Installation on Intel D2500CC (atom with dual NIC board)
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This was the built I was looking at. But my readings on this forum:
http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,45746.0.htmlleads me to believe it will run too hot.
Maybe if you run a stress test at 100% CPU load over long time as someone did in the feed you mentioned.
But you also can see my comment there. Running pfsense as home firewall fanless is absolutly no issue as long you do not place the case in a small cabinet without air circulation. -
well I was going to use the same case as you, M350 mini itx case and sit it inside our server cabinet. But I am slightly concerned, might use a silverstone sugo sg05 or look for a rackmountable case. Anyone else fitted this in a 2U?
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and sit it inside our server cabinet. […] or look for a rackmountable case.
When I build up my home use pfsense system my intention was to make it silent and reduce the power consumption as much as possible.
When you are planning to install it in a server cabinet don't think too much about. Take a 1U rackmount with fan. For mini ITX there are even dual rackmount cases existing where you can install two boards in one case.
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Hi guys and gals :D
I just like to say that I managed to install pfSense 2.0.1-RELEASE (amd64) from USB stick on my Intel D2500CC equipped with a WESTERN DIGITAL SCORPIO BLACK 160GB 7200RPM SATA/300 16MB.
The big challenge is of course as You all know that the output on the screen mostly displays at the last line and looks like garbish.
I installed the 32 bit version first and wrote down every single keystroke that I did. Then I reinstalled with the amd64 version and made the exakt same input. It worked! It seems to run well since installation a few hours ago, installed OpenVPN, Squid, and SquidGuard. No storage or network card attached to USB.
When booting on the USB Stick the display works well untill pressing 3 (Boot from USB)
After that, here are my answers (Don't write them too fast):n ENTER
em0 ENTER
em1 ENTER
ENTER
y ENTER
(wait some time here!)
99 ENTERWhen the installation to disk starts with the blueish screen I can't recall what I wrote and my notes are blurry. Sometimes it works to see some text if You use the arrows, left, right, up and down. Sometimes it's blurred. Maybe if You make a 32 bit install first you can write down your answers and follow them. Now, when it's finally installed I hope I won't need the screen again until the graphic card diriver has been fixed.
BTW Before doing the procedure described aboveI tried to install with the lastest nighly 64 bit build just to find out if the problem has been fixed. It hasn't, it's the same.
Good luck! -
This is an upstream bug in FreeBSD, I'm afraid. The new Intel Atoms with the PowerVR graphics have major graphics compatibility issues with FreeBSD, and with Windows for that matter. They only seem to be really well supported on Linux. I'm using a D2700 board with 2.1-development in a live install. I'm using the i386 build, which one can, as you note, manage to install. I suppose if you memorize all your answers, 64-bit could install but I didn't see it as having enough benefit to be worth the headache.
Realize that with these boards, you have to use 32-bit Windows 7 due to there being no graphics driver support for 64-bit; and that some of these boards have 64-bit support disabled in the BIOS (for obvious reason). This is a 32.5-bit chipset (a not-real term I just made up to poke fun at this chipset). The processor is 64-bit, but unless you use Linux, you can't get working graphics in 64-bit. In 2011 (when this chipset came out), that's absolutely ridiculous. More importantly, the fact FreeBSD's console video doesn't even work (again it's hard to describe if you haven't seen it) and has glitches even in 32-bit mode, indicates severe underlying compatibility issues with the PowerVR chipset.
Oddly, Linux (even 64-bit) console video works fine, but that's with the latest Ubuntu that I believe uses a higher graphics mode. Even more odd, FreeDOS also works fine, without any of the missing characters. I'm no expert, but my understanding is that basic console video between FreeBSD and FreeDOS should be the same darn thing. Still, I wouldn't begin to blame FreeBSD and definitely not pfSense. This is an upstream bug that seems to be related to something severely broken in this chipset. Sorry Intel, but this is a fail.
If it helps you any, once installed on a D2700, 32-bit 2.1 snapshots have been rock solid (2.1 needed for Realtek drivers on the board I'm using), though sadly 2.1 is far from feature complete (VLANs don't work with traffic shaping yet, which I consider a pretty key feature).
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Just as a heads-up:
2 days ago, there has been a commit to the FreeBSD source which fixes the video corruption.
Oh and thanks to Plisken. Using his instructions you can install pfsense 2.x amd64 on that board.
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Will that commit to the FreeBSD source make it into 8.3 though, or will it not apply until pfSense switches to 9.x?
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http://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/2595
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That still does not answer the question. It says it is going in 2.1. Does that mean the nightly pfSense builds include this fix. I tried a nightly from a few days ago, no luck. I have not been able to get nano with serial support to work either, so I am patiently waiting for a fix. Thanks for any insight.
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I think I found the answer here:
http://redmine.pfsense.org/projects/pfsense/issues?fixed_version_id=5&set_filter=1&status_id=o&subproject_id=!*
It shows "New". I assume it will show "Feedback" when it is included and ready for testing. I will keep an eye out and test it as soon as it is included in the nightly builds.
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Well thanks to Plisken I was able to install the pfSense-2.0.1-RELEASE-2g-amd64-nanobsd_vga on to my Intel D2500CCE.
Booting off a 2Gb Kingston CF via a SATA to CF adapter.
I did have a problem with my original picked 8Gb CF Card which was a Sandisk extreme (didn't look at it when I picked it up out of the tray)
It wouldn't boot with this card at all with either the 4g-amd64 or 4g-i386 nanobsd. I would get a read error, just after you see F1 pfsense, F2 pfsense F6 PXD?.
Didn't matter what I did in the bios. Then grabbed the slower Kingston card and dd over 2g-i386 nanobsd.
Booted up straight away. I wrote down the keystrokes I had to do to get it up and running, then dd over 2g-amd64 nanobsd.
Waited till I saw no more text movement, and entered the following (not entering whats in the "")
n enter "VLAN setup"
em0 enter "WAN"
em1 enter "LAN"
em2 enter "Option 1"
em3 enter "Option 2"
enter "any more Options ports, enter to continue"
y enter "confirm port selection and continue"
waited for the sound saying it had booted, then I could log on via a browser, and finish the rest.
I have a dual gigabit port intel server card installed into the PCI slot as OPT1 and OPT2 that is why the extra em2 and em3 key strokes.
If you don't have more than 2 NIC just don't leave out
em2 enter
em3 enter
I now have it up and running, and configuring it for my setup.
Thx -
Can a few using the Intel 2500cc post the power consumption?
I want to use the same board on several pfsense builds. I am using a via Samuel 2 board for my home box and it uses 41watts on boot up and 35-37 watts continuous. Trying to into to the 25 watts area.
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Which C3 are you running? You should be drawing less than that at idle. The best thing you can do to reduce power consumption is use a high efficiency power supply. Some PSUs claim to be highly efficient but in reality are only much good when working at or close to their maximum output. Since you're drawing <50W you probably have something far too big.
Steve
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Can a few using the Intel 2500cc post the power consumption?
19W idle, 20W when rebooting, measured at the mains with a KillAWatt. The board is a CCE rather than a CC.
I was quite surprised, since my toy webserver has dual P3s, how fast that Atom boots! It's not fully config'd yet, and therefore not online. It's a full default install straight off the iso image, lives in an Antec 300 case, has 4GB, a WD 320GB Black 2.5" drive as the boot and storage device, and currently an ASUS cd/dvd drive as the install device. I'm driving it with a 102W pico-psu. I suspect the "brick" is not the best quality, since it's warmer than I expected for so small a draw.
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Thank you MMacD and stephenw10.
Not sure what you are asking? C3? I was doing some contact work for wayport. They had me replace a shallow 1u rackmount via server w/ 80 gig IDE…... Well I own it now since they never sent me a return FEDEX label. This enabled me to build the pfsense box for free. My best guess is the chassis is a pre-2004 180 watt ps w/ fan and two chassis fans.
Yes, I use the killawatt unit. I am finding the 2500cce for around $99 us and can find a complete package (mb, 2gig ram, ps, and the 350 chassis) for under $200 us. But I want a 1u or 2u rackmount chassis.
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Sorry. C3 is what VIA were calling their processors that had the Samuel 2 core.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_VIA_C3_microprocessors#.22Samuel_2.22_.28150_nm.29
I guess I was really asking what speed the CPU runs at?I have a miniITX board here that runs an Ezra core C3 900 and it uses <25W. It uses a DC-DC PSU (like the PicoPSU).
Steve
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Thanks for the link and 800mhz
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I want a 1u or 2u rackmount chassis.
You might have to pay for that, since they seem to hold their value surprisingly well. There's a no-name 1U uITX on ebay right now for $25 …but they want another $50 to ship it, a common ploy. I've often seen elderly 4Us and 6Us on ebay for little or nothing if you were to pick up, but they'd only be a good deal if you're building a toy system for development rather than paying co-loc fees by the U.
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Thanks for the info. I do watch eBay, but my goal is to build the boxes myself. I am in sheetmetal. I am going to call them "ugly box". I don't like the prices, would like a box w/ ps for under $75. This seems more reasonable pricing. I need to find a ps supplier.
Crcmetalproducts.com
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How many are you building? Where are you installing them?
You could do something like Google did with their custom servers: open enclosures and DC power! Cheaper and more efficient but obviously not suitable for co-lo.http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10209580-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Seriously if you have access to cnc machines and bending tools etc then you could either make it from scratch or add your own front panel to a steel tray. I've done this a few times with 19" rack equipment though never a server and having a single panel machined is for you is expensive.
Steve
