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    PC Engines apu2 experiences

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    • D
      dugeem
      last edited by

      Have recently upgraded my apu2b4 to 2.4 RC.

      Prior to the upgrade I used the flashrom utility to upgrade BIOS to v4.0.7.

      For my configuration (LAN, WLAN + dual WAN) it was a smooth upgrade - kudos to pfSense team!

      Some updated OpenSSL benchmarks, showing GCM performance improvement (ready for OpenVPN 2.4):

       openssl speed -elapsed -evp aes-128-cbc
      type             16 bytes     64 bytes    256 bytes   1024 bytes   8192 bytes
      aes-128-cbc     121916.58k   174865.28k   214507.52k   226282.50k   230230.70k
      
      openssl speed -elapsed -evp aes-128-gcm
      type             16 bytes     64 bytes    256 bytes   1024 bytes   8192 bytes
      aes-128-gcm      43423.18k   113562.28k   276355.50k   358399.32k   431721.13k
      
      
      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • valnarV
        valnar
        last edited by

        Hi.  I'm coming late to the party and bought an APU2C4 board, running the latest 2.40RC based on FreeBSD 11.1. I'm using the full install on an mSATA board.  BIOS v4.0.7

        I read every post in the thread… How many of these tweaks (from the defaults) are still needed on the latest pfSense?

        • Temperature probe changes
        • PowerD
        • Trim support
        • Hardware TCP & large receive offload changes
        • AES-NI changes

        Also, do you recommend the 32-bit or 64-bit version for this platform?

        Thanks!

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • ?
          Guest
          last edited by

          @valnar:

          Hi.  I'm coming late to the party and bought an APU2C4 board, running the latest 2.40RC based on FreeBSD 11.1. I'm using the full install on an mSATA board.  BIOS v4.0.7

          I read every post in the thread… How many of these tweaks (from the defaults) are still needed on the latest pfSense?

          • Temperature probe changes
          • PowerD
          • Trim support
          • Hardware TCP & large receive offload changes
          • AES-NI changes

          Also, do you recommend the 32-bit or 64-bit version for this platform?

          Thanks!

          It;s a 64 bit processor, so what do you think?  :)

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • valnarV
            valnar
            last edited by

            Not sure.  It only has 4GB RAM, and some 32-bit operating systems are faster.

            How about those other things?

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • ?
              Guest
              last edited by

              I'm using the full install on an mSATA board.  BIOS v4.0.7

              Would be also my personal choice and is also highly recommended from netgate in their Version 2.4.0 blog.
              _A few noteworthy items about running or upgrading to 2.4:

              • 32-bit x86 and NanoBSD have been deprecated and are not supported on 2.4. Hardware capable of
                running 64-bit images should be reinstalled with a 64-bit version.

              • NanoBSD installs on 64-bit hardware should be reinstalled as a full installation.

              • 32-bit x86 hardware can continue to run pfSense software version 2.3.x, which will
                receive security updates for at least a year after 2.4.0-RELEASE._

              I read every post in the thread… How many of these tweaks (from the defaults) are still needed on the latest pfSense?

              You don´t need to setup tune or organize something, but you cold do so and that is more a additional option for the
              admins and nothing you must be pressed to do.

              • Temperature probe changes

              Do you need the temperature sensor?

              • PowerD

              Is the cpu scaling from the lowest bottom to the highest top as needed by default?

              • Trim support

              Is this a mSATA or SSD that supports TRIM?

              • Hardware TCP & large receive offload changes

              Is all running fine without any issues, like you was imagine it?

              • AES-NI changes

              Are you using the OpenVPN or IPSec VPN method?

              Some need it, some want it and some are aware of doing something in that direction!

              Also, do you recommend the 32-bit or 64-bit version for this platform?

              Since version 2.4.0 there will be only the amd64Bit version and ARM images only!!!

              • no NanoBSD
              • no 32Bit OS image
              • AES-NI support in the CPU is a must be since version 2.5.0

              Not sure.  It only has 4GB RAM, and some 32-bit operating systems are faster.

              Today this information is really outdated, it was due to the changing between 32Bit and 64Bit hardware
              where 64Bit hardware were brand new on the marked, but today you may better of using the 64Bit image
              if you have real 64Bit hardware, due to many differences likes;

              • drivers will be not even ported back to 32Bit hardware (due to the lag of time and from the hardware side)
              • nearly any new hardware will be 64Bit and is more capable as the older 32Bit technic
              • since the ARM support other things are gone, or we all must waiting a longer time to get updates/upgrades

              How about those other things?

              pfSense 2.4.0 blog
              _A few noteworthy items about running or upgrading to 2.4:

              • 32-bit x86 and NanoBSD have been deprecated and are not supported on 2.4.
                Hardware capable of running 64-bit images should be reinstalled with a 64-bit version.

              • NanoBSD installs on 64-bit hardware should be reinstalled as a full installation.

              • 32-bit x86 hardware can continue to run pfSense software version 2.3.x, which will
                receive security updates for at least a year after 2.4.0-RELEASE._

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • ?
                Guest
                last edited by

                @valnar:

                Not sure.  It only has 4GB RAM, and some 32-bit operating systems are faster.

                How about those other things?

                It uses very little RAM. As my tag says APU2C4. I've never seen RAM  usage over 30% and  I use pfBlocker too, run my own web and mail servers too. 2Gb would probably be sufficient.

                It works perfectly well with a default install. With the fact it supports AES you can enable that… or not, it's optional but enable it anyway.

                As has been said already 32bit is deprecated anyway.

                It's a really good device and takes only minutes to install and set up pfSense from scratch.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • valnarV
                  valnar
                  last edited by

                  Do you need the temperature sensor?

                  Yep

                  Is the cpu scaling from the lowest bottom to the highest top as needed by default?

                  Not sure.  It was talked about in this thread.  Do I?

                  Is this a mSATA or SSD that supports TRIM?

                  Of course.

                  • Hardware TCP & large receive offload changes

                  Is all running fine without any issues, like you was imagine it?

                  Of course, but maybe it can run better, which is obviously why I asked.

                  • AES-NI changes

                  Are you using the OpenVPN or IPSec VPN method?

                  Of course, that's why I asked.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • VeldkornetV
                    Veldkornet
                    last edited by

                    I noticed today that the APU2 makes a quick short beep every time I login via the GUI.

                    Have I just never noticed this or is it new in 2.4.0?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • J
                      JasonAU
                      last edited by

                      @Veldkornet:

                      I noticed today that the APU2 makes a quick short beep every time I login via the GUI.

                      Have I just never noticed this or is it new in 2.4.0?

                      Mine always did this from SSH via the speaker on the computer running putty but it's new for me the speaker of the apu2 device now beeps kind-a cool really

                      Brisbane Queensland Australia

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • K
                        kevindd992002
                        last edited by

                        I have to ask this but which is better between the two BIOS series releases for the APU2? 4.0.x or 4.5.x/4.6.x?

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • ?
                          Guest
                          last edited by

                          Never had issues with either of them.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • K
                            kevindd992002
                            last edited by

                            Any ideas why I'm getting a board mismatch error:

                            Calibrating delay loop… delay loop is unreliable, trying to continue OK.
                            coreboot table found at 0xdffae000.
                            Found chipset "AMD FCH".
                            Enabling flash write... OK.
                            Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x00000000ff800000.
                            This coreboot image (PC Engines:PC Engines apu2) does not appear to
                            be correct for the detected mainboard (PC Engines:PCEngines apu2).
                            Aborting. You can override this with -p internal:boardmismatch=force.

                            As you can see in the logs, they're the same exact board so I'm not sure why there's a mismatch?

                            EDIT: Nevermind, I already figured it out. It seems to be caused by the space between PC and Engines so forcing it fixed the problem.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • ?
                              Guest
                              last edited by

                              @kevindd992002:

                              Any ideas why I'm getting a board mismatch error:

                              Calibrating delay loop… delay loop is unreliable, trying to continue OK.
                              coreboot table found at 0xdffae000.
                              Found chipset "AMD FCH".
                              Enabling flash write... OK.
                              Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x00000000ff800000.
                              This coreboot image (PC Engines:PC Engines apu2) does not appear to
                              be correct for the detected mainboard (PC Engines:PCEngines apu2).
                              Aborting. You can override this with -p internal:boardmismatch=force.

                              As you can see in the logs, they're the same exact board so I'm not sure why there's a mismatch?

                              whats the firmware filename and model apu you have?

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • K
                                kevindd992002
                                last edited by

                                @marjohn56:

                                @kevindd992002:

                                Any ideas why I'm getting a board mismatch error:

                                Calibrating delay loop… delay loop is unreliable, trying to continue OK.
                                coreboot table found at 0xdffae000.
                                Found chipset "AMD FCH".
                                Enabling flash write... OK.
                                Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x00000000ff800000.
                                This coreboot image (PC Engines:PC Engines apu2) does not appear to
                                be correct for the detected mainboard (PC Engines:PCEngines apu2).
                                Aborting. You can override this with -p internal:boardmismatch=force.

                                As you can see in the logs, they're the same exact board so I'm not sure why there's a mismatch?

                                whats the firmware filename and model apu you have?

                                I have the APU2C4. See my edit notes above, I already fixed it.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • V
                                  VAMike
                                  last edited by

                                  @kevindd992002:

                                  Any ideas why I'm getting a board mismatch error:

                                  Calibrating delay loop… delay loop is unreliable, trying to continue OK.
                                  coreboot table found at 0xdffae000.
                                  Found chipset "AMD FCH".
                                  Enabling flash write... OK.
                                  Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x00000000ff800000.
                                  This coreboot image (PC Engines:PC Engines apu2) does not appear to
                                  be correct for the detected mainboard (PC Engines:PCEngines apu2).
                                  Aborting. You can override this with -p internal:boardmismatch=force.

                                  As you can see in the logs, they're the same exact board so I'm not sure why there's a mismatch?

                                  They're not exactly the same: somebody decided things would look nicer if they added a space, so now you're forced to override the safety check to install the firmware. Let the author know the missing space didn't really bother you.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • ?
                                    Guest
                                    last edited by

                                    yes, the force option, I did not need that, strange.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • ?
                                      Guest
                                      last edited by

                                      @VAMike:

                                      @kevindd992002:

                                      Any ideas why I'm getting a board mismatch error:

                                      Calibrating delay loop… delay loop is unreliable, trying to continue OK.
                                      coreboot table found at 0xdffae000.
                                      Found chipset "AMD FCH".
                                      Enabling flash write... OK.
                                      Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x00000000ff800000.
                                      This coreboot image (PC Engines:PC Engines apu2) does not appear to
                                      be correct for the detected mainboard (PC Engines:PCEngines apu2).
                                      Aborting. You can override this with -p internal:boardmismatch=force.

                                      As you can see in the logs, they're the same exact board so I'm not sure why there's a mismatch?

                                      They're not exactly the same: somebody decided things would look nicer if they added a space, so now you're forced to override the safety check to install the firmware. Let the author know the missing space didn't really bother you.

                                      I must have gone from a different firmware version :)

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • K
                                        kevindd992002
                                        last edited by

                                        @VAMike:

                                        @kevindd992002:

                                        Any ideas why I'm getting a board mismatch error:

                                        Calibrating delay loop… delay loop is unreliable, trying to continue OK.
                                        coreboot table found at 0xdffae000.
                                        Found chipset "AMD FCH".
                                        Enabling flash write... OK.
                                        Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x00000000ff800000.
                                        This coreboot image (PC Engines:PC Engines apu2) does not appear to
                                        be correct for the detected mainboard (PC Engines:PCEngines apu2).
                                        Aborting. You can override this with -p internal:boardmismatch=force.

                                        As you can see in the logs, they're the same exact board so I'm not sure why there's a mismatch?

                                        They're not exactly the same: somebody decided things would look nicer if they added a space, so now you're forced to override the safety check to install the firmware. Let the author know the missing space didn't really bother you.

                                        Yes, I figured it out after a few seconds of Googling and stumbling upon your post in the PCEngines forum :)

                                        @marjohn56:

                                        yes, the force option, I did not need that, strange.

                                        Probably because when you bought the device, you had a BIOS with version of 4.0.8 or above. I bet yours is pretty new.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • ?
                                          Guest
                                          last edited by

                                          Possibly, I have two APU's one that's live and one that's test. The live version runs 4.0.7, from the pcengines site.

                                          The other has bounced around a bit, so maybe I did have to force it, or not…. can't remember.  ::)

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • S
                                            Stugots
                                            last edited by

                                            Has anybody had any luck getting the front LED's to work with pfSense?

                                            PC Engines APU2C4

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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