Loop rebooting issue.
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Hello, it is my first time to make a post in the forum.
I followed this guide to load if_urtwn.ko on my pfsense system. I want to set my TP-link tl-wn725n v3 as an access-point. When the system was getting into "configuring LAN interface", which is this tp-link device, it will reboot automatically and dropped into the infinity rebooting loop until you shuted the system down by turned off the power
Can anyone help me to solve this issue?
By the way, can ALL OF NIC DRIVERS AND FIRMWARES that supported by Freebsd be added into kernel by default in the future release? If cannot, can that be made as a package that can be managed by package manager? That will save lots of time for us.
I don't know if I am in the correct category or not, if not, please just put it into the right one, please do not delete it.
Thank you,
A newbie to pfsense. -
@Freedom-Network said in Loop rebooting issue.:
can ALL OF NIC DRIVERS AND FIRMWARES that supported by Freebsd be added into kernel by default in the future release?
You mean really all of them ?
All whopping 64,9 Giga bytes of drivers real estate ? (check out the FreeBSD NIC source tree - FreeBSD is known to have not all of the planets NIC hardware supported, still there are thousands of them)
So the kernel becomes something like 66 Giga ?
So 99,9 % of current pfSense users should look for something else ?
Really ?edit : the kernel boots, and it calls for every device found the all the drivers in that category to see which one fits best. False recognitioncan happen which will do bad things to the boot process.
Be default it will take a very long time to boot.The package is actually a good idea. Some one has to stand up an build it - and rebuild it from then on every xx minutes, as soon as some driver gets updated, modified or even removed (everybody wants always the latest, right ?).
For the time being : when you see "FreeBSD" somewhere you should apply the old rule : take known hardware -not to you, to FreeBSD), look it up if not sure, and stay away from less known stuff.
Btw : what is a "TP-link tl-wn725n v3" - a USB dongle wifi thing ?
Classic AP's are all supported out of the box, as soon as they speak descent "Ethernet".edit : ok, found it, a USB NIC. You'll be in for some had times ... FreeBSD support for them is .... not good.
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Yeah, you really don't want every driver in kernel. Our kernel is already huge compared to stock FreeBSD because of what we do include. You would be better arguing to include drivers as a kernel module you can choose to load.
Anyway did you actually use the module form FreeBSD 11.2 attached to that post? Did you use it in 2.4.5p1? You will need a module from 11.3 for that.
Steve
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@stephenw10 If it is impossible, can we just patch them as in each individual package that allow user can install/remove through pack. manager?
I am using 2.4.5p1, the if_utrwn module is exactly from a image of Freebsd 11.3. All of the previous version of pfsense is undownloadable, 2.4.5p1 is the only choice isn't it? -
@stephenw10 Anyway, thanks for your reply.
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@Gertjan Yes I check the man page it says my adapter was supported, but after I loaded the if_urtwn.ko(the kernel module that support my adapter) by kldload, it dropped into the restart loop as I described at the beginning.:( The reason that I am using pfsense is I really want to find an alternative of traditional access point. By the way, does pci-e NIC has a better support by pfsense/Freebsd?
Thank you -
2.4.5p1 is actually built on FreeBSD 11.3-stable but I have found modules from 11.3-release will work. So, yeah, just download and mount an ISO, extract the modules you need and copy them across. Load them at the command line to test it first before adding it loader.conf.local so you don't get stuck with an unbootable system.
If if loads and works no problem open a feature request to have the module built as part of the pfSense image.
Steve
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@Freedom-Network said in Loop rebooting issue.:
The reason that I am using pfsense is I really want to find an alternative of traditional access point.
pfSense is a great firewall, but a lousy access point. If you are looking for an open source access point, try something like OpenWRT or similar.
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@stephenw10
Thanks for your reply.
What do you mean by "load them at the command line"? Is that "kldload xx.ko"? If it is, I tried, actually my adapter has been recognized and works well, but after I set everything up and restart to apply settings, it falls into infinity reboot. I observed the loop rebooting start right after "configure LAN interface" which is my wireless adapter that was driven by this kernel module. The solution is physically unplug the NIC, or don't load the module.
I really want to use pfsense to build access point, I hope the supporting of wireless ap can be better and better in the future. -
@dotdash Yes I see... OpenWRT is too hard to configure than pfsense. Do you have any recommendation?
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@Freedom-Network
DD/Open WRT are the only ones I've tried on pc type hardware. It went similar to the old embedded/nano versions- write an image to the disk, then connect to the web gui to configure. These solutions are by nature more complex than off the shelf APs. For something easier, flash a supported off the shelf AP with xx-wrt or tomato, or look at UniFi. -
It's possible to use pfSense as an access point. I do. But I'm not an average user, and I do it mostly to make sure it works.
Wifi hardware that works in pfSense/FreeBSD is limited, 802.11n only.I would argue that OpenWRT is not that difficult to learn and it much better suited to being an access point.
Steve
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@stephenw10 It is harder than Pfsense, isn't it? By the way, Do you know if there are any pcie products that use Atheros chipset?
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Anything using the ath(4) driver will be PCIe. So, yes.
It's different to pfSense in many ways. I don't use it frequently enough to know everything I need to so the when I do need to configure an access point etc I usually Google a lot.
Steve
