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    PC Engines apu2 experiences

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    • F
      FLOK @DaddyGo
      last edited by

      @DaddyGo
      Are there more tunables, or is this your complete list ?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • DaddyGoD
        DaddyGo
        last edited by DaddyGo

        that's all for the APU tun

        since Coreboot development is very unstable, I have stopped here for now: v4.10.0.1 /perhaps v4.10.0.4

        +++the 30 Mbps is still very suspicious of this...., I think there is another problem too
        we use it with 500/200 FTTH in several places without any issue
        (true, this is the end of APU)

        Cats bury it so they can't see it!
        (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

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

          What’s the hardware offload settings like?

          Web panel -> System -> Advanced -> Networking -> Scroll to the bottom.

          Make sure that all 3 first checkboxes under "Network Interfaces" are unchecked.

          Hardware Checksum Offloading
          Hardware TCP Segmentation Offloading
          Hardware Large Receive Offloading

          a716a34f-ec58-41d9-9ed5-cb103d3e89ca-image.png

          https://teklager.se/media/filer_public_thumbnails/filer_public/45/9a/459a5e96-ec62-4090-9b1c-55dcf60166e9/pfsense_1gbit_apu2_config_panel.png__2280x1024_q85_subsampling-2.png

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          • S
            saltandpepper @dugeem
            last edited by saltandpepper

            Offloading is used to execute functions of the router using the hardware directly, instead of a process of software functions.
            The post of @dugeem has some information about the performance impact of those functions and the tweaks from teklager.

            @dugeem said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

            @kevindd992002

            Unfortunately some of the advice in the link is incorrect.

            Firstly TSO & LRO should always be disabled on routers. Netgate recommend this (hence pfSense defaults) as do others. BSDRP have even tested this and found routing performance drop negligible from enabling TSO & LRO (see link below).

            In terms of loader.conf.local suggestions:

            • hw.igb.rx_process_limit=-1 is a standard tweak for Intel igb NICs. Performance boost on APU2 though is only ~1%.
            • hw.igb.tx_process_limit already defaults to -1 so no need to change this.
            • hw.igb.num_queues=1 is not for APU2 as stated. Default 0 allows driver to allocate maximum queues across CPU cores (i210AT has 4 queues; i211AT has 2 queues)
            • kern.ipc.nmbclusters=1000000 is unnecessary - default on APU2 with 4GB RAM is ~250000 (mbuf is 2kB - so this represents maximum 12% of RAM). Possibly for high bandwidth routers 500000 mbufs would be prudent. However use the command netstat -m to verify mbuf use prior to changing.
            • net.pf.states_hashsize=2097152 is ridculous for an APU2. If you need to be tweaking this then you'll likely need better hardware.
            • hw.igb.rxd=4096 & hw.igb.txd=4096. Increasing NIC descriptors on APU2 will actually decrease performance by 20%. And likely worsens buffer bloat. Default of 1024 is fine.
            • net.inet.tcp.* sysctl tuning is for end clients (ie not routers).

            Reference performance data for some of the above: https://bsdrp.net/documentation/technical_docs/performance#nic_drivers_tuning

            Even longer version: https://people.freebsd.org/~olivier/talks/2018_AsiaBSDCon_Tuning_FreeBSD_for_routing_and_firewalling-Paper.pdf

            The only caveat is that these BSDRP performance numbers were compiled in 2018 before the AMD CPB was enabled in APU2 BIOS - so performance should now exceed this.

            My current APU2 performance tweak summary:

            1. Upgrade BIOS to enable CPB (mainline v4.9.0.2 or later, legacy v4.0.25 or later)
            2. Disable ICMP Redirects to enable tryforward routing path (under System / Advanced / System Tunables set net.inet.ip.redirect & net.inet6.ip6.redirect to 0)
            3. Add hw.igb.rx_process_limit=-1 to /boot/loader.conf.local

            There may well be other tweaks but for our power efficient APU2 routers these tweaks should serve most well. And when my home internet evolves to 500Mb/s I'll worry some more ☺

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

              How's BIOS v4.12.0.1 doing for the one's who tested already?

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

                @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                How's BIOS v4.12.0.1 doing for the one's who tested already?

                Until now I cannot find any issue ...

                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:

                  How's BIOS v4.12.0.1 doing for the one's who tested already?

                  Until now I can find any issue ...

                  Sorry, you can or you can't?

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

                    @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                    @fireodo said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                    @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                    How's BIOS v4.12.0.1 doing for the one's who tested already?

                    Until now I can find any issue ...

                    Sorry, you can or you can't?

                    I cannot find any issue :-)

                    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
                    • K
                      kinch
                      last edited by kinch

                      Hello
                      I bought an APU2E4 I have tried to increase the throughput with the help of this website. Supposedly a speed with only 1 connection at about 800Mbit/s and with 2 connections should be about 940 Mbit/s. But I reach with a measurement in LAN (iperf3) with one connection about 350Mbit/s.

                      The following is in loader.conf.local:

                      hw.igb.rx_process_limit="-1"
                      hw.igb.tx_process_limit="-1"

                      offloading is unchecked under advanced networking.

                      website:
                      https://teklager.se/en/knowledge-base/apu2-1-gigabit-throughput-pfsense/
                      https://teklager.se/en/knowledge-base/apu-pfsense-throughput-bios-comparison/

                      BIOS: 4.12.0.1
                      pfsense: 2.4.5

                      What could be the problem here?

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • DaddyGoD
                        DaddyGo
                        last edited by DaddyGo

                        this has long been out of date https://teklager.se/ !!!

                        This is the right @kevindd992002 !!!

                        @kinch Pls, check all offloading (because i210AT = multi - queue ethernet controller
                        (4 receive queues and 4 transmit queues))

                        Thanks @saltandpepper

                        edit:
                        the APU board Coreboot development team (https://3mdeb.com/) isn't specifically focused on FreeBSD, it's more Linux, so wait longer and don't update the BIOS right away

                        Think about how long it has not been recommended the Mainline releases for FreeBSD (pfSense) only Lagacy was the right way.

                        Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                        (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                        K K 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • K
                          kevindd992002 @DaddyGo
                          last edited by

                          @DaddyGo said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                          this has long been out of date https://teklager.se/ !!!

                          This is the right @kevindd992002 !!!

                          @kinch Pls, check all offloading (because i210AT = multi - queue ethernet controller
                          (4 receive queues and 4 transmit queues))

                          Thanks @saltandpepper

                          edit:
                          the APU board Coreboot development team (https://3mdeb.com/) isn't specifically focused on FreeBSD, it's more Linux, so wait longer and don't update the BIOS right away

                          Think about how long it has not been recommended the Mainline releases for FreeBSD (pfSense) only Lagacy was the right way.

                          I'm sorry but which info were you trying to tell me? I don't seem to understand your mention.

                          DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • K
                            kinch @DaddyGo
                            last edited by

                            @DaddyGo

                            what do you mean, outdated?
                            How does his test differ from now?

                            DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • DaddyGoD
                              DaddyGo @kinch
                              last edited by

                              @kinch

                              Hi,

                              since then the guys (F.E. - @kevindd992002 ) who actively use the pfSense with APU boards overwritten this tweak ( https://teklager.se/)
                              our system has nearly 40 pcs. APU4d4s, so I speak from experience as well

                              what you read here ( https://teklager.se/) is just a test and suggestion, since then the experience gained is important, not a blog statement

                              Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                              (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                              K 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • DaddyGoD
                                DaddyGo @kevindd992002
                                last edited by

                                @kevindd992002 I'm just saying that your work is the appropriate guidance

                                Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                                (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • K
                                  kinch @DaddyGo
                                  last edited by

                                  @DaddyGo
                                  unfortunately, none of the guys you mentioned posted a speed test. Also the question is not answered, how the boy from https://teklager.se/ could reach these values.

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

                                    You're probably referring to @dugeem's post here. It wasn't "my work" per se :)

                                    DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • DaddyGoD
                                      DaddyGo @kevindd992002
                                      last edited by DaddyGo

                                      @kevindd992002

                                      yes, I know but you were mentioned in this post and I passed it on ☺
                                      I didn't want to complicate the thread further with the question of author......... (ERROR on my part)
                                      but you are right, the laurel is his: @dugeem

                                      edit: you see how many misconceptions there are about APU ✋

                                      Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                                      (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • DaddyGoD
                                        DaddyGo @kinch
                                        last edited by

                                        @kinch
                                        pls. don't get me wrong, I want to help

                                        do you want to get first hand results, why is speed the most important thing?
                                        (what kind of speed ISP connection do you have at home, how big is the internal network?)
                                        is it a business or SOHO system you operate?

                                        I'm happy to help you, because I know the limits of APU stuff as well (we've been using them for 4 -5 years for "homeworker" colleagues' endpoints)

                                        Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                                        (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                                        K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • F
                                          FLOK
                                          last edited by

                                          Hi again !
                                          I did every trick you gave me...
                                          Flashed back to Bios V4.10.0.1 - Halt System - Disconnect Power for 30sec.

                                          Made changes is loader.conf.local
                                          2020-06-04 17_34_18-Window.png

                                          Made a few tunables (like DaddyGo)
                                          2020-06-04 17_35_18-Window.png

                                          Disabled the offloads
                                          2020-06-04 17_36_59-Window.png

                                          Reboot

                                          Speedtest
                                          2020-06-04 17_38_24-Window.png

                                          Shit ☹

                                          V 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • DaddyGoD
                                            DaddyGo
                                            last edited by DaddyGo

                                            Never give up ☺

                                            it’s time to review your entire configuration
                                            can we get a drawing of your system and more information

                                            (F.E. ISP, WAN interface type, installed packages, LAN enviroment)
                                            believe me the APU knows a lot in the SOHO category

                                            the place of the joke:
                                            "the error is in your device"
                                            does not matter anyway, this is a European slang

                                            edit: it was missed

                                            dbf52341-6047-4731-a8d3-23ddcb98d84a-image.png

                                            Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                                            (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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