Utorrent causes internet crash ONLY at one pc, internal lans fine

tastyratz

Windows 7 amd 5800k machine with 16gb ram and using a pfsense release firewall, gigabit switch.

I have been struggling with a VERY strange issue using utorrent on my desktop pc.
If I download a large torrent which is well seeded and really downloads fast my pc will suddenly dump the internet connection ONLY at this pc and ONLY till I reboot. I can continue to reach this pc from inside the network using rdp, and I can continue to reach my laptop from the internet no issue. I can log into the pfsense panel from this desktop, and if I ping random new dns addresses it resolves dns but refuses to ping.
Only utorrent DOWNLOADING will cause it to take a complete dump, I can pull down hundreds of gigs over newsgroups successfully with no hiccup and I can seed forever without an issue. Once the download is finished I don't lose the connection again and can start seeding it. If I reboot the pc everything comes back up again for a period of time. I have rebooted this pc for 1 torrent today about 5 times so far and I have a massive one to get in on next week.

I have tried resetting tcp/ip, winsock, disabling/enabling network card and dumping the arp cache while running - still ONLY a reboot fixes it. There is nothing in the event log to coincide with the problem. It isn't grabbing a new IP, the router stays up rock solid.

I have updated the network card drivers to a newer version, disabled avast firewall, disabled windows firewall, changed utorrent settings to recommended settings on their FAQ which - I had 4x too many connections for my speed tier. Since changing those settings my speed has definitely improved and consequently the problem seems worse!

I searched but think my problem is rather unique to anything I have found. I cross posted on the Utorrent forums but its such a strange issue that I think it's more just failing a "Stress test" here. Any good ideas?

hackin8

I had a similar problem - never found the cause, but changed to using deluge - and never had a problem since :)

Not sure this helps you - but it did help me.

Using onboard nic? If you have an intel nic laying around, I would suggest giving that a shot. I've also had this issue with my gf's PC, her onboard nic having "green technology" which causes some really strange ass issues. I downloaded a little utility from the manf's website and turned it off - no more issues. You may be able to turn this off going into the properties (device manager) and then "Advanced" or something similar - disable any sort of ability that could turn it off be it green technology or simply "allow the computer to turn this device off to conserve power."

wallabybob

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean by @tastyratz:

my pc will suddenly dump the internet connection ONLY at this pc

and @tastyratz:

Only utorrent DOWNLOADING will cause it to take a complete dump,

Do you mean that other applications on that PC don't seem to get a response when they attempt to access the Internet? If that is the problem it could be that the torrents have so much data "in the pipe" that the response to the other access attempt can't get back in time.

I don't know what can be configured in uTorrent but my Linux torrent client (Transmission) allows configuration of torrent priority and global bandwidth limits (presumably across all active torrents). If uTorrent offers something similar maybe you should play with priority and bandwidth limits.

tastyratz

Yea I am using the onboard Realtec nic, don't have any intels just laying around unfortunately. I tried setting the limiter to 2.5 megs today and it seemed stable for the last 20gb or so of my download which was fantastic… at ~1/3 of my speed though.

THANK YOU for the "green ethernet" tip. I googled that and maybe I am just a victim there. I shut it off, hopefully that helps.

Also Wallabybob: yes the internet is non responsive through a host of applications. I can RDP into it to see my aim signed off, outlook stopped checking mail, and I.E. won't pull up any pages. If I close utorrent this does not fix the issue, it ONLY finds itself better after a reboot.

stephenw10

This seems like something pro-active objecting to that many connections or the level of traffic. Do you have Snort running? Any sort of software firewall on the client machine?

Steve

instead of limiting the speed, limit the number of connections possible. Over 1,000 connections used to lock up my cheapy linksys router before I went to pfsense. Just something to try, I could be way off base on this though since I would assume it should be using your system's ram to store connections.

Also if you have a pfsense box setup, install pfblocker. Personally I block China / Brazil and a handful of other countries. Nothing but garbage connections.

cmb

If it were the number of connections, or something else that was being done to the firewall, it would affect every machine. Assuming there aren't per-IP state or bandwidth limits configured (there aren't by default), it would have to be something on the PC itself.

I was assuming the number of connections at the PC level, and hoping to use the firewall and utorrent settings to help reduce the load on the poor little realtek card :-P

I only gave reference to my linksys because that's the only experience I've had, just to reiterate that I could be wrong about the realtek card getting overwhelmed (simply not understanding why or how the number of connections would affect a nic in a PC).

stephenw10

We need to hear back from Tastyratz to confirm this but as I read it the machine is still reachable on the LAN after it has stopped talking to the internet. Other clients are still able to talk to the internet as well. This implies that it is not a hardware or driver problem either in the client or the pfSense box.
I would suggest it could be Snort in the pfSense box blocking things or perhaps some other blocking rule. However I would expect it more likely that the client has some software firewall that might be interfering or is somehow loosing it's routing information.

if I ping random new dns addresses it resolves dns but refuses to ping

How does it fail to ping? 'No route'? no response?

Steve

tastyratz

I do have pfblocker installed already actually, good little app.

I dropped the number in connections 400% and the problem got worse. If it were number of connections then when I dropped the connection number I would see the problem improve, not get worse I would think? I cut them down and throughput improved… but it tanked more often.

I agree on a small scale router it can take a beating... but that's why I have a pfsense thin client setup in my home because it can handle heavy usage.

I had avast firewall but disabled it to no change, no windows firewall. snort is installed but not configured yet.

Stephenw10, you did read correct, so that makes me hesitate. It certainly is an odd one. Pings fail as a timeout but do resolve an IP.

I have a good feeling about that green ethernet garbage, I just don't have anything to really test it out till next week.

stephenw10

If the ethernet interface in the client were going into some power saving mode you would not be able to access anything through it. No pinging local clients, no RDP, nothing. :-
If the pings are failing as a time out then the client still has a route, is a it a valid route? You still have DNS resolution. Presumably you are using the DNS forwarder in pfSense?

What rules are you using in pfBlocker? Are you seeing anything in firewall logs?

Steve

tastyratz

ok I just kicked off my next series of big downloads and its still going on unfortunately

traffic shaper off
only firewall rules are pfblocker and bogon networks.
pfblocker has spamhaus DROP and attack lists setup only, no country filtering or anything.

Firewall log is jam packed, TONS of udp packets blocked. 50 entries isn't lasting 8 seconds under full tilt download, no entries for pfblocker last few times

cpu usage when downloading at 5.5 megs was around 60%. I thought I had snort installed but actually I don't.

Everything was still up but I rebooted the pfsense box and pc for good measure last night when it happened around 7. I was able to get a good 4 hours or so without issue till it hung up again. I was unable to reach pfsense by the web interface at 7 but after the reboot and this morning, fine.

Interface Stats for fxp1 IPv4 IPv6
Bytes In 3019044522 17424
Bytes Out 71203496960 0
Packets In
Passed 36941172 0
Blocked 820 242
Packets Out
Passed 50115758 0
Blocked 0 0

State Table Total Rate
current entries 1386
searches 174168351 4485.4/s
inserts 262768 6.8/s
removals 261382 6.7/s
Source Tracking Table
current entries 0
searches 0 0.0/s
inserts 0 0.0/s
removals 0 0.0/s
Counters
match 334924 8.6/s
bad-offset 0 0.0/s
fragment 0 0.0/s
short 0 0.0/s
normalize 0 0.0/s
memory 0 0.0/s
bad-timestamp 0 0.0/s
congestion 0 0.0/s
ip-option 0 0.0/s
proto-cksum 9 0.0/s
state-mismatch 294 0.0/s
state-insert 5224 0.1/s
state-limit 0 0.0/s
src-limit 0 0.0/s
synproxy 0 0.0/s
divert 0 0.0/s
Limit Counters
max states per rule 0 0.0/s
max-src-states 0 0.0/s
max-src-nodes 0 0.0/s
max-src-conn 0 0.0/s
max-src-conn-rate 0 0.0/s
overload table insertion 0 0.0/s
overload flush states 0 0.0/s
states hard limit 47000
src-nodes hard limit 47000
frags hard limit 5000
tables hard limit 3000
table-entries hard limit 1000000
tcp.first 120s
tcp.opening 30s
tcp.established 86400s
tcp.closing 900s
tcp.finwait 45s
tcp.closed 90s
tcp.tsdiff 30s
udp.first 60s
udp.single 30s
udp.multiple 60s
icmp.first 20s
icmp.error 10s
other.first 60s
other.single 30s
other.multiple 60s
frag 30s
interval 10s
adaptive.start 28200 states
adaptive.end 56400 states
src.track 0s
all
Cleared: Fri Apr 12 05:45:27 2013
References: [ States: 1388 Rules: 1 ]
In4/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out4/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
carp
Cleared: Fri Apr 12 05:45:27 2013
References: [ States: 0 Rules: 1 ]
In4/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out4/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
enc
Cleared: Fri Apr 12 05:45:27 2013
References: [ States: 0 Rules: 1 ]
In4/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out4/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
enc0
Cleared: Thu Apr 11 19:01:13 2013
References: [ States: 0 Rules: 1 ]
In4/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out4/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
fxp0
Cleared: Thu Apr 11 19:01:10 2013
References: [ States: 0 Rules: 42 ]
In4/Pass: [ Packets: 50045744 Bytes: 71171714500 ]
In4/Block: [ Packets: 66116 Bytes: 6309492 ]
Out4/Pass: [ Packets: 36902402 Bytes: 3006758836 ]
Out4/Block: [ Packets: 3 Bytes: 180 ]
In6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Block: [ Packets: 12623 Bytes: 910008 ]
Out6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
fxp1
Cleared: Thu Apr 11 19:01:12 2013
References: [ States: 0 Rules: 15 ]
In4/Pass: [ Packets: 36941624 Bytes: 3019045499 ]
In4/Block: [ Packets: 820 Bytes: 29335 ]
Out4/Pass: [ Packets: 50116257 Bytes: 71204213926 ]
Out4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Block: [ Packets: 242 Bytes: 17424 ]
Out6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
lo
Cleared: Fri Apr 12 05:45:27 2013
References: [ States: 0 Rules: 1 ]
In4/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out4/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
lo0
Cleared: Fri Apr 12 05:45:27 2013
References: [ States: 0 Rules: 3 ]
In4/Pass: [ Packets: 1280 Bytes: 113965 ]
In4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out4/Pass: [ Packets: 1280 Bytes: 113965 ]
Out4/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
In6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Pass: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]
Out6/Block: [ Packets: 0 Bytes: 0 ]

stephenw10

@tastyratz:

Firewall log is jam packed, TONS of udp packets blocked. 50 entries isn't lasting 8 seconds under full tilt download

Well this seems odd. What firewall rule is blocking these packets?

@tastyratz:

cpu usage when downloading at 5.5 megs was around 60%.

That seems very high CPU usage. A processor such as yours would usually barely notice 5.5Mbps. Do you have powerd enabled? Some other cpu scaling utility?

Have you ever had Snort installed? Sometimes it can leave things behind that cause problems.

Steve

tastyratz

I must have removed snort, I think I had it before bit it doesn't show under installed packages. How do I fully clean it out if it left remants like that?

I rebooted that pc at 8:45am this morning, it JUST went down again at 10am pulling a steady 5.5megabytes down. it hard cuts when it goes down, not a slow drop of clients and problems creep in or anything like that, it's like I just yanked the wan cord as far as that pc sees it.

I did have speed issues with powerd enabled so I did disable it, I have pfsense installed in a thin client with a p3 733 and 512mb ram, dual intel pro 10/100 card. I have encryption forced on outbound connections, I have noticed cpu usage can get pretty high when any ssl traffic is passed.

How can I see what rule blocked it? I go to status > system logs > firewall and see the list there.
Entries just look like below (with ip's removed):

Apr 12 09:12:42 WAN (Source outside IP):60658 (My IP):7121 UDP

stephenw10

Hmm, I'm not sure about Snort. I've not seen it myself but I've seen other mention it before. Mostly I think it was a problem where Snort would block something then it was uninstalled resulting in no way to unblock it. Left over block rules.

Ah, Bytes not bits and a P3 not a 5800K (must read better!) would explain the CPU usage. You should almost certainly not have powerd enabled for that. Only the mobile P3 had speedstep and I don't think it was supported anyway.

@tastyratz:

How can I see what rule blocked it?

I knew you'd ask that and the answer has temporarily escaped me! ::)
Thinking about it the blocked udp packets during a download are not that important. What would be interesting is looking in the firewall logs after your client has stopped being able to reach the internet. Try to open a few web sites or whatever and then check the logs.

Steve

tastyratz

This time it only lasted 30 minutes before crashing, it just went down again.
I disabled PFblocker to see if that was doing anything and it did not change anything.

I also just disabled the bogon network rule and all other firewall rules just… didn't exist.
So why does my firewall log still show as LOADED with entries? 50 entries view is only spanned over 1 second

EDIT
I found out how to view what triggered it by clicking the red x
the rule that triggered this action is:
@1 scrub on fxp1 all fragment reassemble
@1 block drop in log all label "default deny rule"

I also found this explanation:
http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Logs_show_%22blocked%22_for_traffic_from_a_legitimate_connection%2C_why%3F

So looks like that's normal, dead end.

stephenw10

By default pfSense blocks everything everywhere, the 'default deny rule'.

If you have been running a P2P application you will see a large number firewall hits as other clients worldwide attempt to connect to you. This can take days to timeout.

What firewall entry was that for? During download or after it failed?

Steve

uTorrent uses UDP connections as well. Take note if the UDP port number is the same as uTorrent's defined port number. Though this is unlikely why your connection drops off, just an explanation of why you see massive UDP connections.

If you go to Status > Services, do you see snort listed?

When you say you run pfsense as a thin client, I take this to mean you have a separate white box running vSphere with pfsense as a virtual machine? While your uTorrent box is a separate/dedicated computer?

With the above being true, if restarting the uTorrent box restores connectivity then the issue is solely the uTorrent box at fault.

DNS resolution isn't definitive, as it could pull from cache. With pings timing out I'd go as far to say you have 0 connectivity, not limited. Download the Windows XP Mode from download.microsoft.com which should be about 400-500mb and will max out your speed.

This way it's a single connection pushing 5mbps easily. You can rule out if it's uTorrent's fault, the number of connections, or if it's going too fast.

tastyratz

Heavy1metal:
no I don't see snort listed under services listed
I run pfsense on an old thin client for the hardware, a wyse type box as a glorified mini computer - not virtualized. From there I plug into a gig switch which runs to my desktop pc having the issue and my other computers having no issues at the moment. I
DNS isn't pulling from cache because I am randomly asking people for websites that i have never before visited - they are all fresh pulls.
If I close utorrent on the desktop the issue does not go away. If I reboot the pfsense machine it does not solve the issue either… but how could utorrent break the connection ONLY at that pc and ONLY to wan traffic? what could be done locally to cripple wan but not lan? That is the strangest part...

Stephen:
That was during download after rebooting it.
The entries look similar after it crashes. I just went down again and the entries for firewall are the same type and around the same frequency.
Mostly udp, some TCP:S, some TCP:R, some ICMP6, all WAN. I turned off logging of default rule blocks and then tried checking a web page - nothing new showing up, firewall is empty.

That being said: I have vmware workstation loaded on my desktop. I just fired up one of the virtual machines and attempted to pull up a web page - same end result for what it's worth. I also remotely connect to my desktop during the day with teamviewer and leave the connection open. I know the issue happens when it does because my remote connection drops. When that happens I teamviewer to my laptop to rdp into my desktop and troubleshoot.

stephenw10

@tastyratz:

what could be done locally to cripple wan but not lan?

Change the default route information or gateway. Then you have access only to local subnet services. That would include the DNS forwarder in pfSense. Of course I have no idea why it might be doing that. Rogue DHCP server on your network? That happens surprisingly frequently and can cause all manner of problems.

I suggest you run an 'ipconfig /all' on your Windows box before and after failure and compare the two.

@tastyratz:

That being said: I have vmware workstation loaded on my desktop. I just fired up one of the virtual machines and attempted to pull up a web page - same end result for what it's worth.

Is this the same machine you run utorrent on? You mean a VM running on that machine after it fails to connect also fails to connect?

Steve

tastyratz

ipconfig nets the same IP. if I do a release/renew it does get an IP (same one) from pfsense and gateway is the same. It behaves the same both before and after restarting the pc.

Correct, once my desktop no longer communicates with the internet, the vmware machine running on the same desktop pc also has no internet access.

stephenw10

Is the VM getting a new IP from pfSense or is it NATed from the host machine?

What about the routing information, try 'route print' before and after failure.

Steve

tastyratz

VM actually grabs via pfsense, it shows up in the arp table there.

Here's a fresh route print before failure (192.168.1.1 is the pfsense machine, and 1.11 is my desktop):

===========================================================================
Interface List
10…b8 97 5a 27 36 b8 ......Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
14...00 50 56 c0 00 01 ......VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet1
15...00 50 56 c0 00 08 ......VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet8
1...........................Software Loopback Interface 1
11...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
12...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
16...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
17...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3

IPv4 Route Table

Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.11 10
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
127.0.0.1 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
127.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
169.254.0.0 255.255.0.0 On-link 169.254.217.240 276
169.254.0.0 255.255.0.0 On-link 169.254.238.131 276
169.254.217.240 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.217.240 276
169.254.238.131 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.238.131 276
169.254.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.217.240 276
169.254.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.238.131 276
192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 On-link 192.168.1.11 266
192.168.1.11 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.1.11 266
192.168.1.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.1.11 266
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 169.254.238.131 276
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 169.254.217.240 276
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 192.168.1.11 266
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.238.131 276
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.217.240 276
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.1.11 266

Persistent Routes:
None

And here is one right after everything hits the fan:

===========================================================================
Interface List
10...b8 97 5a 27 36 b8 ......Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
14...00 50 56 c0 00 01 ......VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet1
15...00 50 56 c0 00 08 ......VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet8
1...........................Software Loopback Interface 1
11...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
12...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
16...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
17...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3

IPv4 Route Table

Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.11 10
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
127.0.0.1 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
127.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
169.254.0.0 255.255.0.0 On-link 169.254.217.240 276
169.254.0.0 255.255.0.0 On-link 169.254.238.131 276
169.254.217.240 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.217.240 276
169.254.238.131 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.238.131 276
169.254.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.217.240 276
169.254.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.238.131 276
192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 On-link 192.168.1.11 266
192.168.1.11 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.1.11 266
192.168.1.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.1.11 266
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 169.254.238.131 276
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 169.254.217.240 276
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 192.168.1.11 266
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.238.131 276
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.217.240 276
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.1.11 266

Persistent Routes:
None

stephenw10

Hmmmm. :-\

What do you have between the pfSense box and the client? Assuming you have some switch does it have any features that may be contributing to this? Have you tried power cycling the switch? Have you tried removing the ethernet cable from the client?

Otherwise I'm stumped!

Steve

tastyratz

yea this is a real tough one. It's just a standard trendnet gig dumb switch, nothing to it… no features. I haven't bounced it yet or messed with the cable because of that. Nothing else in the middle

tastyratz

To update anyone with similar issues, dropped to uTorrent 2.2.1 Build 25302 (but kept settings) issue persisted.
Tried installing Vuze and seeing if it works. I had the same thing happen on vuze, guess it wasn't utorrent kicking it off just torrents in general.

I since rolled back to 2.0.0.4 and also tweaked my network adapters settings. I disabled both vmware network adapters, then went to config my main adapter - disabled vmware bridge protocol and "AppEx Networks Accelerator". I think the AppEx piece was my problem, looks like it stems from something called "AMD Quick Stream Technology" - an AMD QOS shaper that must have come with my motherboard driver pack.

Since then I have downloaded 1 Terabyte and not had a single crash while before I couldn't break 20gb at times. I hope this helps someone else ripping their hair out.

Mystery solved, thanks everyone for their time and help.

stephenw10

Good sleuthing. :)
Seems like a useful technology then. ::)

Steve

nambi

I have the exact same problem that is causing me a lot of grief the problem is when the net goes down (my entire network) my vpn crashes too and NOTHING internet related works even when I shut off utorrent the net remains down untill I reboot the pfsense AND reset the modem. If I don't do this my net remains down.

I just installed the latest version of vuze and I'm trying it now but seeing as this is a problem for you too I may try and revert to to utorrent 2.0.0.4 if vuze causes the issue too.

Thanks I will keep you posted on my findings.

I do have

HVAP
Squid
Squid Guard
and PF blocker running I downgraded to

PFsense assuming the newest version was causing the problem, even with the older version I have this issue.

2.0.1-RELEASE (i386)
built on Mon Dec 12 18:24:17 EST 2011

nambi

vuze just crashed too, now I installed utorrent utorrent 2.0 build 17920

I'll run it after lunch, it usually crashes within 20 min

I'll report back.

tim.mcmanus

@nambi - What is in the pfSense system logs prior to the network going down?

I assume you pfSense box is hitting a limit somewhere–CPU, RAM, etc.--and that's causing the box to lock up.

nambi

my pfsense just crashed again here using an old version of Utorrent.

This is what I notice, when the net crashes I http into the pfsense box, the GUi comes up very slow with 1/2 of it, not showing eventually the screen shows the full UI.

In the logs I see errors upon connecting to the IPSEC and other services that require the internet.

The memory is at 14% (4gm ram)
the cpu (intel atom d525) is at 4%

the only thing I see in the logs is.

Apr 22 15:50:02 syslogd: kernel boot file is /boot/kernel/kernel
Apr 22 15:50:02 syslogd: exiting on signal 15
Apr 22 15:49:46 syslogd: kernel boot file is /boot/kernel/kernel
Apr 22 15:49:46 syslogd: exiting on signal 15
Apr 22 15:48:24 php: /index.php: XMLRPC communication error: RPC server did not send response before timeout.
Apr 22 15:47:05 php: /index.php: XMLRPC communication error: RPC server did not send response before timeout.

Unfortunately this info doesn't provide me with much unless I'm looking in the wrong area.

stephenw10

This is clearly a completely different problem to tastyratz issue. It's effecting your whole network not just one machine as the title suggests. Since he solved his issue I guess he won't mind his thread being hi-jacked. ;)

Since you are using torrents I would first guess that you have hit a limit in the number of connections allowed. With 4GB in your pfSense box it shouldn't be a problem. How is your modem configured? Is it in bridge mode?

Look at your MBUF and states usage in the dashboard before you start the torrents and monitor it as the torrents pick up.

Steve

nambi

Thanks Steve I'll start a new thread so I don' t hijack this one.

I'll try your suggestion tomorrow when I have others off the system

Can you tell me what

"MBUF" is? Another really weird characteristic is, my local server which services files for our DB is inaccessible when this happens.

CPU usage is below. My UPNP is disabled should it be enabled?

When the system is crashed.

PID USERNAME PRI NICE SIZE RES STATE C TIME WCPU COMMAND
11 root 171 ki31 0K 32K CPU1 1 151:47 100.00% {idle: cpu1}
11 root 171 ki31 0K 32K CPU3 3 151:34 100.00% {idle: cpu3}
11 root 171 ki31 0K 32K CPU0 0 147:17 100.00% {idle: cpu0}
11 root 171 ki31 0K 32K RUN 2 149:46 81.49% {idle: cpu2}
61762 root 76 0 54624K 17156K accept 2 0:20 21.68% php
858 root 76 0 53600K 22084K piperd 0 0:18 0.78% php
12 root -32 - 0K 160K WAIT 1 1:50 0.49% {swi4: clock}
611 root 76 0 53600K 23640K accept 0 0:17 0.49% php
61713 root 46 0 54624K 17308K accept 3 0:04 0.20% php
12 root -28 - 0K 160K WAIT 0 2:24 0.00% {swi5: +}
0 root -68 0 0K 56K - 0 2:10 0.00% {em0 taskq}
40315 proxy 64 20 38016K 32684K kqread 0 0:59 0.00% squid
0 root 44 0 0K 56K sched 0 0:44 0.00% {swapper}
49971 root 64 20 250M 238M select 3 0:37 0.00% {clamd}
14 root -16 - 0K 8K - 0 0:13 0.00% yarrow
12 root -44 - 0K 160K WAIT 3 0:12 0.00% {swi1: netisr 0}
52685 root 76 20 3656K 1504K wait 2 0:03 0.00% sh
55164 root 64 20 3316K 1328K select 2 0:02 0.00% apinger

my cpu when the system is running

last pid: 17083; load averages: 2.17, 1.12, 0.47 up 0+00:02:32 16:29:15
125 processes: 6 running, 99 sleeping, 20 waiting

Mem: 132M Active, 247M Inact, 140M Wired, 88K Cache, 112M Buf, 2713M Free
Swap: 8192M Total, 8192M Free

PID USERNAME PRI NICE SIZE RES STATE C TIME WCPU COMMAND
11 root 171 ki31 0K 32K CPU1 1 1:11 69.58% {idle: cpu1}
11 root 171 ki31 0K 32K RUN 3 1:06 65.58% {idle: cpu3}
11 root 171 ki31 0K 32K CPU2 2 1:01 57.67% {idle: cpu2}
11 root 171 ki31 0K 32K RUN 0 1:01 54.98% {idle: cpu0}
25794 root 121 20 62888K 26220K CPU3 3 0:05 26.46% php
58769 root 76 20 3656K 1452K wait 1 0:00 13.38% sh
59019 root 76 20 1564K 580K nanslp 1 0:00 13.38% sleep
58113 root 76 20 247M 236M select 0 0:00 7.37% {clamd}
58113 root 76 20 247M 236M ucond 2 0:00 7.37% {clamd}
58113 root 76 20 247M 236M select 2 0:00 7.37% {clamd}
12 root -28 - 0K 160K WAIT 0 0:00 0.39% {swi5: +}
61981 root 45 0 54624K 17040K piperd 0 0:01 0.20% php
994 root 76 0 54624K 22536K accept 0 0:02 0.10% php
12 root -32 - 0K 160K WAIT 2 0:01 0.10% {swi4: clock}
0 root -68 0 0K 56K - 1 0:00 0.10% {em0 taskq}
0 root 44 0 0K 56K sched 0 0:44 0.00% {swapper}
1030 root 76 0 53600K 16176K lockf 1 0:01 0.00% php
62125 root 45 0 53600K 15524K lockf 0 0:00 0.00% php

stephenw10

See: http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/What_are_mbufs%3F

UPNP should only be enabled if you know you need to have it.

Your system output shows that PHP is struggling with something though that could be a symptom not a cause. That would tie in with the webgui being unresponsive.

Steve

his new thread for those curious:
http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,61616.msg332302.html#msg332302