Help! Librem 14 laptops

Hardware Librem (Other)
1

I have two laptops I purchased almost two years ago. Some of you on here may have heard my story earlier this year. Daughter passed away while i was trying to get familiar with the new machines. Long story short I AM still locked out of my laptops and in serious need of a tutor. Can anyone help? Cant get them past the boot processes.

2

Hey! Sorry to hear about your loss.
I started using the forum newly this year. For people like me, in case they want to try to help, are you able to post information about what part of the boot process is giving you trouble — or a link to your earlier post(s) about the challenges you are facing?

I installed PureOS on a 10 year old laptop that I had sitting around recently, and ordered a Librem 14 that didn’t arrive yet. So other people might know more how to help than I do, but the more information you have about where it’s getting stuck during boot then the more likely somebody like me can help even if their knowledge is limited.

2 Likes
3

Two laptops new out of the box. Both telling me the key has been compromised. First computer unboxed and in use, no problems…next boot up there was a glitch in the boot parameter (or lack of a better word) support got me back in after series of months of emails and troubleshooting. Not two days later another glitch…I got them out the other day and somehow reprogrammed the key on this one i had in use before. Now it’s asking for "Please Unlock disk luks-b15c8c64-59d3-40f2-82ec-f698538f1555

4

I AM supposed to type something in to a box with a lock by it

5

Either this is still the default disk encryption password or you changed it on first boot (two years ago) and have forgotten what you chose. If the latter, or otherwise, it may make sense just to reinstall from scratch i.e. assuming that there is no content of value on the laptop.

To reinstall from scratch, you will need a Live Boot USB flash drive which, if from nowhere else, you should be able to obtain from Purism (or maybe one was included with your original purchase?).

⚡ Installation Guide

1 Like
6

I have a usb pureboot flash drive. I only set a security code once and it did not recognize what I set. Nor does it recognize the Pureboot USB drive, I am sure it is a simple fix and I am just that green. I need a tutor

7

Okay. But I think what @irvinewade mentioned is a really important question for you to answer in order to get better help:

Do you have important data and files on this laptop that you must save, or do you simply want an unlocked device to use? If you simply want an unlocked device then the easiest fast way might be to reinstall the system from nothing and remember the password this time.

But if you have important data and files on the laptop, and you also do not remember your decryption pass phrase, then you might be stuck trying to decrypt an encrypted thing which then most likely nobody could help you to do and then this becomes a very hard problem that you are asking for help on.

1 Like
8

Is this your topic? Two Librem 14 laptops

I didn’t see there where you are located. Realistically, to resolve early boot issues requires someone to be in front of the computer. (By contrast, once the damn thing is booted, if you trust your tutor, your tutor can do remote access and help you remotely.)

1 Like
9

I do not have any important data or files on either laptop

10

I M located in Kansas City Missouri. I was hoping for some phone time with someone . At this point im almost willing to pay someone to help me get these machines operable to the common user (me :slight_smile:

11

Because of this, I believe that if/when you get some help, it is going to succeed and the help will work. Because it is possible to reset everything by reinstalling the operating system and erasing all files. And I would generally expect the computer will always allow it to reset in that way, even without a password.

Edit: And, to be clear, a lot of us know how to reinstall the system like that – myself included – but it is easier to do in person. And it is also easier when you have a second, working computer. When I installed PureOS on a laptop recently, the steps were basically:

  1. Go to a computer that is already working
  2. Go to Download PureOS to download a file with a name similar to “pureos-something.iso”
  3. Plug in any standard flash drive, could be a cheap one from a nearby store or a spare you had around the house
  4. On Windows we have to download a program for this I think which I dont like, but on most other non Windows systems we can use a terminal command dd with some parameters that copies this .iso file, an puts its exact contents on the flash drive (which erases everything else that was on the flash drive, effectively making it into a PureOS installer)
  5. Then we put the flash drive in the laptop we want to run PureOS on
  6. Then power the laptop off, then back on but while it powers on I press a special function key. On most laptops and PCs the key to press is the F12 keyboard key but this may depend on the machine. We probably have to press the function key fast before the lock screen you are currently stock on. If it does not work, we must power completely off again to try again.
  7. Then we get to a menu that might say something like “Select Boot Device” and we choose the USB instead of the computer itself, so then the computer powers on with the USB flash drive system on the computer instead of the system installed on the computer itself
  8. Since we are now running the USB and not the computer itself, we should see a menu with “Install PureOS” as an option, as well as maybe a few other recovery options
  9. I push ENTER on this first option, and then see a loading screen. After the loading screen it opens to desktop without a password. But this is not “your” desktop that you want, it is still the flash drive recovery system.
  10. One of the keys next to Alt or Ctrl (basically the Windows key’s equivalent) will open a list of programs. Or, instead, you might be able to touch the left side of the screen to see a programs list. On here, I pick what is usually the first program listed and it was named something like “Install PureOS on this computer”
  11. This button opens a nice walk-through with several “Next” buttons, and it lets us pick options, such as where to install. We have to make sure to tell it to install on the main hard drive, and possibly click “Okay” or “Agree” when it warns us that this will erase everything that was previously on the computer, because that is what we want
  12. One of the steps of the walk-through asks if you want to Encrypt the Hard Drive with the LUKS Encryption, which is probably the lock system that was currently blocking you from using your laptop at the moment. If I were you, for the ease of use, I would probably turn off this encryption feature so that there are less passwords to remember (but then if a robber steals your laptop physically then he will be able to steal the files on it, instead of being locked out). However, a few weeks ago when my friend and I installed, we found that the installer currently does not less us press “Next” unless if we Enable the encryption function. So you probably have to encrypt. Maybe once you choose the password, you could put a piece of tape on the laptop physically that says what the password is written in sharpie, so that you cannot forget but no hacker can ever hack that digitally to obtain it. That’s what some older folks in my family used to do often.
  13. Once you finish the installer, it will do a load bar then give an option to “Restart Now” or “Done” or something like that. For me after I clicked on that, it told me to remove installation media. Then it went to an error screen constantly printing more error text on the screen for some reason. My advice: Ignore that and use the power button to turn the computer completely off. Then, remove the USB recovery device, and use the power button to turn the laptop back on. Enter the password written on the tape, and then it should boot to the user login and be ready to go (the user login is also decided during the setup wizard, so it’s possible you could put that one on the piece of tape as well).

So I think that if you do these steps it will solve your problem. But this is a general solution. I do not know the nature of the USBs you received from Purism with your order. Maybe they are the same as what I described making in my steps, or maybe they are different. If they are the same, you could skip the first few of the steps I listed [and start instead with Step 5]. If they are different, they might be GPG unlock keys, in which case as I think someone else might have suggested, maybe you could use them to unlock your laptops as they are now and skip my suggested steps listed above. But I don’t have experience with Purism GPG keys.

Some users might point out that I am stating the obvious and these steps I listed are known by everyone and that I should have linked to some existing tutorial maybe. But I figured I would share how I recall the steps going for me on PureOS specifically, from the most recent time that I remembered doing them.

2 Likes
12

i WANT to thank you for writing all this out I feel very blessed that one would care so much! I have been doing these things short of downloading off windows onto a jump drive. I sincerely appreciate you Dlonk! I suspect I will have this thing operational soon as a result, without having someone walk me through it because you just did. :slight_smile: much love and thanks, blessings!

1 Like