Qubes OS updates Weekly Review - Y2024-W49

alimirjamali · December 9, 2024, 5:14pm

Introduction

Weekly review of new packages uploaded to Qubes OS repositories. Link to previous version here.

Alphabetically sorted list of new packages uploaded to Qubes OS repositories

grubby-dummy-9.0.0-4.fc41.noarch.rpm
libqubes-pure-dev_4.2.18+jammy1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure-dev_4.2.18+noble1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure-dev_4.3.6+deb12u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure-dev_4.3.6+deb13u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure-dev_4.3.6+jammy1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure-dev_4.3.6+noble1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure0-dbgsym_4.3.6+deb12u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure0-dbgsym_4.3.6+deb13u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure0_4.2.18+jammy1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure0_4.2.18+noble1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure0_4.3.6+deb12u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure0_4.3.6+deb13u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure0_4.3.6+jammy1_amd64.deb
libqubes-pure0_4.3.6+noble1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy-dev_4.2.18+jammy1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy-dev_4.2.18+noble1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy-dev_4.3.6+deb12u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy-dev_4.3.6+deb13u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy-dev_4.3.6+jammy1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy-dev_4.3.6+noble1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy2-dbgsym_4.3.6+deb12u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy2-dbgsym_4.3.6+deb13u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy2_4.2.18+jammy1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy2_4.2.18+noble1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy2_4.3.6+deb12u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy2_4.3.6+deb13u1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy2_4.3.6+jammy1_amd64.deb
libqubes-rpc-filecopy2_4.3.6+noble1_amd64.deb
python3-dnf-plugins-qubes-hooks-4.2.39-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
python3-dnf-plugins-qubes-hooks-4.2.39-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
python3-qubesimgconverter-4.3.6-1.fc39.x86_64.rpm
python3-qubesimgconverter-4.3.6-1.fc40.x86_64.rpm
python3-qubesimgconverter-4.3.6-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
python3-qubesimgconverter_4.2.18+jammy1_amd64.deb
python3-qubesimgconverter_4.2.18+noble1_amd64.deb
python3-qubesimgconverter_4.3.6+deb12u1_amd64.deb
python3-qubesimgconverter_4.3.6+deb13u1_amd64.deb
python3-qubesimgconverter_4.3.6+jammy1_amd64.deb
python3-qubesimgconverter_4.3.6+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-artwork-4.2.3-1.fc37.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-4.2.3-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-4.2.3-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-4.2.3-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-4.3.3-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-4.3.3-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-4.3.3-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-anaconda-4.2.3-1.fc37.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-anaconda-4.2.3-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-anaconda-4.2.3-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-anaconda-4.2.3-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-anaconda-4.3.3-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-anaconda-4.3.3-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-anaconda-4.3.3-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-efi-4.2.3-1.fc37.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-efi-4.2.3-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-efi-4.2.3-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-efi-4.2.3-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-efi-4.3.3-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-efi-4.3.3-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-efi-4.3.3-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-plymouth-4.2.3-1.fc37.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-plymouth-4.2.3-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-plymouth-4.2.3-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-plymouth-4.2.3-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-plymouth-4.3.3-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-plymouth-4.3.3-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork-plymouth-4.3.3-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-artwork_4.2.3-1+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-artwork_4.2.3-1+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-artwork_4.2.3-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-artwork_4.2.3-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-artwork_4.3.3-1+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-artwork_4.3.3-1+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-artwork_4.3.3-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-artwork_4.3.3-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-4.2.39-1.fc39.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-4.2.39-1.fc40.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-4.2.39-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-caja-4.2.39-1.fc39.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-caja-4.2.39-1.fc40.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-caja-4.2.39-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-caja_4.2.39-1+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-caja_4.2.39-1+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-caja_4.2.39-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-caja_4.2.39-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-dbgsym_4.2.39-1+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-dbgsym_4.2.39-1+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-dom0-updates-4.2.39-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-dom0-updates-4.2.39-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-dom0-updates-4.2.39-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-dom0-updates_4.2.39-1+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-dom0-updates_4.2.39-1+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-dom0-updates_4.2.39-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-dom0-updates_4.2.39-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-nautilus-4.2.39-1.fc39.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-nautilus-4.2.39-1.fc40.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-nautilus-4.2.39-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-nautilus_4.2.39-1+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-nautilus_4.2.39-1+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-nautilus_4.2.39-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-nautilus_4.2.39-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-network-manager-4.2.39-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-network-manager-4.2.39-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-network-manager-4.2.39-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-network-manager_4.2.39-1+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-network-manager_4.2.39-1+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-network-manager_4.2.39-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-network-manager_4.2.39-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-networking-4.2.39-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-networking-4.2.39-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-networking-4.2.39-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-networking_4.2.39-1+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-networking_4.2.39-1+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-networking_4.2.39-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-networking_4.2.39-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root-4.2.39-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root-4.2.39-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root-4.2.39-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root_4.2.39-1+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root_4.2.39-1+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root_4.2.39-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root_4.2.39-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-selinux-4.2.39-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-selinux-4.2.39-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-selinux-4.2.39-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-agent-systemd-4.2.39-1.fc39.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-systemd-4.2.39-1.fc40.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-systemd-4.2.39-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-thunar-4.2.39-1.fc39.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-thunar-4.2.39-1.fc40.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-thunar-4.2.39-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-agent-thunar_4.2.39-1+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-thunar_4.2.39-1+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-thunar_4.2.39-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent-thunar_4.2.39-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent_4.2.39-1+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent_4.2.39-1+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent_4.2.39-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-agent_4.2.39-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-core-dom0-4.2.35-1.fc37.noarch.rpm
qubes-core-dom0-linux-4.2.30-1.fc37.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-dom0-linux-kernel-install-4.2.30-1.fc37.x86_64.rpm
qubes-core-dom0-vaio-fixes-4.2.30-1.fc37.x86_64.rpm
qubes-dom0-meta-packages-4.2.14-1.fc37.noarch.rpm
qubes-dom0-unwanted-packages-4.2.14-1.fc37.noarch.rpm
qubes-gpg-sign-1.0.0-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
qubes-gpg-sign_1.0.0-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-kernel-vm-support-4.3.6-1.fc39.x86_64.rpm
qubes-kernel-vm-support-4.3.6-1.fc40.x86_64.rpm
qubes-kernel-vm-support-4.3.6-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
qubes-kernel-vm-support-dbgsym_4.3.6+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-kernel-vm-support-dbgsym_4.3.6+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-kernel-vm-support_4.2.18+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-kernel-vm-support_4.2.18+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-kernel-vm-support_4.3.6+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-kernel-vm-support_4.3.6+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-kernel-vm-support_4.3.6+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-kernel-vm-support_4.3.6+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-release-4.2-10.fc37.noarch.rpm
qubes-release-4.3-0.3.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-release-notes-4.2-10.fc37.noarch.rpm
qubes-release-notes-4.3-0.3.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-repo-contrib-4.2.14-1.fc37.noarch.rpm
qubes-repo-contrib-4.2.14-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-repo-contrib-4.2.14-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-repo-contrib-4.2.14-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-repo-contrib_4.2.14-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-repo-contrib_4.3.0-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-template-whonix-gateway-17-4.2.0-202412081147.noarch.rpm
qubes-template-whonix-workstation-17-4.2.0-202412081147.noarch.rpm
qubes-thunderbird_2.0.8-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-thunderbird_2.0.8-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-utils-4.3.6-1.fc39.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils-4.3.6-1.fc40.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils-4.3.6-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils-dbgsym_4.3.6+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-utils-dbgsym_4.3.6+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-utils-devel-4.3.6-1.fc39.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils-devel-4.3.6-1.fc40.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils-devel-4.3.6-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils-libs-4.3.6-1.fc39.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils-libs-4.3.6-1.fc40.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils-libs-4.3.6-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils-selinux-4.3.6-1.fc39.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils-selinux-4.3.6-1.fc40.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils-selinux-4.3.6-1.fc41.x86_64.rpm
qubes-utils_4.2.18+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-utils_4.2.18+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-utils_4.3.6+deb12u1_amd64.deb
qubes-utils_4.3.6+deb13u1_amd64.deb
qubes-utils_4.3.6+jammy1_amd64.deb
qubes-utils_4.3.6+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-vm-core-4.2.39-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
qubes-vm-dependencies-4.2.14-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-dependencies-4.2.14-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-dependencies-4.2.14-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-dependencies_4.2.14-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-vm-dependencies_4.3.0-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-vm-guivm-4.2.14-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-guivm-4.2.14-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-guivm-4.2.14-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-guivm_4.2.14-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-vm-guivm_4.3.0-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-vm-kernel-support-4.2.18-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
qubes-vm-kernel-support-4.3.6-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
qubes-vm-keyring-4.2.39-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
qubes-vm-meta-packages-4.2.14-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-meta-packages-4.2.14-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-meta-packages-4.2.14-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-networking-4.2.39-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
qubes-vm-passwordless-root-4.2.39-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
qubes-vm-recommended-4.2.14-1.fc39.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-recommended-4.2.14-1.fc40.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-recommended-4.2.14-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
qubes-vm-recommended_4.2.14-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-vm-recommended_4.3.0-1+noble1_amd64.deb
qubes-vm-utils-4.2.18-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
qubes-vm-utils-4.3.6-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
thunderbird-qubes-2.0.8-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
thunderbird-qubes_2.0.8-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
thunderbird-qubes_2.0.8-1+noble1_amd64.deb
xfce4-settings-qubes_4.2.3-1+jammy1_amd64.deb
xfce4-settings-qubes_4.2.3-1+noble1_amd64.deb
xorg-x11-server-Xdmx-1.20.14-27.fc37.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-Xephyr-1.20.14-27.fc37.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-Xephyr-21.1.14-3.fc41.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-Xnest-1.20.14-27.fc37.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-Xnest-21.1.14-3.fc41.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.20.14-27.fc37.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-Xorg-21.1.14-3.fc41.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-Xvfb-1.20.14-27.fc37.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-Xvfb-21.1.14-3.fc41.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-common-1.20.14-27.fc37.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-common-21.1.14-3.fc41.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-devel-1.20.14-27.fc37.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-devel-21.1.14-3.fc41.x86_64.rpm
xorg-x11-server-source-1.20.14-27.fc37.noarch.rpm
xorg-x11-server-source-21.1.14-3.fc41.noarch.rpm

Highlights

Release of Fedora 41 (GNOME, XFCE, Minimal) templates.
New installation images with Fedora 41 as default template.
4K Sector storage support

Details

In addition to the usual minor fixes and patches:

core-admin v4.2.35 (r4.2)
. Mostly patches and improvements which were tested before on r4.3. Many of them are essential for Fedora 41 support.
. Validating kernel global property change, running Thunderbird on Fedora 41, simplifying use of in-vm kernels, bumping zfs release version, …
core-agent-linux v4.2.39 (r4.2)
. Fixing an issue with file transfer with emojis in filename.
qubes-template-whonix-workstation-17 4.2.0-202412081147 (r4.2)
qubes-template-whonix-gateway-17 4.2.0-202412081147 (r4.2)
. Two testing Whonix templates. A user reports them to be broken?
linux-utils v4.3.6 (r4.3)
. Support with storage devices with 4K sector size. An interesting tool is written in C language for adjusting partition tables with 512 byte sector size to 4K sectors. Highly educational for people interested on low level work with GPT partition table.
qubes-release v4.2-10 (r4.2)
qubes-release v4.3-0.3 (r4.3)
. New Qubes releases with Fedora 41 as default template.
xorg-x11-server v21.1.14-3 (r4.3)
xorg-x11-server v1.20.14-27 (r4.2)
. Fixing resolution enumeration on NovaCustom V54
. Updating to xorg-x11-server-21.1.14-2 source and removing already merged patches.
app-linux-gpg-sign v1.0.0 (r4.2)
. GPG Sign (not GPG Split) is coming to r4.2. I covered it in previous versions of the newsletter.
artwork v4.3.3-1 (r4.3) & v4.2.3-1 (r4.2)
. For both r4.2 & r4.3, Qubes desktop backgrounds are rendered in much higher resolutions. Available up to 7680x4320 pixels.
. For r4.2, a fix for Plymouth (boot splash screen) Qubes logo on systems with multiple screens. This was tested for few months on r4.3
. Rendering background as webp. So it shows correctly on sys-gui with newer versions of Fedora
More packages are built for Ubuntu Noble.

Epilogue

Based on my observation of the ongoing developments, considerable work is going on to support Wayland & KDE Plasma on dedicated sys-gui. Since XFCE support for Wayland is not yet finalized and GNOME support is out of question, the logical development environment for Wayland is KDE Plasma (Sway is not suitable for novice users).

I have to enable sys-gui with KDE Plasma if I want to properly observe the ongoing developments.

ths4bx · December 9, 2024, 5:23pm

For the average user, what’s the benefit of 4K sector size? Will it be the default if the storage device supports in 4.3?

solene · December 9, 2024, 5:29pm

It’s faster if your drive is a 4k drive.

Some HDD / NVME drive support both 512 and 4K sectors, but they have to be configured for one size at a time, at low level, there is a command to query and change the sector size. Changing the mode requires to wipe the disk, there is absolutely no possibility to circumvent this.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Advanced_Format#Advanced_Format_hard_disk_drives

The new utility, if I understand, would allow to convert current partitions on a 4k drive (with the device configured for 4k and not 512) into a 4k partition, without having to reformat. This is useful as Qubes OS was using 512 bytes partitions, which were not matching 4k drives sizes.

alimirjamali · December 9, 2024, 5:50pm

In addition to the points @solene mentions, the other issues (for the host and VMs) are discussed in details here:

github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues

Support 4k storage

opened 09:39PM - 13 Apr 19 UTC

closed 05:38AM - 08 Dec 24 UTC

ij1

T: enhancement C: installer P: default hardware support C: storage

**Qubes OS version** R4.0 **Affected component(s) or functionality** VM…s not working/starting right from a fresh install. **Brief summary** Right after a fresh install, all VMs fail to mount root and therefore fails to start beyond the point where they expect /dev/xvda3 available. This happens on a device that has 4kB logical and physical block sizes (NVMe drive). This was not problem in R3.2 (as it used files by default for VM storage). **To Reproduce** Steps to reproduce the behavior: 1. Install Qubes to a drive with 4kB sector size (both logical / physical); (I put /boot to a SATA drive with 512B sectors to avoid BIOS/NVMe boot challenges, rest of the system is on the NVMe with 4kB sectors). 2. Firstboot stuff fails 3. After clicking "finish" for firstboot, find out that no VM will start successfully (which explains firstboot failures I guess) 4. Look to the VM logs, and find this from there: ```... [ 0.887548] blkfront: xvda: flush diskcache: enabled; persistent grants: enabled; indirect descriptors: enabled; [ 0.902355] blkfront: xvdb: flush diskcache: enabled; persistent grants: enabled; indirect descriptors: enabled; [ 0.924386] blkfront: xvdc: flush diskcache: enabled; persistent grants: enabled; indirect descriptors: enabled; [ 0.940325] blkfront: xvdd: flush diskcache: enabled; persistent grants: enabled; indirect descriptors: enabled; Waiting for /dev/xvda* devices... Qubes: Doing R/W setup for TemplateVM... [ 1.049451] random: sfdisk: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read) [ 1.052481] xvdc: xvdc1 [ 1.060250] random: mkswap: uninitialized urandom read (16 bytes read) Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 8 GiB (8589930496 bytes) no label, UUID=... Qubes: done. mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/xvda, missing codepage or helper program, or other error In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try dmesg | tail or so. Waiting for /dev/xvdd device... mount: /dev/xvdd is write-protected, mounting read-only [ 1.099814] EXT4-fs (xvdd): mounting ext3 file system using the ext4 subsystem [ 1.106796] EXT4-fs (xvdd): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null) mount: /sysroot not mounted or bad option In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try dmesg | tail or so. [ 1.119049] clocksource: tsc: mask: 0xffffffffffffffff max_cycles: 0x1e335a008d5, max_idle_ns: 440795216613 ns mount: /sysroot not mounted or bad option In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try dmesg | tail or so. switch_root: failed to mount moving /sysroot to /: Invalid argument switch_root: failed. Sorry. [ 1.217841] Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! exitcode=0x00000100 ... ``` **Expected behavior** VMs would start. Firstboot stuff would work. Drives with 4kB sector size would work. **Additional context** I've tracked this down to the handling of the partition table. With 512B sectors the location of the GPT differs from that of with 4kB sectors and therefore VMs fail to find the correct partition table from xvda. Obviously also the partition start/end values will be off by the factor of 8 because the templates are built(?) with an assumption of 512B sector size. I'm not sure if there are other assumptions based on 512B sectors with the other /dev/xvd* drives. **Solutions you've tried** I cloned a template and I tried to manually fix the partition table of the clone (in dom0 through /dev/qubes_dom0/...). There's was plenty of space before the first partition, however, at the end the drive is so tight on space that the GPT secondary table won't fit so the xvda3 partition's tail was truncated slightly and I didn't try to resize its filesystem first (this probably causes some problems, potentially corruption?). With such a fixed partition table, I could start VMs (but there are then some other problems/oddities that might be due to incomplete firstboot or non-fixed fedora template, I only fixed the debian one which I mainly use normally). I could possibly enlarge the relevant LV slightly to avoid the truncate problem at the tail of xvda3 but I've not tried that yet. I tried to look if I could somehow force pv/vg/lv chain to fake the logical sector size but couldn't find anything from the manpages. Libvirt *might* be able to fake the ```logical_block_size``` but I've not yet tried that. **Relevant [documentation](https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/) you've consulted** During install, I used the custom install steps to create manual partitioning (but I think it is irrelevant). **Related, [non-duplicate](https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/reporting-bugs/#new-issues-should-not-be-duplicates-of-existing-issues) issues** None I could find, some other issues included failure to mount root successfully but the causes are different. **Decided solution** Add a partition table conversion to initramfs. Specifically, write a tool that would check if partition table matches current block size. If it matches, do nothing. If not, convert it to the right block size format before mounting anything. And destroy the wrong partition table (if isn't directly overridden by the converted one) to prevent confusion which one is the current one. References: https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/4974#issuecomment-482897265 https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/4974#issuecomment-1677356693

otter2 · December 9, 2024, 6:19pm

That’s why we do dd bs=4K when burning an image

I am at the same time frustrated that it took so long and yet happy that it happened.

Also, aren’t most modern drives run 4K under the hood anyway and expose fake 512 solely for compatibility reasons?

alimirjamali · December 9, 2024, 6:25pm

Exactly. 512e (emulated). Most automatic and manual partitioning tools will warn you if do not align your partitions at 4K values. Most do it automatically.

otter2 · December 9, 2024, 6:29pm

Sway next please?

alimirjamali · December 9, 2024, 6:38pm

Wayland support turns out to be big work and complex. There are already pending issues and challenges. For example Qui (Qubes GUI widgets) are not working on KDE Plasma Wayland. And the keyboard layout change mechanism is not working. And the App Menu is always on center of the screen. Too many challenges to overcome.

Hopefully once KDE Plasma support is finalized, Sway support could be easier.

solene · December 9, 2024, 7:24pm

I don’t think it’s related, bs=4k would just write by chunks of 4k of input, it’s actually really small and you should have better performance by using something like 10M.

otter2 · December 10, 2024, 3:56am

Yeah, apparently that is correct! The more you learn…

Considering the amount of work, at this point xfce might start supporting Wayland. Which arguably would be heaps better than Plasma or Sway.

tanky0u · December 10, 2024, 9:14am

Isn’t KDE Plasma a resource hog, compared to XFCE? Older laptops (X230, etc) going to have problems?

auser · December 10, 2024, 12:37pm

As a long time exclusive i3 and Qubes OS user, seeing the option for a tiling window manager go away would be terrible. I don’t know how this works, but if KDE Plasma with Wayland works, would any other Wayland window manager work?

I haven’t used Sway, but anything tiling will do for me.

solene · December 10, 2024, 12:40pm

KDE can be used with a tiling mode, you can also disable all kind of bars and decorations

auser · December 10, 2024, 12:48pm

I’m sure I could make it work, but there’s more to it, like the configuration files which can be easily handwritten.

Side note: Moving to KDE will make all Qubes GUI components mismatched again, most of the Qt components are being replaced with GTK ones.

alimirjamali · December 10, 2024, 3:13pm

Good question. In 2019, an article was published and a vlog was recorded on claiming that KDE 5.17 is now smaller than XFCE 4.14 in memory usage. The validity of that claim was debated and sometimes debunked by many users. I am personally of the opinion that XFCE is much lighter and faster than KDE at this moment. Even with GPU acceleration, I find XFCE much more pleasant than KDE. But I might be biased.

There was some other drama on the underlying architecture of KDE Plasma (Qt Toolkit). From Trolltech to a Nokia subsidiary to Digia and finally Qt Group. But that does not concern Qubes OS project. Only in some cases.

I believe one of the Qubes OS core developers is an i3 advocate and uses it a lot (do not ask me which one since I am not allowed to tell), I see a great chance of Sway support. Which claims to be a drop-in replacement for i3.

tripleh · December 10, 2024, 3:46pm

As a long time exclusive i3 and Qubes OS user, seeing the option for a tiling window manager go away would be terrible. I don’t know how this works, but if KDE Plasma with Wayland works, would any other Wayland window manager work?

I haven’t used Sway, but anything tiling will do for me.

Sway claims to be a drop-in replacement for i3, i.e. the Qubes OS configs may work as-is. The patches would have to be ported to sway.

Also, if the Qubes OS team decides to support XWayland for at least a while, you’ll be able to stick to i3 for another while.

awesomeWM won’t ever support Wayland [1], which is unfortunate as that means it’ll become irrelevant sooner or later.

I recently ported qtile [2] to Qubes OS [3], which claims to support Wayland. If it does (I haven’t tested it yet), it should be fairly straightforward to port its Qubes OS patches.

Anyway I guess we’re talking about at least 1-2 more years with Xorg in Qubes OS dom0…

[1] "Wayland" support of awesome · Issue #159 · awesomeWM/awesome · GitHub
[2] https://qtile.org/
[3] GitHub - 3hhh/qubes-qtile: qtile installer and configuration for Qubes OS

alimirjamali · December 10, 2024, 3:55pm

I am a little bit more optimist. I guess between 6 months to 18 months.