Compatibility problem w/ Jetway JBC313U591W-3160-B
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So this isn't a pfSense-specific problem... its roots are actually in the base FreeBSD version. But I'm posting here for two reasons:
- this hardware is ideal and common with the sorts of people who'd want to run pfSense (tiny, fanless, dual RJ45, AES). so maybe someone else has dealt with this and has a solution for me
- Having the information documented here could help someone else in the future.
What I learned (the hard way): Starting with FreeBSD 11.2 (pfSense 2.4.4), there is now a problem with this hardware. It will hang on boot, early in the process ("Booting..."). Even in single-user, safe mode, verbose, etc... I can't seem to get anything that gives me insight as to what is causing it to hang. Everything was fine with pfSense 2.4.3 (FreeBSD 11.1) and earlier. So someone who was working fine, then obediently upgraded pfSense a minor point version, is suddenly faced with a system that will no longer boot... and perhaps no internet access as a result (ask me how I know).
I've run out of ideas using my limited knowledge of pinning down what changed, what is causing problems. I'd bet anything that some "hint" tunable would fix this, but I don't know where to begin or go from here. All I know is: it worked in FreeBSD 11.1 and earlier, but broke in FreeBSD 11.2.
(yes, I know 2.4.4 has been out for a while. pfSense is stable enough that it pretty much never gets rebooted... although I'm at a loss as to how it successfully booted that last time immediately after upgrading pfSense 2.4.3 -> 2.4.4. But I'm not sure that really matters at this point. The only thing that saved me was figuring out the above, and sourcing an installer for 2.4.3 so I could downgrade).
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@sremick I have a very similar system - Jetway JBC420U591, Braswell N3160-based. This has the same bios versions as your model and is likely the identical motherboard but in a smaller form factor.
I did a fresh install of pfSense 2.4.5p1 last week (ZFS/GPT/UEFI) and had no problems with this. I suspect you might simply need to modify a bios setting for the more recent software. I have no additional tunables enabled.
What AMI bios version are you running? I'm on the latest BASUIA05 and had msata issues that weren't addressed until the previous version BASUIA04 was released.
What are your bios settings for 'boot option' at Advanced > CSM configuration? Mine is set to 'UEFI and legacy'.
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@bigsy said in Compatibility problem w/ Jetway JBC313U591W-3160-B:
What AMI bios version are you running? I'm on the latest BASUIA05
I'm not home at the moment but I know I'm on A05.
What are your bios settings for 'boot option' at Advanced > CSM configuration? Mine is set to 'UEFI and legacy'.
If I recall, they were either on "UEFI" or both like yours. I did try setting them to legacy-only based on some other things I found Google searching. It did not help, but I did not change them back either.
It'd be nice if it was just a BIOS setting, but as you're probably aware there are a LOT of options and nested levels in this BIOS. What'd be the best way for us to compare? I'd be willing to take screenshots of every screen to share with you. Strange though that it worked just fine for all FreeBSD versions up through 11.1 and then stopped at 11.2 without any changes to the BIOS.
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@sremick I did very little adjustments to the bios defaults originally, just setting up the COM port for serial console and those boot options.
I've checked and our systems have an identical motherboard (JNU591B NUC). The only difference is that you have a model with WiFi.
Did you try a clean install of pfSense or an upgrade? Did you try 2.4.5p1? I installed using the memstick-serial version.
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@bigsy said in Compatibility problem w/ Jetway JBC313U591W-3160-B:
@sremick I did very little adjustments to the bios defaults originally, just setting up the COM port for serial console and those boot options.
I'm pretty sure I tried a reset to BIOS defaults at some point yesterday but I can try again to make sure.
Did you try a clean install of pfSense or an upgrade? Did you try 2.4.5p1? I installed using the memstick-serial version.
The device originally hosed itself because it upgraded from 2.4.3 -> 2.4.4 (how it rebooted that last time after, I have no idea). I tried a clean install w/ 2.4.5p1 but it wouldn't even boot the install media. That threw me for a loop for a while and ultimately is what lead me to discover it was a FreeBSD issue, not a pfSense issue.
I tried installation media from every version of FreeBSD from 9.3 to 12.1 to discover when the change was that broke things, and determined it was 11.1 -> 11.2. That corresponds with pfSense 2.4.3 -> 2.4.4
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This device isn't the main one in the office so I've been able to install pfS 2.4.4p3.
Clean install uneventful and device working on an older backup config.
Looks like we have the same motherboard and bios. This system has 8GB RAM and a 60GB msata (Kingston SMS200S360G).
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This is a well known issue with many Intel systems of that era using HD graphics:
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/install/upgrade-guide.html#upgrading-from-versions-older-than-pfsense-2-4-4At the loader prompt run:
set kern.vty=sc boot
Then add that to loader.conf.local.
Or booting non uefi usually also works.
Steve
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@stephenw10 Nailed it.
Interestingly, the info on that states it applies to Atom-based systems, however mine is Celeron-based. Hmm.
This also explained how remote updates to 2.4.4 then 2.4.5 worked fine. It wasn't actually "locked up" as I thought and was just a console issue... but remote via HTTP would of course worked fine, which is the way I did the last few updates. It was only because I was troubleshooting a different catastrophic problem, and had move the box from production to my workbench and was hooked up directly to console, that I finally experienced this. Of course while I was working on it I didn't have it connected to the network and was just going by what I saw on the console.
Anyhow, thanks for the lead. I'm now on 2.4.5, am running fine, and I've made note of the setting on a label on the box so I don't forget in the future.
(PS: disabling UEFI was something I had already tried and did not help)
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@sremick Glad it's sorted. It wasn't clear (to me) that your system was continuing to boot. I've only ever experienced a similar issue when inadvertently using the wrong installer (VGA instead of serial). I tend to do everything via the console.
I still think this is a bit odd that I've had no problems with what appears to be an identical motherboard to yours and have not had to make any alterations at the loader prompt on this system to install pfSense. I've also had no installation issues with another 'generic' J3160 system. If this was a common problem with J3160/N3160 boards then I suspect the forums would be full of Protectli owners with the same issues.