Loaded rufus w/ DD mode; get a black screen when loading off the usb. I have no idea how to fix this
Did you try these steps?
Yeah I tried everything in the troubleshooting, and trying to google a solution is difficult.
for newer hardware try with 4.1
https://qubes.notset.fr/iso/Qubes-20210612-kernel-latest-x86_64.iso
https://qubes.notset.fr/iso/Qubes-20210612-x86_64.iso.asc
https://qubes.notset.fr/iso/Qubes-20210612-x86_64.iso.DIGESTS