Powerd slowing down system clock

audumla

I recently converted a Watchguard X8500e-f to pfsense. I have managed to get most things up and running however I noticed that the system was loosing time very quickly. NTP servers are all setup and working however when powerd is enabled the system clock slows right down, slowing by 4 to 6 minutes out of every 10. This issue disappears however when powerd is not enabled. As I wish to use powerd I would like to fix the problem. I have not seen this happen before on other systems so do not know what is the underlying cause.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

stephenw10

Did you change the kernel timecounter to something not dependent on processor frequency?

See 'Enabling SpeedStep' here: https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/PfSense_on_Watchguard_Firebox#Further_Enhancements_3

Have changed the CPU?

Steve

chpalmer

Let us know if those fiber ports work with pfsense if you don't mind. Ive been searching for that card for a while. :)

audumla

Howdy Steve,
The system is stock standard from a hardware point of view.
Ive added
kern.timecounter.hardware=i8254
to the advanced options however I didnt add
hint.p4tcc.0.disabled=1
hint.acpi_throttle.0.disabled=1

Ill have another play around with these to see if they make a difference.

Cheers,
Marius

@stephenw10:

Did you change the kernel timecounter to something not dependent on processor frequency?

See 'Enabling SpeedStep' here: https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/PfSense_on_Watchguard_Firebox#Further_Enhancements_3

Have changed the CPU?

Steve

audumla

Howdy,
The fibre ports work fine, but the lights don't work as expected, even with the LCDProc package running.
Cheers,
Marius

@chpalmer:

Let us know if those fiber ports work with pfsense if you don't mind. Ive been searching for that card for a while. :)

stephenw10

Hmm.
Does that model have the vpn card? I had to remove it from my 5500e, it was causing a huge interrupt load.

Steve

audumla

Howdy
I pulled the VPN card out before I installed pfsense as the doco said it was not supported and so it just ended up consuming 10w for nothing. For now Ive turned off powerd which is a little dissapointing.

stephenw10

Are you still running the original CPU? If so you'll find powerd doesn't make any difference anyway. The 533MHz fsb models are not directly supported by est(4).
To get the NIC LEDs working in a standard manner you need to swap out the drivers, see the docs page. I don't think anyone has tried it with the fibre ports though. What hardware do the use?

Steve