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    PC Engines apu2 experiences

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    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by stephenw10

      Yes. It will show the drive wear level as spare blocks are used for example. It can't show if the controller is about to die.

      Steve

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      • S
        sikita
        last edited by

        Hi guys, are you running pfSense with /var & /tmp in RAM DISKS enabled on APU2?

        fireodoF QinnQ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • fireodoF
          fireodo @sikita
          last edited by fireodo

          @sikita said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

          Hi guys, are you running pfSense with /var & /tmp in RAM DISKS enabled on APU2?

          Hi, no RamDisk here - as stated in my signature its all on a 16GB SSD.
          /var/run 4% von 3.4MiB - ufs im RAM

          Kettop Mi4300YL CPU: i5-4300Y @ 1.60GHz RAM: 8GB Ethernet Ports: 4
          SSD: SanDisk pSSD-S2 16GB (ZFS) WiFi: WLE200NX
          pfsense 2.7.2 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 @sikita
            last edited by Qinn

            @sikita The whole filesystem zfs is running on 16GB mSATA SSD with ZFS only /var/run
            4% of 3.4MiB - ufs in RAM

            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

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

              i retested. same result.
              iperf client pc(lan) -> pfsense APU2E4 -> pc2 (opt) iperf server

              With 2.4.4 p3 I have 750-850Mbit for 1 connection
              After the update to 2.4.5 P1 I have 400-500Mbit.
              Nothing changed, only the update was installed.
              For me it means, there has changed something in the performance between 2.4.4 P3 and 2.4.5 (P1). But i dont know what.

              BR

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              • D
                dugeem @kinch
                last edited by

                @kinch
                Try disabling ICMP Redirects to enable the faster tryforward routing path (under System / Advanced / System Tunables set net.inet.ip.redirect & net.inet6.ip6.redirect to 0)

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                • S
                  sikita @Qinn
                  last edited by

                  @Qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                  @sikita The whole filesystem zfs is running on 16GB mSATA SSD with ZFS only /var/run
                  4% of 3.4MiB - ufs in RAM

                  Ok, thanks for a hint

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                  • S
                    Stella_161
                    last edited by

                    Hi,

                    First id like to say thanks for everyone advice.

                    Id like to ask for a little help from you.

                    Im having issues with slow LAN interface compared to the WAN.

                    I have a 100Mbit PPPoe HFC connection. When running a speed test from the apu4c4 or directly plugged in to the HFC box, i get 98Mbit but if i run it from my PC that's behind the apu4c4 its only at 71Mbit no matter what i do.

                    Ive tried:

                    • Swapping Ethernet cables
                    • Plugging directly in to LAN Port 2 and 3
                    • https://teklager.se/en/knowledge-base/apu2-1-gigabit-throughput-pfsense/
                    • disabling ICMP Redirects to enable the faster tryforward routing path (under System / Advanced / System Tunables set net.inet.ip.redirect & net.inet6.ip6.redirect to 0)
                    • Upgraded to 2.4.5-RELEASE-p1 (amd64) from 2.4.4
                    • Upgraded the BIOS to: Version: v4.11.0.4
                    • Factory reset with no packages enabled

                    All with no change to my LAN speed. I'm all out of ideas here, can anyone offer any more advice on what i can try next.

                    Thanks

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

                      How is your CPU utiluzation when you run your test?
                      Can you try and update the BIOS to 4.12.0.2 and see if this helps?

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • S
                        Stewart @Stella_161
                        last edited by Stewart

                        @Stella_161 This is specific to your box, not a general issue with the devices themselves so you would get a much better response opening a general support thread for this. When you do, you'll need to give more detail, specifically what packages are installed and how you're performing the test. Try a mix of speedtest.net and fast.com and see what you get. Make sure to do them both with an ad-blocker running on your PC. I've seen many instances where advertisements can eat up a CPU on a computer and give artificially slow speed results.

                        I have many of these boxes that are doing up to 500Mbps so the hardware is more than capable. That being said, @sToRmInG is right in that the first place to look would be the CPU %. Something may be chewing up CPU cycles on either the APU2 or the laptop you are using. Obvious suspects could be Snort / Suricata, Squid / SquidGuard, and pfBlockerNG.

                        S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • S
                          Stella_161 @Stewart
                          last edited by Stella_161

                          @Stewart @sToRmInG

                          Thanks Guys, Ive opened a new thread for this.

                          Ive tried upgrading the BIOS with no change. After the BIOS upgrade i did a factory reset, no packages have only setup PPPoe and default LAN with ad blocker enabled on PC. Still only 71Mbit~.

                          CPU usage is minimal when running from PC: Speedtest.net and Fast.com with the same result

                          PID USERNAME PRI NICE SIZE RES STATE C TIME WCPU COMMAND
                          11 root 155 ki31 0K 64K RUN 3 42:59 100.00% [idle{idle: cpu3}]
                          11 root 155 ki31 0K 64K CPU1 1 42:57 100.00% [idle{idle: cpu1}]
                          11 root 155 ki31 0K 64K CPU2 2 42:56 98.49% [idle{idle: cpu2}]
                          11 root 155 ki31 0K 64K CPU0 0 42:42 88.96% [idle{idle: cpu0}]
                          12 root -92 - 0K 496K CPU0 0 0:31 14.70% [intr{irq256: igb0:que 0}]
                          12 root -92 - 0K 496K WAIT 2 0:08 5.66% [intr{irq259: igb1:que 0}]
                          12 root -92 - 0K 496K WAIT 3 0:07 1.66% [intr{irq260: igb1:que 1}]

                          161481d5-6124-4fec-8cfa-dee502d4a2cb-image.png

                          CPU when running Speed Test CLI on pfsense:

                          PID USERNAME PRI NICE SIZE RES STATE C TIME WCPU COMMAND
                          11 root 155 ki31 0K 64K CPU1 1 47:13 86.77% [idle{idle: cpu1}]
                          11 root 155 ki31 0K 64K RUN 3 47:12 82.57% [idle{idle: cpu3}]
                          11 root 155 ki31 0K 64K CPU2 2 47:09 79.88% [idle{idle: cpu2}]
                          11 root 155 ki31 0K 64K RUN 0 46:46 71.29% [idle{idle: cpu0}]
                          12 root -92 - 0K 496K WAIT 0 0:50 33.25% [intr{irq256: igb0:que 0}]
                          52611 root 74 0 135M 71416K CPU3 3 0:02 7.96% /usr/local/bin/python3.7 /usr/local/bin/speedtest{python3.7}

                          3508b2c2-2d77-47f8-8ff7-52e409ba97f3-image.png

                          Cheers

                          QinnQ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • QinnQ
                            Qinn @Stella_161
                            last edited by Qinn

                            @Stella_161 Just to be sure, did you halt the system and then pulled the power plug, wait for a minute and then re-plug the power, this should be done after every bios update.

                            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
                            • K
                              kevindd992002
                              last edited by

                              If I use a USB2.0 cable to the internal header of the APU2C4, how do I route it so that I can access it externally from the official black case provided by PCEngines?

                              dotdashD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • dotdashD
                                dotdash @kevindd992002
                                last edited by

                                @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                If I use a USB2.0 cable to the internal header of the APU2C4, how do I route it so that I can access it externally from the official black case provided by PCEngines?

                                When I loaded from the USB header, I had the top of the case off. I think you'd have to modify the case if you wanted to put the top back on.

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                                • K
                                  kevindd992002 @dotdash
                                  last edited by

                                  @dotdash said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                  @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                  If I use a USB2.0 cable to the internal header of the APU2C4, how do I route it so that I can access it externally from the official black case provided by PCEngines?

                                  When I loaded from the USB header, I had the top of the case off. I think you'd have to modify the case if you wanted to put the top back on.

                                  Yeah, drill through it or something. I would love to just use the USB2.0 header with external USB ports than wait for the devs to fix that long-standing USB3 issue.

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                                  • K
                                    kevindd992002 @Veldkornet
                                    last edited by kevindd992002

                                    @veldkornet said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                    @kinch said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                    @DaddyGo

                                    I've examined it and found the following:

                                    iperf3 LAB
                                    No matter if APU2/3/4 I get a throughput with single connection of 750-850Mbit/s (LAN 2 OPT)

                                    With 2 or more connections I get about 945Mbit/s.

                                    A Speedtest.net gives the value 934Mbit/s UP/DOWN

                                    I have tested the following BIOS versions:
                                    V4.9.0.2
                                    V4.11.0.2
                                    V4.12.0.1

                                    All the same.

                                    But what I noticed, tested on APU2 and APU3, that pfsense version 2.4.5 does not reach the same throughput as 2.4.4-p3.
                                    With Single Connection pfsense 2.4.5 reaches "only" about 400-500Mbit/s. With pfsense 2.4.5 I can only reach 940Mbps with 8 connections.

                                    I also noted something weird with 2.4.5.

                                    My iPerf speeds were also much lower than normal. What I did to fix it was:

                                    • disabling hardware offload (check the check boxes)
                                    • save, no reboot (iPerf results the same)
                                    • re-enabling hardware offload (clear the check boxes)
                                    • save, no reboot (iPerf results back up to the expected levels)

                                    The only thing I did between having good iPerf results and slow ones was reboot the device. It's as if after a reboot, it forgot that hardware offload was enabled, and I just needed to set it again.

                                    @dugeem

                                    Do you have any comments on this? As we discussed before, here are the tweaks I have:

                                    b8eba554-297e-41bb-b2bf-e741464c198a-image.png

                                    bc292172-d169-4596-8a74-122d4909c5a6-image.png

                                    /boot/loader.conf.local contains:

                                    hw.igb.rx_process_limit=-1

                                    Also, it looks like the guys here updated their article but they are still insisting to enable all three HW offloads as they see that it gives better speeds.

                                    And what is the recommended setting for hardware checksum offload? Checked (disabled) or unchecked (enabled)?

                                    I'm asking again because my ISP connection is at 400/400 now and I'm thinking of upgrading to 800/800 soon. I want to know if my APU2C4 can handle these speeds with the tweaks that we have.

                                    @Veldkornet

                                    Which of the HW offloads did you enable (unchecked) to get significantly better multi-connection speeds?

                                    @VAMike

                                    What is your comment on the HW offload settings? I see that you had a comment against the post of Veldkornet where he enabled those settings to get better speeds. If he saw better speeds with those enabled, is that an inaccurate test or something because it only helps the client and not end-to-end? Sorry if I misunderstood.

                                    QinnQ DaddyGoD 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • QinnQ
                                      Qinn @kevindd992002
                                      last edited by

                                      @kevindd992002 Why only the receive (rx) and not the transmit (tx) in the loader.conf.local file and why did you not uncheck?

                                      Hardware TCP Segmentation Offloading
                                      Hardware Large Receive Offloading

                                      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

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

                                        @qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                        @kevindd992002 Why only the receive (rx) and not the transmit (tx) in the loader.conf.local file and why did you not uncheck?

                                        Hardware TCP Segmentation Offloading
                                        Hardware Large Receive Offloading

                                        Answers to your questions:

                                        https://forum.netgate.com/post/908003

                                        QinnQ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • QinnQ
                                          Qinn @kevindd992002
                                          last edited by

                                          @kevindd992002 You are refring to my own reply, but these settings are from a older date and referred to pre pfSense version 2.4.5-p1

                                          You should now have these and then reboot

                                          pfSense-2.4.5-p1.png

                                          https://forum.netgate.com/topic/95148/pc-engines-apu2-experiences/384

                                          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

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

                                            @qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                            @kevindd992002 You are refring to my own reply, but these settings are from a older date and referred to pre pfSense version 2.4.5-p1

                                            You should now have these and then reboot

                                            pfSense-2.4.5-p1.png

                                            https://forum.netgate.com/topic/95148/pc-engines-apu2-experiences/384

                                            I'm still confused. I wasn't referring to your reply. I was referring to @dugeem 's reply when we discussed this.

                                            Again, read https://forum.netgate.com/post/908003

                                            Let me quote some parts of his reply:

                                            "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)."

                                            "hw.igb.tx_process_limit already defaults to -1 so no need to change this."

                                            So those are the answers to your questions. Also, like I mentioned in my reply today:

                                            "Also, it looks like the guys here updated their article but they are still insisting to enable all three HW offloads as they see that it gives better speeds."

                                            So, to summarize, dugeem explained very well that TSO and LRO needs to be disabled (so checked) and that the teklager article is wrong. With their updated article, they are still insisting to keep those three offloads enabled.

                                            Everything clear now?

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