SG-5100 Memory Upgrade

Dyspareunia

Hello all you pfSense gurus!

I have been recently rebuilding my network, the right way... While setting up things like pfBlocker, it became very evident that the 4G of memory that the 5100 came with is woefully inadequate for maintaining large lists of IP's & Domains in memory. Either I upgrade the memory, pull load off the pfSense box and onto a pihole, or a reduce the number of feeds I'm using. The upgrade seems to be the most ideal for me.

So I began some research into what kinds of memory I can use to upgrade the device. While it does come with ECC, I opted to not buy more ECC memory for reasons that are not really important to this issue.

So first of all, on the pfSense page, under the specs it lists the memory as:

4GB DDR4 2400 MHz DIMM (max 16 GB, 1x 260-pin SODIMM)

Great, not a ton of info, but a good start. I then looked at the system itself for some more info:

First the board itself:

Base Board Information
Manufacturer: Netgate
Product Name: SG-5100
Version: 1
Serial Number: NG201808000737
Asset Tag: Default string
Features:
	Board is a hosting board
	Board is replaceable
Location In Chassis: Default string
Chassis Handle: 0x0003
Type: Motherboard
Contained Object Handles: 0

Then the memory:

Handle 0x002B, DMI type 17, 40 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x0029
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 8 bits
Data Width: 8 bits
Size: 4096 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM0
Bank Locator: BANK 0
Type: DDR4
Type Detail: Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered)
Speed: 2400 MT/s
Manufacturer: Transcend
Serial Number: 00000273
Asset Tag: BANK 0 DIMM0 AssetTag
Part Number: TS512MSH64V4H
Rank: 1
Configured Memory Speed: 2133 MT/s
Minimum Voltage: 1.2 V
Maximum Voltage: 1.2 V
Configured Voltage: 1.2 V

So, what I'm after is...

16GB DDR4 2400 MHz, 1.2v, 260-pin SODIMM

The board is manufactured by Netgate themselves, the serial number comes up with NOTHING in Google. I found at least one helpful post on the Netgate forums around memory upgrades to this device. The consensus seemed to be that ECC wasn't required, and a few links to memory modules others have used.

Armed with this information, I made my choice...

Crucial 16GB Single DDR4 2400 MT/s (PC4-19200) DR x8 SODIMM 260-Pin Memory - CT16G4SFD824A

Well, now here I am, having tried to install this memory module last night. The pfSense box will not even boot, no errors when connected to the serial port, nothing. Just sits there for a few mins, then the alarm on the mobo starts to sound.

Just to verify, I checked and found this memory is compatible with my laptop as well, so I tried it to see if the memory was faulty, it's not. So in short, what have I missed here? What is incompatible about this memory? It can't be because it's non-ECC could it? Others have reported using non-ECC in this device without issue... Any feedback would be awesome! I tried to provide as much info as I could, if there is anything else I can pull please let me know!

Thanks!

sherpagoodness

that module should work fine....the RAM training takes quite a bit of time on these. Make sure it's seated correctly and potentially test it in another device to ensure it's not a bad stick

sherpagoodness

the only other thing to try if it's a known working stick would be boot without the new RAM and go into the bios and load defaults save and reboot, shut the system down and try reinstalling the memory. I would make sure you have the system completely unplugged when installing the new module, press the power button a few times to discharge anything left in the caps, then when you go to start it up for the first time with the new module, let it sit and don't interrupt it so it can do the RAM training. I haven't experienced this first hand but I'm told it can take 15 minutes OR MORE to finish.

stephenw10

I will add that we have acrually tested that Crucial part in the SG-5100 ourselves so I would suggest resetting the nvram and retesting if you are still seeing issues.
It is possible Crucial changed the actual chips in use there. They usually have a sub-part number that can vary.

Handle 0x002B, DMI type 17, 40 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0029
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 8 bits
        Data Width: 8 bits
        Size: 16384 MB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM0
        Bank Locator: BANK 0
        Type: DDR4
        Type Detail: Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered)
        Speed: 2400 MT/s
        Manufacturer: Crucial
        Serial Number: E0A9DF28
        Asset Tag: BANK 0 DIMM0 AssetTag
        Part Number: CT16G4SFD824A.M16FB 
        Rank: 2
        Configured Clock Speed: 2133 MT/s
        Minimum Voltage: 1.2 V
        Maximum Voltage: 1.2 V
        Configured Voltage: 1.2 V

Steve

smolka_J

Samsung 32GB ECC 2666mhz DDR4 CL19 M474A4G43MB1-CTDQ working here with 1.3TB raidz

stephenw10

Nice. Though I can't imagine what you're using 32GB for.