Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    PC Engines apu2 experiences

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
    711 Posts 73 Posters 835.1k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • K
      kevindd992002 @fireodo
      last edited by

      @fireodo Sorry, yes, that's what I meant. And yes, I always make sure to interrupt power supply after flashing, for about 10 seconds.

      Do you think it's still wise to downgrade though?

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

        @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

        @fireodo Sorry, yes, that's what I meant. And yes, I always make sure to interrupt power supply after flashing, for about 10 seconds.

        Do you think it's still wise to downgrade though?

        If everything work as expected you dont have to downgrade. The v4.13.0.2 has cleanup all problems that raised in the latest time - so if there is no trouble you dont need to down/upgrade.

        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 1
        • QinnQ
          Qinn
          last edited by Qinn

          @kevindd992002 I am for 3 days on bios mainline version 13.0.2 (don't use the legacy anymore) and no issues, IMO there is no reason to revert back to an older bios version and as @fireodo mentioned, whenever you upgraded to a new bios version you should power down the system. This is best done by going to the Diagnostics -> Halt System, wait for the system to power down, check if the power led is off, then remove the power plug, wait for 30 sec and then re-insert the power plug.

          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 I am for 3 days on bios mainline version 13.0.2 (don't use the legacy anymore) and no issues, IMO there is no reason to revert back to an older bios version and as @fireodo mentioned, whenever you upgraded to a new bios version you should power down the system. This is best done by going to the Diagnostics -> Halt System, wait for the system to power down, check if the power led is off, then remove the power plug, wait for 30 sec and then re-insert the power plug.

            Ok, I'll just upgrade to 4.13.0.2 instead. And yes, I always do those same steps when upgrading the APU2 firwamre. I always gracefully shutdown/reset the APU2.

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

              Another advise when you got the time. When you are still using UFS it is best to move over to the filesystem ZFS, this system can withstand power-loss better than UFS, as the APU2C4 has ECC memory which gives almost a 100% safeguard against bit errors.

              Also recommend by Netgate https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/install/install-walkthrough.html

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

                @qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                Another advise when you got the time. When you are still using UFS it is best to move over to the filesystem to ZFS, this system can withstand power-loss better that the default filesystem as the APU2C4 has ECC memory with gives almost a 100% safeguard against bit errors.

                Also recommend by Netgate https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/install/install-walkthrough.html

                Way ahead of you on that, I already am on ZFS. I swtiched from UFS to ZFS a few years ago :) Thanks for the suggestion though.

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

                  @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                  Ok, I'll just upgrade to 4.13.0.2 instead.

                  ✋

                  Always follow the manufacturer's and BIOS developer's instructions, these are not stupid guys and are moving forward rather than backward 😉

                  af82dfa0-266a-45fe-81c5-b7fc009995eb-image.png

                  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 0
                  • K
                    kevindd992002 @DaddyGo
                    last edited by

                    @daddygo said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                    @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                    Ok, I'll just upgrade to 4.13.0.2 instead.

                    ✋

                    Always follow the manufacturer's and BIOS developer's instructions, these are not stupid guys and are moving forward rather than backward 😉

                    af82dfa0-266a-45fe-81c5-b7fc009995eb-image.png

                    Not sure what you mean. The recommendation is 4.11.0.6.

                    35c7c4b2-d3d7-4f01-86fa-4e00689c9d5a-image.png

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

                      @kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                      Not sure what you mean. The recommendation is 4.11.0.6.

                      Hmmmmm..

                      Yeah I know... (I see you are not an "old biker" with the APU MOBOs)
                      My friend this is an old web wording on the site (everyone runs into this) and the guys is messy and the site not updated...

                      pls. subscribe to the newsletter and there are the latest infos, they told us a thousand times why it is not recommended the legacy / old BIOS

                      but you can also monitor the BIOS developments and ask the questions on GitHub..

                      the polish guys (3mdeb), super informatives, by contrast with pcEngines, they only answer the sales questions, hahaha 😉

                      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 2
                      • V
                        Vollans
                        last edited by

                        Hi all, I had my apu4d4 delivered last week, and it’s working pretty well. It’s easily coping with my NBN connection.

                        One thing I’ve not managed to find a definitive answer to is if the hardware watchdog in it is compatible with pfSense and if it is how to enable/configure it. Anyone?

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

                          @vollans I can’t comment, I only use the service_watchdog from the package manager and that works rather nice. If you are worried for power surges, be sure to use the ZFS filesystem.

                          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

                          V 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • V
                            Vollans @Qinn
                            last edited by

                            @qinn oh, don’t worry, I already do.

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

                              Hi,

                              is there somebody who's running pfsense 2.5.0 on his APU and is he/she getting the Front-LEDs working?

                              Thanks,
                              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.

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

                                @fireodo No I don't use it and you mean the RC, as to the best of my knowledge it isn't released, yet.

                                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 fireodo

                                  @qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                  @fireodo No I don't use and you mean the RC, as to the best of my knowledge it isn't released, yet.

                                  The 2.5.0 RC is available since today and i installed it on a APU2C0 (spare-test) but the old apuled.ko driver (compiled for freebsd 11.) is not working anymore and a new compiled driver for freebsd 12 (2.5.0 RC is based on) is not working. I also have seen that the /dev/led/ is missing in the tree.

                                  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.

                                  QinnQ V 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • QinnQ
                                    Qinn @fireodo
                                    last edited by

                                    @fireodo Maybe report it by starting a new thread in an appropriate category and explain the problem in as much detail as possible.

                                    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 1
                                    • V
                                      Vollans @fireodo
                                      last edited by

                                      @fireodo Thanks for that, saves me the hassle of upgrading and working it out for myself! I’ve just finished modifying the script to my taste to show me if my primary nbn or secondary 4G connections are having problems.

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

                                        @vollans
                                        @qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

                                        @fireodo Maybe report it by starting a new thread in an appropriate category and explain the problem in as much detail as possible.

                                        I made a few tests this day. Going back to the APU2 Bios version 4.9.0.6 the driver I compiled with freebsd 12.1 is working as expected. I dont know why with bioses above 4.10.0 the patch in boot.conf.local (debug.acpi.avoid="_SB_.PCI0.GPIO") have no effect in freebsd 12.2 (pfsense 2.5.0 RC)

                                        So until here - good news! 😊
                                        fireodo
                                        PS. If someone likes to test too, here is the driver.apuled12.ko

                                        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.

                                        V K 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                        • S
                                          saltandpepper
                                          last edited by

                                          Hi

                                          Since today 2.5.0 is released. Has already someone tested how the performance is impacted by the new version?

                                          K L P 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • K
                                            keen @saltandpepper
                                            last edited by

                                            @saltandpepper Yes upgraded without any problems

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.