On Monday, 11 May 2020 23:13:21 UTC+1, Rafael Reis wrote: > > Hey Andrew! > > Sorry for the late reply, haven't checked the mailing list in a while. > > I have a 5470 service tag # 5V2GBG2 > You may see the full original config here > <https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/servicetag/0-dHBZdFAzUVN4THRPN0NkTzFYWlNWdz090/overview> > . > > Basically it came stock with a quad core i7-6820HQ. Sata drive with the > tiny sata cable. No m.2 bracket or SSD installed to the NVME ngff slot. > Nothing installed on the wwan ngff slot, and intel's wifi card installed to > the ngff wireless slot. > > It has 3 ngff slots (M.2 NVME, WIFI, WWAN) keyed differently (Key A, B > etc) and the sata data+power cable for 1 sata drive. > > I've upgraded ram to 2x8GB DDR4, removed the stock sata hdd and replaced > it with a sata ssd. Since I needed more capacity than performance, I got a > 512GB Crucial BX500. It was way more affordable than an nvme drive atm, and > I didn't have the m.2 bracket either, which would mean I would only be able > to secure the nvme ssd with double sided tape or other improvised solution. > The BX500 is known to have an exploitable hardware encryption, so be > advised to use only software encryption on that drive. > > That drive became my Windows 10 drive, GPT / UEFI enabled. > Started using Qubes on a USB 3.0 64GB flash drive, it worked pretty well > considering the constraints, but decided I needed a drive for Qubes itself. > > After some deep research I discovered that the WWAN slot indeed takes a > SATA M.2 SSD. (source > <http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/new-latitude-5470.785426/page-9#post-10227440> > ). > You'd better go for the shorter ones, otherwise they'll collide with the > inner plastic frame and won't fit. I believe you can fit 32 and 40mm length > drives without any trouble. I couldn't find an affordable SATA M.2 with at > least 256GB for Qubes (that was my personal need), so I ended up getting a > regular 80mm lenght one. To make it fit, I had to "mod" the inner plastic > frame, and disassemble 50% of the laptop. I opted simply to break pieces > of the plastic frame in order to free space for the lengthier drive. Then, > I isolated the surroundings with tape and secured the ssd (don't remember > how, if I was able to bolt it in, tape it, or pressure). The SSD I used in > the WWAN port is https://www.lexar.com/portfolio_page/ssd-nm100/ 256GB > version > > You have to change BIOS settings under drive configuration to enable the > required sata ports. > > Initialized that drive as GPT, and installed Qubes to it. > > You are right regarding the "dual boot". I don't have Grub. I use the > "BIOS" UEFI bootmanager to choose which OS I'd like to boot. All I have to > do is press F12 after powering up. I've renamed Qubes to Recovery, so it is > inconspicuous. Default boot drive is the BX500 with windows. > > The level of compatibility of the E5470 with Qubes is outstanding. The > performance is incredible. > The only thing that didn't work OOB was the SD card reader, which was > easily fixed by opting to kernel-latest . Docking station works 100%, with > multiple monitors. Even 2 monitors + laptop monitor works perfectly. I wish > it was possible to nuke Intel ME on 6th gen laptops and have it fully > Opensource. It would make a great candidate for certification. > > My only concern right now is the decisions for the GUI of Qubes 4.1. I > wonder if the separation of the GUI and dom0 would result in > incompatibility with E5470 or even a big decrease in performance. This > thing is perfect for Qubes if your threat model isn't government agencies > high. > > Hope I could help, and let me know if you have further questions. > Em quarta-feira, 6 de maio de 2020 20:51:29 UTC-3, [email protected] > escreveu: >> >> Hi Rafael >> >> Interested to see you got an SSD drive to work in the WWAN slot in your >> E5470. Could you tell me what drive you used, and the spec for your laptop. >> Am I right in thinking that you have Windows installed on one drive and >> Qubes on the other, and that you actually choose which drive to boot from >> at power up? So it's not "dual-boot" in the usual sense (ie multiple OSs on >> the same drive)? >> >> Thanks >> > Hi Rafael
Very many thanks for your comprehensive reply, lots of good information there. What I hope to end up with is pretty similar to what you have - a large(ish) drive with Windws and Linux Mint in a conventional dual boot setup, and a drive in the WWAN slot to run Qubes. I think it is possible to inactivate drives individually on Dell laptops so if I feel it necessary I could switch off the W/LM drive when using Qubes and vice versa. I think this would largely get around the potential risk of the Qubes /boot partition getting compromised when using one of the other OSs? Depends how paranoid I feel! Regarding choice of laptop, I am torn between the E5470 and the M4800. I now know that the E5470 will work, but I do like the bigger screen (would FHD, not QHD) and the separate number pad on the M4800; I also like the number of storage drives it can accomodate. It's a bit of a big old thing, but portabity isn't really an issue for me. Pricewise there's not much in it on the Dell Outlet site (UK). I agree it would be good if the ME could be dealt with on the newer machines - maybe someone will find a way... I'm not up to speed on the GUI/dom(0) issue; hopefully Brendan is right that it will be an option, so it won't matter. Thanks again Andrew -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "qubes-users" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/qubes-users/56f2f158-844b-457f-86f7-3d354023e1bc%40googlegroups.com.
