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    PC Engines apu2 experiences

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    • QinnQ
      Qinn @daemonix
      last edited by Qinn

      @daemonix Nope, just install the flashrom like above, then download the latest Mainline from here

      https://pcengines.github.io/
      

      then flash it and reboot, I have switched from Legacy to Mainline months ago and everything works still fine.

      ...and btw you don't need the force option, this is enough

      flashrom -w /tmp/apu2_v4.9.0.7.rom -p internal
      

      Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
      Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
      Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

      D 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • D
        daemonix @Qinn
        last edited by

        @Qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

        @daemonix Nope, just install the flashrom like above, then download the latest Mainline from here

        https://pcengines.github.io/
        

        then flash it and reboot, I have switched from Legacy to Mainline months ago and everything works still fine.

        ...and btw you don't need the force option, this is enough

        flashrom -w /tmp/apu2_v4.9.0.7.rom -p internal
        

        Thanks a lot for the quick replay!
        Im do it later in the evening and hopefully Ill have internet after the reboot heheheh

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • D
          daemonix @Qinn
          last edited by daemonix

          This post is deleted!
          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • D
            daemonix @Qinn
            last edited by

            @Qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

            @daemonix Nope, just install the flashrom like above, then download the latest Mainline from here

            https://pcengines.github.io/
            

            then flash it and reboot, I have switched from Legacy to Mainline months ago and everything works still fine.

            ...and btw you don't need the force option, this is enough

            flashrom -w /tmp/apu2_v4.9.0.7.rom -p internal
            

            Done without a problem!
            I had a serial link to it so I did it from there so I can see the boot sequence.

            Now that I have time to experiment a bit.
            What are the recommended combination of settings that favour performance on a openvpn server nowadays ?

            BSD crypto ON/OFF? CBC/GBC algo? etc..
            I get 40mbit on the apu2 hosted server.

            fireodoF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • fireodoF
              fireodo @daemonix
              last edited by

              @daemonix said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

              BSD crypto ON/OFF? CBC/GBC algo? etc..
              I get 40mbit on the apu2 hosted server.

              From my knowledge for the APU2-Board the settings should be AES-NI (in CPU).

              Regards,
              fireodo

              Kettop Mi4300YL CPU: i5-4300Y @ 1.60GHz RAM: 8GB Ethernet Ports: 4
              SSD: SanDisk pSSD-S2 16GB (ZFS) WiFi: WLE200NX
              pfsense 2.8.0 CE
              Packages: Apcupsd, Cron, Iftop, Iperf, LCDproc, Nmap, pfBlockerNG, RRD_Summary, Shellcmd, Snort, Speedtest, System_Patches.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • QinnQ
                Qinn
                last edited by Qinn

                I agree try AES-NI (in cpu) read this please, especially the reply from "jimp" https://forum.netgate.com/topic/114212/aes-ni-cryptodev-openvpn-help-a-n00b-understand/16

                The setting is in :

                System/Advanced/Miscellaneous
                

                try it and see how it performs.

                Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • D
                  daemonix
                  last edited by

                  fast-io
                  sndbuf 524288
                  rcvbuf 524288

                  added this, changed my PIA client to GCM (my server was already GCM) and I already had just the hardware acceleration only...
                  Gone from 45-sih mbit to 70-70mbit in both PIA and my server!!!

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

                    @Qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                    https://pcengines.github.io/

                    Does this mean that "AES-NI CPU-based acceleration" is better than the "AES-NI and BSD Crypto Device" option? I'm still confused what the difference between those two are.

                    fireodoF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • fireodoF
                      fireodo @kevindd992002
                      last edited by

                      @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                      Does this mean that "AES-NI CPU-based acceleration" is better than the "AES-NI and BSD Crypto Device" option? I'm still confused what the difference between those two are.

                      Yes! The Apu2 does not have a dedicated Crypto-Device, the Crypto-Functions are integrated in the CPU (much faster). IMHO

                      Kettop Mi4300YL CPU: i5-4300Y @ 1.60GHz RAM: 8GB Ethernet Ports: 4
                      SSD: SanDisk pSSD-S2 16GB (ZFS) WiFi: WLE200NX
                      pfsense 2.8.0 CE
                      Packages: Apcupsd, Cron, Iftop, Iperf, LCDproc, Nmap, pfBlockerNG, RRD_Summary, Shellcmd, Snort, Speedtest, System_Patches.

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

                        @fireodo said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                        @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                        Does this mean that "AES-NI CPU-based acceleration" is better than the "AES-NI and BSD Crypto Device" option? I'm still confused what the difference between those two are.

                        Yes! The Apu2 does not have a dedicated Crypto-Device, the Crypto-Functions are integrated in the CPU (much faster). IMHO

                        I see. But won't it use AES-NI anyway if the latter option is selected?

                        Also, in the OpenVPN settings you should chhose None in the Hardware Acceleration field, correct?

                        fireodoF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • fireodoF
                          fireodo @kevindd992002
                          last edited by

                          @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                          I see. But won't it use AES-NI anyway if the latter option is selected?

                          Freebsd will look for the Crypto-Device wich is not existent and will not fallback to AES-NI CPU based.

                          Also, in the OpenVPN settings you should chhose None in the Hardware Acceleration field, correct?

                          I admit I dont know. Sorry.

                          Kettop Mi4300YL CPU: i5-4300Y @ 1.60GHz RAM: 8GB Ethernet Ports: 4
                          SSD: SanDisk pSSD-S2 16GB (ZFS) WiFi: WLE200NX
                          pfsense 2.8.0 CE
                          Packages: Apcupsd, Cron, Iftop, Iperf, LCDproc, Nmap, pfBlockerNG, RRD_Summary, Shellcmd, Snort, Speedtest, System_Patches.

                          D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • D
                            daemonix @fireodo
                            last edited by

                            @fireodo said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                            @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                            I see. But won't it use AES-NI anyway if the latter option is selected?

                            Freebsd will look for the Crypto-Device wich is not existent and will not fallback to AES-NI CPU based.

                            Also, in the OpenVPN settings you should chhose None in the Hardware Acceleration field, correct?

                            I admit I dont know. Sorry.

                            Yes this is it. I did all the possible test combinations.
                            Indeed ONLY AES-NI should be selected

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                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              Yes, the only thing to avoid here is enabling both aes-ni and bsd crypto. Doing that will cause the aes device to register for crypto acceleration via the framework which adds a load of additional steps. It's much faster to use the available CPU instructions directly. As long as it's enabled in the BIOS openssl, and hence openvpn, should use aes-ni.

                              Steve

                              QinnQ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • QinnQ
                                Qinn @stephenw10
                                last edited by

                                @stephenw10 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                Yes, the only thing to avoid here is enabling both aes-ni and bsd crypto. Doing that will cause the aes device to register for crypto acceleration via the framework which adds a load of additional steps. It's much faster to use the available CPU instructions directly. As long as it's enabled in the BIOS openssl, and hence openvpn, should use aes-ni.

                                Steve

                                So you have to select AES-NI in pfSense and not in OpenVPN, then why is this option (Hardware crypto) present in OpenVPN config within pfSense? Could you please clarify this?

                                Cheers Qinn

                                Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                                Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                                Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

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

                                  I have personally never used that setting. But I have also never had a device with a specifically supported hardware crypto device which is where I would expect it to apply.
                                  In testing I did when we went to OpenVPN 2.4 it was better to leave that set to None in every case.

                                  Steve

                                  QinnQ jahonixJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                  • QinnQ
                                    Qinn @stephenw10
                                    last edited by

                                    @stephenw10 kudos for clearing that one up!

                                    Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                                    Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                                    Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • jahonixJ
                                      jahonix @stephenw10
                                      last edited by

                                      @stephenw10 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                      But I have also never had a device with a specifically supported hardware crypto device which ...

                                      Don't want to crush this topic (and can't PM you) but lemme ask how far crypto in the SG-1100 has come? Last thing I know is that HW is present and waits for the software to follow. Anything changed in this regard?

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

                                        That is still basically the status. I'm not sure how far along that work is, I did see some discussion of it a few days ago.

                                        But that's a good point. On the SG-3100 where the crypto hardware is supported via the CESA driver I am currently running with BSD Crypto device set in both OpenVPN and as the system crypto device.

                                        Steve

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • QinnQ
                                          Qinn
                                          last edited by Qinn

                                          Although it is not downloadable at the moment, did anyone tried the new v4.10.0.0?

                                          https://pcengines.github.io/
                                          

                                          Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                                          Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                                          Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

                                          fireodoF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • fireodoF
                                            fireodo @Qinn
                                            last edited by

                                            @Qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                            Although it is not downloadable at the moment, did anyone tried the new v4.10.0.0?

                                            https://pcengines.github.io/
                                            

                                            There isnt any 4.10.0.0 version - look here:
                                            https://3mdeb.com/open-source-firmware/pcengines/

                                            Kettop Mi4300YL CPU: i5-4300Y @ 1.60GHz RAM: 8GB Ethernet Ports: 4
                                            SSD: SanDisk pSSD-S2 16GB (ZFS) WiFi: WLE200NX
                                            pfsense 2.8.0 CE
                                            Packages: Apcupsd, Cron, Iftop, Iperf, LCDproc, Nmap, pfBlockerNG, RRD_Summary, Shellcmd, Snort, Speedtest, System_Patches.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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