APU set up with Wi-Fi
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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. -
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
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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. -
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
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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?
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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
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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 onlyMaybe the power supply needs to be increased to 2 Amps?
 -
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
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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. -
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
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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. -
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
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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. -
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
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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 -
Ok, finally working.
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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
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Yes, good that PC-Engines built that in.
Not fully booted yet, just able to see the configuration requests.
Next problem has appeared though:
Enter the WAN interface name of 'a' for auto-detection: a > I connected the WAN Ethernet cable to re0 > re0: link stat changed to UP > Enter > No link-up detected.Not sure why the auto-detection is saying 'No link-up detected.' as the re0 changes state from link DOWN to UP?
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Just enter re0 manually. I personally never use the auto detection.
Steve
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The auto detection only works if you have it unplugged prior to using a for auto detect and then plugging it in afterwards. If you already know the ports name there's no need for auto.
