I have a Dell XPS 15 9520, that until today had VT-D set in BIOS, and has been running Qubes with few issues. Today the setting will not stay in place. Launching an HVM gives the error: “Failed to start an HVM qube with PCI devices assigned - hardware does not support IOMMU/VT-D/AMD-Vi.” (Upgrading BIOS does not help, resetting BIOS to defaults does not help.)
In checking, no change in BIOS seems to stay changed any longer. Perhaps you could check the following: Will any BIOS change stay changed?
Since my PC is still under warranty, it’s going back to Dell for repair.
Do you see any flashing sequence of the status LED when you turn the laptop on? Does the time and date get reset, also?
It would be unusual for a pc under warranty, but a dead CMOS battery could cause this problem. I think there will be an led sequence for this…
PC boots, I can run Qubes, can log into dom0. The issue is the BIOS no longer will keep a setting for VT-D, so HVM’s cannot start when then have PCI devices defined on the Devices Tab. I’ll check the battery, but I doubt that’s an issue because time is ok. I think it’s the motherboard perhaps, or something affecting BIOS.
Yes, I think all my motherboards have lost the RTC when they forgot the BIOS settings because of the coin cell. If there is also no LED diagnostic then I guess it is probably not that.
[Edit: I found a service manual for Dell XPS which seems to say that 25 seconds holding the power button while plugged in will clear most BIOS settings… seems like a nasty feature if you have an untidy desk]