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    Are any external/USB graphics adapters supported?

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    • ? This user is from outside of this forum
      Guest
      last edited by

      USB graphics? I don't think so.. You may have better luck with a USB Serial adapter.

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      • E Offline
        Ehryk
        last edited by

        None of those USB Display Port units work with Free BSD?

        When you say USB to Serial adapters, do you mean something that utilizes a USB port on the machine and creates a virtual COM port, where the physical adapters would be USB and USB on both ends? What are these called or could you provide a link?

        The motherboard only has one physical serial port, and I'm planning on using it, so a USB to 10-pin COM header wouldn't do any good, I'd have to open the case and unplug the existing serial connector for that.

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        • DerelictD Offline
          Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
          last edited by

          A better direction would probably be building a node that had a dedicated IPMI port.

          Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
          A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
          DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
          Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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          • E Offline
            Ehryk
            last edited by

            At this point I've already purchased the components, and I'm set on an ASUS X99-M WS motherboard with a single serial port.

            However, it's going to be in a 1U rack mount that only has one external full height slot, which will be the quad port NIC.

            I could stick some random graphics card in with a ribbon cable, or with the top of the case off, just for the initial setup, and then pull it (or even grosser, leave it floating around inside the case), but it would be phenomenal if I could get the BIOS / FreeBSD to recognize something like this:

            http://www.ebay.com/itm/152644525741

            I might get one just on the off chance it works.

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            • DerelictD Offline
              Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
              last edited by

              Hmm. Sounds like you didn't get the right hardware for the job at-hand.

              Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
              A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
              DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
              Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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              • E Offline
                Ehryk
                last edited by

                IPMI ports seem rather obscure a requirement. I want to plug in an external graphics adapter to have full graphics output on demand; IPMI is not the right hardware for the job at-hand.

                This blog post shows a commit in FreeBSD that adds support for USB DisplayLink adapters; how would I be able to map a Free BSD SVN revision to a BSD release? Is this in pfSense 2.3 / FreeBSD 10.3 already?

                https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=FreeBSD-DisplayLink-Support

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                • DerelictD Offline
                  Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                  last edited by

                  An external graphics adapter is actually a pretty obscure requirement.

                  IPMI in a rack system is pretty ubiquitous. Else serial console. Else an actual VGA/KVM ports.

                  You screwed the pooch on this purchase. Sorry.

                  Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                  A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                  DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                  Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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                  • V Offline
                    VAMike
                    last edited by

                    You picked a gamer board designed around the ability to install 3 gpus and want to run it without a gpu… At this point the best solution is to give up the idea of gps and use the onboard serial port as a console. (Gps over serial is pretty lousy anyway.) Or if you're still within the return window, pick a more optimal motherboard.

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                    • E Offline
                      Ehryk
                      last edited by

                      I picked one of the few motherboards that met my requirements, of which 'gamer board' was not one:

                      1. Supports Registered ECC memory
                      2. Has at least 4 RAM slots so I can run 4x8GB instead of 2x16GB
                      3. Is Micro ATX or Mini ITX to fit in the 1U chassis I selected
                      4. Takes fairly modern CPUs (2011-3, AM4, or newer, but Ryzen ECC support only theoretical at this point)
                      5. Has at least one M.2 slot for an on-board SSD

                      https://pcpartpicker.com/products/motherboard/#A=1&E=1,4&N=4,16&f=7&s=28

                      None of these options have IPMI ports.

                      Why is GPS over serial lousy? It looks fairly legit in this video, with the PPS signal provided on a separate line (DCD) generating an interrupt.

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3UTcF7FQDs

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                      • E Offline
                        Ehryk
                        last edited by

                        Here's his result after adding the GPS over serial.

                        ![GPS Syncronized NTP.png](/public/imported_attachments/1/GPS Syncronized NTP.png)
                        ![GPS Syncronized NTP.png_thumb](/public/imported_attachments/1/GPS Syncronized NTP.png_thumb)

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                        • E Offline
                          Ehryk
                          last edited by

                          In either case, no I do not want IPMI ports, nor does that solve what I asked.

                          No I do not want to abandon GPS over serial, or add another serial port, as it also does not solve what I asked.

                          I want on-demand graphics to a monitor over USB, from pfSense/FreeBSD. Does anyone know of any DisplayLink adapters that are compatible, or have gotten this working? This has been fairly well supported in Linux kernels for ~6+ years.

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                          • DerelictD Offline
                            Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                            last edited by

                            Try it and see.

                            Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                            A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                            DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                            Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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                            • E Offline
                              Ehryk
                              last edited by

                              Indeed; how helpful.

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                              • W Offline
                                whosmatt
                                last edited by

                                @Ehryk:

                                Indeed; how helpful.

                                You're in territory here where nobody can give a first-hand experience "yes" or '"no" answer to your specific question.  Hence, "try it and see."

                                Quick Google search brings up this:  http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=FreeBSD-DisplayLink-Support

                                Looks promising.

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                                • E Offline
                                  Ehryk
                                  last edited by

                                  Indeed; it links to an SVN Commit from 2015.03.07, which makes it unclear as to whether it is part of the Free BSD 10.3 release 2016.04.04.

                                  This is also promising, but it doesn't seem to be present in 10.3, only 11+

                                  https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=udl&apropos=0&sektion=4&manpath=FreeBSD+11.1-stable&arch=default&format=html

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                                  • stephenw10S Online
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    Should be in pfSense 2.4 snapshots:
                                    https://github.com/pfsense/FreeBSD-src/blob/releng/11.0/sys/dev/usb/video/udl.c

                                    No idea about making that the primary console though. Some hackery required I would think if it works at all.

                                    Steve

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                                    • E Offline
                                      Ehryk
                                      last edited by

                                      Yeah, I plan on starting with a 2.4 snapshot. I'll try with a couple DisplayLink adapters I have already, but I will likely have to complete the initial setup via the serial port or a temporary graphics card.

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                                      • D Offline
                                        doktornotor Banned
                                        last edited by

                                        @Ehryk:

                                        I want on-demand graphics to a monitor over USB, from pfSense/FreeBSD. Does anyone know of any DisplayLink adapters that are compatible

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                                        • E Offline
                                          Ehryk
                                          last edited by

                                          If you don't care, or you don't know the answer, then your reply is not only pointless but also demonstrating that you do care in some way (at least sufficiently enough to comment).

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                                          • V Offline
                                            VAMike
                                            last edited by

                                            @Ehryk:

                                            In either case, no I do not want IPMI ports, nor does that solve what I asked.

                                            No I do not want to abandon GPS over serial, or add another serial port, as it also does not solve what I asked.

                                            I want on-demand graphics to a monitor over USB, from pfSense/FreeBSD. Does anyone know of any DisplayLink adapters that are compatible, or have gotten this working? This has been fairly well supported in Linux kernels for ~6+ years.

                                            You chose a weird set of requirements, decided to run a dedicated firewall OS on top of it, and want to do something unusual with it. I assume this is for a home lab, so just experiment until you find something that works for you. Or just run linux. With the overkill in CPU & memory you could virtualize pfsense, still get perfectly acceptable performance, and have lots of room left over for other VMs.

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