APU set up with Wi-Fi

[stephenw10]

I'm not sure I understand. You can type and cursor moves but you don't see any text?

Steve

[eiger3970]

Sorry if was unclear.

I can type text, however I thought I need to press Enter, which would then 'echo' the text I just typed.
E.g., test > Enter
test

Rather, when I type text in and press Enter, the cursor moves to the top left of the black screen. If I start typing again, the new text goes over the old text.

[stephenw10]

No that's all good. If you're seeing any text at all then the cable is working.
Usually the serial console software running whatever you're attached to received what you're typing and echoes back whatever is appropriate including moving to a new line and the CLI prompt etc. Just connecting Rx and Tx you are seeing simply the raw output of the serial terminal.

So that has proved Putty and the USB-Serial converter are working correctly. It has proved the serial cable you using has pins 2 and 3 connected BUT it has not proved that it's a null-modem cable and not a straight through cable since pins 2 and 3 could be connected either way. However since you have a multimeter it's easy to prove.  :) In a null-modem cable (of any type) pins 2 and 3 are crossed in the cable such that pin 2 at one end is connected to pin 3 at the other. Using two paperclips and the meter on it's continuity range (often beeps when connected) you can test this.

Steve

[eiger3970]

Cable black in Multimeter: COM.
Cable black in Null modem cable end 2.
Cable Null Modem end 1: paper clip in pins 2 and 3.
Cable Null Modem end 2: paper clip in pins 2 and 3.
Cable red in Multimeter: VohmsmA.
Cable red in Null modem cable end 1.
Multimeter dial setting: 200 Ohms.
Multimeter display: 1.6 up to 5.4.

[stephenw10]

Ah, sorry I should have explained myself better. You want to test between just pin 2 at one end and pin 3 at the other end.

Steve

[eiger3970]

Ok, so
Cable black in Multimeter: COM.
Cable black in Null modem cable end 1, pin 2.
Cable Null Modem end 1: paper clip in pin 2.
Cable Null Modem end 2: paper clip in pin 3.
Cable red in Multimeter: VohmsmA.
Cable red in Null modem cable end 2, pin 3.
Multimeter dial setting: 200 Ohms.
Multimeter display: 1.1.

[stephenw10]

Ok that seems to confirm it's a null modem cable.
So you should be able to see some output from the APU at 115,200bps (I think).

Steve

[eiger3970]

Ok, that's good to be definite the Null modem cable and serial female/USB male cable is not a problem.

Trying Terminal > $ putty > Enter > Connection type: Serial > Serial line: /dev/ttyUSB0 > Speed: 115200 > Open > Black window opens with the Title /dev/ttyUSB0 - PuTTY, but unable to type anything.

Maybe this is a step forward, as before the error used to appear in a 2nd window: PuTTY Fatal Error. Unable to open connection to :  Unable to open serial port.:

Maybe the APU BIOS (or whatever the APU is meant to function until the pfSense OS is installed from the MicroSD card) should be doing something?

[stephenw10]

Yes reading the apu manual you should see some output from coreboot even if you don't have any storage card loaded.
Do you see the three leds light when you power it up?

Steve

[eiger3970]

Thanks, yes I had briefly seen the
manual > page 6 > Getting started… > "The board should now power on. All three LEDs will light during BIOS POST...";
and picture.
Didn't realise it was the correct manual though as there's usually so many APU search results...so that's good I was kind of on the right track.

Hmm, still no BIOS messages on the serial console?

Yes, the three LED lights that are solid green are (see attachment):
D7 (bottom left),
D10 (bottom right) and
D11 (2nd from bottom right).

The power supply is:
AC ADAPTOR R3213
MODEL: KSAS0151200150HA
INPUT: 100-240V~50/60Hz 0.4A
OUTPUT: 12V---1.5A
For I.T.E. use only

Maybe the power supply needs to be increased to 2 Amps?


[stephenw10]

I've never seen an APU board so I've no idea which leds should light up. The manual just says three. Perhaps check the pc-engines forum.
The power requirement is 6-12W so that's 0.5-1A. Your psu shohld be fine.
Some serial consoles require hardware flow control. You may not have putty set for that. Your cable may not be wired for it. Once booting pfSense though it's not a problem. You should see pfSense output at 9600bps.

Steve

[eiger3970]

Putty settings:
Session > Serial line: /dev/ttyUSB0 > Speed: 9600.

I adjusted the Putty Flow control via:
Putty > Enter > Category > Serial > Flow control: None > black window opens with text: k ! and cannot type.
Putty > Enter > Category > Serial > Flow control: XON/XOFF > black window opens and cannot type. (this was the default setting).
Putty > Enter > Category > Serial > Flow control: RTS/CTS > black window opens and cannot type.

[stephenw10]

I think it's time to consult someone who actually has one of these boards.  ;)
How are you booting pfSense? Does it show any signs of booting, beeping LEDs flashing etc?

Earlier when it appeared you had your PSU connected the wrong way around that concerned me but then you reported that after re-configuring it to centre positive the board appeared to be working. However I have no idea what precautions the board has against incorrect polarity, it may have been damaged.  :-\ Something to ask about on the pc-engines forum perhaps.

Steve

[eiger3970]

I'm not sure how the APU is booting pfSense.
I followed the tutorial which says to transfer the file onto the microSD 8GB card and insert the microSD 8GB card into the APU.
I downloaded this file from pfSense download
  > Computer Architecture: AMD64 (64-bit) > Platform: Embedded (NanoBSD) typically with CF > Console: Serial > CF card size: 4GB.

I might try the pc-engines then.
Thanks for the suggestions.

[stephenw10]

How did you write the image to the SD card? It may be booting in the background and you just can't see it but I would expect to something on the console at 9600.  :-\

Steve

[eiger3970]

After downloading the file pfSense-2.1.3-RELEASE-4g-amd64-nanobsd.img.gz, I

1. Unzipped pfSense-2.1.3-RELEASE-4g-amd64-nanobsd.img.gz.
2. Pasted the unzipped file pfSense-2.1.3-RELEASE-4g-amd64-nanobsd.img to the MicroSD 8GB card.
3. Ejected the USB card reader from the computer.
4. Removed the microSD 8GB card from the card reader.
5. Inserted the microSD 8GB card into the APU.
6. Turned on the APU.
7. Stuck the APU into the computer's USB port.
8. Tried the serial port access via the computer Terminal and Putty.
9. Putty black window won't allow me to type.
10. Posted a forum query here and on PC Engines support forum.

[stephenw10]

Ok, that's no good you can't just copy the file to the card you have to write it as a raw image bit for bit (after you've ungzipped it).
To do that try using Win 32 disk imager: http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/

There are some great step by step instructions on the forum somewhere. I think they're in the APU thread.

Steve

[eiger3970]

That's seems to have fixed the issue.
I had to write the download as a bootable USB stick.

I can now connect via serial with 9600 baud rate.

Although, the boot is giving a partitioning problem, unlike the tutorial I found which shows a prompt?

This is the serial terminal output:

data=0x596478+0xe0ed0 syms=[0x8+0x125f70+0x8+0x113bc5]
/
Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or any other key for command prompt.
Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel]...
KDB: debugger backends: ddb
KDB: current backend: ddb
Copyright (c) 1992-2012 The FreeBSD Project.
Copyright (c) 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
        The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
FreeBSD is a registered trademark of The FreeBSD Foundation.
FreeBSD 8.3-RELEASE-p16 #0: Thu May  1 16:19:14 EDT 2014
    root@pf2_1_1_amd64.pfsense.org:/usr/obj.amd64/usr/pfSensesrc/src/sys/pfSense_SMP.8 amd64
Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0
CPU: AMD G-T40E Processor (1000.00-MHz K8-class CPU)
  Origin = "AuthenticAMD"  Id = 0x500f20  Family = 14  Model = 2  Stepping = 0
  Features=0x178bfbff <fpu,vme,de,pse,tsc,msr,pae,mce,cx8,apic,sep,mtrr,pge,mca,cmov,pat,pse36,clflush,mmx,fxsr,sse,sse2,htt>Features2=0x802209 <sse3,mon,ssse3,cx16,popcnt>AMD Features=0x2e500800 <syscall,nx,mmx+,ffxsr,page1gb,rdtscp,lm>AMD Features2=0x35ff <lahf,cmp,svm,extapic,cr8,abm,sse4a,mas,prefetch,ibs,skinit,wdt>TSC: P-state invariant
real memory  = 2115411968 (2017 MB)
avail memory = 2017193984 (1923 MB)
ACPI APIC Table: <core  coreboot="">FreeBSD/SMP: Multiprocessor System Detected: 2 CPUs
FreeBSD/SMP: 1 package(s) x 2 core(s)
 cpu0 (BSP): APIC ID:  0
 cpu1 (AP): APIC ID:  1
ioapic0 <version 2.1="">irqs 0-23 on motherboard
wlan: mac acl policy registered
ipw_bss: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/.
ipw_bss: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.
module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_bss_fw, 0xffffffff804abaf0, 0) error 1
ipw_ibss: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/.
ipw_ibss: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.
module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_ibss_fw, 0xffffffff804abb90, 0) error 1
ipw_monitor: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/.
ipw_monitor: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.
module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_monitor_fw, 0xffffffff804abc30, 0) error 1
kbd1 at kbdmux0
cryptosoft0: <software crypto="">on motherboard
padlock0: No ACE support.
acpi0: <core coreboot="">on motherboard
acpi0: [ITHREAD]
acpi0: Power Button (fixed)
Timecounter "ACPI-fast" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 1000
acpi_timer0: <32-bit timer at 3.579545MHz> port 0x808-0x80b on acpi0
cpu0: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
cpu1: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
acpi_hpet0: <high precision="" event="" timer="">iomem 0xfed00000-0xfed003ff on acpi0
Timecounter "HPET" frequency 14318180 Hz quality 900
pcib0: <acpi host-pci="" bridge="">port 0xcf8-0xcff iomem 0xa0000-0xbffff,0x7f000000-0xffffffff on acpi0
pci0: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib0
pcib1: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">at device 4.0 on pci0
pci1: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib1
re0: <realtek 8111="" 8168="" b="" c="" cp="" d="" dp="" e="" f="" pcie="" gigabit="" ethernet="">port 0x1000-0x10ff mem 0xfe600000-0xfe600fff,0xfe500000-0xfe503fff at device 0.0 on pci1
re0: Using 1 MSI-X message
re0: ASPM disabled
re0: Chip rev. 0x2c000000
re0: MAC rev. 0x00000000
miibus0: <mii bus="">on re0
rgephy0: <rtl8169s 8110s="" 8211b="" media="" interface="">PHY 1 on miibus0
rgephy0:  none, 10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 10baseT-FDX-flow, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, 100baseTX-FDX-flow, 1000baseT, 1000baseT-master, 1000baseT-FDX, 1000baseT-FDX-master, 1000baseT-FDX-flow, 1000baseT-FDX-flow-master, auto, auto-flow
re0: [ITHREAD]
pcib2: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">at device 5.0 on pci0
pci2: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib2
re1: <realtek 8111="" 8168="" b="" c="" cp="" d="" dp="" e="" f="" pcie="" gigabit="" ethernet="">port 0x2000-0x20ff mem 0xfe800000-0xfe800fff,0xfe700000-0xfe703fff at device 0.0 on pci2
re1: Using 1 MSI-X message
re1: ASPM disabled
re1: Chip rev. 0x2c000000
re1: MAC rev. 0x00000000
miibus1: <mii bus="">on re1
rgephy1: <rtl8169s 8110s="" 8211b="" media="" interface="">PHY 1 on miibus1
rgephy1:  none, 10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 10baseT-FDX-flow, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, 100baseTX-FDX-flow, 1000baseT, 1000baseT-master, 1000baseT-FDX, 1000baseT-FDX-master, 1000baseT-FDX-flow, 1000baseT-FDX-flow-master, auto, auto-flow
re1: [ITHREAD]
pcib3: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">at device 6.0 on pci0
pci3: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib3
re2: <realtek 8111="" 8168="" b="" c="" cp="" d="" dp="" e="" f="" pcie="" gigabit="" ethernet="">port 0x3000-0x30ff mem 0xfea00000-0xfea00fff,0xfe900000-0xfe903fff at device 0.0 on pci3
re2: Using 1 MSI-X message
re2: ASPM disabled
re2: Chip rev. 0x2c000000
re2: MAC rev. 0x00000000
miibus2: <mii bus="">on re2
rgephy2: <rtl8169s 8110s="" 8211b="" media="" interface="">PHY 1 on miibus2
rgephy2:  none, 10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 10baseT-FDX-flow, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, 100baseTX-FDX-flow, 1000baseT, 1000baseT-master, 1000baseT-FDX, 1000baseT-FDX-master, 1000baseT-FDX-flow, 1000baseT-FDX-flow-master, auto, auto-flow
re2: [ITHREAD]
atapci0: <ati 800="" ixp700="" sata300="" controller="">port 0x4020-0x4027,0x4040-0x4043,0x4028-0x402f,0x4044-0x4047,0x4000-0x400f mem 0xfeb08000-0xfeb083ff at device 17.0 on pci0
atapci0: [ITHREAD]
atapci0: AHCI v1.20 controller with 4 6Gbps ports, PM supported
ata2: <ata channel="">at channel 0 on atapci0
ata2: [ITHREAD]
ata3: <ata channel="">at channel 1 on atapci0
ata3: [ITHREAD]
ata4: <ata channel="">at channel 2 on atapci0
ata4: [ITHREAD]
ata5: <ata channel="">at channel 3 on atapci0
ata5: [ITHREAD]
ohci0: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">mem 0xfeb04000-0xfeb04fff at device 18.0 on pci0
ohci0: [ITHREAD]
usbus0: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">on ohci0
ehci0: <ehci (generic)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">mem 0xfeb08400-0xfeb084ff at device 18.2 on pci0
ehci0: [ITHREAD]
usbus1: EHCI version 1.0
usbus1: <ehci (generic)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">on ehci0
ohci1: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">mem 0xfeb05000-0xfeb05fff at device 19.0 on pci0
ohci1: [ITHREAD]
usbus2: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">on ohci1
ehci1: <ehci (generic)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">mem 0xfeb08500-0xfeb085ff at device 19.2 on pci0
ehci1: [ITHREAD]
usbus3: EHCI version 1.0
usbus3: <ehci (generic)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">on ehci1
pci0: <serial bus,="" smbus="">at device 20.0 (no driver attached)
atapci1: <ati 800="" ixp700="" udma133="" controller="">port 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6,0x170-0x177,0x376,0x4010-0x401f at device 20.1 on pci0
ata0: <ata channel="">at channel 0 on atapci1
ata0: [ITHREAD]
ata1: <ata channel="">at channel 1 on atapci1
ata1: [ITHREAD]
isab0: <pci-isa bridge="">at device 20.3 on pci0
isa0: <isa bus="">on isab0
pcib4: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">at device 20.4 on pci0
pci0: couldn't attach pci bus
device_attach: pcib4 attach returned 6
ohci2: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">mem 0xfeb06000-0xfeb06fff at device 20.5 on pci0
ohci2: [ITHREAD]
usbus4: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">on ohci2
pcib5: <acpi pci-pci="" bridge="">at device 21.0 on pci0
pci4: <acpi pci="" bus="">on pcib5
ohci3: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">mem 0xfeb07000-0xfeb07fff at device 22.0 on pci0
ohci3: [ITHREAD]
usbus5: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">on ohci3
ehci2: <ehci (generic)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">mem 0xfeb08600-0xfeb086ff at device 22.2 on pci0
ehci2: [ITHREAD]
usbus6: EHCI version 1.0
usbus6: <ehci (generic)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">on ehci2
acpi_button0: <power button="">on acpi0
atrtc0: <at realtime="" clock="">port 0x70-0x71 irq 8 on acpi0
orm0: <isa option="" rom="">at iomem 0xee800-0xeffff on isa0
atkbdc0: <keyboard controller="" (i8042)="">at port 0x60,0x64 on isa0
atkbd0: <at keyboard="">irq 1 on atkbdc0
kbd0 at atkbd0
atkbd: unable to get the current command byte value.
atkbd0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
atkbd0: [ITHREAD]
psm0: unable to get the current command byte value.
ppc0: cannot reserve I/O port range
uart0: <16550 or compatible> at port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 flags 0x10 on isa0
uart0: [FILTER]
uart0: console (9600,n,8,1)
uart1: <16550 or compatible> at port 0x2f8-0x2ff irq 3 on isa0
uart1: [FILTER]
acpi_throttle0: <acpi cpu="" throttling="">on cpu0
RTC BIOS diagnostic error ff <clock_battery,rom_cksum,config_unit,memory_size,fixed_disk,invalid_time>Timecounters tick every 1.000 msec
IPsec: Initialized Security Association Processing.
usbus0: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus1: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0
usbus2: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus3: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0
usbus4: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus5: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
usbus6: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0
SMP: AP CPU #1 Launched!
Root mount waiting for: usbus6 usbus5 usbus4 usbus3 usbus2 usbus1 usbus0
ugen0.1: <ati>at usbus0
uhub0: <ati 1="" 9="" ohci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus0
ugen2.1: <ati>at usbus2
ugen1.1: <ati>at usbus1
uhub1: <ati 1="" 9="" ohci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus2
uhub2: <ati 1="" 9="" ehci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus1
ugen3.1: <ati>at usbus3
uhub3: <ati 1="" 9="" ehci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus3
ugen5.1: <ati>at usbus5
ugen4.1: <ati>at usbus4
uhub4: <ati 1="" 9="" ohci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus5
uhub5: <ati 1="" 9="" ohci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 1.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus4
ugen6.1: <ati>at usbus6
uhub6: <ati 1="" 9="" ehci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus6
uhub5: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhub0: 5 ports with 5 removable, self powered
uhub1: 5 ports with 5 removable, self powered
uhub4: 4 ports with 4 removable, self powered
Root mount waiting for: usbus6 usbus3 usbus1
uhub6: 4 ports with 4 removable, self powered
uhub2: 5 ports with 5 removable, self powered
uhub3: 5 ports with 5 removable, self powered
ugen6.2: <generic>at usbus6
umass0: <generic 0="" 2="" flash="" card="" readerwriter,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.01="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus6
umass0:  SCSI over Bulk-Only; quirks = 0x4001
umass0:0:0:-1: Attached to scbus0
Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ufs/pfsense0
ROOT MOUNT ERROR:
If you have invalid mount options, reboot, and first try the following from
the loader prompt:

     set vfs.root.mountfrom.options=rw

and then remove invalid mount options from /etc/fstab.

Loader variables:
vfs.root.mountfrom=ufs:/dev/ufs/pfsense0
vfs.root.mountfrom.options=ro,sync,noatimeda0 at umass-sim0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0

da0:
 <multiple card ="" reader="" 1.00="">Removable Direct Access SCSI-4 device
Manual root filesystem specification:
da0: 40.000MB/s transfers  <fstype>:<device>Mount <device>using filesystem <fstype>eg. ufs:/dev/da0s1a
da0: 7639MB (15644672 512 byte sectors: 255H 63S/T 973C)
                       eg. cd9660:/dev/acd0
                       This is equivalent to: mount -t cd9660 /dev/acd0 /

  ?                  List valid disk boot devices
  <empty line="">Abort manual input

mountroot></empty></fstype></device></device></fstype></multiple></generic></generic></ati></ati></ati></ati></ati></ati></ati></ati></ati></ati></ati></ati></ati></ati></clock_battery,rom_cksum,config_unit,memory_size,fixed_disk,invalid_time></acpi></at></keyboard></isa></at></power></ehci></ehci></ohci></ohci></acpi></acpi></ohci></ohci></acpi></isa></pci-isa></ata></ata></ati></serial></ehci></ehci></ohci></ohci></ehci></ehci></ohci></ohci></ata></ata></ata></ata></ati></rtl8169s></mii></realtek></acpi></acpi></rtl8169s></mii></realtek></acpi></acpi></rtl8169s></mii></realtek></acpi></acpi></acpi></acpi></high></acpi></acpi></core></software></version></core ></lahf,cmp,svm,extapic,cr8,abm,sse4a,mas,prefetch,ibs,skinit,wdt></syscall,nx,mmx+,ffxsr,page1gb,rdtscp,lm></sse3,mon,ssse3,cx16,popcnt></fpu,vme,de,pse,tsc,msr,pae,mce,cx8,apic,sep,mtrr,pge,mca,cmov,pat,pse36,clflush,mmx,fxsr,sse,sse2,htt> 

When I go into the serial terminal's loader prompt, I cannot change directory to /etc/fstab, to remove invalid mount options, with the usual command $ cd.
I tried the serial terminal's loader prompt command $ lsdev, which gave the result:

lsdev
cd devices:
disk devices:
    disk0:   BIOS drive C:
      disk0s3: FFS  bad disklabel
pxe devices:
zfs devices:
OK

[eiger3970]

Ok, finally working.

[stephenw10]

Nice!  :D
So it looks like PC-Engines included some reverse polarity protection.  ;)

So you're fully booted into pfSense Nano?

I would conclude then that your null-modem cable is not wired for hardware flow control and that the serail console code in coreboot requires that. Once booting pfSense you can use software flow control which requires only three wires.

Steve