Intel Atom C2xxx LPC failures

[gcu_greyarea]

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-cpu-failure-atom-processor,33538.html

[gcu_greyarea]

More Info here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/5sb89p/psa_so_it_seems_that_intels_c2xxx_series_of_cpus/

Anybody from pfSense/Netgate/Adi care to comment ?

[athurdent]

Has anyone contacted Supermicro about this?

[gcu_greyarea]

All the information available online leads me to believe that the issue is not limited to Cisco. I.e. Intel is very clear about AVR54 and the affected processors. It's safe to assume that the ADI/NetGate/pfSense boxes are affected, too (as well as some Synology NAS')

Unless there's some magic "firmware bullet" I'm convinced that most vendors will just ride this issue out - or at best manage the issue on a Case by Case basis. If Cisco could've pushed out a firmware fix they would've done it in a heartbeat.

I'd be more than happy to receive replacements boards from Netgate/pfSense (for my 2240, 2440 and 4860's) but my hopes are indeed very slim.
The pfSense store shows One year manufacturer's warranty and my boxes are already 1+ year old. That absolves pfSense of the responsibility to replace my SG Series Appliances - which by the way have not yet even failed.

Do I sleep comfortable that my network sits on a time bomb ? No.
Do I sleep comfortable that my employer's network sits on a time bomb ? No.

Perhaps ADI/NetGate/PfSense do not have the same level of clout with intel as Cisco does, but I'd surely hope ADI/NetGate/PfSense will work out some sort of arrangement with intel to reduce the impact on existing customers.

I would suggest that affected Rangely/Avoton customers should receive a heavy discount when buying from the pfSense Store again.

[Wolf666]

This issue has nothing to do with warranty since its a design flaw…replacement or upgrade program is needed.
Personally I have my core network based on C2000, pfSense and Synology units.
There is an open thread on Synology. I also wrote to Supermicro in order to get a solution before failure occurs.

[gcu_greyarea]

It's eerily quiet here ….  :-\

[awontroba]

iXsystems FreeNAS Mini at risk too.

[MikeV7896]

@Wolf666:

I also wrote to Supermicro in order to get a solution before failure occurs.

Please let us know what they say… there are plenty here that have SuperMicro boards with the Atom C2xxx processors on them.

[athurdent]

I also contaced Supermicro yesterday, seems at least the European support did not know about the issue yet. Sent them an explanation and some links. Now they are checking with the PM of the motherboard.

[athurdent]

Hmm, the Intel doc says stepping B0 is affected. My Supermicro board says:

CPU: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU  C2758  @ 2.40GHz (2400.07-MHz K8-class CPU)
  Origin="GenuineIntel"  Id=0x406d8  Family=0x6  Model=0x4d  Stepping=8

From what I have gathered about steppings, the version normally consist of a letter followed by a number. So what could "8" mean?
I'd love to think that Cisco got the whole B0 stepping, but then again my (and all the googled dmesg) results are missing the letter…

Any experts on this?

[Creep89]

CPU: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU  C2558  @ 2.40GHz (2400.06-MHz K8-class CPU)
  Origin="GenuineIntel"  Id=0x406d8  Family=0x6  Model=0x4d  Stepping=8

Well, yeah, that is not very helpful at all.

[nifoc]

I also contacted Supermicro (EU) and asked them if it only affects one specific stepping.

Apparently even they don't know if it only affects the B0 stepping, because Intel doesn't want to give out too many details.

The hardware update Supermicro has in place (or will have in place) is for all A1 motherboards though.

[gcu_greyarea]

@Creep89:

CPU: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU  C2558  @ 2.40GHz (2400.06-MHz K8-class CPU)
  Origin="GenuineIntel"  Id=0x406d8  Family=0x6  Model=0x4d  Stepping=8

Well, yeah, that is not very helpful at all.

Have a look here:

https://www-ssl.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/specification-updates/atom-c2000-family-spec-update.pdf

Page 15 Table 9

CPUID: 406D8

[Creep89]

Oh, well. Thanks!  :-X

Guess I will buy/build a new pfSense appliance and then RMA my board. Not cool at all.

[athurdent]

Supermicro support told me to RMA my board to get a "reworked" one. They do not handle RMAs directly with the customer, though. I bought it from Amazon.de. So much for my reworked version…

[jimp]

We're still investigating internally, we'll put out an official response once we have enough information.

You can also follow some additional conversation on the topic here: https://www.reddit.com/r/PFSENSE/comments/5s8pwi/intel_c_series_processor_recalls_are_pf_official/

[grandrivers]

crap!!

CPU: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU  C2558  @ 2.40GHz (2400.06-MHz K8-class CPU)
  Origin="GenuineIntel"  Id=0x406d8  Family=0x6  Model=0x4d  Stepping=8

[dennypage]

FWIW, you probably don't need to go check your stepping. By Intel's data sheet, there has only been one stepping (B0) released to date for the Atom C2000 family.

[dennypage]

And in case anyone missed it:

https://blog.pfsense.org/?p=2297

A very respectable response from Netgate.

[liontaur]

@Jim:

Although most Netgate Security Gateway appliances will not experience this problem, we are committed to replacing or repairing products affected by this issue for a period of at least 3 years from date of sale, for the original purchaser.

That is a good post and I only have one related question now.

Does this mean that only devices that actually fail within the three years will be repaired/replaced or any devices with the susceptible CPU will be repaired/replaced within the three years regardless of whether they have actually suffered from the problem or not?