Another Netgate with storage failure, 6 in total so far
-
I'll continue to monitor and report internally about any situations I see crop up that might be trends or pattern.
Are all the posts about eMMC failure over the last few years, nor are the explicit requests/suggestions for improved messaging enough to indicate any trend or pattern with regard to eMMC failure? If the issue truly is misuse by the user, then why has nothing been done to better educate purchasers and users before they do things that could result in accelerated eMMC wear. Better education and messaging would likely eliminate or significantly reduce the frequency of eMMC failure.
Similarly, @stephenw10 and others have posted hundreds of responses in which they advise users to reduce logging (including disabling the DEFAULT logging rules) and use ramdisks.
Why have these common suggested changes not been incorporated into the default settings for pfSense or at least recommended (such as in the setup wizard)? Just what does Netgate actually consider to be a trend or pattern that needs to be actioned?
Despite being incomplete and not linked anywhere, the "Supported pfSense Plus Packages" page seems to be a "gotcha" shield to deflect any and all failures onto the user.
-
@arri Wow that is cool! I am glad to hear that it worked for you!
I will report back when I get around to trying this on the dead 4100 I have here. -
@arri said in Another Netgate with storage failure, 6 in total so far:
Yanked the Kingston eMMC out of my bricked 4100 that wouldn't post and lo and behold I've got a console back
Nice! I assume when you say 'yanked' you mean carefully removed with SMT tools?
-
@stephenw10 I can understand that. I know you try to be polite and helpful, and I know that myself and others appreciate your contributions.
It is unfortunate that the situation has escalated to this point. I feel that this could have been avoided if Netgate had simply responded to some of the questions directed at them.
In my November 2024 thread Concerns and feedback about storage lifetime wearout on Netgate devices, I gave feedback on my experience with storage wear-related issues and provided several suggestions for technical and educational improvements. That post seems to have gone unnoticed.
The February 2024 thread eMMC Write endurance raised many good points and questions, but it too seems to have gone unnoticed.
This brings us to this thread, where I again attempted to raise the issue of eMMC storage issues, initially trying to build a stronger case for how and why Netgate needs to better educate during the purchasing process, how to inform the user better before they make changes that could affect the lifetime of their device, GUI changes that could reduce the chance of activating non-recommend settings and help users better monitor storage wear, and technical changes for reducing storage wear.
Despite Netgate responding that "you have it" [our attention], "thank you for your suggestions and input. We will consider them", and "Some good points have been raised along with actionable suggestions to mitigate the issue. Thanks for the constructive feedback - the issue has our attention," nothing further has been done, and there has been no further response.
Meanwhile, users (including myself) continue to experience failure on a daily basis, and not even some simple wording on a few web pages has been updated to help inform potential purchasers on how to determine if the BASE or MAX version is right for their needs. Someone is probably purchasing a BASE model right now and unaware of the potential pitfalls that await them.
-
@SteveITS said in Another Netgate with storage failure, 6 in total so far:
It is also usually much smaller.
But this does not explain why most Netgate appliances have such small eMMC sizes, seemingly limited to the lower-end segment, like cheap hardware—though they are not. The only assumption I can make is that the hardware was developed much earlier than it was sold, or that some local retailers are restricted to whatever stock they had.
Nevertheless, the problem is generally solvable, but for some reason, it is not sufficiently covered. Perhaps this is because it was assumed that the devices are purchased by people who understand what eMMC is, that the number of write cycles is limited, and that the overall storage capacity is not very large? I don't know.
-
The number of responses to my Reddit threads from users who were completely unaware of storage health issues and the ones who discovered their device was worn or at risk of imminent failure highlights that more education and awareness are desperately needed.
What started as a simple request has now turned into this, with no resolution in sight.
-
@stephenw10 Yes, that was irresponsible of me to imply anything other than lest someone actually do so literally. I applaud the engineer who laid out the board as it was about as trivial as possible to remove.
Just finished installing 24.11 onto the NVMe which is fastened with an M2.5 instead of M2 like everyone else. At least the dang thing is included in the 4100, it's not in the 4200 for some inexplicable reason.
Looking good!
-
@arri The 4200 using an M2.5 screw confused us too. I think we ended up ordering a package of them from Amazon.
-
Yes in the past, in desperate times, I have resorted to physical violence again ICs. And it has worked! But I would never recommend that. I'm pretty sure I got extremely lucky.
-
@stephenw10 I had to replace the EEPROM chips in an old Camaro computer after it was bricked by a bad flash. That was a nervous experience with a heat gun!
