Thanks for all valuable suggestion, I will think and choose a way.  :)

Similar thread with checksum invalid: https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=51404.0
Have You tried this?

Oh, I forgot there is another board, X10SBA-L which might also suit your need, this board is using J1900 quad-core processor, running much faster than D525/D2500/D2550, definitely no issue on 1G NAT throughput, Amazon US is selling around US$150-170 only.

This board also has 2 x i210 LAN, with a PCI-E x2 (mechanically x8) slot you can add in a quad port ethernet card without any issue (then you can get 6 ports)

Unsure but it seems a single NIC cannot handle bi-directional throughput.  So if somehow the algorithm is using just 1 NIC for both sending and receiving traffic from 1 VLAN to another, then the maximum would be 50% or 500mbit/sec.  A bit less than that actually.

To fix this, you have to separate VLANs with different NIC groups.  On my network topology, I have a Server VLAN and many other "User" VLAN which they access the servers.  So putting servers vlan on say 2 NIC then rest of vlan (which I hope you don't access to each other) on 2 other NIC, then the problem is solved somewhat.

I don't think it's issue of the CPU but somehow the NIC can't handle 2000mbit/sec or not offloading something.

My ultimate solution was to get 10GbE, with a new D-1537 server, so now I have 2x 10GbE uplink so basically 20GbE throughput available.  My transfers are working fine now, if it wasn't I would be upset at the whole thing.

The STH Xeon-D1528 Benchmarks looks very impressive.

Intel D2550 ATOM processor doesn't support Intel Enhanced Speedstep Technology, so it's a bit normal to see power/heat not really going down much when the system is idling. The N2600/N2800 should do much better.

Hello,

I'm sorry to say, but.. still no go.
Tested latest image FreeBSD-11.0-CURRENT-arm-armv6-BANANAPI-20160408-r297692.img.xz.
Output:

U-Boot SPL 2015.04 (Apr 08 2016 - 06:36:29) DRAM: 1024 MiB CPU: 912000000Hz, AXI/AHB/APB: 3/2/2 U-Boot 2015.04 (Apr 08 2016 - 06:36:29) Allwinner Technology CPU:  Allwinner A20 (SUN7I) I2C:  ready DRAM:  1 GiB WARNING: Caches not enabled MMC:  SUNXI SD/MMC: 0 reading u-boot.env ** Unable to read "u-boot.env" from mmc0:1 ** Using default environment HDMI connected: Setting up a 1024x768 hdmi console In:    serial Out:  vga Err:  vga SCSI:  SUNXI SCSI INIT SATA link 0 timeout. AHCI 0001.0100 32 slots 1 ports 3 Gbps 0x1 impl SATA mode flags: ncq stag pm led clo only pmp pio slum part ccc apst Net:  dwmac.1c50000 starting USB... USB0:  USB EHCI 1.00 scanning bus 0 for devices... 1 USB Device(s) found USB1:  USB EHCI 1.00 scanning bus 1 for devices... cannot reset port 1!? 1 USB Device(s) found       scanning usb for storage devices... 0 Storage Device(s) found Hit any key to stop autoboot:  2  1  0 Booting from: mmc 0 ubldr reading ubldr 262685 bytes read in 72 ms (3.5 MiB/s) ## Starting application at 0x42000094 ... Consoles: U-Boot console  Compatible U-Boot API signature found @0x7f235458 FreeBSD/armv6 U-Boot loader, Revision 1.2 (root@releng2.nyi.freebsd.org, Fri Apr  8 07:03:08 UTC 2016) DRAM: 1024MB MMC Device 1 not found MMC Device 2 not found MMC Device 3 not found MMC Device 1 not found Number of U-Boot devices: 3 U-Boot env: loaderdev='mmc 0' Found U-Boot device: disk   Checking unit=1 slice= <auto>partition=<auto>... good. Booting from disk1s2a: |/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/boot/kernel/kernel data=0x634ca4+0x12735c /-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|syms=[0x4+0x8acb0/-\|+0x4+0x9eae7/-\|/] Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or any other key for command prompt. Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel] in 9 seconds... Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel] in 8 seconds... Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel] in 7 seconds... Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel] in 6 seconds... Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel] in 5 seconds... Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel] in 4 seconds... Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel] in 3 seconds... Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel] in 2 seconds... Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel] in 1 second... Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel]...              -\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\|/-\/boot/dtb/bananapi.dtb |size=0x80ef Loaded DTB from file 'bananapi.dtb'. /-\|/-Kernel entry at 0x0x42200100... Kernel args: (null) KDB: debugger backends: ddb KDB: current backend: ddb Copyright (c) 1992-2016 The FreeBSD Project. Copyright (c) 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. FreeBSD is a registered trademark of The FreeBSD Foundation. FreeBSD 11.0-CURRENT #0 r297692: Fri Apr  8 07:10:09 UTC 2016     root@releng2.nyi.freebsd.org:/usr/obj/arm.armv6/usr/src/sys/A20 arm FreeBSD clang version 3.8.0 (tags/RELEASE_380/final 262564) (based on LLVM 3.8.0) WARNING: WITNESS option enabled, expect reduced performance. VT: init without driver. CPU: Cortex A7 rev 4 (Cortex-A core) Supported features: ARM_ISA THUMB2 JAZELLE THUMBEE ARMv4 Security_Ext WB enabled LABT branch prediction disabled LoUU:2 LoC:3 LoUIS:2 Cache level 1: 32KB/64B 4-way data cache WB Read-Alloc Write-Alloc 32KB/32B 2-way instruction cache Read-Alloc Cache level 2: 256KB/64B 8-way unified cache WB Read-Alloc Write-Alloc real memory  = 1073741824 (1024 MB) avail memory = 1036029952 (988 MB) FreeBSD/SMP: Multiprocessor System Detected: 2 CPUs random: entropy device external interface kbd0 at kbdmux0 ofwbus0: <open firmware="" device="" tree="">aw_ccu0 on ofwbus0 aw_oscclk0: <allwinner oscillator="" clock="">mem 0x1c20050-0x1c20053 on aw_ccu0 clk_fixed0: <fixed clock="">on aw_ccu0 aw_pll0: <allwinner pll="" clock="">mem 0x1c20000-0x1c20003 on aw_ccu0 aw_pll1: <allwinner pll="" clock="">mem 0x1c20008-0x1c2000f on aw_ccu0 aw_pll2: <allwinner pll="" clock="">mem 0x1c20020-0x1c20023 on aw_ccu0 aw_pll3: <allwinner pll="" clock="">mem 0x1c20028-0x1c2002b on aw_ccu0 aw_cpuclk0: <allwinner cpu="" clock="">mem 0x1c20054-0x1c20057 on aw_ccu0 aw_axiclk0: <allwinner axi="" clock="">mem 0x1c20054-0x1c20057 on aw_ccu0 aw_ahbclk0: <allwinner ahb="" clock="">mem 0x1c20054-0x1c20057 on aw_ccu0 aw_gate0: <allwinner ahb="" clock="" gates="">mem 0x1c20060-0x1c20067 on aw_ccu0 aw_apbclk0: <allwinner apb="" clock="">mem 0x1c20054-0x1c20057 on aw_ccu0 aw_gate1: <allwinner apb0="" clock="" gates="">mem 0x1c20068-0x1c2006b on aw_ccu0 aw_apbclk1: <allwinner apb="" clock="">mem 0x1c20058-0x1c2005b on aw_ccu0 aw_gate2: <allwinner apb1="" clock="" gates="">mem 0x1c2006c-0x1c2006f on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk0: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c20080-0x1c20083 on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk1: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c20084-0x1c20087 on aw_ccu0 aw_mmcclk0: <allwinner mmc="" clock="">mem 0x1c20088-0x1c2008b on aw_ccu0 aw_mmcclk1: <allwinner mmc="" clock="">mem 0x1c2008c-0x1c2008f on aw_ccu0 aw_mmcclk2: <allwinner mmc="" clock="">mem 0x1c20090-0x1c20093 on aw_ccu0 aw_mmcclk3: <allwinner mmc="" clock="">mem 0x1c20094-0x1c20097 on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk2: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c20098-0x1c2009b on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk3: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c2009c-0x1c2009f on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk4: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c200a0-0x1c200a3 on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk5: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c200a4-0x1c200a7 on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk6: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c200a8-0x1c200ab on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk7: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c200ac-0x1c200af on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk8: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c200b0-0x1c200b3 on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk9: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c200b4-0x1c200b7 on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk10: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c200c4-0x1c200c7 on aw_ccu0 aw_usbclk0: <allwinner usb="" clocks="">mem 0x1c200cc-0x1c200cf on aw_ccu0 aw_modclk11: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c200d4-0x1c200d7 on aw_ccu0 aw_gate3: <allwinner dram="" clock="" gates="">mem 0x1c20100-0x1c20103 on aw_ccu0 aw_codecclk0: <allwinner codec="" clock="">mem 0x1c20140-0x1c20143 on aw_ccu0 clk_fixed1: <fixed clock="">on aw_ccu0 clk_fixed2: <fixed clock="">on aw_ccu0 aw_gmacclk0: <allwinner module="" clock="">mem 0x1c20164-0x1c20167 on aw_ccu0 clk_fixed3: <fixed factor="" clock="">on aw_ccu0 aw_pll4: <allwinner pll="" clock="">mem 0x1c20010-0x1c20013 on aw_ccu0 aw_pll5: <allwinner pll="" clock="">mem 0x1c20030-0x1c20033 on aw_ccu0 aw_hdmiclk0: <allwinner hdmi="" clock="">mem 0x1c20150-0x1c20153 on aw_ccu0 aw_lcdclk0: <allwinner lcd="" ch0="" clock="">mem 0x1c20118-0x1c2011b on aw_ccu0 aw_lcdclk1: <allwinner lcd="" ch1="" clock="">mem 0x1c2012c-0x1c2012f on aw_ccu0 aw_debeclk0: <allwinner display="" engine="" backend="" clock="">mem 0x1c20104-0x1c20107 on aw_ccu0 simplebus0: <flattened device="" tree="" simple="" bus="">on ofwbus0 regfix0: <fixed regulator="">on ofwbus0 regfix1: <fixed regulator="">on ofwbus0 regfix2: <fixed regulator="">on ofwbus0 regfix3: <fixed regulator="">on ofwbus0 regfix4: <fixed regulator="">on ofwbus0 regfix5: <fixed regulator="">on ofwbus0 regfix6: <fixed regulator="">on ofwbus0 gpio0: <allwinner gpio="" pinmux="" controller="">mem 0x1c20800-0x1c20bff irq 10024 on simplebus0 gpiobus0: <ofw gpio="" bus="">on gpio0 gic0: <arm generic="" interrupt="" controller="">mem 0x1c81000-0x1c81fff,0x1c82000-0x1c82fff,0x1c84000-0x1c85fff,0x1c86000-0x1c87fff irq 10055 on simplebus0 gic0: pn 0x10, arch 0x2, rev 0x1, implementer 0x43b irqs 160 generic_timer0: <armv7 generic="" timer="">irq 10000,10001,10002,10003 on ofwbus0 Timecounter "ARM MPCore Timecounter" frequency 24000000 Hz quality 1000 Event timer "ARM MPCore Eventtimer" frequency 24000000 Hz quality 1000 rtc0: <allwinner rtc="">mem 0x1c20d00-0x1c20d1f irq 10031 on simplebus0 cpulist0: <open firmware="" cpu="" group="">on ofwbus0 cpu0: <open firmware="" cpu="">on cpulist0 cpu1: <open firmware="" cpu="">on cpulist0 a10_sramc0: <allwinner sramc="" module="">mem 0x1c00000-0x1c0002f on simplebus0 a10dmac0: <allwinner dma="" controller="">mem 0x1c02000-0x1c02fff irq 10007 on simplebus0 a10_mmc0: <allwinner integrated="" mmc="" sd="" controller="">mem 0x1c0f000-0x1c0ffff irq 10011 on simplebus0 mmc0: <mmc sd="" bus="">on a10_mmc0 awusbphy0: <allwinner usb="" phy="">mem 0x1c13400-0x1c1340f,0x1c14800-0x1c14803,0x1c1c800-0x1c1c803 on simplebus0 ehci0: <allwinner integrated="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">mem 0x1c14000-0x1c140ff irq 10016 on simplebus0 usbus0: EHCI version 1.0 usbus0 on ehci0 ahci0: <allwinner integrated="" ahci="" controller="">mem 0x1c18000-0x1c18fff irq 10020 on simplebus0 ahci0: AHCI v1.10 with 1 3Gbps ports, Port Multiplier not supported ahci0: quirks=0x2 <nopmp>ahcich0: <ahci channel="">at channel 0 on ahci0 ehci1: <allwinner integrated="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">mem 0x1c1c000-0x1c1c0ff irq 10021 on simplebus0 usbus1: EHCI version 1.0 usbus1 on ehci1 gpioled0: <gpio led="">at pin 149 on gpiobus0 gpioc0: <gpio controller="">on gpio0 aw_wdog0: <allwinner a10="" watchdog="">mem 0x1c20c90-0x1c20c9f on simplebus0 pcm0: <allwinner audio="" codec="">mem 0x1c22c00-0x1c22c3f irq 10035 on simplebus0 uart0: <16750 or compatible> mem 0x1c28000-0x1c283ff irq 10037 on simplebus0 uart0: console (115384,n,8,1) uart1: <16750 or compatible> mem 0x1c28c00-0x1c28fff irq 10040 on simplebus0 uart2: <16750 or compatible> mem 0x1c29c00-0x1c29fff irq 10044 on simplebus0 iichb0: <allwinner integrated="" i2c="" bus="" controller="">mem 0x1c2ac00-0x1c2afff irq 10045 on simplebus0 iicbus0: <ofw i2c="" bus="">on iichb0 iic0: <i2c generic="" i="" o="">on iicbus0 axp209_pmu0: <x-power axp209="" power="" management="" unit="">at addr 0x68 irq 10058 on iicbus0 iichb1: <allwinner integrated="" i2c="" bus="" controller="">mem 0x1c2b400-0x1c2b7ff irq 10047 on simplebus0 iicbus1: <ofw i2c="" bus="">on iichb1 iic1: <i2c generic="" i="" o="">on iicbus1 dwc0: <a20 gigabit="" ethernet="" controller="">mem 0x1c50000-0x1c5ffff irq 10050 on simplebus0 dwc0: Can't reset DWC. device_attach: dwc0 attach returned 6 a10hdmi0: <allwinner hdmi="" tx="">mem 0x1c16000-0x1c16fff on simplebus0 pcm1: <allwinner hdmi="" audio="">on simplebus0 fb0: <allwinner framebuffer="">mem 0x1e60000-0x1e6ffff,0x1c0c000-0x1c0cfff on simplebus0 cryptosoft0: <software crypto="">Timecounters tick every 10.000 msec usbus0: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0 usbus1: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0 ugen1.1: <allwinner>at usbus1 uhub0: <allwinner 1="" 9="" ehci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus1 ugen0.1: <allwinner>at usbus0 uhub1: <allwinner 1="" 9="" ehci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus0 mmcsd0: 17GB <sdhc 29="" 2011="" sd =""  ="" 1.0="" sn="" 21100adb="" mfg="" 06="" by="" ad="">at mmc0 50.0MHz/4bit/65535-block fbd0 on fb0 VT: initialize with new VT driver "fb". Release APs WARNING: WITNESS option enabled, expect reduced performance. Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ufs/rootfs [rw]... WARNING: /releng/11-armv6-BANANAPI-snap/usr/obj/usr/src/release/ufs was not properly dismounted uhub1: 1 port with 1 removable, self powered uhub0: 1 port with 1 removable, self powered Growing root partition to fill device mmcsd0s2 resized mmcsd0s2a resized growfs: requested size 15GB is not larger than the current filesystem size 15GB /etc/rc: WARNING: hostid: unable to figure out a UUID from DMI data, generating a new one Setting hostuuid: 2697f859-1dd2-11b2-a3b4-b7bcc1a39a7a. Setting hostid: 0x7340ff36. No suitable dump device was found. Starting file system checks: /dev/ufs/rootfs: 20070 files, 199812 used, 3709523 free (211 frags, 463664 blocks, 0.0% fragmentation) Mounting local file systems:. Setting hostname: a20. Setting up harvesting:[UMA],[FS_ATIME],SWI,INTERRUPT,NET_NG,NET_ETHER,NET_TUN,MOUSE,KEYBOARD,ATTACH,CACHED Feeding entropy:random: unblocking device. . Starting Network: lo0. lo0: flags=8049 <up,loopback,running,multicast>metric 0 mtu 16384 options=600003 <rxcsum,txcsum,rxcsum_ipv6,txcsum_ipv6>inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1 inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000 groups: lo nd6 options=21 <performnud,auto_linklocal>ELF ldconfig path: /lib /usr/lib /usr/lib/compat Soft Float compatibility ldconfig path: Starting devd. add net fe80::: gateway ::1 add net ff02::: gateway ::1 add net ::ffff:0.0.0.0: gateway ::1 add net ::0.0.0.0: gateway ::1 Generating host.conf. Creating and/or trimming log files. Starting syslogd. Clearing /tmp (X related). Updating motd:. Mounting late file systems:. Configuring vt: blanktime. Generating RSA host key. 2048 SHA256:some-SHA-key-here root@a20 (RSA) Generating ECDSA host key. 256 SHA256:some-SHA-key-here root@a20 (ECDSA) Generating ED25519 host key. 256 SHA256:some-SHA-key-here root@a20 (ED25519) Performing sanity check on sshd configuration. Could not load host key: /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key Starting sshd. Could not load host key: /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key Starting cron. Starting background file system checks in 60 seconds. lock order reversal: 1st 0xc40bcb74 ufs (ufs) @ /usr/src/sys/kern/vfs_subr.c:2498 2nd 0xd9228758 bufwait (bufwait) @ /usr/src/sys/ufs/ffs/ffs_vnops.c:263 3rd 0xc4694154 ufs (ufs) @ /usr/src/sys/kern/vfs_subr.c:2498 stack backtrace: mount: /dev/ufs/rootfs: Device busy Thu Jan  1 00:01:28 UTC 1970 FreeBSD/arm (a20) (ttyu0) login:</performnud,auto_linklocal></rxcsum,txcsum,rxcsum_ipv6,txcsum_ipv6></up,loopback,running,multicast></sdhc></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></software></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></a20></i2c></ofw></allwinner></x-power></i2c></ofw></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></gpio></gpio></allwinner></ahci></nopmp></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></mmc></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></open></open></open></allwinner></armv7></arm></ofw></allwinner></fixed></fixed></fixed></fixed></fixed></fixed></fixed></flattened></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></fixed></allwinner></fixed></fixed></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></allwinner></fixed></allwinner></open></auto></auto>

However, some hints:
1. HDMI output is available until kernel loads, then no output
2. No need to use SD card and external USB storage, all boots from SD card
3. GMAC device seems to be detected:

dwc0: <a20 gigabit="" ethernet="" controller="">mem 0x1c50000-0x1c5ffff irq 10050 on simplebus0
dwc0: Can't reset DWC.
device_attach: dwc0 attach returned 6</a20>

But I cannot do anything more since USB keyboard no longer works in this kernel version.
I could try putting different commands into files like /boot/loader.conf or /etc/rc.local if You have an idea?

For pfSense as a firewall, Snort and VPN I would go only with the eMMC storage, but together with Squid
I would recommend a SSD or mSATA drive as storage.

Cheers Frank

I may move the mSata drive over anyway to give me options should I need to.

Yes, the modem is in bridge mode with the lan port connected to wan on firewall. Just my poor phrasing of how the connection is setup that caused confusion.

Slaps forehead.  Thanks all.  Works fine in the correct slot.

@Jas:

@pwnd28:

i have the same Problem with my AMD 5350.
If i enable the powerd feature, the pc reboots the hole time after 10 to 15 seconds.

Could anyone please let me know if this is a wide spread issue with the AMD 5350 and powerd not working?

I am looking at a new build but if this is a wide spread issue I will go another option.

Apparently I thought someone else answered this long ago.

For almost a year and half I have found using the AMD 5350 AM1 platform a decent solution and have been using a number of them for some time.  So let's lay this misconception to rest…

SIMPLE ANSWER: NO - using powerd was never really an issue on the AM1 platform if people searched for the right things.

Detailed Answer:

The AM1 platform had a known issue with FreeBSD since 2014:

https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=189267

Work arounds: (based on the ticket above)

1. for pfSense 2.2.x:

add "hint.acpi_throttle.0.disabled=1" to your /boot/loader.conf file as the FreeBSD version used in the 2.2.x releases did not include the patch from above

once this is added and your box rebooted, powerd works without reboots but the freq levels shift and the lowest minimum starts at 800mhz.  IMHO I believe it makes pfsense generally more responsive then having your lowest state at 100mhz.

2. for pfSense 2.3:

throttling is disabled by default since this new pfsense version uses a more recent FreeBSD-Release (10.3) which took in the committed FreeBSD patch from the ticket above.

Kill-a-watt meter readings, with powerd...

System: AMD 5350 + Gigabyte MicroATX + 1 x DDR3 + Dual Intel Pro/1000  + Atheros AR9380 x 2  + SSD + PSU (Pico or 80+ ATX)

Idle average power: 15 watts

A side bonus is since most AM1 processors have AES-NI, some of the benchmarks I ran with it enabled give a decent boost to certain encryption based tasks (openvpn and ssl).

i would got for the ci323 if purchasing new…

Try to push it to a higher load with iperf test like me, and you will know how far it will go.

I can finally update this thread with some new info. First of all, I need to say thank you to all of you who have helped me with advice and hardware recommendations (especially BlueKobold, thanks for the interesting and informative conversation).

Unfortunately I was only able to find one of the mSATA SSDs, recommended in this thread, in stock. The price was stupidly high though so I ended up going with the 128GB SanDisk X110 (SD6SF1M-128G-1022I) after all.

Man are these drives tiny!

I installed pfSense 2.3 and then followed the steps detailed by The POO in his guide (linked below). I added one extra step though. Before manually enabling TRIM, I took the opportunity to see if it was working as default. It wasn't. I followed the guide and everything worked like a charm. TRIM is confirmed as working on the X110 from the shell.

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=97554.0

@2chemlud:

Totally OT: Extremely cool user name! 8-D

(assuming you're talking to me)

Thanks!

It's a little homage to a friendly neighbourhood pfSense guru, gonzopancho, as he's helped me out several times in the past and he does a lot of good for the community… Also, the mental image of a Poncho made out of Gazpacho is really funny to me for some reason. Of all the things you could make a Poncho out of, Gazpacho has got to be one of the most impractical choices.

If I disable COM1, and instead enable only COM2 the system boots as expected, and at least APPEARS to have a functioning comport (I haven't had a chance to test it yet)

Odd perhaps but not really urgent, I would go then with the com2 Port to get rid of that issue and perhaps a
usb to serial adapter brings back that second one as a replacement for that and you will be fine again.

It's a little bit odd.  With no addon hardware installed, on board components should by default be conflicting with each other.

Might be, was that a fresh and full install? Or is that NanaoBSD?

I'm going to check for a BIOS update

Would be the best in my eyes.

That's a good call, definitely test the seating of the card first.

….all we had last night was a couple power fluctuations which lead to its death.

Perhaps the file system was corrupted or something else. Nice to hear about that, but I would
suggest to think about a APC UPS to get sorted for the next power break in your region.