New Alix board for 2013
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what's the point to stick to ALIX still?
Did I miss something?For starters:
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SSD / wireless card / RAM:
Your price point of $144 for the NUC does not include either SSD, RAM or wireless card (not yet supported on pfSense but elsewhere and this is talking about hardware price), while the quoted $217.50 for the APU does include wireless NIC, SSD and 2GB RAM -
Ethernet ports:
ALIX / APU features 3 ethernet ports.
DCCP847DYE kit has only one single ethernet port and there’s no way of adding another one internally (due to the case).
So how would you go about setting this up as a router? (USB ethernet just plain doesn’t work reliably on pfSense) -
APU has bootable SD card slot, which can act as even less expensive boot media than SSD
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APU is fanless while the NUC includes a fan (though, granted, this might also be taken as an advantage in some environments)
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APU has a serial interface which obviates need for a display
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APU allows for easier internal installation of supported 3G/4G (e.g. for backup connectivity)
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APU uses open source BIOS, whereas Intel probably uses some closed source firmware (and can you trust American companions not to put some backdoors in their kit?)
Don't get me wrong, I think the NUC is an interesting concept and I can see some applications for it - but I don't think it's particularly well-suited for pfSense or any firewalling/gateway use
This is way too expensive.
I think it depends on how you look at it:
Its price point may seem steep if compared to consumer-grade hardware in sheer price/performance ratio.
But it is relatively inexpensive compared to most embedded / network appliance hardware. -
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So how would you go about setting this up as a router? (USB ethernet just plain doesn’t work reliably on pfSense)
I've been using Apple USB Ethernet Adapters on multiple machines for a couple of years now with zero issues, a bit overpriced (about $30 now) but it works.
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For starters:
- SSD / wireless card / RAM:
Your price point of $144 for the NUC does not include either SSD, RAM or wireless card (not yet supported on pfSense but elsewhere and this is talking about hardware price), while the quoted $217.50 for the APU does include wireless NIC, SSD and 2GB RAM
The quoted board is even the version with 4GB ram.
The 2 GB version costs about 20$ less. - SSD / wireless card / RAM:
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;D just received my apu1c today. Upgrading from alix using export/import configuration worked just fine.
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;D just received my apu1c today. Upgrading from alix using export/import configuration worked just fine.
We want more!!!!!
Idle/Full load temperatures and power consumption?
Performance? -
Moved from alix to an apu1c using a sdhc card (temporarly) and restored a modified alix config.
Works nicely so far…FreeBSD/amd64 (test.lan) (console) *** Welcome to pfSense 2.1-RELEASE-nanobsd (amd64) on test *** WAN (wan) -> re0 -> v4/DHCP4: 192.168.69.139/24 BRIDGE (lan) -> bridge0 -> v4: 192.168.70.1/24 WIFI (opt1) -> ath0_wlan0 -> LAN (opt2) -> re1 -> 0) Logout (SSH only) 8) Shell 1) Assign Interfaces 9) pfTop 2) Set interface(s) IP address 10) Filter Logs 3) Reset webConfigurator password 11) Restart webConfigurator 4) Reset to factory defaults 12) pfSense Developer Shell 5) Reboot system 13) Upgrade from console 6) Halt system 14) Disable Secure Shell (sshd) 7) Ping host 15) Restore recent configuration Enter an option:dmesg | grep -i cpu
CPU: AMD G-T40E Processor (1000.00-MHz K8-class CPU)
FreeBSD/SMP: Multiprocessor System Detected: 2 CPUs
cpu0 (BSP): APIC ID: 0
cpu1 (AP): APIC ID: 1
cpu0: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
cpu1: <acpi cpu="">on acpi0
acpi_throttle0: <acpi cpu="" throttling="">on cpu0
SMP: AP CPU #1 Launched!</acpi></acpi></acpi>sysctl -a | egrep -i 'hw.machine|hw.model|hw.ncpu'
hw.machine: amd64
hw.model: AMD G-T40E Processor
hw.ncpu: 2
hw.machine_arch: amd64 -
With the new APU board and a m-sata ssd I assume that the full install is preferable to the nanobsd, correct?
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With the new APU board and a m-sata ssd I assume that the full install is preferable to the nanobsd, correct?
Tried copying the CF image on SD but didn't boot, also booting from USB CD image failed & which lacks serial output, only memstick-serial then installing to M-SATA worked for me, haven't tried installing on SATA since beta board lacks it.
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With the new APU board and a m-sata ssd I assume that the full install is preferable to the nanobsd, correct?
Yes, I did copy the full Image "pfSense-memstick-serial-2.1-RELEASE-amd64-20130911-1816.img" from a SD Card and this installes the m-sata-ssd.
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Would be nice to have for the new APU board:
- LED Support
- Thermal sensors
- as mentioned in an other thread (GPU prozessors as crypto device)
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The GPU is not usable.
It is disabled with the APU board to save power. -
New APU board is really great. Anyone got an idea how to get thermal sensors working? I'd like to check the temperature regularly…
Thanks.
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With the new APU board and a m-sata ssd I assume that the full install is preferable to the nanobsd, correct?
Yes, I did copy the full Image "pfSense-memstick-serial-2.1-RELEASE-amd64-20130911-1816.img" from a SD Card and this installes the m-sata-ssd.
Could you please tell us what you used to copy that image to SD Card? "dd" didn't work for me ???
Installing nanobsd on SD Card would be optimal.
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Could you please tell us what you used to copy that image to SD Card? "dd" didn't work for me ???
Installing nanobsd on SD Card would be optimal.
I used physdiskwrite to write a 2GB nanobsd alix image onto a sdhc card I had on hand, booted the apu with, did a minimum config and restored a modified alix config - done (made only minimum changes after)
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Moved from alix to an apu1c using a sdhc card (temporarly) and restored a modified alix config.
Works nicely so far…FreeBSD/amd64 (test.lan) (console) *** Welcome to pfSense 2.1-RELEASE-nanobsd (amd64) on test *** WAN (wan) -> re0 -> v4/DHCP4: 192.168.69.139/24 BRIDGE (lan) -> bridge0 -> v4: 192.168.70.1/24 WIFI (opt1) -> ath0_wlan0 -> LAN (opt2) -> re1 ->I noticed you are using a wifi card with the apu board. Is it the wle200nx? If so is it working with 2.1?
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I noticed you are using a wifi card with the apu board. Is it the wle200nx? If so is it working with 2.1?
Yes its a AR9280 set to run in 802.11g mode only and working so far. Seems not as good as the one I used in the Alix box (sensitivity wise) but it's to early to judge.
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I noticed you are using a wifi card with the apu board. Is it the wle200nx? If so is it working with 2.1?
Yes its a AR9280 set to run in 802.11g mode only and working so far. Seems not as good as the one I used in the Alix box (sensitivity wise) but it's to early to judge.
So in G mode is usable without stability issues, good to know.
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With the new APU board and a m-sata ssd I assume that the full install is preferable to the nanobsd, correct?
Yes, I did copy the full Image "pfSense-memstick-serial-2.1-RELEASE-amd64-20130911-1816.img" from a SD Card and this installes the m-sata-ssd.
Could you please tell us what you used to copy that image to SD Card? "dd" didn't work for me ???
Installing nanobsd on SD Card would be optimal.
I used http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/ as physdiskwrite didn't work.
As Image I used the Serial-installer-Image not the nano-Images. During the Installation you have to Chose the kernel, I selected the embedded. -
I noticed you are using a wifi card with the apu board. Is it the wle200nx? If so is it working with 2.1?
Yes its a AR9280 set to run in 802.11g mode only and working so far. Seems not as good as the one I used in the Alix box (sensitivity wise) but it's to early to judge.
So in G mode is usable without stability issues, good to know.
It is not usable in G mode here, using the apu1b with pfs 2.1, most of the time it causes a kernel panic and rebooting hangs.(same with G+N and pure N) other times it says it got enabled but does not broadcast signal. Tried multiple times with fresh installs and leaving defaults under wifi with no luck.
Maybe it's an issue with the beta boards only? ???
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So in G mode is usable without stability issues, good to know.
With the usual and lots of
kernel: ath0: stuck beacon; resetting (bmiss count 4)
messages in the log.
All the hw.ath.bstuck, longcal, rx/tx, diversity etc. mod's did'nt improve it (if it's stuck it's stuck) so I gave up on it and blaim the driver (I didnt see this problems during a quick linux run).
The Compex WiFi in the Alix behaved better and logged only very few depending on how crowded the choosen channel where. Android's "WiFi Analyzer" app is your friend here to get a idea of channel usage.
