Netgate 5100 inaccessible post 23.09 upgrade

Phizix

Are you running on the eMMC or an SSD. If not I strongly recommend getting an SSD and clean installing with ZFS to it.
That was the first thing I did for my SG-5100 when I purchased it.

Phizix

Gertjan

@Phizix said in Netgate 5100 inaccessible post 23.09 upgrade:

That was the first thing I did for my SG-5100 when I purchased it.

You created your own 5100-MAX, right ?

kscrib

@Phizix - I am confused. I thought the SG-5100 did not support an internal M.2 drive. I have never opened mine up. I bought the SG-5100 in 2020, if that makes a difference.

I found the installation guide that confused me.

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

The installation guide states that the SG-5100 does not support NVMe. I assumed that meant the SG-5100 does not support any M2 drives. I thought the upgrade was only available for the XG-5100, not the SG-5100. Now that I read it closer, I think it means that the SG-5100 only supports M.2 SATA and does not support M.2 NVMe. Has that changed to now support NVMe?

Phizix

@Gertjan said in Netgate 5100 inaccessible post 23.09 upgrade:

You created your own 5100-MAX, right ?

Effectively. I also put in a 16 Gb memory stick (it was inexpensive enough)

Phizix

@kscrib said in Netgate 5100 inaccessible post 23.09 upgrade:

I am confused. I thought the SG-5100 did not support an internal M2 drive. I have never opened mine up. I bought the SG-5100 in 2020, if that makes a difference.

It does not support Nvme, but does support an M.2 drive.

I purchased the base model. Did you purchase the "MAX"? If so, apparently it already has an SSD?

Phizix

@kscrib said in Netgate 5100 inaccessible post 23.09 upgrade:

The installation guide states that the SG-5100 does not support NVMe. I assumed that meant the SG-5100 does not support any M2 drives.

Here is the one I got Mar 2022 for about $35 + tax:

Transcend 64GB SATA III 6Gb/s MTS400 42 mm M.2 SSD Solid State Drive (TS64GMTS400)

Notice that it is NOT an NVMe drive - only SSD.

The smallest now seems to be 128GB for about $75.

You can add memory, but I think I have very rarely exceeded 1/2 of the 16 GB I installed.

Phizix

kscrib

@Phizix - I ordered this one today.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087CL5KHL?th=1

Kingshark Gamer SSD M.2 2242 256GB Internal Ngff SSD 42MM SATA III 6Gb/s (256GB, M.2 2242)

for $25.29 + tax. (they offered a 6% discount coupon) and free shipping for Prime members. It had descent reviews. And if it doesn;t work, I get free returns :-)

Phizix

@kscrib,

Let us know how it works.

kscrib

@Phizix -

Installation was easy. Since the drive did not come with heat tape, I had to get some of that, so plan ahead. Also, the drive comes with two screws, but they are the wrong size for the SG-5100. I had some laying around that were the proper size, so I used that to secure the drive.

I saved my configuration file during installation. Then I installed with ZFS on the new drive. pfSense lists the drive as "867M used (0%) of 206G" used. I will not be able to increase my log files and ntopng data retention time.

Only time will tell if the drive holds up. But for now it works good.

jimp

Now that you are installed to/booting from the SSD you should wipe the MMC while you still can to ensure it doesn't interfere with your current installation:

https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/troubleshooting/multiple-disks.html

kscrib

@jimp Thanks for the tip. I have completed the steps to wipe the old mmcsd0 drive.
The instructions don't mention what to do with mmcsd0boot0 and mmcsd0boot1. So, I decided best to not wipe those.

I rebooted after the change and everything is working as expected.

Phizix

@jimp,

My 5100 eMMC still has the original UFS load from Mar 2020, but I have never had a collision.

I have not checked the boot priority menu for a very long time. The eMMC has never seen a ZFS load.

I will be converting to my 8200 near the end of the year, so I will likely not do anything with it right now.

Phizix

stephenw10

Should be fine if it's UFS. Unless you ever decide to install as UFS to the SSD of course!

Phizix

@stephenw10

The SSD was UFS for a very long time, but still no collisions. I know because the original UFS installed version never showed up again on the dashboard.

stephenw10

Maybe you named the partition something else. I have seen issues with conflicting UFS devices. Best to avoid the possibility IMO.

Phizix

@stephenw10,

Here is the original post where I installed and configured the boot options. I have never changed the BBS priorities since in the BIOS.

--> [https://forum.netgate.com/topic/141300/sg-5100-verify-that-m-2-ssd-is-recognized-after-physically-installing?_=1700249887071](link url)

Again my motto at this point is "if it ain't broke - don't fix it".

Phizix