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    PC Engines apu2 experiences

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    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      Does the UPS log anything when this happens? It looks like it removes itself as a device, though that seems unlikely.

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      • K
        kevindd992002 @VAMike
        last edited by kevindd992002

        @vamike said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

        @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

        @vamike said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

        @kevindd992002 another possible low-cost thing to try would be to plug the ups cord and the apc into a powered usb hub, if you have one handy; that might isolate the connection a bit. those usb monitoring connections have historically played fast and loose with specs. 😡

        What do you mean by ups cord and the apc? Are you referring to the same usb cable from the apc?

        sorry, too many three letter acronyms...plug the apc/ups into the hub and the hub into the apu. even if that works it's kind of fugly, but I don't know a good actual fix if the ups is doing something dodgy. you could try swapping that cable (but I wouldn't really expect it to help at this point), or using the serial option on the ups rather than the usb option (if both came in the box) but then you'd need a usb/serial adapter for the apc, or run your own second serial port to the headers on the board.

        Ok, at this point it's really more of an isolation game. I'll see what I can do. Thanks for the suggestions.

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        • DaddyGoD
          DaddyGo @kevindd992002
          last edited by

          @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

          What do you mean by "ringing"?

          sorry it's a technical term that's what I mean
          (pin by pin you can measure the cable conductors)

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLvQsHZr5NQ

          BTW:

          Thanks for the above comment - I certainly appreciate!!! "Yeah, I think daddygo means well.", you are right, English is not my mother language, I also speak Hungarian and Portuguese...

          I finished the conversation with the "buddy", I approached him, but he remained dismissive!
          (he must have woken up in the wrong place and I'm his target,
          (but it certainly defines his mentality))

          Some people are angry and some are calm ✋

          Cats bury it so they can't see it!
          (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

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          • K
            kevindd992002 @stephenw10
            last edited by

            @stephenw10 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

            Does the UPS log anything when this happens? It looks like it removes itself as a device, though that seems unlikely.

            I don't know where to check the UPS logs since it's a consumer UPS so the only software it has is for Windows.

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            • V
              VAMike @kevindd992002
              last edited by

              @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

              @stephenw10 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

              Does the UPS log anything when this happens? It looks like it removes itself as a device, though that seems unlikely.

              I don't know where to check the UPS logs since it's a consumer UPS so the only software it has is for Windows.

              there won't be any. it'll have a really rudimentary limited function microcontroller to manage comms, and was probably tested only to ensure minimal functionality from windows on whatever test pc they were using 5 years ago or whenever the circuits were designed.

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              • K
                kevindd992002 @kevindd992002
                last edited by

                @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                @bigsy I see. So we're just preserving boot order here? Since I just have one boot device in my APU2, then it wouldn't matter to me.

                @bigsy Following up on my pending question here please?

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                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  You're asking if that was the only change in that release? It wasn't. You can check the change-logs:
                  https://github.com/pcengines/coreboot/blob/release/CHANGELOG.md

                  Steve

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                  • K
                    kevindd992002 @stephenw10
                    last edited by

                    @stephenw10 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                    You're asking if that was the only change in that release? It wasn't. You can check the change-logs:
                    https://github.com/pcengines/coreboot/blob/release/CHANGELOG.md

                    Steve

                    No. I was asking if the new command is the way to go moving forward? And if the difference to the old command is preserving the boot order?

                    Old command: flashrom -p internal -w apuX_v4.14.0.2.rom
                    New command: flashrom -p internal -w apuX_v4.14.0.2.rom --fmap -i COREBOOT

                    QinnQ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • QinnQ
                      Qinn @kevindd992002
                      last edited by

                      @kevindd992002 This was already discussed in jul 5 post 612 and is preserving boot order.

                      As most have just one boot device it doesn't really matter, but it cannot hurt, so I have switched using the new command

                      Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                      Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                      Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

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                      • K
                        kevindd992002 @Qinn
                        last edited by

                        @qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                        @kevindd992002 This was already discussed in jul 5 post 612 and is preserving boot order.

                        As most have just one boot device it doesn't really matter, but it cannot hurt, so I have switched using the new command

                        I know, but my last question was left unanswered and that's why I followed up. I just needed confirmation. Thanks.

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                        • S
                          soder @Qinn
                          last edited by

                          @qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                          I would check the advice from @fireodo; "A little question: Have you CPU Boost activated?" as this makes a lot off difference.

                          Then I may add, always install pfSense using the ZFS filesystem not the UFS (default). For a few reasons;

                          TRIM is default enabled (I am using mSATA), but this can also be enabled manually on a UFS filesystem, but the most important reason I advice to use ZFS is that it can 100% safegard you against bit errors, because the APU2 has ECC memory 😉

                          Just wanted to correct you, before you mislead the community: only the 4 Gigabyte RAM APU2/3/4 (and so on) SKU has ECC RAM, the 2 GB editions do NOT have ECC RAM. The community can blame pcengines.ch clearly, the specification on their page is misleading A.F.

                          QinnQ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                          • QinnQ
                            Qinn @soder
                            last edited by

                            @soder Thanks for clearing this

                            Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                            Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                            Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

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                            • QinnQ
                              Qinn
                              last edited by

                              Btw does anyone know why the package manager in the pfS GUI doesn't keep track or better does not show packages that are installed from the CLI, like flashrom ?

                              Cheers Qinn

                              Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                              Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                              Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                It only shows pfSense packages, which can also be installed from the CLI. They contain the xml element the package manager reads to get the version info etc. For example:
                                https://github.com/pfsense/FreeBSD-ports/blob/devel/sysutils/pfSense-pkg-Netgate_Firmware_Upgrade/files/usr/local/share/pfSense-pkg-Netgate_Firmware_Upgrade/info.xml

                                Steve

                                QinnQ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • QinnQ
                                  Qinn @stephenw10
                                  last edited by

                                  @stephenw10 Thanks for the explanation, so in my case the Netgate coreboot upgrader won't work on an APU2C4, understandable of course as it is not Netgate certified hardware.

                                  Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                                  Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                                  Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    Indeed, it doesn't include any ROMs for APU or recognise the hardware to offer it.
                                    It does install flashrom though so you can use it to add that via the gui.

                                    Steve

                                    QinnQ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • QinnQ
                                      Qinn @stephenw10
                                      last edited by Qinn

                                      @stephenw10 I can't use the GUI and I don't like to have something in the GUI menu that doe not work. Flashrom is already installed using pkg

                                      Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                                      Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                                      Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

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                                      • stephenw10S
                                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                        last edited by

                                        The only advantage to doing that is that the package is in the config so if you ever re-install and restore the config flashrom gets installed again. You still need to use flashrom in the CLI.

                                        Steve

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                                        • QinnQ
                                          Qinn
                                          last edited by Qinn

                                          @stephenw10 I can't use the GUI and I don't like to have something in the GUI menu that does not work. Flashrom is already installed using pkg

                                          Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                                          Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                                          Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • K
                                            kevindd992002 @stephenw10
                                            last edited by

                                            @stephenw10 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                            The only advantage to doing that is that the package is in the config so if you ever re-install and restore the config flashrom gets installed again. You still need to use flashrom in the CLI.

                                            Steve

                                            This is what I do. Even though I don't use the package (since it doesn't work for my APU2C4) I have it installed so that flashrom gets installed persistently even after updating pfsense or reinstalling it.

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