MacBook + Broadcom BCM43602 system freeze on Qubes 4.0

[mike]

Hi,

I am running Qubes 4.0 on MacBook Mid-2015 (exactly the same model described here: https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/macbook-troubleshooting/).

The whole system crashes after attaching the Broadcom Wifi adapter to sys-net VM. This behaviour is described in the troubleshooting article mentioned above, however the workaround does not work for me.

When sys-net is not running I do:

[root@dom0 ~]# xl pci-assignable-list
0000:0b:00.0
0000:04:00.0
[root@dom0 ~]# lspci | grep 04:00
04:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Limited BCM43602 802.11ac Wireless LAN SoC (rev 01)
[root@dom0 ~]# echo 04:00.0 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/pciback/permissive
[root@dom0 ~]# cat /sys/bus/pci/drivers/pciback/permissive
0000:04:00.0
[root@dom0 ~]# qvm-start sys-net
[root@dom0 ~]# xl pci-attach sys-net 04:00.0
[root@dom0 ~]# xl pci-assignable-list
[root@dom0 ~]#

After this I don't see the wifi card in lspci output of sys-net.
I don't see anything in sys-net's dmesg either.

If I now attach the wifi card using qvm-pci (or GUI) the system will crash.

Any idea how I can handle it?

Thanks!
Mike

PS. BTW: This seems to be the only issue with MacBook Mid-2015 at the moment, i.e. other issues described in the troubleshooting article mentioned above doesn't seem to be the case any more (GRUB config, bootloader, pulseaudio), or at least I have not experienced them in version 4.0.

[awokd]

Try using these newer steps for permissive mode in 4.0:
https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/assigning-devices/#r40-1. Might help your
Thunderbolt problem too.

[mike]

Hi,

Many thanks for your answer.
The new way of managing devices does not help though.
Fails for both WiFi and Thunderbolt Ethernet, ie. WiFi crashes the whole system and Thunderbolt Ethernet is not handled properly by tg3 driver.

Any other ideas how I can move forward?
I don't have any networking available at the moment... if there was at least one networking device available I could enjoy the Qubes...

Is it possible that OS updates (dom0 and/or VM) would fix any of these issues? I mean I run Qubes 4.0 from the ISO and cannot even install any updates because of the lack of connectivity...
If so, how can I upgrade by downloading relevant packages on other system?

Thanks,
Mike

[awokd]

mike:

Try changing your sys-net's template to Debian instead. Might be able to
use a USB-Ethernet adapter as well, if there's an external port.

> Is it possible that OS updates (dom0 and/or VM) would fix any of these issues? I mean I run Qubes 4.0 from the ISO and cannot even install any updates because of the lack of connectivity...
> If so, how can I upgrade by downloading relevant packages on other system?

Some have had luck installing and updating Qubes on a spare system, then
moving the entire hard drive. This has its own set of complications
though, if using EFI boot.

[mike]

Good advice -- thanks! I spun a debian qube and connected the WiFi card to it (in permissive mode) but it freezes the same way as fedora.
As for the Thunderbold Ethernet I finally managed to get it to work -- will post on that thread...

> > Is it possible that OS updates (dom0 and/or VM) would fix any of these issues? I mean I run Qubes 4.0 from the ISO and cannot even install any updates because of the lack of connectivity...
> > If so, how can I upgrade by downloading relevant packages on other system?
> Some have had luck installing and updating Qubes on a spare system, then
> moving the entire hard drive. This has its own set of complications
> though, if using EFI boot.

I have tried updating fedora 26 and also installed 28, but still no joy.

I'd still love to know how to do a 2 step Qubes upgrade though:

1. Download all packages and create local repo
2. Update Qubes locally from the filesystem

Thanks,
Mike

[Greg]

On my Macbook Pro I can successfully use the Broadcom BCM43602 wifi adapter with a Fedora sys-net by using a short script to start sys-net manually after boot (i.e. I disable sys-net auto start and then run the following script manually after each boot to start sys-net):

#!/bin/bash
qvm-start sys-net &
sleep 3
sudo xl pci-attach sys-net '03:00.0,permissive=1'

---
Basically what works (on my system), and what the script does is to attach the Broadcom adapter to sys-net as soon as possible after starting sys-net (but before the sys-net VM has fully booted), a 3 second delay works reasonably reliably on my system.

Things that don't work for me:
- Attaching the adapter to sys-net before starting it causes my system to freeze when sys-net is started.
- Attaching the adapter to sys-net too late in the sys-net VM boot process causes it to not be detected by sys-net (when last I tried anyway).
- qvm-pci doesn't work to attach it (when last I tried anyway), hence using xl pci-attach.
- I don't think a debian sys-net template worked for me with the BCM43602 when last I tried, at the moment I'm successfully using a fedora 28 template for sys-net .
- It something goes wrong during the pci attachment on my system I sometimes have to reboot the whole system and try again before it will work...

I also have the thunderbolt ethernet adapter working, I think the trick there is that you have to attach it to the MacBook before booting Qubes, hot plug didn't work when last I tested it.

[mike]

On Wednesday, December 5, 2018 at 7:54:01 PM UTC+2, Greg wrote:

> On my Macbook Pro I can successfully use the Broadcom BCM43602 wifi adapter with a Fedora sys-net by using a short script to start sys-net manually after boot (i.e. I disable sys-net auto start and then run the following script manually after each boot to start sys-net):
>
> #!/bin/bash
> qvm-start sys-net &
> sleep 3
> sudo xl pci-attach sys-net '03:00.0,permissive=1'
>
>
> ---
> Basically what works (on my system), and what the script does is to attach the Broadcom adapter to sys-net as soon as possible after starting sys-net (but before the sys-net VM has fully booted), a 3 second delay works reasonably reliably on my system.

That's interesting... I just wanted to test it on my box, but it turned out I cannot stop sys-net anymore -- it just keeps starting all the time (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/qubes-users/d0ypnUsg2kw)... I need to firstly fix that to be able to check this one out...

> I also have the thunderbolt ethernet adapter working, I think the trick there is that you have to attach it to the MacBook before booting Qubes, hot plug didn't work when last I tested it.

Yes, I confirm the Thunderbolt Ethernet only works when plugged in before booting Qubes.
Also, it only works for me if the sys-net runs in PV mode (for HVM there are issues with the driver).

Thanks,
Mike