pfsense is shutting down or hang randomly

chicknbread

I was able to get the output of the system log scp'ing to my Linux machine:

Notice: I obfuscated username and IP's for security reasons, but left anything else like it was written to the file.

After screening it again, I only found one potential hint:

Dec23 / Dec23, after pfblocker cron started, pfsense was down (I remember starting it in the morning on the 24th.), as it seems in the log. Because nothing else was logged after that, until I restarted, if my thinking is correct:

Dec 23 23:00:00 mydomain php[64293]: [pfBlockerNG] Starting cron process.
Dec 24 10:50:57 mydomain syslogd: kernel boot file is /boot/kernel/kernel

No log entries in between...

That's a very good learning experience for me, so I'l appreciate your help very much.

(...in between I'l run a) a filesystem test on reboot and b) pumping some GB through the LAN Ports to stress test.)

stephenw10

Can you still access it at the console when it stops responding?

When it does fail are you manually rebooting it?

Nothing in those logs looks particularly suspect.

chicknbread

Nope, I can't.

When it fails, it's either still On, or completely shutdown.
In both cases I have to reboot it manually

If it is still on, the WAN port flashes every one to two seconds.
That's the only additional observation I made.

The filesystem test was OK.
And there was no problem pumping Gigabytes through the ports.
I did it with iperf3 for over an hour and 100 Connections simultaneous. Worked perfectly fine.

Do you know of any other log, Hardware or Software related, where I could get more granular details?

Thanks Stephen.

stephenw10

If it shutsdown completely without logging anything that's probably a hardware issue.

If it's still powered on is anything shown on the console?

Do you ever see a crash report on the dashboard after you reboot it?

chicknbread

I have attached a monitor to it, so I can see what's going on.

When it's still powered on but frozen, the console is black and the pfsense shell menu disappeared. But that's because the Monitor doesn't get any signal for display, and therefore the monitor goes black...but the pfesense "hardware" it's still powered on, because I can see the light of the Power-Button and the Ports too. And in this state, I can't ssh into it anymore.

I never saw a crash report after/during the reboot process.

What I did in the meantime was a backup of the configuration, reset it to "manufacturing" status and reloaded the configuration.

Since then (yesterday evening) it did not crash or shutdown anymore. I will do a iperf3 test today to see if it's stable.

I'l let you know how it plays out Stephen.

Thanks for your time, much appreciated.

stephenw10

That sounds like a hardware error. You should still output on the local VGA console if the device is running in any way. You would normally still see output even if the OS crashed hard.

chicknbread

Jup, I changed the VIDEO Cable now to VGA instead of HDMI.
Who knows, maybe I see something on VGA? §8-)

stephenw10

Maybe. The VGA port is often the default/primary output.

chicknbread

And here's the end of the odyssey §8-)

I found out, that it's definitely a hardware problem.
I tried to install Pop!OS, which I run as my daily driver.
During the setup process it crashed 5 times in a row.
And just to be sure, I tried Ubuntu & FBSD too.

And that's the end of the crappy buy.

Now, I grab a coffee, jump on my couch and see if I'l buy a Protectli or a Netgate appliance.

What are you using yourself, or would you recommend to use?
My internet speed is fiber (1GB).

rcoleman-netgate

@chicknbread said in pfsense is shutting down or hang randomly:

Netgate appliance.

Right now we have the 4100, 6100 and 8200 shipping with a free 6-month subscription of TAC Professional (email based support for software configurations)

With 1Gbps service a 4100 should be a perfect fit but your other needs might push you to the 6100. What else are you hoping/planning to do with your firewall?

chicknbread

Hi Ryan

Thanks for your suggestions.

I only need it for my home office where max. 5 clients are connected. The Fiber connection I have here is a little overkill for what I need. So, maybe even the 2100 would be a good fit for this little infra here.

Unfortunately I live in Switzerland and the shipping costs versus the product costs are quite a bit...

However, I want to give a huge thanks to @stephenw10, who was helping me here. Thanks very much, and I for sure take this into my thoughts when I buy a new product.

Cheerio you both & have a wonderful happy new year.

rcoleman-netgate

@chicknbread said in pfsense is shutting down or hang randomly:

Unfortunately I live in Switzerland and the shipping costs versus the product costs are quite a bit...

We might have a partner by you with the hardware, but the TAC offer is only for purchases from our store.

chicknbread

Ryan, I ordered directly from netgate.
Thanks all.