Apple Macbook Pro - A1990

User Support HCL Reports
1

Will not boot Qubes 4.4 .ISO flashed with Balena Etcher.

As soon as the EFI USB with the install is selected during boot, the screen will go black and unresponsive. The fan is still working overtime during this period.

As a test, I tried booting a Tails OS USB as well, which was surprisingly successful. It loaded, and I was able to get to to the startup screen, and upon clicking ‘Start’, the system also freezes and goes completely dark.

Has anyone had success with getting past the blackscreen of death upon loading the OS for install from USB? I see many threads on Reddit with no one reporting successful fixes.

2

Maybe try 4.1? That did the trick for me…

3

Ok, will give this a go. Were you able to update from 4.1 to 4.4 once it was installed?

Also, was your trackpad / keyboard working once it was up and running?

Appreciate your reply! :slight_smile:

4

Okay, I will definitely give this a try…!

Were you able to update from 4.1 to 4.4 once it was installed?

Also, was your trackpad / keyboard working out of the gate, or do you have to use external?

Thanks for your reply. :slight_smile:

5

Okay, I will definitely give this a try…!

Were you able to update from 4.1 to 4.4 once it was installed?

Also, was your trackpad / keyboard working out of the gate, or do you have to use external?

6

There is no Qubes OS R4.4 … the current official release is R4.0.4 (I think that’s what you meant) and the upcoming release, which already has a release candidate available for download is R4.1

I’d strongly recommend creating the install media as described here and give the R4.1 release candidate a try.

You could also look for your exact MacBook Pro model in the HCL and click on the name of the reporter. This will bring you to the respective thread, which might contain more useful information.

Good luck!

7

Well, not yet, at least, but it’ll be there before you know it… :slight_smile:

IMPORTANT

  1. Have an external keyboard on hand. You will need it so you can push ESC.
  • You will most likely not have any Function keys or the Escape key on your internal keyboard, because Qubes OS (to my knowledge) does not have any drivers for a MacBook TouchBar installed.
  1. Be prepared for potential system freezes when you open sys-net, especially during the initial setup on first boot after installation.
  • If the wifi module is Intel, you should be alright. But if it’s Broadcom, oh boy will you be in for a fun time… (I’m not familiar with the onboard wifi chipset of the A1990, sadly, otherwise I would have given you a more definitive answer)
  1. You’ll need the latest version of the Linux kernel so that you can use the internal keyboard and trackpad.
  • I see you’ve already found that out :stuck_out_tongue:
  1. Dual-booting is likely to not be “straightforward”.
  • Qubes OS 4.1 on Apple hardware will boot into GRUB2 regardless of whatever other OSes are connected to the machine (a brilliant move from the devs, as it neutralizes a lot of things in Apple’s EFI)

Not necessarily a bad thing, just be ready for it.

  1. Be careful passing through USB ports to VMs.
  • I’d recommend disabling all your VMs to automatically start on boot, at least until you get everything working properly. That way, if something crashes, you can hard reboot the machine, and not end up in an endless loop of something that crashes your machine starting automatically at boot :slight_smile:

Good luck, and definitely let us know how you go.

Looking forward to seeing the HCL report. The A1990 is an absolute beast! i9-9980HK!