PC Engines apu2 experiences

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.

kevindd992002

@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.

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

kevindd992002

@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.

DaddyGo

@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

kevindd992002

@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

Not sure what you mean. The recommendation is 4.11.0.6.

DaddyGo

@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

Vollans

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?

Qinn

@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.

Vollans

@qinn oh, don’t worry, I already do.

fireodo

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

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.

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.

Qinn

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

Vollans

@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.

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

saltandpepper

Hi

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

keen

@saltandpepper Yes upgraded without any problems

Qinn

Update to pfS 2.5.0 went smooth.

logan5247

@saltandpepper I also had a smooth update.