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    SOLVED: USB M.2 SSD for use with SWAP

    General pfSense Questions
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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?

          Make sure to upvote

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • 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

                  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

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                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • 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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                                  • 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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                                    • 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

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

                                          @stephenw10 Thanks for the reply please let me know if you find anything in the photo there is a pin out sets for jumpers and some for power. Again I do not have access to the voltage diagrams Have a good New year

                                          Make sure to upvote

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

                                            J22, which is what I assume you're referring to, is JTAG. It doesn't have a Vcc pin or anything else that might drive a fan unfortunately.

                                            J12 should have 5V between pins 2 and 3 but it's not something I could ever recommend.

                                            JonathanLeeJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
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