pfSense partition size?

JKnott

The computer I run pfSense on has a 64 GB SSD, but the dashboard shows only 24 GB used, plus 2 GB swap. Is this the normal size? I don't need more space, just curious.

Understudy

@jknott
If you have installed pfsense go to Diagnostics/Command Prompt
and enter the following:

diskinfo -v your drive id

See what your output is.

JKnott

@understudy

diskinfo -v ada0
ada0
512 # sectorsize
32017047552 # mediasize in bytes (30G)
62533296 # mediasize in sectors
0 # stripesize
0 # stripeoffset
62037 # Cylinders according to firmware.
16 # Heads according to firmware.
63 # Sectors according to firmware.
Hoodisk SSD # Disk descr.
LAMLCCC11224589 # Disk ident.
Yes # TRIM/UNMAP support
0 # Rotation rate in RPM
Not_Zoned # Zone Mode

However, fdisk shows:
parameters extracted from in-core disklabel are:
cylinders=62037 heads=16 sectors/track=63 (1008 blks/cyl)

Figures below won't work with BIOS for partitions not in cyl 1
parameters to be used for BIOS calculations are:
cylinders=62037 heads=16 sectors/track=63 (1008 blks/cyl)

Media sector size is 512
Warning: BIOS sector numbering starts with sector 1
Information from DOS bootblock is:
The data for partition 1 is:
sysid 238 (0xee),(EFI GPT)
start 1, size 62533295 (30533 Meg), flag 0
beg: cyl 0/ head 0/ sector 2;
end: cyl 1023/ head 255/ sector 63
The data for partition 2 is:
<UNUSED>
The data for partition 3 is:
<UNUSED>
The data for partition 4 is:
<UNUSED>

So, 30M is in use, with 3 unused partitions of unknown size.

So, it appears

Understudy

@jknott yes the disklabel only shows 30G, so something is off with the disk. It may need to be redone. If you say it is 64G and that is not what is showing then there is a possibly the block count is off. So you may want to wipe the disk and start over.

JKnott

@understudy I wonder if this is because it came with an unlicenced copy of Windows installed, so that the computer could be tested. As I said, I'm just curious as I'm not even using that one partition.

Understudy

@jknott It's possible. But it should see the windows partition. The fact that is not shown is concerning.

JKnott

@understudy

No, I deleted Windows when I installed pfSense. However, I didn't do anything to change the partitions. I could be wrong (I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.), but I don't recall partitioning coming up when installing pfSense. When installing Linux, at least openSUSE, changing the partitions is always an option.

fireodo

@jknott said in pfSense partition size?:

No, I deleted Windows when I installed pfSense.

Sometimes this is not enough. Some OS leave a SSD/HDD with some interesting partitioning schemes. I had situations where only with Gparted (Linux) or gpart (freeBSD) I could regain the whole space on a drive and in some special cases I had to use special tools from the manufacturer to Low-Level reformat the drive to regain the full size.
Must not be in your case but its possible ...

My 2 cents,
fireodo

Understudy

@jknott I would see if you can use a live FreeBSD or Linux version and see if you can gpart destroy all the partitions make sure the superblock is correct. You then should see the full size of the SSD.

gpart is a wonderful program to deal with stubborn disks that will not yield to your wants and needs.

JKnott

@understudy

I'm not worried about it. I was just curious if it was something pfSense did by default. As it is, I'm only using 4% of that 30 GB. I didn't notice the 4 partitions until today, but I assume it's something the computer builder did.

Understudy

@jknott usually you can set your partitions in pfsense when you do the install.

https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/install/install-walkthrough.html

stephenw10

What does the SMART data show? How do you know it's a 64G drive? It sure looks like 32G...

JKnott

@stephenw10

Apparently it is a 32 GB. I thought I bought a 64. The invoice doesn't say and the web site shows both 32 & 64 available. On the Ali Express site, you select the options you want to build the computer.

Well, not a problem. As I mentioned, I'm only using 4% of the 24 GB partition.