pc engines boards, ALiX, APU and APU2 hardware compatibility list?
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Hey there is there hardware compatibility info that shows what version of pfsense is supported on the various pc engines boards? I believe at least some ( all ? ) of the Alix boards can no longer take the latest version of pfsense? I have some older pc engines board on offer for a good price, but don't want to spend good money on it, if they cannot be upgraded to latest pfsense.
PC Engines boards
AliX https://www.pcengines.ch/alix.htm
APU https://www.pcengines.ch/apu.htm
APU2 https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2.htm -
@urs-rauom-org said in pc engines boards, ALiX, APU and APU2 hardware compatibility list?:
Hey there is there hardware compatibility info that shows what version of pfsense is supported on the various pc engines boards? I believe at least some ( all ? ) of the Alix boards can no longer take the latest version of pfsense? I have some older pc engines board on offer for a good price, but don't want to spend good money on it, if they cannot be upgraded to latest pfsense.
PC Engines boards
AliX https://www.pcengines.ch/alix.htm
APU https://www.pcengines.ch/apu.htm
APU2 https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2.htmHi,
in my opinion with the APU2 Boards you can't go wrong ...
Regards,
fireodo -
@fireodo HI, thanks, you are probably right, except you probably meant "can't go wrong", not "can go wrong", right? But my isssue is, I want to know if buying and paying for older (used - second hand) Alix board ones is possibly still going to accept latest version of pfsense ... or if they are definitely too old and no longer supported.
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@TheBigBear said in pc engines boards, ALiX, APU and APU2 hardware compatibility list?:
@fireodo HI, thanks, you are probably right, except you probably meant "can't go wrong", not "can go wrong", right? But my isssue is, I want to know if buying and paying for older (used - second hand) Alix board ones is possibly still going to accept latest version of pfsense ... or if they are definitely too old and no longer supported.
All boards with 64 Bit compatible Processor can use actual pfsense but the other parameter (RAM) will limit very fast the usability and slow down pfsense.
You will be able to use only very few additional packages on pfsense with those old boards (some packages will not run at all)
This is my point of view!Regards,
fireodo -
The Alix boxes are 32bit, so the last version you can use is 2.3.5
You can run the latest version on the first generation APU units, but they have Realtek nics. In my opinion, it's worth getting an APU2 for the Intel nics. -
@dotdash thank you so much. you hit the spot 100% it was the 32 bit and 2.3.5 rel that are the sticking points with ALiX boards, i knew there was a limit, but couldn;t remember what it was. Very helpful thanks. So I will stay well clear of the ALiX boards, regardless of how 'cheap' they are being offered for.
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Send the offer to me. I can use the Alix boards for other projects/ OS if the are cheap enough.
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Could you point me to the source of those Alix boards. I could use a couple of Alix3d2 for other non-PfSense related projects. TIA
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@all There's no need for a compat list for PCengines boards, as both ALIX and APU1 are "dead" (out of production and support) and you don't get them anymore besides very very old stock lying around in some dusty little shop. Only APU2-4 (that are essentially the same SOC-wise) are current and actively sold and supported by PCengines. And as APU2 is a 64bit APU it runs the latest version of pfSense without problems.
Also if you still want to shop age-old hardware (why?!) be aware, that there's no hardware anymore for replacement or repairs as the SOCs they used (APU1, Alix) aren't built anymore. That's also why APU1 had such a short lifetime (besides other shortcomings and stability issues) as replacement parts for the SOC weren't available anymore. So just do yourself a favor and leave old hardware alone ;)
