Console Access macos -> SG-5100 Garbled Text

[JJ5588]

When I connect to the console, I get output I've never seen before and the session isn't usable.

m2 macbook running Sonoma
sg-5100 running 23.09.1

I have followed the netgate docs for connecting, but I still get garbled text and some odd output.

1. Installed the Prolific PL2303 USB-to-UART Bridge driver and allowed the extension. Rebooted.
2. Plugged in the cable to my macbook and then the SG-5100 so a new device appears: /dev/cu.PL2303G-USBtoUART110
3. sudo screen /dev/cu.PL2303G-USBtoUART110 115200
   login-to-view

I've also tried the following with the same results:

sudo screen -U /dev/cu.PL2303G-USBtoUART110 115200
sudo screen -U /dev/cu.PL2303G-USBtoUART110 115200,-ixoff
sudo screen -U /dev/cu.PL2303G-USBtoUART110 115200,-ixon

[stephenw10]

The error there is from pfSense and it implies there are missing files on the system. It cannot display the console menu.

Was that box just upgraded?

The garbage text at the top could simply be from where it initially connected. If you reboot the firewall from there do you see the expected boot output?

Steve

[JJ5588]

@stephenw10, oof. I did just attempt to upgrade from 23.05.1 -> 23.09.1

The system came up and I connected to the web interface just fine. I rebooted it, but now it won't come up. I guess I need to re-install. I have a backup of the image for 23.05.1 and configuration backups. If I can't connect to the console, how would I re-install?

edit: When I attempt a serial connection I get the same output except the device hostname is now "Amnesiac"

[stephenw10]

You should still be able to login there as root using either your existing password or pfsense r possibly root.
Then you may be able to read out the config from there.

If it was installed ZFS you may have a BE snap you can roll back to.

[JJ5588]

@stephenw10 thank you for the info! The connection doesn't accept any input; it does not appear to be an interactive session. Could this just be due to the fact I'm connecting from macos? Seems like that might be the issue with respect to my interactive shell.

I had this system before ZFS was a feature. Assuming I can reinstall pfsense and apply my config, would this now be a time where I could setup ZFS? I'm a home user with a backup router so extra time to figure things out isn't a huge problem.

[stephenw10]

It should be interactive so, yes, that seems like a terminal problem.

Yes, you can reinstall as ZFS if you reinstall at this point.

[JJ5588]

I created a boot usb drive. Once I turned the 5100 on with that in, I was able to re-install with zfs and eventually apply my config xml.

Thanks again!