My goal is to access Win 11 qube restored from 4.1 backup.
I cannot start it since Xen PV disk drivers were installed in it while deploying it under Qubes 4.1 and backing it up there as such. After that I upgraded to 4.2 unaware it won’t work.
So, my intention is to somehow try to start it in Windows Safe Mode, but am not sure if that is possibe from dom0 via some command. Any idea how to (try) to start the qube in safe mode?
I don’t need data from it, so possible mounting of the volume in dom0 is not something I am interested in. I just want to boot somehow in safe mode and to uninstall Xen PV disk drivers there, rathert hen to (temporary) downgrade to Qubes 4.1 to do that.
You have to let Windows 11 crash several (3 or 4) times in a row. Then you’ll get to a window asking for repair options, one of them being a request for a restart with further options where you can select a safe mode boot.
Running Windows in safe mode will not allow you to uninstall QWT or the Xen drivers, as the installer software is not loaded in safe mode. Anyhow, after a lot of fiddling around, you may get to a system running somehow, probably with a dead QWT installation, which can be started normally.
But, whatever you do, create a clone of the VM beforehand - it is highly probable that the resulting VM will be damaged beyond repair!!