Netgate 4200 freeze and a possible fix

belajasmert

Information
smartctl 7.5 2025-04-30 r5714 [FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT amd64] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-25, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

stephenw10

Yup, that looks fine. Doesn't look like a drive issue.

belajasmert

@stephenw10 Ok, just had another freeze today. Based on all the evidence from all the freezes:

PC directly connected to a port (no switch)
They always coincide with the PC power on/off (power save)
LAN flapping during the power on
A lot of dnsfilter reloads etc. as the firewall is the DNS provider through DNS redirect
Hardware (storage) looks ok
There are logs written during freeze (separately checked from today's incident)
I have a habit on keeping dozens of tabs open on browser (so a lot of DNS queries immediately after LAN flap) and browser if often left open (power save -> LAN flap)
Previous bugs that were related to PC <-> port direct connect

I'll most likely get a new switch, drop it in between PC and firewall -> expectation that issues get resolved. And I have a couple of devices that might be hooking up to the new switch anyway.

Then we'll see if problems go away.

stephenw10

Yup, good test to confirm it. Still surprising it actually stops Unbound though....

belajasmert

@stephenw10 Switch now in place and as expected the system & DNS resolver logs are really quiet. If I manage to run for 30 days without freezes and without changing anything else (configuration / my own behaviour) it will be a strong indicator of somekind of issue.

Gertjan

@belajasmert said in Netgate 4200 freeze and a possible fix:

Switch now in place and as expected the system & DNS resolver logs are really quiet

This - the LAN interface events :

19:59:13 DOWN
19:59:19 UP
20:01:20 DOWN
20:01:22 UP
20:01:31 DOWN
20:01:34 UP

will also trigger other events, like the restart (!) of processes that use this (LAN) interface :
The pfSense WebGUI, (nginx), the resolver (unbound), you found that one already, and more, check the main system log for what happens when an interface goes down and up.

The solution : you've found it : use a switch.

And you can do even better : the upstream WAN device, an ISP router or modem, pfSense itself, and the downstream LAN switch(es), as these are normally all close to each other, hook them up to the same power strip, and use an UPS.

belajasmert

Just checking in to confirm that everything is still running smoothly without any issues.

I did end up setting up additional services like Avahi but all freezes are history.