unable to setup sys-gui-gpu correctly

[ZYousef]

How to file a helpful issue

Qubes OS release

R4.1

Brief summary

enabling sys-gui-gpu breaks the OS, and makes it restarts infinitely.

Steps to reproduce

sudo qubesctl top.enable qvm.sys-gui-gpu sudo qubesctl top.enable qvm.sys-gui-gpu pillar=True sudo qubesctl --all state.highstate sudo qubesctl state.sls qvm.sys-gui-gpu-attach-gpu reboot

Expected behavior

The system boots up in the sys-gui-gpu desktop environment

Actual behavior

The PC keeps crashing and rebooting unless I disable sys-gui-gpu using qubes.skip_autostart

Note: I have a single GPU setup with Intel UHD Graphics 630, using kernel parameter module_blacklist=i915 or rd.qubes.hide_pci=00:02.0 occasionally fixes the problem.

However, I'm not sure if there's a better way to do this, or if it's a necessary undocumented prerequisite.

[DemiMarie]

i915 cannot handle the device being ripped out from under it.

[ZYousef]

@DemiMarie so Is it necessary to blacklist the i915 for this to work?

[DemiMarie]

@ZYousef It is necessary to not have X11 running in dom0 when sys-gui-gpu starts.

[holiman]

It is necessary to not have X11 running in dom0 when sys-gui-gpu starts.

So, any pointers on how one accomplishes that?

[DemiMarie]

It is necessary to not have X11 running in dom0 when sys-gui-gpu starts.

So, any pointers on how one accomplishes that?

systemctl disable lightdm.service and qvm-prefs sys-gui-gpu autostart True should do that.

[holiman]

systemctl disable lightdm.service and qvm-prefs sys-gui-gpu autostart True should do that.

I tried that, unfortunately the effect of sys-gui-gpu autostart seems to be that it crashes earlier, immediately during boot. So now my system is roughly in the same shape as original reporter of this ticket :)

[holiman]

Oh, just saw this in my guest-sys-gui-gpu.log:

[2022-08-11 04:16:44] [    2.780620] i915 0000:00:05.0: Your graphics device 46a6 is not properly supported by the driver in this
[2022-08-11 04:16:44] [    2.780620] kernel version. To force driver probe anyway, use i915.force_probe=46a6
[2022-08-11 04:16:44] [    2.780620] module parameter or CONFIG_DRM_I915_FORCE_PROBE=46a6 configuration option,
[2022-08-11 04:16:44] [    2.780620] or (recommended) check for kernel updates.

Might be why the gui vm dies.

[DemiMarie]

@holiman what kernel version are you using? Try kernel-latest-qubes-vm or the in-VM kernel.

[holiman]

I was using 5.18.9-1, which was the latest at time of writing.

[euidzero]

I suspect qubes is affected by : https://lists.xenproject.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2022-10/msg01820.html

[marmarek]

It may be the case, although it does work on some devices even with the slot difference.