watchdog timer reset problem

[susamlicubuk]

hi all.
I have a Silver Peak 7551a-sv1. After installing pfsense, I have a reset problem after 3-4 minutes.
What kind of driver or code needs to be installed for the watchdog timer?

[stephenw10]

It depends which watchdog it is. There are typically 2, in the chipset and in the superio chip. Usually the latter is used and that often requires the wbwd(4) driver.
Do you need the watchdog at all? Can it be disabled in the BIOS?

Steve

[susamlicubuk]

@stephenw10
I can't access the bios, it's password protected.
I think the driver link is this address.
https://www.lannerinc.com/support/download-center/category/23-network-appliances?download=317:fw-7551-drivers

[stephenw10]

Oh, right! Sorry I thought Silver Peak was some new Intel chip I hadn't heard about yet.

Then, yes, it's almost certainly that wbwd driver required. Once it boots run at the command line:
echo 'wbwd_load="YES"' >> /boot/loader.conf.local

However you will need to be running an older version to test that since the driver is not included in 2.7.2 by default.
It should definitely work in 2.6 I would test that initially:
https://atxfiles.netgate.com/mirror/downloads/pfSense-CE-memstick-serial-2.6.0-RELEASE-amd64.img.gz

[susamlicubuk]

@stephenw10 said in watchdog timer reset problem:

wbwd

How do I install the wbwd driver?

[stephenw10]

It's already included in 2.6 you just need to load it.

However what actually happens when the watchdog times out?

If it was that watchdog it would reset the system completely.

Is it in fact just bypassing the NICs? That would require a custom driver in most cases. As shown in that thread you linked.

[susamlicubuk]

@stephenw10
The device is power resetting
and only 2 ethernet works

[stephenw10]

Ah, OK so both things then. The NICs are bypassed by default.

The wbwd driver will probably stop it resetting. The LAN-bypass would require something else.

[susamlicubuk]

@stephenw10 I tried this command
echo 'wbwd_load="YES"' >> /boot/loader.conf.local
It worked for 10 minutes and did a power reset. :(

[stephenw10]

That only applies after rebooting since it's applied as a loader value via the boot loader. So I would expect to boot, run that command, the reboot to apply it.

I assume you have pfSense 2.6 installed on the device?

[susamlicubuk]

@stephenw10 yes 2.6

[susamlicubuk]

wbwd_load="YES" or wbwd_load="NO" in loader.conf did not work. but after the device is turned on

When I run the command, kldunload wbwd.ko
device did not power reset even though I waited for 15 minutes.

[stephenw10]

Do you see the watchdog device in the boot log when the module is loaded?

Something like:

superio0: <Nuvoton NCT6776> at port 0x2e-0x2f on isa0
wbwd0: <Nuvoton NCT6776 (0xc3/0x33) Watchdog Timer> at WDT ldn 0x08 on superio0

[susamlicubuk]

@stephenw10
wbwd0: <Winbond 83627DHG-P (0xb0/0x73) Watchdog Timer> at WDT ldn 0x08 on superio0
wbwd0: Before watchdog attach: Watchdog enabled. Scaling by 60s, timer at 12 (<=720s left). CRF5 0x0a CRF7 0x00

[stephenw10]

Mmm, OK well it appears to be the same as that on the Netgate fw-7551 which I dusted off:

Feb 5 19:50:50 	kernel 		superio0: <Winbond 83627DHG-P> at port 0x2e-0x2f on isa0
Feb 5 19:50:50 	kernel 		wbwd0: <Winbond 83627DHG-P (0xb0/0x73) Watchdog Timer> at WDT ldn 0x08 on superio0 

Except yours looks to actually be doing something which implies the hardware is enabled in the BIOS.

If you run: sysctl dev.wbwd.0.debug_verbose=1

You should see output when it updates the timer.

The Netgate variant doesn't have LAN-Bypass though since that makes no sense for a firewall.

[susamlicubuk]

@stephenw10
My device's bios is password protected :(
If you can send me the bios factory rom, maybe I can update it with an eprom programmer device.
maybe I can get other ethernets working too

[susamlicubuk]

@stephenw10
/sbin/kldunload /boot/kernel/wbwd.ko
This command solved my power reset problem
sysctl dev.wbwd.0.debug_verbose=1
This command does not give any output
Is there any way I can get ethernets working?

[stephenw10]

@susamlicubuk said in watchdog timer reset problem:

/sbin/kldunload /boot/kernel/wbwd.ko
This command solved my power reset problem

Then I would guess that when you unload the module it disables the watchdog. I would not expect that to at boot though since the module is not yet loaded.
However that does seem to prove it is the winbond watchdog that is resetting the hardware.

The verbose output will only show anything when the watchdog is running. It might show why it still reboots even though the module is loaded and running.

Disabling the lan-bypass almost certainly needs custom code. Possible but some effort required.

The Netgate BIOS likely wouldn't help you much since our variant had no bypass relays and only 4 ports (7551B). That has 6?
You might be able to use the standard Lanner BIOS for the 7551A if you can find it.

There might be some jumpers on the board for setting the relays permanently.

[susamlicubuk]

@stephenw10 yes 6 port

[patient0]

@susamlicubuk i know that thread is a year old, but have you got the rest of the ethernet ports working?

While researching for a similar issue with another appliances I looked at the download you linked in the third post.

In that download there is a watchdog driver for linux and FreeBSD for resetting and bypass-ing the system.

Compiling it for pfSense will be complicated and I'm of no help with that. It's easier on plain Linux or FreeBSD, the driver itself looks quite simple but it's references FreeBSD 8. Not sure how easy it can be compiled for a current FreeBSD.

Have you tried compiling and using the driver and userland tools?