All templates and default qubes missing from fresh installation (only dom0 exists)

[gianmarco1995]

Qubes OS release

4.2, 4.1, 4.1.1

Brief summary

Unable to install the needed/default templates and the default Vms. No templates in the additional software page during installation.

Steps to reproduce

Flash Os iso on usb drive
Install the Os on the target machine
Run the Os

Expected behavior

All the default templates and Vms are installed.

Actual behavior

No default templates are available. At the first boot, after the post-installation phase, the system is stuck with dom0 and only dom0.

Detailed explanation

First of all, I’m sorry for my broken english.
I’m here to address an issue that seems to affect very few people, but also seems to be disruptive and insormontable.

I specify that I’m a Qubes user since 2017: I used this OS during the 2017-2019 period, then back again on it in 2022, and today I’m trying to reinstall it.

The issue is that, doesn’t matter what procedure I follow to flash the iso and install the OS, I’m unable to install the needed templates and the default Vms. I’ll leave you some pics that testify how the issue present itself:

First of all, here are the bios settings on my main machine.

As usual, I flash the iso on the USB drive (tried dd, rufus, etcher: more on that later) and verify the media and the gpg signatures. Then, after the boot, you can see the first symptoms of the issue:

As you can see, in the software selection page, the templates are totally absent. I can only install the Qubes UI.

I also tried to test the installation media, it seems ok.

At this point, if I proceed, the installer executes itself and bring me to the reboot. After the reboot, in the post-installation phase, this is the first thing that seems wrong:

Whonix not available, fedora and debian not even mentioned, and all the options (except the advanced configuration options) are greyed out.

If I go further, in the terminal post-installation phase, the systems gives back this message:

At this point I can boot Qubes and log in, but I’m stuck with Dom0 and only Dom0. No templates at all, and no pre-configured Vms. I know that there is probably some workaround to this issue, like installing the templates after the Os installation, but I’m not an expert user.

On the forum, a guy told me to run this command in the dom0 terminal, so I leave you also this picture.

To better address the problem, I tell you that I tried all the possible combinations between the following alternatives (I’ve been on it for the past 3 days):

Downloading the iso:
Tried both from the main qubes website, from the torrent and from multiple mirrors. Tried to flash the 4.2 stable, 4.1 stable and 4.1.1 rc5 (the last time I installed qubes, in 2022, I flashed and installed this last iso and it worked flawlessly). Downloaded the iso both in linux and windows environment.

Flashing the iso:
Tried rufus (both DD and ISO mode), etcher and the dd command in linux environment. Everytime I flashed the iso in a linux environment I did also all the integrity and signature checks, and everytime they passed

Target machine:
The bios settings you see are from the machine with I always used qubes in the past. Anyway, I tried to change the target machine 3 more times:

ASUS UX305UA-FB004T Zenbook, i7-6500U, 8GB Ram
HUAWEI MateBook X Pro, i7-8550U, 8GB Ram
Lenovo IdeaPad S145, i3-8145U, 8GB Ram
Everytime I got the exact same result

Miscellaneous:
Changed 5 different USB drives, also tried a USB 2.0 drive. Tried all the different ports on all the different machines: nothing changed.

Last thing: As you can see here, this isn’t really the first time I encountered this issue. But the last time, in 2022, I was able to resolve it by downloading the 4.1.1 iso (at that time it was a beta version, since the stable was the 4.0). Here you can find the discussion: All templates MISSING from fresh installation
That brings me to think that there is something wrong with Qubes iso, and not with me.

Link to forum discussion:

https://forum.qubes-os.org/t/are-all-qubes-iso-corrupted-no-additional-software-no-templates-no-default-vms-stuck-with-only-dom0/24722

[hardcod3dd]

Any updates on this issue? I am having the exact same issue and only resource i could find is this discussion.

[gianmarco1995]

I solved by changing USB drive. I tried something like 6 USB drives, and it worked on the 7th one. Il Mer 12 Giu 2024, 14:30 Dogukan ***@***.***> ha scritto:

…

Any updates on this issue? I am having the exact same issue and only resource i could find is this discussion. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#8993 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AWREDOTGLGSHI3CA4PPDQCDZHA5OJAVCNFSM6AAAAABD6IEWK6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDCNRSHA4DQMZTGE> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[hardcod3dd]

just tried to flash onto an portable ssd and installed from it. it worked for me too. very weird issue but solved now.