Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Can't reset or usb connect to console of SG-5100

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Official Netgate® Hardware
    29 Posts 6 Posters 4.2k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      There's no way to recover the eMMC if it fails but you can boot from SSD without issue.
      However if the eMMC fails entirely it causes a long delay at boot which can be inconvenient. There is currently no workaround for that.

      Steve

      P T 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • P
        Patian @stephenw10
        last edited by

        @stephenw10 Thank you for the advise.
        If it is a eMMC failure, I can simply install a M. 2 SATA drive and re-install the pfsence onto the M.2 SATA drive.
        5100 will boot from the new SATA drive, but it will take a longer time.
        What size of M.2 SATA drive should be installed for the pfsense.
        Is there a min spec. on the M.2 SATA drive to be installed onto the 5100?
        Is there a setting to bypass the eMMC during boot?
        Is it possible simply replace the eMMC module?

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

          The eMMC drive as it is has not failed entirely, it's still trying to boot from it. So you should be able fit an m.2 SSD and set that as the boot device in the BIOS.
          If the eMMC fails entirely the BIOS still tries to boot from it but it no longer appears at all and the timeout is very long.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • S
            SteveITS Galactic Empire @Patian
            last edited by

            @patian https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/solutions/sg-5100/m-2-sata-installation.html

            Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
            When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
            Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

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

              Yeah, I'm not aware of any limitation on the m.2 SSD you can use other than it must be SATA and not NVMe. You probably want to smallest capacity drive you can find. 32GB is more than sufficient for pfSense.

              P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • P
                Patian @stephenw10
                last edited by

                @stephenw10 Thank you for the advise. I installed a new M2. SSD drive, re-installed the pfsense plus onto the SSD drive. I changed the BIOS to boot from the M2 Drive first.

                Now it seems everything is back to normal. Thank you for all the inputs. I did not expect the hardware to fail after 2 years, simply bad luck....

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • G
                  gumbyOne @rcoleman-netgate
                  last edited by

                  @rcoleman-netgate i got a new usb cable and i can see the port now. however, when i connect to the device, it looks like it runs the bios(?) but continues to reboot itself over and over again. i can see the initial screen where i can select to:
                  Boot multi user
                  Boot single user
                  Escape to loader prompt
                  etc...

                  after it defaults to boot multi user. there's a lot of output and finally ends with:
                  ``
                  Tracing command kernel pid 0 tid 100098 td 0xfffff8000e49c740
                  sched_switch() at sched_switch+0x630/frame 0xfffffe002ce6e9a0
                  mi_switch() at mi_switch+0xd4/frame 0xfffffe002ce6e9d0
                  sleepq_wait() at sleepq_wait+0x2c/frame 0xfffffe002ce6ea00
                  _sleep() at _sleep+0x253/frame 0xfffffe002ce6ea80
                  taskqueue_thread_loop() at taskqueue_thread_loop+0xe9/frame 0xfffffe002ce6eab0
                  fork_exit() at fork_exit+0x7e/frame 0xfffffe002ce6eaf0
                  fork_trampoline() at fork_trampoline+0xe/frame 0xfffffe002ce6eaf0
                  --- trap 0, rip = 0, rsp = 0, rbp = 0 ---
                  db:0:kdb.enter.default> capture off
                  db:0:kdb.enter.default> textdump dump
                  Textdump complete.
                  db:0:kdb.enter.default> reset
                  cpu_reset: Restarting BSP
                  cpu_reset_proxy: Stopped CPU 1

                  
                  this happens over and over. any advice?
                  R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • R
                    rcoleman-netgate Netgate @gumbyOne
                    last edited by

                    @gumbyone Need to see the whole thing... but reinstallation is a good first step. Especially if it is running on a UFS partition.

                    Ryan
                    Repeat, after me: MESH IS THE DEVIL! MESH IS THE DEVIL!
                    Requesting firmware for your Netgate device? https://go.netgate.com
                    Switching: Mikrotik, Netgear, Extreme
                    Wireless: Aruba, Ubiquiti

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

                      Yes, we'd need to see the panic string to know for sure but if it;s booting UFS it's probably a filesystem issue. And that can usually be resolved by:
                      https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/troubleshooting/filesystem-check.html#manual-filesystem-check

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • T
                        tkronic @stephenw10
                        last edited by

                        @stephenw10 said in Can't reset or usb connect to console of SG-5100:

                        There's no way to recover the eMMC if it fails but you can boot from SSD without issue.
                        However if the eMMC fails entirely it causes a long delay at boot which can be inconvenient. There is currently no workaround for that.

                        Steve

                        Hi,

                        I believe my eMMC has also failed on my SG-5100. Last night, I was able to connect to consol and got similar errors I have seen which indicate a failed eMMC. Today, I attempted to install a M.2 card, however, I can not get consol access again. Putty opens a window when I try to connect, but no output. Am I not waiting long enough for this boot delay you are describing? Should there be a boot delay when attempting to reinstall pfSense with a USB drive connected? I have tried accessing the consol with and without the new M.2 and with and without the USB reinstall drive. No consol output.

                        R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • R
                          rcoleman-netgate Netgate @tkronic
                          last edited by

                          @tkronic said in Can't reset or usb connect to console of SG-5100:

                          Am I not waiting long enough for this boot delay you are describing?

                          It will boot eventually. As noted by Stephen there is no workaround in software or adding hardware -- the only one I have found so far is removing the eMMC which requires a hot air re-working station. See here: https://forum.netgate.com/topic/181199/var-is-low-on-disk-space/18?_=1689707002968

                          Ryan
                          Repeat, after me: MESH IS THE DEVIL! MESH IS THE DEVIL!
                          Requesting firmware for your Netgate device? https://go.netgate.com
                          Switching: Mikrotik, Netgear, Extreme
                          Wireless: Aruba, Ubiquiti

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • First post
                            Last post
                          Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.