New Alix board for 2013

powerrc

This is way too expensive.
Intel NUC Kit DCCP847DYE is merely $144 with case/power and , a much more powerful cpu
what's the point to stick to ALIX still?
Did I miss something?

@zatoichi:

Updated…

| Board | apu1c4 | $165 | http://www.pcengines.ch/apu1c4.htm | |
| Enclosure | case1d2redu | $9.3 | http://www.pcengines.ch/case1d2redu.htm | |
| US Plug | ac12vus | $4.5 | http://www.pcengines.ch/ac12vus.htm | |
| M-SATA SSD | msata16a | $20 | http://www.pcengines.ch/msata16a.htm | |
| Wireless Card | wle200nx | $18.7 | http://www.pcengines.ch/wle200nx.htm | |
| VPN Card | ?? | | | |
| CPU Info | | | http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Bobcat/AMD-G%20Series%20G-T40E%20-%20GET40EFQB22GVE.html | |
| Order Page | | | http://www.pcengines.ch/order1.php?c=63124 | |
| | | $217.5 | | |
| | Shipping | $44 | | |
| | | $261.5 | | |

Applied

@powerrc:

what's the point to stick to ALIX still?
Did I miss something?

For starters:

SSD / wireless card / RAM:
Your price point of $144 for the NUC does not include either SSD, RAM or wireless card (not yet supported on pfSense but elsewhere and this is talking about hardware price), while the quoted $217.50 for the APU does include wireless NIC, SSD and 2GB RAM
Ethernet ports:
ALIX / APU features 3 ethernet ports.
DCCP847DYE kit has only one single ethernet port and there’s no way of adding another one internally (due to the case).
So how would you go about setting this up as a router? (USB ethernet just plain doesn’t work reliably on pfSense)
APU has bootable SD card slot, which can act as even less expensive boot media than SSD
APU is fanless while the NUC includes a fan (though, granted, this might also be taken as an advantage in some environments)
APU has a serial interface which obviates need for a display
APU allows for easier internal installation of supported 3G/4G (e.g. for backup connectivity)
APU uses open source BIOS, whereas Intel probably uses some closed source firmware (and can you trust American companions not to put some backdoors in their kit?)

Don't get me wrong, I think the NUC is an interesting concept and I can see some applications for it - but I don't think it's particularly well-suited for pfSense or any firewalling/gateway use

@powerrc:

This is way too expensive.

I think it depends on how you look at it:
Its price point may seem steep if compared to consumer-grade hardware in sheer price/performance ratio.
But it is relatively inexpensive compared to most embedded / network appliance hardware.

nesense

@Applied:

So how would you go about setting this up as a router? (USB ethernet just plain doesn’t work reliably on pfSense)

I've been using Apple USB Ethernet Adapters on multiple machines for a couple of years now with zero issues, a bit overpriced (about $30 now) but it works.

GruensFroeschli

@Applied:

For starters:

SSD / wireless card / RAM:
Your price point of $144 for the NUC does not include either SSD, RAM or wireless card (not yet supported on pfSense but elsewhere and this is talking about hardware price), while the quoted $217.50 for the APU does include wireless NIC, SSD and 2GB RAM

The quoted board is even the version with 4GB ram.
The 2 GB version costs about 20$ less.

p1erre

;D just received my apu1c today. Upgrading from alix using export/import configuration worked just fine.

tirsojrp

@p1erre:

;D just received my apu1c today. Upgrading from alix using export/import configuration worked just fine.

We want more!!!!!
Idle/Full load temperatures and power consumption?
Performance?

gidi

Moved from alix to an apu1c using a sdhc card (temporarly) and restored a modified alix config.
Works nicely so far…

FreeBSD/amd64 (test.lan) (console)

*** Welcome to pfSense 2.1-RELEASE-nanobsd (amd64) on test ***

 WAN (wan)       -> re0        -> v4/DHCP4: 192.168.69.139/24
 BRIDGE (lan)    -> bridge0    -> v4: 192.168.70.1/24
 WIFI (opt1)     -> ath0_wlan0 ->
 LAN (opt2)      -> re1        ->

 0) Logout (SSH only)                  8) Shell
 1) Assign Interfaces                  9) pfTop
 2) Set interface(s) IP address       10) Filter Logs
 3) Reset webConfigurator password    11) Restart webConfigurator
 4) Reset to factory defaults         12) pfSense Developer Shell
 5) Reboot system                     13) Upgrade from console
 6) Halt system                       14) Disable Secure Shell (sshd)
 7) Ping host                         15) Restore recent configuration

Enter an option:

dmesg | grep -i cpu
CPU: AMD G-T40E Processor (1000.00-MHz K8-class CPU)
FreeBSD/SMP: Multiprocessor System Detected: 2 CPUs
cpu0 (BSP): APIC ID: 0
cpu1 (AP): APIC ID: 1
cpu0: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
cpu1: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
acpi_throttle0: <acpi cpu="" throttling="">on cpu0
SMP: AP CPU #1 Launched!</acpi></acpi></acpi>

sysctl -a | egrep -i 'hw.machine|hw.model|hw.ncpu'
hw.machine: amd64
hw.model: AMD G-T40E Processor
hw.ncpu: 2
hw.machine_arch: amd64

MaxPF

With the new APU board and a m-sata ssd I assume that the full install is preferable to the nanobsd, correct?

nesense

@MaxPF:

With the new APU board and a m-sata ssd I assume that the full install is preferable to the nanobsd, correct?

Tried copying the CF image on SD but didn't boot, also booting from USB CD image failed & which lacks serial output, only memstick-serial then installing to M-SATA worked for me, haven't tried installing on SATA since beta board lacks it.

Clown

@MaxPF:

With the new APU board and a m-sata ssd I assume that the full install is preferable to the nanobsd, correct?

Yes, I did copy the full Image "pfSense-memstick-serial-2.1-RELEASE-amd64-20130911-1816.img" from a SD Card and this installes the m-sata-ssd.

Clown

Would be nice to have for the new APU board:

LED Support
Thermal sensors
as mentioned in an other thread (GPU prozessors as crypto device)

GruensFroeschli

The GPU is not usable.
It is disabled with the APU board to save power.

connorxxl

New APU board is really great. Anyone got an idea how to get thermal sensors working? I'd like to check the temperature regularly…

Thanks.

nesense

@Clown:

@MaxPF:

With the new APU board and a m-sata ssd I assume that the full install is preferable to the nanobsd, correct?

Yes, I did copy the full Image "pfSense-memstick-serial-2.1-RELEASE-amd64-20130911-1816.img" from a SD Card and this installes the m-sata-ssd.

Could you please tell us what you used to copy that image to SD Card? "dd" didn't work for me ???

Installing nanobsd on SD Card would be optimal.

gidi

Could you please tell us what you used to copy that image to SD Card? "dd" didn't work for me ???

Installing nanobsd on SD Card would be optimal.

I used physdiskwrite to write a 2GB nanobsd alix image onto a sdhc card I had on hand, booted the apu with, did a minimum config and restored a modified alix config - done (made only minimum changes after)

MaxPF

@gidi:

Moved from alix to an apu1c using a sdhc card (temporarly) and restored a modified alix config.
Works nicely so far…

FreeBSD/amd64 (test.lan) (console)

*** Welcome to pfSense 2.1-RELEASE-nanobsd (amd64) on test ***

 WAN (wan)       -> re0        -> v4/DHCP4: 192.168.69.139/24
 BRIDGE (lan)    -> bridge0    -> v4: 192.168.70.1/24
 WIFI (opt1)     -> ath0_wlan0 ->
 LAN (opt2)      -> re1        ->

I noticed you are using a wifi card with the apu board. Is it the wle200nx? If so is it working with 2.1?

gidi

I noticed you are using a wifi card with the apu board. Is it the wle200nx? If so is it working with 2.1?

Yes its a AR9280 set to run in 802.11g mode only and working so far. Seems not as good as the one I used in the Alix box (sensitivity wise) but it's to early to judge.

MaxPF

@gidi:

I noticed you are using a wifi card with the apu board. Is it the wle200nx? If so is it working with 2.1?

Yes its a AR9280 set to run in 802.11g mode only and working so far. Seems not as good as the one I used in the Alix box (sensitivity wise) but it's to early to judge.

So in G mode is usable without stability issues, good to know.

Clown

@nesense:

@Clown:

@MaxPF:

With the new APU board and a m-sata ssd I assume that the full install is preferable to the nanobsd, correct?

Yes, I did copy the full Image "pfSense-memstick-serial-2.1-RELEASE-amd64-20130911-1816.img" from a SD Card and this installes the m-sata-ssd.

Could you please tell us what you used to copy that image to SD Card? "dd" didn't work for me ???

Installing nanobsd on SD Card would be optimal.

I used http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/ as physdiskwrite didn't work.
As Image I used the Serial-installer-Image not the nano-Images. During the Installation you have to Chose the kernel, I selected the embedded.

nesense

@MaxPF:

@gidi:

I noticed you are using a wifi card with the apu board. Is it the wle200nx? If so is it working with 2.1?

Yes its a AR9280 set to run in 802.11g mode only and working so far. Seems not as good as the one I used in the Alix box (sensitivity wise) but it's to early to judge.

So in G mode is usable without stability issues, good to know.

It is not usable in G mode here, using the apu1b with pfs 2.1, most of the time it causes a kernel panic and rebooting hangs.(same with G+N and pure N) other times it says it got enabled but does not broadcast signal. Tried multiple times with fresh installs and leaving defaults under wifi with no luck.

Maybe it's an issue with the beta boards only? ???