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    SOLVED: USB M.2 SSD for use with SWAP

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    42 Posts 2 Posters 3.0k Views
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    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      The console port? Nope that is only connected to the serial converter IC. AFAIK you can only use the one external USB A port.

      The m.2 slot has USB connectivity but I'm not sure what speeds are available. You're already using that slot anyway though.

      The miniPCIe slot does not have USB. It has PCIe of course so it might be possible to run an NVMe drive in an adapter there even if it cant boot from it. Not something I've tried.

      JonathanLeeJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • JonathanLeeJ
        JonathanLee @stephenw10
        last edited by JonathanLee

        @stephenw10 thanks, I didn’t think about using an adapter, I am not using the AP on that slot right now. Something like this?? M Key? I will have to remove the compex card from it.

        Mini PCIE to M.2 M Key Adapter, Support 2230/2242/2260/2280 M.2 SSD M.2 NGFF Nvme M Key Converter Adapter

        This has 90 on it

        xiwai 90 Degree Angled PCI-E 4.0 NVME M-Key M.2 22x30mm to 22x80mm High Storage Extension SSD Converter Board Upgrade Expansion Adapter Compatible with 2230 to 2280 SSD Handheld ROG Ally Gaming

        Make sure to upvote

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

          To be clear I have no idea if that would work! 😉 If I had such an adapter I would try it out of curiosity.

          JonathanLeeJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • JonathanLeeJ
            JonathanLee @stephenw10
            last edited by JonathanLee

            @stephenw10 there is some posts about SSD not working in that slot for 1100 but they are using minipcie drives, is it only usb2.0 speed on the mpcie or faster? Thanks for the reply. I am excited but it would have to have a cable because it would be to long in a 2100. It’s one lane, would it only top out at Single Direction: 2.5 Gbps/200MBps
            Dual Direction: 5 Gbps/400MBps

            That is where the 5gbps usb0 is at I am thinking on start up logs

            Make sure to upvote

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • JonathanLeeJ
              JonathanLee @stephenw10
              last edited by JonathanLee

              @stephenw10

              Sintech M.2 (NGFF) nVME SSD to Mini PCIe Adapter with 20cm Cable

              I am going to try it with the Intel Optane for swap. It should make use of the usb0 bus technically that is what it is. As long as the drive is connected and has power it should see it. Maybe not boot from it but be able to gpart it and activate it. I have the m key drive so maybe I can get access to 5gbps

              Make sure to upvote

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              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                All SSDs I've seen that fit the mPCIe format are mSATA it that socket is not wired for mSATA. It's PCIe only. So theoretically an NVMe drive in that format would be seen on the PCIe bus. As would an m.2 drive in a PCI adapter. Theoretically!

                In reality I've never seen an NVMe drive in aarch64 and have no way to test it. But I'd expect it to work.

                JonathanLeeJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • JonathanLeeJ
                  JonathanLee @stephenw10
                  last edited by

                  @stephenw10 getting it to fit will be a challenge, with the cable I should be able to add nonconductive tape on the bottom of it and Velcro it, the other straight adapters would be too long it would hit the back, and the 90 degree one would work but put the drive directly over the cpu and memory with the added heat that would cause issues. I am thinking about velcroing it to the top side where it is close to the vented area, adding a heat sink or something to it.

                  Make sure to upvote

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • JonathanLeeJ
                    JonathanLee @stephenw10
                    last edited by

                    @stephenw10 It works !!!

                    Amazing!!!

                    e9bd6dc9-4c76-4423-a1a8-7e3e93424d0d-image.png

                    Screenshot 2024-12-22 at 20.22.49.png
                    (nda0: nvme version 1.3 x1 (max x2) lanes PCIe Gen2 (max Gen3) link)

                    I still do not know how to access the optane side of this as you can see it only sees 238 the other 16 is not shown is it automatically assigned?

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                    • JonathanLeeJ
                      JonathanLee
                      last edited by

                      Screenshot 2024-12-22 at 20.27.41.png

                      nvme

                      Screenshot 2024-12-22 at 20.29.03.png

                      geom -t

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                      • JonathanLeeJ
                        JonathanLee
                        last edited by

                        Screenshot 2024-12-22 at 20.30.59.png

                        (pciconf -vI)

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                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • JonathanLeeJ
                          JonathanLee
                          last edited by

                          Screenshot 2024-12-22 at 20.31.54.png

                          It is seeing it what one is the optane memory vs the ssd part of it ? I think it is nvme0ns1

                          Make sure to upvote

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • JonathanLeeJ
                            JonathanLee
                            last edited by

                            Screenshot 2024-12-22 at 20.34.12.png

                            This has to be it nvme0ns1 shows 244 its 256GB SSD and 16GB Optane

                            Make sure to upvote

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

                              Nice. So that's in a USB enclosure of some sort?

                              JonathanLeeJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • JonathanLeeJ
                                JonathanLee @stephenw10
                                last edited by JonathanLee

                                @stephenw10 thanks for the reply and recommendations. yes but do I have to use specific NVMecontroler commands now to reformat it or is that automatic ? I was reading that it shows up with the n infront of the da0. Again I do not know how to access the Optane side of this. I have never played with NVMe commands before I found some on the FreeBSD forum

                                Shell Output - nvmecontrol identify nvme0
                                Controller Capabilities/Features
                                ================================
                                Vendor ID:                   8086
                                Subsystem Vendor ID:         8086
                                Serial Number:               BTTE9510086T256D-1
                                Model Number:                INTEL HBRPEKNX0101AH
                                Firmware Version:            HPS1
                                Recommended Arb Burst:       6
                                IEEE OUI Identifier:         5c d2 e4
                                Multi-Path I/O Capabilities: Not Supported
                                Max Data Transfer Size:      131072 bytes
                                Sanitize Crypto Erase:       Supported
                                Sanitize Block Erase:        Supported
                                Sanitize Overwrite:          Not Supported
                                Sanitize NDI:                Not Supported
                                Sanitize NODMMAS:            Undefined
                                Controller ID:               0x0001
                                Version:                     1.3.0
                                
                                Admin Command Set Attributes
                                ============================
                                Security Send/Receive:       Not Supported
                                Format NVM:                  Supported
                                Firmware Activate/Download:  Supported
                                Namespace Management:        Not Supported
                                Device Self-test:            Supported
                                Directives:                  Not Supported
                                NVMe-MI Send/Receive:        Not Supported
                                Virtualization Management:   Not Supported
                                Doorbell Buffer Config:      Not Supported
                                Get LBA Status:              Not Supported
                                Sanitize:                    crypto, block,
                                Abort Command Limit:         4
                                Async Event Request Limit:   8
                                Number of Firmware Slots:    2
                                Firmware Slot 1 Read-Only:   No
                                Per-Namespace SMART Log:     Yes
                                Error Log Page Entries:      256
                                Number of Power States:      5
                                Total NVM Capacity:          0 bytes
                                Unallocated NVM Capacity:    0 bytes
                                Firmware Update Granularity: 00 (Not Reported)
                                Host Buffer Preferred Size:  0 bytes
                                Host Buffer Minimum Size:    0 bytes
                                
                                NVM Command Set Attributes
                                ==========================
                                Submission Queue Entry Size
                                  Max:                       64
                                  Min:                       64
                                Completion Queue Entry Size
                                  Max:                       16
                                  Min:                       16
                                Number of Namespaces:        1
                                Compare Command:             Supported
                                Write Uncorrectable Command: Supported
                                Dataset Management Command:  Supported
                                Write Zeroes Command:        Supported
                                Save Features:               Supported
                                Reservations:                Not Supported
                                Timestamp feature:           Supported
                                Verify feature:              Not Supported
                                Fused Operation Support:     Not Supported
                                Format NVM Attributes:       Crypto Erase, Per-NS Erase, Per-NS Format
                                Volatile Write Cache:        Present
                                
                                NVM Subsystem Name:          nqn.2019-51.com.intel:nvm-subsystem-sn-btte9510086t256d-1
                                

                                Make sure to upvote

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                                • stephenw10S
                                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                  last edited by

                                  Shouldn't be any special commands required.

                                  ndaX is how I expect any NVMe drive to appear.

                                  The interesting thing would be to see how the PCIe device appears as presumably it's a different PCIe bus/controller connected via USB.

                                  JonathanLeeJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • JonathanLeeJ
                                    JonathanLee @stephenw10
                                    last edited by

                                    @stephenw10
                                    IMG_1536.png

                                    Is this what you are looking for ?

                                    Make sure to upvote

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • JonathanLeeJ
                                      JonathanLee @stephenw10
                                      last edited by JonathanLee

                                      @stephenw10 it’s no longer on usb it’s over the mPCIE adapter to M.2 it works without the usb ports

                                      IMG_1537.png

                                      Make sure to upvote

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                                      • stephenw10S
                                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                        last edited by

                                        Ah, that's interesting. Nice! What pfSense version is that in?

                                        JonathanLeeJ 4 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • JonathanLeeJ
                                          JonathanLee @stephenw10
                                          last edited by JonathanLee

                                          @stephenw10 the everything bagel version 23.05. SG-2100-MAX the model that has the SafeXcel chip. Thank you for the recommendations. Merry Christmas

                                          Make sure to upvote

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • JonathanLeeJ
                                            JonathanLee @stephenw10
                                            last edited by

                                            @stephenw10 Intel told me when I asked on the community forum that it’s no longer supported to ask on the community forum. Maybe I am on the wrong forum.

                                            https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-Optane-Solid-State-Drives/Optane-H10-16GB-256SSD/m-p/1651781/emcs_t/S2h8ZW1haWx8dG9waWNfc3Vic2NyaXB0aW9ufE01MUw4VFQ2UDlJVTgxfDE2NTE3ODF8U1VCU0NSSVBUSU9OU3xoSw#M3190

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