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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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    • 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

        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

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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?

              Make sure to upvote

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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

                Make sure to upvote

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                • JonathanLeeJ
                  JonathanLee
                  last edited by

                  Screenshot 2024-12-22 at 20.30.59.png

                  (pciconf -vI)

                  Make sure to upvote

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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

                    Make sure to upvote

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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

                      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

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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

                                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

                                      Make sure to upvote

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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.

                                        Make sure to upvote

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                                        • JonathanLeeJ
                                          JonathanLee @stephenw10
                                          last edited by

                                          @stephenw10 Is there a way to add a fan internally that you know of? I see some pins next to the CPU but I can't find any documentation about it. I was thinking about adding an external USB fan. I just feel like the added heat could cause issues.

                                          Make sure to upvote

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                                          • stephenw10S
                                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                            last edited by

                                            Hmm, I'm not aware of anything. There might be..... 🤔

                                            JonathanLeeJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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