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    Wireless slowdown after a few days on latest releases.

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Wireless
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    • S
      sullrich
      last edited by

      Good question.  Top should give us a pretty good indication.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • P
        pcatiprodotnet
        last edited by

        RC2 rebooted again 3 times within 20mins this morning; but, now it's been up for a few hours.
        RELENG_1_SNAPSHOT-07-09-2006-embedded has been up for week+.

        I got this in the logs of RC2..
        kernel: pid 277 (fsck_ufs), uid 0: exited on signal 8 (core dumped)
        But, I also get the above message on the units that work great.
        Does this indicate a need re-flash?
        I also get this every now and then…
        kernel: ath1: device timeout
        Even though the wireless keeps functioning.

        Is there a shell command to monitor and always display the last few system log entries?

        Thanks, -Pete

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • S
          sullrich
          last edited by

          @pcatiprodotnet:

          RC2 rebooted again 3 times within 20mins this morning; but, now it's been up for a few hours.
          RELENG_1_SNAPSHOT-07-09-2006-embedded has been up for week+.

          There is no difference FreeBSD wise….  Nothing has changed except pfSense code which would not be causing this.

          @pcatiprodotnet:

          I got this in the logs of RC2..
          kernel: pid 277 (fsck_ufs), uid 0: exited on signal 8 (core dumped)
          But, I also get the above message on the units that work great.
          Does this indicate a need re-flash?
          I also get this every now and then…
          kernel: ath1: device timeout
          Even though the wireless keeps functioning.

          Is there a shell command to monitor and always display the last few system log entries?

          No, enable remote syslogging to a workstation.  Use Kiwi's syslog daemon or something else to assist.

          It almost sounds like a bad power supply to me, but it's hard to say, really.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • H
            hoba
            last edited by

            Or maybe heat? are the units placed somwehere in the direct sunlight and/or it's more hot as it is summer?

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            • P
              pcatiprodotnet
              last edited by

              Thanks for suggestions to check.
              It just started slowing again after running fine for ~5-6hrs, and I got this odd kernel message in the log (fyi, time is off)…

              Aug 10 03:14:35 dnsmasq[1037]: DHCPACK(ath1) 10.130.1.101 00:e0:98:e3:4f:e1 D7YMYK11
              Aug 10 03:15:26 kernel: rix 255 (0) bad ratekbps 0 mode 3rix 255 (0) bad ratekbps 0 mode 3rix 255 (0) bad ratekbps 0 mode 3rix 255 (0) bad ratekbps 0 mode 3rix 255 (0) bad ratekbps 0 mode 3
              Aug 10 03:15:41 kernel: rix 255 (0) bad ratekbps 0 mode 3rix 255 (0) bad ratekbps 0 mode 3rix 255 (0) bad ratekbps 0 mode 3rix 255 (0) bad ratekbps 0 mode 3rix 255 (0) bad ratekbps 0 mode 3
              Aug 10 03:15:57 kernel:
              Aug 10 03:15:57 kernel: arplookup 10.130.4.1 failed: host is not on local network

              I wasn't getting these kernel messages earlier when it was working fast.

              It doesn't appear that anything has changed in "top" from when it was fast; sometimes "system" goes up to 40% but not for long…

              last pid: 28510;  load averages:  0.21,  0.19,  0.17        up 0+05:15:26  03:22:04
              32 processes:  1 running, 31 sleeping
              CPU states:  2.7% user,  0.0% nice,  3.9% system,  3.9% interrupt, 89.5% idle
              Mem: 11M Active, 12M Inact, 17M Wired, 13M Buf, 76M Free
              Swap:

              PID USERNAME  THR PRI NICE  SIZE    RES STATE    TIME  WCPU COMMAND
              1038 root        1  8    0  1956K  1660K nanslp  6:56  0.98% olsrd
                993 root        1  8  20  1680K  1188K wait    0:15  0.00% sh
              7659 root        1  96    0  5592K  2612K select  0:13  0.00% sshd
              1097 root        1  8  20  1180K  564K nanslp  0:08  0.00% check_reload_status
                828 root        1  4    0  3252K  2364K kqread  0:06  0.00% lighttpd
              1037 nobody      1  96    0  1332K  1016K select  0:04  0.00% dnsmasq
              27650 root        1  96    0  2276K  1500K RUN      0:04  0.00% top
              1017 root        1  8  -88  1328K  796K nanslp  0:04  0.00% watchdogd
                833 root        1  8    0  8944K  4552K wait    0:02  0.00% php
                498 root        1 -58    0  3664K  1536K bpf      0:01  0.00% tcpdump
                248 root        1  96    0  1352K  984K select  0:01  0.00% syslogd
                946 proxy      1  4    0  656K  412K kqread  0:00  0.00% pftpx
              1019 root        1  8    0  1304K  984K nanslp  0:00  0.00% cron
                829 root        1  8    0  8944K  4552K wait    0:00  0.00% php
              7799 root        1  20    0  3928K  2532K pause    0:00  0.00% tcsh
              1103 root        1  8    0  1568K  1240K wait    0:00  0.00% login
              7692 root        1  8    0  1640K  1132K wait    0:00  0.00% sh

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              • S
                sullrich
                last edited by

                Any idea what rix is?  Never heard of that..

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • P
                  pcatiprodotnet
                  last edited by

                  It seems to run fast for ~5-8 hours, then gets sluggish for a few more hours, then reboots after that, like clockwork.
                  Here is, presumably, a last "top" before it rebooted; It appears ok…

                  last pid: 58198;  load averages:  0.08,  0.07,  0.07    up 0+14:26:31  17:55:56
                  32 processes:  1 running, 31 sleeping
                  CPU states:  1.9% user,  0.4% nice,  2.3% system,  3.1% interrupt, 92.3% idle
                  Mem: 11M Active, 10M Inact, 16M Wired, 12M Buf, 79M Free
                  Swap:

                  PID USERNAME  THR PRI NICE  SIZE    RES STATE    TIME  WCPU COMMAND
                  1038 root        1  8    0  2544K  2172K nanslp  19:25  1.12% olsrd
                  1447 root        1  96    0  2332K  1556K RUN      5:19  0.00% top
                    993 root        1  8  20  1740K  1248K wait    0:43  0.00% sh
                  1426 root        1  96    0  5592K  2608K select  0:42  0.00% sshd
                  1068 root        1  8  20  1180K  564K nanslp  0:21  0.00% check_reload_st
                  1017 root        1  8  -88  1328K  796K nanslp  0:10  0.00% watchdogd
                  1036 nobody      1  96    0  1332K  1016K select  0:06  0.00% dnsmasq
                    828 root        1  4    0  3104K  2196K kqread  0:06  0.00% lighttpd
                    498 root        1 -58    0  3664K  1536K bpf      0:04  0.00% tcpdump
                    946 proxy      1  4    0  656K  412K kqread  0:01  0.00% pftpx
                    248 root        1  96    0  1352K  984K select  0:01  0.00% syslogd
                  1019 root        1  8    0  1304K  984K nanslp  0:01  0.00% cron
                    833 root        1  8    0  8944K  4552K wait    0:00  0.00% php
                    829 root        1  8    0  8944K  4564K wait    0:00  0.00% php
                  1446 root        1  20    0  3924K  2524K pause    0:00  0.00% tcsh
                  1075 root        1  8    0  1568K  1236K wait    0:00  0.00% login
                  1430 root        1  8    0  1640K  1132K wait    0:00  0.00% sh

                  What is the path+name of the system log file?  I could leave an ssh window open with "tail -f" on it.

                  There is no difference FreeBSD wise....  Nothing has changed except pfSense code which would not be causing this.

                  Ok.  I the only other difference I could think of is this unit has two Atheros based cards in it, all other production units have just one.  I've tested both cards individually, and they do both function for days.  However, you'll find this second card is likely unprecedented...
                  http://www.ubnt.com/super_range9.php4

                  Or maybe heat.

                  It could be these two mini-pci wireless cards combined are generating too much heat.
                  One is 400mW 2.4ghz, and the other is 700mW 900mhz card.  Although, after rebooting
                  it does run smooth and fast again for ~5-8 more hours.

                  Thank you for the help, -Pete

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                  • K
                    KiFFuSeR
                    last edited by

                    @pcatiprodotnet:

                    It could be these two mini-pci wireless cards combined are generating too much heat.
                    One is 400mW 2.4ghz, and the other is 700mW 900mhz card.  Although, after rebooting
                    it does run smooth and fast again for ~5-8 more hours.

                    Can the WRAP handle the power requirements for those cards?

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                    • S
                      sullrich
                      last edited by

                      That was my other thought, are the power supplies up to snuff'.

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                      • P
                        pcatiprodotnet
                        last edited by

                        Can the WRAP handle the power requirements for those cards.
                        are the power supplies up to snuff.

                        If it's power, would turning down the wireless tx Power in the gui help?

                        Here are the PoE specs:

                        Switching Power Supply, 18v, 0.84a, 15w
                        http://www.netgate.com/product_info.php?cPath=24_55&products_id=258

                        Also,

                        The 400mW 2.4GHz mini-pci card…
                        http://www.netgate.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_34&products_id=279

                        The 700mW 900MHz mini-pci card...
                        http://www.ubnt.com/super_range9.php4

                        The WRAP.2C
                        http://www.netgate.com/product_info.php?products_id=241

                        [disclaimer: links provided for information; items were not necessarily purchased there]

                        [update]
                        I disabled Opt1 (the 900mhz card) interface, and it's been running smooth for 24hrs.
                        Next, I'll try a the same setup on different hardware, then I may resort 1 card per wrap.

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                        • L
                          lsf
                          last edited by

                          uhm ,normally the cards use more power on lower speeds, and turning down power might mean lower speed.
                          So basically you could be shooting yourself by doing that.

                          SR-9 spec:

                          Current Consumption @3.3V

                          Transmit     
                          1-24 Mbps    1000mA, +/-100mA
                          36 Mbps        900mA, +/-100mA
                          48 Mbps        850mA, +/-100mA
                          54 Mbps        800mA, +/-100mA

                          Receive  400mA, +/-50mA

                          This is similar for most wireless cards, however the SR-9 consumes a lot of power.

                          -lsf

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                          • A
                            aldo
                            last edited by

                            total output of wrap with two wireless cards is about 22w
                            8watts real power from one atheros card
                            so if your usinf 400mw cards then you will be more

                            also make sure your bios is up to daye this can cause issues with minipci bus and atheroes cards

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                            • K
                              KiFFuSeR
                              last edited by

                              Even today, when AR5004x begins to be EOL, I still think cards like CM9 are the way to go. It's a shame that Atheros stop production of this wonderfull chipsets in flavour of the cheap AR5006x. I know i'll miss CM9 a lot…

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