Hello,
I had a completely unexpected system crash, which I would like to report in detail. It is a long text because serious problems and errors occurred during the reinstallation, and I want to contribute to the resolution of these errors thru as detailed a description as possible:
I had (see last post) installed Qubes 4.3.0 with kernel 6.12.59.1 and debian-13 (but no Fedora) and Whonix. From the Whonix system, I created a second clone. Then I made a backup (with settings). The system ran very well.
For testing purposes, I cloned the debian-13 template and installed “Gimp” in it to test it thoroughly. That worked well at first.
Then extensive updates came, and the new kernel was installed.
During a restart, the system suddenly froze. The interface was built up to the point where the control bar in the top right corner was being constructed from right to left. One had the impression that it was trying, but it didn’t succeed. The app menu on the left was missing. However, when I right-clicked in the middle of the screen, I was able to open a terminal from the small menu and save journal log files, of which I am uploading the most important ones as photos:
After further unsuccessful attempts to start, I reinstalled the system (the version with kernel 6.12.59, but only with debian-13-xfce). The other VM systems like Whonix, a complete clone of it, and some app VMs were on the backup, and I wanted to install them from it (with saved settings).
The restoration only worked superficially. The system was operational in terms of basic functions, but the following problems occurred:
- Whonix VMs and a second clone of them from the backup are restored from the backup, but they do not contain any programs, meaning the application menu is empty and thus useless. I am aware of this phenomenon in Qubes itself, as the Qubes Creator menu indicates that a clone can only be created from an already existing template or its system. But I didn’t know that you can’t restore a template clone from a backup with everything. If this is not an error but a general fact, it should be explicitly mentioned in the backup menu.
I then tried to install a Whonix system from the “Template Switcher,” which also worked. However, if you create a clone from it, the manager does not recognize the clones or the “originals” (such as sys-whonix-2, whonix-ws-18-2, whonix-gw-18-2, as well as whonix-ws-18–2-dvm and an AppVM) correctly, with serious consequences:
- In the basic menu, for example, sys-whonix and anon-whonix could not be assigned correctly or did not appear in the menu (see photo)
False anonymity warnings were also issued:
- I wanted to create a new VM (e.g., sys-whonix) under “Create Qube,” but I couldn’t make any reasonable network settings here either. Additionally, the new Qube did not appear under “Services” in the app menu on the left, but as an App-VM (see photo):
General: In the backup function, in the Qubes Template Switcher (?), there were major issues that need to be checked and fixed.
As a consequence, I then completely reinstalled the entire system (including Whonix, etc.) from the boot stick just like the first time, but without using anything from the backup. The creation of clones, VMs, etc., has been working perfectly since then.
However, I have not performed an update to the new kernel (6.12.63) and test installations since then, as I want to wait for the discussion here first.
Apart from the crash issue, I have noticed other things that I would like to mention in this context:
- USB drives are not always reliably recognized by individual VMs (since I only have two USB controllers, I did not create a usb-Qube). You can assign the drive and the text appears bold, but no drive appears in the VM’s Thunar manager. This problem is irregular and can occur with USB drives of all kinds. A restart of the entire system (not the VM!) often helps, but not always. It has nothing to do with the whonix-Sysmaint system, which works well.
2a. Cloning a disp-VM template using the Qube Manager doesn’t always work perfectly; it doesn’t always appear in the app menu, and assignments are not carried over. If you create it in the dom0 terminal with qvm-create etc., it works perfectly. The problem existed in Qubes 4.2 as well.
2b. Program assignments in a disp-VM template are not always immediately displayed in the app menu. You first have to move the programs to the right, then assign them, confirm, close the window and reopen it, move the programs to the left and then back to the right, assign them again, and only then do they appear on the left in the app menu.
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If you move the mouse in the APPS menu to the far right column on any row, the blue-highlighted row often flickers. This occurs irregularly, but often (the mouse is not to blame).
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Similarly, sometimes it is the case with the Tor Control menu in the top right. It has often been difficult to access since Qubes 4.3.
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After installing Qubes, if I remove the stick to reboot and complete the installation, the screen hangs and only a cursor symbol appears in the top left corner. Only after interrupting the power supply and restarting the computer was I able to continue.
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During my initial installation of Qubes 4.3.0, you could enter the encryption password in the GUI at startup to complete the boot process. As intended. When reinstalling the same system, it no longer works – the password must be entered directly from the boot script, which stops after about 5 seconds, as a code line. The rest proceeds completely normally, and the “user” password can then be entered via the GUI.
So far, so good, and thank you very much for the opinions on this. If needed, I will upload more photos.