Qubes R4.3 USB boot fails with nouveau probe error (-2); after disabling nouveau I get error (-22)

User Support General
1

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to boot Qubes OS R4.3.0 from a USB stick, but the boot process fails early with what looks like a GPU/driver-related issue.

Computer configuration

  • Storage setup: 2 internal SSDs
  • SSD 1 (C:): Windows installed
  • SSD 2 (D:): split into multiple partitions
  • On SSD 2: a large data/storage partition, a Kubuntu Linux partition, and a separate EFI partition used by Kubuntu
  • Boot method: I normally boot Windows by default; I use the motherboard/laptop boot menu (e.g., F12) when I want to boot another OS
  • Target: boot/install Qubes from a USB stick without modifying my existing internal disk layout yet

What happens

  • When booting the Qubes USB, I get: “probe with driver nouveau failed with error -2”
  • Boot does not proceed normally after that.

What I tried

  • From the Qubes boot menu I edited the boot entry and added kernel parameters intended to disable nouveau and force basic graphics (blacklist nouveau + disable modesetting + nomodeset).

Result

  • After adding those parameters, the boot error changes and I get an “error -22” during boot.

Questions

  1. Is “nouveau probe failed with error -2” a known issue on Qubes R4.3 (especially on NVIDIA or hybrid graphics systems), and what’s the recommended workaround?
  2. Is there a Qubes/Xen-specific set of boot options that works better than simply disabling nouveau and using nomodeset?
  3. What does error -22 typically indicate in this context, and what should I check next (BIOS GPU settings, boot mode, different installer option, etc.)?

If needed I can provide photos of the exact boot messages and my hardware details (CPU/GPU model).

Thanks.