Have just installed Qubes 4.2.4 onto Qubes-certified NovaCustom V56 laptop using HEADS.
Install was surprisingly straight-forward and only change I made was to select default template to be Debian rather than Fedora.
I can access the Dom0 Qube Manager which shows only dom0 qube, but I was under the impression the initial install would create some default qubes that I’d see in both the Qubes manager and the Qubes Application Menu.
When I hover over the Qubes icon in upper-right of my screen I see a pop-up “Open Qubes Application Menu” but clicking on icon doesn’t open the menu like I see in the Qubes getting started docs.
That’s wrong. It sounds like the install only finished the first step (dom0 install). From your comment about default template it sounds like you did the second part of install that takes about 20 min. But that step creates the fedora, debian, whonix templates that should show up in qubes manager. The application menu should also show Personal and Vault and work appvms. And various sys services under that tab as well as templatesunder that tab.
After re-installing Qubes 4.2.4 three times using latest kernel (once using automatic storage and twice using manual disk partitioning) I never see anything but dom0 in Qube Manager and nothing in the Qubes Application Menu either when I click on its icon in upper left of window.
Installation docs imply I should see quite a few default qubes in both of these areas following an install but I never see them.
Are the 4.2.4 docs up-to-date?
Does using a latest kernel installation somehow mess up what would otherwise be a vanilla installation?
The "I only have dom0 in Qube Manager suggests that the “Initial Setup” failed in some way (the interface that lets you pick templates to install and what you want as default). Since it failed, can you try to:
reinstall the OS
At the first boot from the disks, the Initial Setup should be started automatically - select the “Do nothing” (I recall it as a button on the bottom left?). This will leave you with only dom0 (but sounds like the it is for you already)
LVM is the default setting so no need to explicitly choose it.
What happens after you install and it reboots ? Do you get the luks unlock screen and then the second phase of installer ? The progress bar will show it is creating fedora, debian, whonix ws and gw templates. Do you see this happening ?
Try removing one of the nvme drives, that’s the only unusual part of your setup… Perhaps causing installer confusion.
The Qubes icon should be on the upper-left of the screen by default, not upper-right. The Qubes documentation is outdated and still displays the Qubes 4.1 version of the Qubes Application Menu:
I hesitate to jump in with a basic suggestion, but…
Just to make sure, did you try the default option on the first grub screen of the installation medium, and watch the “Test the media” stage?
It must count from 1 to 100%. If you make a video, then you may see a success message, before it tries to boot the installer. If it only goes to a lower value than 100, then the key is not correctly written.
I think the default kernel version is not good for your laptop - there may be black screen… so after successful 100% media test, you would have to restart and select “latest kernel”.
I had a “no default Qubes” installation one time, from a bad usb key.
[Edited to finish an incomplete line. Apologies if this is all obvious to you]
