related
per se. Only recommendation there is to carefully shop for Qubes
compatible hardware that comes with ME already as disabled as possible,
or older AMD hardware that doesn't have one.

--
- don't top post
Mailing list etiquette:
- trim quoted reply to only relevant portions
- when possible, copy and paste text instead of screenshots

[ludwig jaffe]

Hi, I now installed a AMD FirePro card with 4 Display Ports, which I bought used.

So I have less problems, but still need to investigate.

Also I am looking for someone *very* knowledgeable about Intel ME.

I have read the wikipedia but still it is an interesting topic.

[ludwig...@gmail.com]

Hi, I now have 25 hours uptime,

here once my net vm suddenly stopped and had to be restarted.

Also it helped to unplug the machine from the network for a

second as I experienced some lag in the processing.

Wired!

So the fire pro card with 4 display port connectors helped a lot.

The card has a cgn2 core with 28nm, so it is not that modern but

more than sufficient for looking at shells.

Also it is funny to mention that the display application hates 4 screens.

So one has to start with mirrored screens and two screens disabled,

and then arrange the screens in the field as

3 4

1 2

Then disable mirroring and enable monitor3, say applay, and then enable monitor 4

and rearrange the displays on the field.

But finally it worked out well.

So there is the network vm left to be investigated.

Cheers,

Ludwig

[Qubes]

On 7/28/20 10:27 AM, ludwig...@gmail.com wrote:
> Also it is funny to mention that the display application hates 4 screens.
> So one has to start with mirrored screens and two screens disabled,
> and then arrange the screens in the field as
> 3 4
> 1 2
> Then disable mirroring and enable monitor3, say applay, and then enable
> monitor 4
> and rearrange the displays on the field.
>
> But finally it worked out well.

I experience more or less the same when I disconnect and reconnect my
monitors. I have 3. When ever I reconnect them I have to play around
with enabling them in different order to get them all working. I cannot
enable all of them at once. If I do that one of the monitors usually go
blank but when I move my mouse pointer, or drag a window, onto that
monitor the monitor displays black and white colored lines from top to
bottom. Then I must first disable this monitor and rearrange the layout
then enable this monitor again and again rearrange the layout. Finally I
can get all 3 working but it is not a simple click to enable and that is
that.

[ludwig...@gmail.com]

Yes this is a pain, and should be changed.

Also it would be nice to download a config  file and to apply it system wide,

as this unlike the old xorg.conf with mode lines and stuff like that,

is just per user and just for the window manager as I see.

Compare the log in screen and you see.

So it would be nice to have an editable config file and the possibility to

set a system wide default config.

At least a desktop with tradefloor like monitor stands does not need any

reconfiguration for the screens if everything is set up smoothly.

Learned lesson: go the extra mile to buy a decent graphics board and dont trust

X11 to span its desktop between two or more graphics boards, which it theoretically

can do.

Not enough people debugging ist, I am sure.

Cheers,

Ludwig

[ludwig...@gmail.com]

Now the machine locked up after 2 days of operation. The Clock in the display manager run,

but it was not controllable using the ps/2 keyboard-mouse.

Here the Graphics board was exchanged to be a 4 DP port AMD card with CGN core.

This is erratic! Also the fact that the net-vm terminated 2 times before. 

Anyone who had such experiences with qubes?

What about resilience of qubes against ip based attacks?

Cheers,

Ludwig