PfSense web UI hangs but NAT/routing still works
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Since installing pfSense (both the release 2.0RC3, and the latest snapshot from 9th September) on an Atom D525 mini ITX platform (using i386 arch) and dual intel gigabit NICs, (booting off live USB with another USB stick for config), I've run into the occasional hang.
It only occurs when I'm navigating the web UI. At some point, a request will never return a response.
At this point, the console on VGA will stop responding (I can press enter and it will go to the next line, but will never respond to any commands). The Web UI stops responding. However, NAT routing from LAN to WAN (pppoe) keeps working fine.
I setup a syslog to another box but nothing interesting came out in it.
A reboot fixes it. If I don't use the web interface the box stays up for days.
Any ideas on how I could get some diagnostic information given the box becomes unresponsive?
Thanks
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I am also having this same issue. Very frustrating on a box with 11 interfaces acting as a network segment firewall. When I restart PfSense, I obviously lose connection between the segments which causes interruptions to our business operations!
Oh and option 11 to restart webConfigurator seems to indefinitely respond with "…..........." but it obviously never restarts.
I am using pfSense 2.0-RC3
Makes me a sad panda! :'(
Any workarounds? I considered killing Lighttpd and then trying webConfigurator but didn't know if that'd be any good...
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Any workarounds? I considered killing Lighttpd and then trying webConfigurator but didn't know if that'd be any good…
Well I have no access to shell or console, so I can't do anything like that.
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Any ideas on how I could get some diagnostic information given the box becomes unresponsive?
After reboot, on console select option 8 to get shell prompt then type top -S -H to get a full screen display of what is happening in the system. Then when web GUI freezes up look at the console: does the display update the uptime and time of day? Can you provide a screenshot, say at 10 minutes after startup and again when the GUI freezes?
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After reboot, on console select option 8 to get shell prompt then type top -S -H to get a full screen display of what is happening in the system. Then when web GUI freezes up look at the console: does the display update the uptime and time of day? Can you provide a screenshot, say at 10 minutes after startup and again when the GUI freezes?
Thanks for your reply.
I've taken some screenshots (using my phone, as it's a separate PC).
First one is about 2 hours after booting (and no hangs yet because I haven't used the web interface)
Second one is 10-20 seconds after I made it hang by clicking on the pfSense icon about 10 times over about 20 seconds.. wasn't hard to make it hang at all.
Third one is another minute after that.top still runs fine .. I just can't ssh to the box or use the web interface. I can quit top, but once I'm presented with the shell prompt, I can't execute anything.
Any help appreciated (or next steps to help diagnose)
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2nd screenshot
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3rd screenshot
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No evidence of processes looping or interrupt handlers looping.
Can you try a SSD or rotating hard drive in case your problem is related to using a USB flash drive or a particular USB drive as your mass storage? (The activities you say prompt the hang are file system activities - maybe the hang is the OS waiting for a file system request to complete.)
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Can you try a SSD or rotating hard drive in case your problem is related to using a USB flash drive or a particular USB drive as your mass storage? (
I tried plugging in an old SATA hard drive I had lying around and it seems to be rock solid now (same config used)
I have tried lots of different USB sticks but it still hangs.. must be an issue with the USB stick, or with the USB on my motherboard.
Oh well, I will be using a CF -> SATA adapter anyway for this permanently.. I guess I will not worry too much about it.
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I tried plugging in an old SATA hard drive I had lying around and it seems to be rock solid now (same config used)
Thanks for the update. What motherboard are you using and what chipset does it have?
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What motherboard are you using and what chipset does it have?
Motherboard is a Jetway NF99-525-LF
http://www.jetway.com.tw/jw/ipcboard_view.asp?productid=832&proname=NF99-525-LF
INTEL
Atom Processor D525 + ICH9R Chipset -
Same problem - webui keeps hanging… I found killing all of lighthttpd and php processes off fixes it. I'll dig further the next time it stops responding... Not hard to make it happen, just use the UI.
Soekris Net6501-50 with a regular 5400rpm SATA drive.