Two Librem 14 laptops

@LisaonMissouri - I want to second what @Quarnero shared. I ran into the exact same issue with my L13 a number of years ago, couldn’t remember the encryption password. So I used a Windows computer to download the PureOS ISO and wrote it to a USB stick with Rufus. After that, I hit ESC to get to the boot menu, selected the USB stick, and it was off to the races.

If you need more specific follow up, please hit us back.

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Does this mean I need to copy something from the tracker.pureos.net to gain access to the password, I’m sorry I am not understanding.

What password talking about? Pure system password? Pureboot password?

If you’ve never used the laptops and have nothing to lose, the quickest path forward would be to reinstall PureOS. One can download the ISO here: https://www.pureos.net/.

Install steps may be found here: https://tracker.pureos.net/w/installation_guide/live_system_installation/.

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I don’t understand why you recommend a reinstall so quickly. Reinstall might also have some hurdles for a beginner.
Shouldn’t this either be a default password or something Purism has specifically set?
@LisaonMissouri do you remember whether you got further when you fired one up last year? Because then either you had the password available that Purism set, or you were asked to set one yourself.
In the first case, support should be able to help you.
In the latter case, if you set it yourself, it might be one of your standard passwords, maybe the one you have on Windows. Else, I agree that reinstalling is your only real choice.

When you are asked for the password, is there a user name above it?
Or is it dying something about disk encryption?

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No user name, yes disk encryption. I do believe it is a Purism thing with a standard password. My problem with contacting support is the time frame it takes to get a response from them. I would love to get on the phone with someone who could walk me through it. Yes last year I was able to access all of the programs that come installed on the machine. I have tried all of the possible passwords and none of them work so im thinking i may or may not have set one up. Once i get this first one working I am sure the other will fall into place. I know for a fact that I have not given the second machine a password and they are both prompting for a password in the same manner. Much like the GPG card that has a standard password of 12345678, that works…I am still to green to have set up a password but I could be wrong about that. There has been a lot going on these last 8 months as I have dealt with the death of my first-born baby. She was 28, thank you so very much for your assistance and replying to my thread!

Because that’s exactly what she needs. I have run into this exact issue and know how to resolve the problem of LUKS prompting for a password she does not have.

If there was another option, it would be on the table. But no LUKS password equals a no go. Think.

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My guess is that if you changed the pw you’d remember. I’m assuming this would be the LUKS pw which is a process. Not hard, but more than just click and point. Do you remember that? Otherwise it would most likely be the default?

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I have Pure.os on a USB they sent me with each computer, there’s no way both of them could have been compromised. Problem is it is saying my librem key may have been compromised. I know I am being heavily surveilled. I am wondering if this has anything to do with my ISP

I totally understand. In my case, the LUKS password that was supposed to be pre-set as part of the out of the box experience was simply wrong. Just was. I took a couple of whacks at trying various permutations. Even tried a USB keyboard in case there was a hardware issue.

Nope - ça passé pas du tout.

So I took the easy/hard road out and reinstalled PureOS. You can try emailing support. They may have options not available that I do not have but the fundamental promise of LUKS encryption is no password, no advancement in the boot process. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

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I suspect you may have ordered your laptops with Qubes preinstalled. If so you will get a disk unlock password at first boot and you just hit Enter to proceed to the wizard where you can set your disk passphrase. (This is a pretty common issue with Qubes-preinstall orders and these days we ship a note with Qubes orders informing customers what to do, but it sounds like your order was from back before we did that.)

[Edited to add] If you ordered two laptops and two Librem Keys, each Librem Key is paired to only one of the laptops so if you were to insert the Librem Key meant for laptop A into laptop B when booting, you would definitely get a warning about tampering and a red flashing LED instead of a green flashing one.

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May I just say that the purpose of the USB “key” might not be obvious to a “learner” :slight_smile:

Please add a comment if you still struggle with this.

Nothing is obvious here :frowning:

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I seriously need a tutor, thanks

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Hi @LisaonMissouri You have had a reply from the President, and conflicting suggestions, I will not jump in right here as a tutor, perhaps later once you have the devices running nicely! :slight_smile:

As a customer I do think you should read this page

I am sure you will get some real help by sending an email along these lines

Technical Support

To: support@puri.sm
What: Any hardware or software related problem with Purism products and services
Subject: [order number] short problem description
Usual response time: under 6 hours
Conditions: Before sending email to support, please first check the troubleshooting wiki section and search issue reports if your problem is software-related!

Example email subject: New Librem 14, cannot get past password.

Good luck

Thank you, as you already know I have been conversing with you over the issue at hand. i do appreciate the support!

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I have kept the Librem Keys separate for each of the laptops. Each of them came with a Quebes USB. It has not asked me to install that one yet. I actually had one up and running last year, then it took several months to get back to it and well life happens. It would be nice if someone would talk with me on the tele and work through this I am so ready to learn. Can I post my phone number here? gonna try [phone number redacted by admin] USA

Eddy, thank you for your replay and your suggestion about using the email to communicate with customer support, something I did last year to regain entry to the first laptop. Took several weeks to get the issue sorted and the machine functional again, then more life happens. Six to nine months in here I sit with two bad ass laptops I paid a few grand for yet I cannot use and a surveillance system so far up my butt I can barely walk. The multiple thousands of emails are a swim team match I do not have time for. I AM sorry please forgive me, I love you and thank you.

I certainly AM honored to hear from the President. If Quebes was installed, then I was not told about any of this. Generally, a new laptop comes with some sort of instruction manual to start up. I was kind of counting on this. I AM admittedly green to this whole privacy concept when it comes to computing and a bit spoiled to user friendly systems, however I can and generally do learn quickly when thwarting is absent. The main reason I bought the computers in the first place. Is there a way to get a manual for the Librem 14 that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to print out? I learn much quicker from the written page and less much so with the computer screens, call me old school; Or some sort of seasoned tutor to walk me through the process without having to weed through dozens of emails and back again for the possible solution/ Thank you very much for your concern and answering my call for help. How do you suggest I proceed to get my laptops useable?

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[Note I have redacted your phone number from your earlier post, you do not want to publish personal information like that on a public forum.]

If you didn’t ask for Qubes to be installed, then you likely have PureOS. It’s tough to tell which you have without a picture or something else to go by to tell them apart. I would certainly recommend PureOS for you to use first so if for some reason you are using Qubes I’d recommend installing PureOS on top of it. In either case, the support team (support@puri.sm) should be able to help you through any support issues, and as far as instructions go, we have some documentation at https://docs.puri.sm/Librem_14/Getting_Started.html for getting started with the Librem 14, and the PureBoot Getting Started Guide is at https://docs.puri.sm/PureBoot/GettingStarted.html