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    Using a hard-disk in a Watchguard Firebox X750e for cache/log storage

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
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    • S
      sg1
      last edited by

      No.  I see now, that it is incorrect.  I still have the original being mounted due to it.  My question is, where specifically in the original rc.embedded do I change with the Steve's changes as there are other calls in the script that I am not sure are needed or not.  Apologies, just new to the pfsense and Watchguard platforms so I am sure my questions are on the the dumber side….  The original rc.embedded is below:

      rc.embedded - embedded system specific startup information

      For pfSense

      Size of /tmp

      USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE=/usr/bin/grep use_mfs_tmp_size /cf/conf/config.xml | /usr/bin/cut -f2 -d'>' | /usr/bin/cut -f1 -d'<'

      if [ ! -z ${USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE} ] && [ ${USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE} -gt 0 ]; then
              tmpsize="${USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE}m"
      else
              tmpsize="40m"
      fi

      Size of /var

      USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE=/usr/bin/grep use_mfs_var_size /cf/conf/config.xml | /usr/bin/                                                                                 cut -f2 -d'>' | /usr/bin/cut -f1 -d'<'
      if [ ! -z ${USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE} ] && [ ${USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE} -gt 0 ]; then
              varsize="${USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE}m"
      else
              varsize="60m"
      fi

      Run some initialization routines

      [ -f /etc/rc.d/uzip ] && /etc/rc.d/uzip start

      echo -n "Setting up memory disks…"
      mdmfs -S -M -s ${tmpsize} md /tmp
      mdmfs -S -M -s ${varsize} md /var

      Create some needed directories

      /bin/mkdir -p /var/db

      Ensure vi's recover directory is present

      /bin/mkdir -p /var/tmp/vi.recover/
      echo " done."

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      • S
        Steve Evans
        last edited by

        Here is the complete patched /etc/rc.embedded.

        #!/bin/sh
        #
        # rc.embedded - embedded system specific startup information
        # For pfSense
        
        # Size of /tmp
        USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE=`/usr/bin/grep use_mfs_tmp_size /cf/conf/config.xml | /usr/bin/cut -f2 -d'>' | /usr/bin/cut -f1 -d'<'`
        if [ ! -z ${USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE} ] && [ ${USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE} -gt 0 ]; then
        	tmpsize="${USE_MFS_TMP_SIZE}m"
        else
        	tmpsize="40m"
        fi
        
        # Size of /var
        USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE=`/usr/bin/grep use_mfs_var_size /cf/conf/config.xml | /usr/bin/cut -f2 -d'>' | /usr/bin/cut -f1 -d'<'`
        if [ ! -z ${USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE} ] && [ ${USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE} -gt 0 ]; then
        	varsize="${USE_MFS_VAR_SIZE}m"
        else
        	varsize="60m"
        fi
        
        # Run some initialization routines
        [ -f /etc/rc.d/uzip ] && /etc/rc.d/uzip start
        
        echo -n "Setting up memory disks..."
        mdmfs -S -M -s ${tmpsize} md /tmp
        
        # If a hard disk is installed then mount that on /var
        # otherwise use a ramdisk
        harddisk="/dev/ad1s1a"
        if [ -c $harddisk ]
        then
        	echo -n "Using /var physical disk..."
        	mount -o noatime $harddisk /var
        
        	# Ensure /var/run is removed on boot before daemons are started
        	# It should arguably be a tmpfs, but this works fine
        	rm -r /var/run
        
        	# sshd won't start if /var/empty exists on boot
        	rm -r /var/empty
        else
        	echo -n "Using /var memory disk..."
        	mdmfs -S -M -s ${varsize} md /var
        
        	# Create some needed directories
        	/bin/mkdir -p /var/db
        
        	# Ensure vi's recover directory is present
        	/bin/mkdir -p /var/tmp/vi.recover/
        fi
        
        echo " done."
        
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        • S
          sg1
          last edited by

          Thank you so much Steve!  Works perfectly.  Thanks for your patience….

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          • A
            atrocity
            last edited by

            only my result of a x5500e with a ide SSD from CWC :

            /dev/ad1s1a
                    512            # sectorsize
                    57872344064    # mediasize in bytes (53G)
                    113031922      # mediasize in sectors
                    0              # stripesize
                    40448          # stripeoffset
                    112134          # Cylinders according to firmware.
                    16              # Heads according to firmware.
                    63              # Sectors according to firmware.
                    OW140822AS1514144      # Disk ident.

            Seek times:
                    Full stroke:      250 iter in  0.040570 sec =    0.162 msec
                    Half stroke:      250 iter in  0.037379 sec =    0.150 msec
                    Quarter stroke:  500 iter in  0.125276 sec =    0.251 msec
                    Short forward:    400 iter in  0.093555 sec =    0.234 msec
                    Short backward:  400 iter in  0.096201 sec =    0.241 msec
                    Seq outer:      2048 iter in  0.169674 sec =    0.083 msec
                    Seq inner:      2048 iter in  0.123082 sec =    0.060 msec
            Transfer rates:
                    outside:      102400 kbytes in  1.124830 sec =    91036 kbytes/sec
                    middle:        102400 kbytes in  1.128009 sec =    90779 kbytes/sec
                    inside:        102400 kbytes in  1.125042 sec =    91019 kbytes/sec

            seems that i don't have to tune anything.
            I will make the same test with a x750e soon, will let you know if somebody is interrested :)
            Regards

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            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              What tool are you testing that with? Did you enable TRIM? Be interesting to see how those figures vary over time once you've moved a few gigs across the drive.

              Steve

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              • A
                atrocity
                last edited by

                hi,

                i simply use this :

                diskinfo -tv /dev/ad1

                Trim … i did a try to enable it, but our server don't want it.
                Don't remember the problem or the error, sorry.

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                • S
                  Steve Evans
                  last edited by

                  Good to see how quick this can run. If my ISP increases speed x5 I may have to get an SSD!

                  Steve

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                  • S
                    Steve Evans
                    last edited by

                    Having updated to 2.2 the support for my hard-drive now appears rather worse.

                    The atacontrol utility which did exactly what I needed has been superseded by camcontrol. This reports that the disk is in polled mode.

                    $ camcontrol negotiate /dev/ada1 -v 
                    Current parameters:
                    (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): ATA mode: PIO4
                    (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): ATAPI packet length: 0
                    (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): PIO transaction length: 8192
                    (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): tagged queueing: disabled
                    ata0: SIM/HBA version: 1
                    ata0: supports SDTR message
                    ata0: scan bus sequentially
                    ata0: HBA engine count: 0
                    ata0: maximum target: 1
                    ata0: maximum LUN: 0
                    ata0: highest path ID in subsystem: 0
                    ata0: initiator ID: 0
                    ata0: SIM vendor: FreeBSD
                    ata0: HBA vendor: ATA
                    ata0: HBA vendor ID: 0x8086
                    ata0: HBA device ID: 0x266f
                    ata0: HBA subvendor ID: 0x8086
                    ata0: HBA subdevice ID: 0x266f
                    ata0: bus ID: 0
                    ata0: base transfer speed: 3.300MB/sec
                    ata0: maximum transfer size: 131072 bytes
                    

                    I should be able to set the disk to UDMA33 mode however, this is what I get.

                    $ camcontrol negotiate /dev/ada1 -v -U -M UDMA33 -a
                    User parameters:
                    (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): ATA mode: UDMA2
                    (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): ATAPI packet length: 0
                    (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): PIO transaction length: 131072
                    (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): tagged queueing: enabled
                    ata0: SIM/HBA version: 1
                    ata0: supports SDTR message
                    ata0: scan bus sequentially
                    ata0: HBA engine count: 0
                    ata0: maximum target: 1
                    ata0: maximum LUN: 0
                    ata0: highest path ID in subsystem: 0
                    ata0: initiator ID: 0
                    ata0: SIM vendor: FreeBSD
                    ata0: HBA vendor: ATA
                    ata0: HBA vendor ID: 0x8086
                    ata0: HBA device ID: 0x266f
                    ata0: HBA subvendor ID: 0x8086
                    ata0: HBA subdevice ID: 0x266f
                    ata0: bus ID: 0
                    ata0: base transfer speed: 3.300MB/sec
                    ata0: maximum transfer size: 131072 bytes
                    Unit is not ready
                    (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): TEST UNIT READY. CDB: 00 00 00 00 00 00 
                    (pass1:ata0:0:1:0): CAM status: CCB request was invalid
                    Test Unit Ready failed
                    

                    I've tried all manner of variations. Any ideas to get camcontrol to do what a simple

                    atacontrol mode ad1 UDMA6
                    

                    would do before?

                    Thanks,

                    Steve

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                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      Haven't you alread set ata0 to PIO4 only though?
                      The HD and CF are on the same IDE channel right?

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                      • S
                        Steve Evans
                        last edited by

                        Hi Stephen,

                        This is what I'm trying to get my head round at the moment, reading the FreeBSD documentation to better understand the nomenclature.

                        If I boot without specifying

                        hint.ata.0.mode=PIO4
                        

                        I see the following on the console

                        ada0 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0
                        ada0: <sandisk sdcfh-004g="" hdx="" 6.02=""> CFA-0 device
                        ada0: Serial Number ABZ042211193008
                        ada0: 66.700MB/s transfers (UDMA4, PIO 512bytes)
                        ada0: 3815MB (7813120 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 7751C)
                        ada0: Previously was known as ad0
                        ada1 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 1 lun 0
                        ada1: <st9402115a 3.01=""> ATA-6 device
                        ada1: Serial Number 5PV09ZED
                        ada1: 100.000MB/s transfers (UDMA5, PIO 8192bytes)
                        ada1: 38154MB (78140160 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                        ada1: Previously was known as ad1</st9402115a></sandisk>
                        

                        Rather than

                        ada0 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0
                        ada0: <sandisk sdcfh-004g="" hdx="" 6.02=""> CFA-0 device
                        ada0: Serial Number ABZ042211193008
                        ada0: 16.700MB/s transfers (PIO4, PIO 512bytes)
                        ada0: 3815MB (7813120 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 7751C)
                        ada0: Previously was known as ad0
                        ada1 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 1 lun 0
                        ada1: <st9402115a 3.01=""> ATA-6 device
                        ada1: Serial Number 5PV09ZED
                        ada1: 16.700MB/s transfers (PIO4, PIO 8192bytes)
                        ada1: 38154MB (78140160 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                        ada1: Previously was known as ad1</st9402115a></sandisk>
                        

                        As you point out, this setting affects them both. I've been trying to understand what granularity of control the driver gives me. From the ata man page there's the following which suggests per device control, but I don't currently understand what "specified device" means exactly.

                        @https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=ata(4)&sektion=:

                        hint.ata.X.devX.mode
                            limits the initial ATA mode for the specified device on the specified channel.

                        hint.ata.X.mode
                            limits the initial ATA mode for every device on the specified channel.

                        I'm not sure how the master/slave IDE arrangement maps onto the above. Any pointers much appreciated!

                        Thanks,

                        Steve

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                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          Pretty sure the CF slot is always master if a CF card is in it so I would think it's dev0.

                          On my test box here which I haven't set loader.conf.local on it will boot if I use:

                          Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or any other key for command prompt.
                          Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel] in 4 seconds...
                          
                          Type '?' for a list of commands, 'help' for more detailed help.
                          OK set hint.ata.0.dev0.mode=PIO4
                          OK boot
                          Booting...
                          
                          

                          So I'd say you're good with that.

                          Steve

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                          • S
                            Steve Evans
                            last edited by

                            Thank you sir, you're a scholar and a gentleman!  :)

                            Your suggestion works a treat. I clearly had a bit of a mental block on what "devX" could be. I'd tried "0", but it hadn't occurred to me to used "dev0".  :-[ I'm clearly not familiar enough with FreeBSD naming conventions.

                            [code]ada0 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0
                            ada0: <sandisk sdcfh-004g="" hdx="" 6.02="">CFA-0 device
                            ada0: Serial Number ABZ042211193008
                            ada0: 16.700MB/s transfers (PIO4, PIO 512bytes)
                            ada0: 3815MB (7813120 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 7751C)
                            ada0: Previously was known as ad0
                            ada1 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 1 lun 0
                            ada1: <st9402115a 3.01="">ATA-6 device
                            ada1: Serial Number 5PV09ZED
                            ada1: 100.000MB/s transfers (UDMA5, PIO 8192bytes)
                            ada1: 38154MB (78140160 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                            ada1: Previously was known as ad1

                            I'm now getting the performance I need for my disk used for logs and caching.

                            diskinfo -tv /dev/ad1
                            /dev/ad1
                                    512             # sectorsize
                                    40007761920     # mediasize in bytes (37G)
                                    78140160        # mediasize in sectors
                                    0               # stripesize
                                    0               # stripeoffset
                                    77520           # Cylinders according to firmware.
                                    16              # Heads according to firmware.
                                    63              # Sectors according to firmware.
                                    5PV09ZED        # Disk ident.
                            
                            Seek times:
                                    Full stroke:      250 iter in   7.926598 sec =   31.706 msec
                                    Half stroke:      250 iter in   6.203416 sec =   24.814 msec
                                    Quarter stroke:   500 iter in   9.877891 sec =   19.756 msec
                                    Short forward:    400 iter in   3.476113 sec =    8.690 msec
                                    Short backward:   400 iter in   2.381591 sec =    5.954 msec
                                    Seq outer:       2048 iter in   0.197696 sec =    0.097 msec
                                    Seq inner:       2048 iter in   0.179296 sec =    0.088 msec
                            Transfer rates:
                                    outside:       102400 kbytes in   3.135350 sec =    32660 kbytes/sec
                                    middle:        102400 kbytes in   3.745807 sec =    27337 kbytes/sec
                                    inside:        102400 kbytes in   5.382397 sec =    19025 kbytes/sec
                            
                            

                            Steve</st9402115a></sandisk>

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                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              Nice! I'm going to have to try that sometime.  :)

                              Steve

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                In testing the HD issue I ran that benchmark. Thought my result might ammuse you:

                                [2.2-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: diskinfo -tv /dev/ada0
                                /dev/ada0
                                        512             # sectorsize
                                        20003880960     # mediasize in bytes (19G)
                                        39070080        # mediasize in sectors
                                        0               # stripesize
                                        0               # stripeoffset
                                        38760           # Cylinders according to firmware.
                                        16              # Heads according to firmware.
                                        63              # Sectors according to firmware.
                                        32K60131T       # Disk ident.
                                
                                Seek times:
                                        Full stroke:      250 iter in  11.840086 sec =   47.360 msec
                                        Half stroke:      250 iter in   8.878876 sec =   35.516 msec
                                        Quarter stroke:   500 iter in  15.334866 sec =   30.670 msec
                                        Short forward:    400 iter in   8.639504 sec =   21.599 msec
                                        Short backward:   400 iter in   7.131472 sec =   17.829 msec
                                        Seq outer:       2048 iter in   0.282496 sec =    0.138 msec
                                        Seq inner:       2048 iter in   1.086055 sec =    0.530 msec
                                Transfer rates:
                                        outside:       102400 kbytes in  23.521335 sec =     4353 kbytes/sec
                                        middle:        102400 kbytes in  20.436978 sec =     5011 kbytes/sec
                                        inside:        102400 kbytes in  48.862760 sec =     2096 kbytes/sec
                                
                                

                                Something not right.  ::) Yet:

                                [2.2-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: dmesg | grep ada
                                ada0 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0
                                ada0: <toshiba mk2018gap="" m1.42="" a="">ATA-5 device
                                ada0: Serial Number 32K60131T
                                ada0: 100.000MB/s transfers (UDMA5, PIO 8192bytes)
                                ada0: 19077MB (39070080 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                                ada0: Previously was known as ad0
                                Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ada0s1a [rw]...</toshiba> 
                                

                                Just a knackered old drive? Works fine though, as long as you're not in a hurry!

                                Steve

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                                • S
                                  Steve Evans
                                  last edited by

                                  Ouch. Not much use as a cache though as it's no faster than fiber broadband!

                                  Steve

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • M
                                    MacUsers
                                    last edited by

                                    @stephenw10:

                                    [2.2-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: dmesg | grep ada
                                    ada0 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 0 lun 0
                                    ada0: <toshiba mk2018gap="" m1.42="" a="">ATA-5 device
                                    ada0: Serial Number 32K60131T
                                    ada0: 100.000MB/s transfers (UDMA5, PIO 8192bytes)
                                    ada0: 19077MB (39070080 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                                    ada0: Previously was known as ad0
                                    Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ada0s1a [rw]...</toshiba> 
                                    

                                    I was just looking in some old posts - Does it mean you have TRIM enabled on your TOSHIBA MK2018GAP drive?

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • stephenw10S
                                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                      last edited by

                                      No. I'm pretty sure that device is way too old to support TRIM
                                      TRIM only applies to SSDs anyway.

                                      Steve

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • M
                                        MacUsers
                                        last edited by

                                        That's what I knew as well but this line in your dmesg:

                                        ada0: 100.000MB/s transfers (UDMA5, PIO 8192bytes)

                                        made me think otherwise.

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                                        • stephenw10S
                                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                          last edited by

                                          What part of that implies TRIM?
                                          That's the maximum speed on the interface, which is far, far faster than the drive can manage in this case.  ;)

                                          Steve

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                                          • M
                                            MacUsers
                                            last edited by

                                            Nothing in particular, to be honest. I see Ultra ATA/33 on my x750e as opposed to ATA/100 on yours:

                                            [2.2.2-RELEASE][root@wg550.home]/root: dmesg|grep ada1
                                            ada1 at ata0 bus 0 scbus0 target 1 lun 0
                                            ada1: <toshiba mk4026gax="" pa102d=""> ATA-6 device
                                            ada1: Serial Number 65IF3453T
                                            ada1: 33.300MB/s transfers (UDMA2, PIO 8192bytes)
                                            ada1: 38154MB (78140160 512 byte sectors: 16H 63S/T 16383C)
                                            ada1: Previously was known as ad1</toshiba>
                                            

                                            It says ATA-6 device, so I was hoping to see UDMA5 in the next line but UDMA2 is the ATA-4, IIRC. I'm out of sys-admin business for while now, so may be talking rubbish as well.  ;)

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