Full screen HVM Qubes Cause Permenant Irreparable Freeze/Crash

User Support
1

I’ve been using Fedora Atomic Silverblue and Fedora XFCE iso’s with no problem in the default small window non full screen mode. I can even run the default fedora xfce template in full screen mode without any problems as well. Running the iso hvm’s in non full screen mode however are where the problems begin. Full screen hvm’s are causing permanent freezes when even the SLIGHTEST cpu or gpu intensive action is performed. Did you just move all apps out of a folder? Permanent freeze. Did you just adjust the display resolution in GNOME settings more than once? Game over, delete cube, loose all data, fresh install to rinse and repeat once more. Restarting the cube, rolling back the atomic fedora!, restarting Qubes OS itself all don’t work.

I’ve even tried qvm-start-dameon CubeName but it mentions a failed to send to monitor message.

I just want to web browse in an even more secure environment running a disposable Qube running flatpak firefox hardened with flatseal permissions on an atomic fedora base with some fun extensions in full screen mode without having a small cpu/gpu intensive task permanently make the Qube unuseable. Please help me know this is a solveable bug.

The sad part was I was able to get though so many installation difficulties, deal with many usability issues every step of the way setting up Qubes OS just so that when I had everything all set and done, I come across this ginormous issue.

2

Try to increase VRAM for your HVM qube:

3

Is the VRAM changeable within the GUI Qubes Manager settings? I had the intial memory set to 4000 MB with Max Memory set to 8000 MB on one of the failed Qubes it happened on and 2000 MB and 6000 MB on another failed install.

If its something else, I’m using a more recent Intel IGPU so not sure how much VRAM it has to spare. Does HVM full screen only work with dedicated GPU’s/passthrough?

4

The VRAM (Video RAM) is not a memory allocated to the qube in the qube’s Settings.
You can change VRAM only in Xen config.

The VRAM is not related to your GPU in dom0, it’s a VRAM allocated to your virtual GPU in the HVM. The qubes use software rendering using CPU and don’t use your GPU in dom0 and they need to allocate specific amount of RAM for it.

5

I’m trying to do the code in the solution from the post you linked but am having some trouble figuring out how to actually use it. Very much a linux noob wherever terminal is concerned. How many seperate lines are there to type from this code block?

sudo mkdir -p /etc/qubes/templates/libvirt/xen/by-name/
cat << 'EOF' | sudo tee /etc/qubes/templates/libvirt/xen/by-name/YourQubeName.xml
<!-- import default template-->
{% extends 'libvirt/xen.xml' %}
<!-- we wanna alter the devices block -->
{% block devices %}
    <!-- import default device block -->
    {{ super() }}
    <!-- manual video config -->
    <video>
      <model type='vga' vram='32768' heads='1' primary='yes'/>
    </video>
{% endblock %}
EOF

I copied sudo mkdir -p /etc/qubes/templates/libvirt/xen/by-name/ and the terminal moved onto a new blank line so I did cat << 'EOF' | sudo tee /etc/qubes/templates/libvirt/xen/by-name/YourQubeName.xml with my own Qubes name but now the next line in the terminal is showing a “>” arrow at the beginning of the line. What am I supposed to type in there? <!-- import default template-->? or the line under neath that or multiple lines in one go?

6

You need type all the text lines in the code block, when you enter EOF at the end the command will be executed.
This code block is creating a new file with the specific content, so if you will type it by hand in dom0 then you can type it directly in the file.
Create a directory:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/qubes/templates/libvirt/xen/by-name/

Create file:

sudo nano /etc/qubes/templates/libvirt/xen/by-name/YourQubeName.xml

Type this content in the file and save it:

<!-- import default template-->
{% extends 'libvirt/xen.xml' %}
<!-- we wanna alter the devices block -->
{% block devices %}
    <!-- import default device block -->
    {{ super() }}
    <!-- manual video config -->
    <video>
      <model type='vga' vram='32768' heads='1' primary='yes'/>
    </video>
{% endblock %}
7

It worked instantly, thank you. :grinning: