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I tried Qubes OS and found out that it is too heavy and complicated for me. So I tried to install Debian from a flashed USB. However, the installer gives the following error:

the logical volume vm-sys-net-private on qubes_dom0 could not be deleted

I have a Bodhi Linux installer on another flashed USB and that gives the same error. Asking about this on the Qubes OS forum resulted in an answer suggesting the use of

"dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1M or something"

I've been reading abouf the dd command and it seems to be a legit way of wiping out contents of a hard drive. lsblk gives the following output:

user@personal:~$ lsblk
NAME    MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
xvda    202:0    1    20G  0 disk
├─xvda1 202:1    1   200M  0 part
├─xvda2 202:2    1     2M  0 part
└─xvda3 202:3    1  19.8G  0 part /
xvdb    202:16   1     2G  0 disk /var/spool/cron
                                  /usr/local
                                  /home
                                  /rw
xvdc    202:32   1    10G  0 disk
├─xvdc1 202:33   1     1G  0 part [SWAP]
└─xvdc3 202:35   1     9G  0 part
xvdd    202:48   1 510.7M  1 disk 

How should I wirte the dd command in order to succeed with the installer? If I wipe out everything, does the computer boot from the USB?

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  • Is this on Xen? You might find it simpler to start over with a new domain. Commented Mar 8, 2024 at 7:26
  • @StephenKitt yes Qubes starts "with Xen hypervisor". I don't have any idea what "starting over with a new domain" means. Commented Mar 8, 2024 at 7:45
  • I’m probably interpreting this incorrectly, but your lsblk output gives the impression you’re trying to install a new distribution inside the existing Qubes dom0 (see the Xen wiki). This would be similar to re-installing a different operating system in a guest VM — it’s usually simpler to delete the obsolete VM and create a new one. However I get the impression that what you really want to do is erase Qubes entirely. How are you booting the USB keys? Commented Mar 8, 2024 at 8:11
  • Yes, I want to erase Qubes and partitions completely and install Debian. I press F11 multiple times as my laptop is starting up to enter boot menu. From there I select the USB and get into the Debian installation menu. lsblk is printed from Qubes after starting up normally instead of the USB. Commented Mar 8, 2024 at 8:35

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After all, it was the dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1M command that worked. I booted from a Debian live USB to get a view of the actual hard drive instead of viewing the virtual machines on Qubes OS and replaced sda with the one found from my system containing all the Qubes files.

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