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    SOLVED: USB M.2 SSD for use with SWAP

    General pfSense Questions
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    • 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

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      • 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

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          • 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

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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.

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                • 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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                      • 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

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                        • 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

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                          • 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
                              

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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 ?

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                                  • 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

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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

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                                        • 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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                                          • JonathanLeeJ
                                            JonathanLee @stephenw10
                                            last edited by JonathanLee

                                            @stephenw10

                                            Supplies mPCIe to M.2 NVMe adapter, Intel Optane Memory NVMe drive, Velcro, Mylar tape to protect area below pins etc.

                                            Velco the assembly close to the lights. What do you think? it was that or place it directly onto of the network ports.

                                            I just had to be careful routing the cable after.

                                            IMG_1562.jpg

                                            when closed the drive does not touch anything it is close but it works I have the mylar tape as a safety precaution. The original 2100 does not have any heatsinks so I think it should be ok I know the NVMe drives get hot it concerns me again my onboard ram has heat sinks also.

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