PfSense with Gigabyte GA-J1900N-D3V

Escorpiom

I was tempted to buy this Gigabyte board, but just like FarmerB3rd said, shoe-horning the bits in (Mini-PCI-e cards) is far from ideal.
Another show stopper was the absence of any sata-3 ports, and no PCI-e slot.

I like to be able to re-purpose hardware if the need arises.
When searching for some alternatives, the only (cheap) board with sata-3 connectors is the Asrock Q1900 itx.
The Asrock Q1900M has some PCI-e slots, but lacks sata-3 as most other brands.

But in the end I decided for the Supermicro X10SBA (as noted by Synthetickiller), it has everything I needed.
Yes, it costs nearly twice as much as the other boards, but at least I can re-purpose later on as a Linux/BSD based file server.
I plan to use 2x4GB SuperTalent sodimm 1.35v with micron D9 chips.
The idea is to have a solid piece of hardware that keeps me online 24/7.

Wolly mentioned esxi and PFSense on top of that. I'd like to avoid that (probably not even needed with the X10SBA) because it adds another layer
of complexity. Plus the fact that I like PFSense to run independent from other servers, so that Internet connectivity won't be affected if something goes south on the file server for example.

When it comes to PFSense I'm a complete n00b, please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Cheers.

Vaseer

Greetings,

Just double checking:

Will Intel PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter, 1x 1000Base-T, PCI 66MHz (PWLA8391GT) work on Gigabyte GA-J1900N-D3V?
http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/adapters/pro1000gt/pro1000gt-overview.htm

It is listed on FreeBSD 8.3-RELEASE Hardware Notes as supported HW: http://www.freebsd.org/releases/8.3R/hardware.html#ETHERNET

Intel PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter (82541PI)

Thanks

FarmerB3d

@mal_reynolds:

@FarmerB3rd:

I've got snort running (only just added it) and the CPU is not moving. It nearly always sits at 0% with normal "stuff".
Doing a speed test though excites it a bit. 150Mb/s down via VPN (compression is turned on) makes it hit 12-13%.

If you're looking at a Gb WAN then perhaps this board would not be right for you. What a First World problem you have ;)

Thanks for the update friend, my last question for you would be what kind of power do you think your setup is pulling from the wall?

Just had a look now - 13W idle, 14W when downloading at 150Mb/s. Not quite the 10W the marketing material says but not exactly bad. The Pf is 0.45 though so the difference could be in there. Either way, it's not going to break the bank.

FarmerB3d

@Vaseer:

Greetings,

Just double checking:

Will Intel PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter, 1x 1000Base-T, PCI 66MHz (PWLA8391GT) work on Gigabyte GA-J1900N-D3V?
http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/adapters/pro1000gt/pro1000gt-overview.htm

It is listed on FreeBSD 8.3-RELEASE Hardware Notes as supported HW: http://www.freebsd.org/releases/8.3R/hardware.html#ETHERNET

Intel PRO/1000 GT Desktop Adapter (82541PI)

Thanks

If the card is supported by FreeBSD then probably.

I don't think this is a good idea though - what's the point? You're buying a small board to fit into a small case. Now you want to put big things on the board so then have to have a big case. Now you have a small board in a big case with a card which is not the best in it's class. Why not get a big board, low power CPU and the best NIC you can running on proper PCIe ports. Best of everything.

Ok, the power consumption of this board is impressive but I am sure AMD had something similar a while back which only consumed 15W (I have one bashing about in the cupboard somewhere)

It's never as clear-cut as that but that's

bsider

Is this just me having too high voltage on VCore in power saving mode on this board? On the first mobo, CPU at 1333 mhz received 0,828 volts (CPU VID 0,6V), then I returned it to the store and bought a new one from different batch which now outputs 0,860 volts (CPU VID 0,63V) at 1333 mhz. I have tried swapping 3 different PSUs (2 ordinary ATX ones and a PicoPSU one) but to no avail. The competitor motherboard from Asrock Q1900-ITX gives correct Vcore voltage at 1333 mhz - 0,696 Volts with same PSUs. As the result, Gigabyte's CPU is always hot at 52 C minimum and Asrock is almost cold at 1333 mhz. BIOS is the latest. Gigabyte's support suggests to replace PSU, but doesn't tell to which one.

stephenw10

Swapping the PSU isn't going to help. The Vcore is determined by regulators on the board using a reference voltage either directly from the cpu or from bios data. Modern systems have under/over clocking and volting facilities from software which would imply a bios problem.

Steve

messerchmidt

the Celeron j is a pig without aes-ni

http://us.hardware.info/reviews/5334/24/amd-am1-vs-intel-bay-trail-d-review-cheap-desktop-platforms-benchmarks-truecrypt-71-aes-+-aes-ni

stephenw10

PfSense doesn't, yet, support AES-NI. Also 267MB/s doesn't seem that bad. ;)

Steve

FarmerB3d

@bsider:

Is this just me having too high voltage on VCore in power saving mode on this board? On the first mobo, CPU at 1333 mhz received 0,828 volts (CPU VID 0,6V), then I returned it to the store and bought a new one from different batch which now outputs 0,860 volts (CPU VID 0,63V) at 1333 mhz. I have tried swapping 3 different PSUs (2 ordinary ATX ones and a PicoPSU one) but to no avail. The competitor motherboard from Asrock Q1900-ITX gives correct Vcore voltage at 1333 mhz - 0,696 Volts with same PSUs. As the result, Gigabyte's CPU is always hot at 52 C minimum and Asrock is almost cold at 1333 mhz. BIOS is the latest. Gigabyte's support suggests to replace PSU, but doesn't tell to which one.

I don't believe the temp readings. Mine reads a constant 52C regardless of room temp, yours reads 52C and there was a user a few pages back who said 52C.
I suspect the sensor is not being read correctly by FreeBSD.

FarmerB3d

@messerchmidt:

the Celeron j is a pig without aes-ni

http://us.hardware.info/reviews/5334/24/amd-am1-vs-intel-bay-trail-d-review-cheap-desktop-platforms-benchmarks-truecrypt-71-aes-+-aes-ni

Until I have an internet connection which can handle 268MB/s I'll be ok with this box ;)

bsider

@FarmerB3rd:

I suspect the sensor is not being read correctly by FreeBSD.

Unfortunately (for the board), I have verified the temperature under Windows and it's showing same 52 C.
I have also faced twice that the motherboard reports "BIOS Checksum Error" and reverts the BIOS to the old version, resetting all settings. This happens when the mobo is being powered on.
This motherboard is a no go for me with such hassles. Gonna sell it. Gigabyte spoiled great mobo with awful BIOS.
Btw, their support replied me on their support site that they cannot reproduce the voltage issue, so this means that this issue is non-existent, despite that even in reviews on the internets overvoltage can be clearly seen in CPU-Z screenshots!

Hudrator

Hey everybody,

I would like to ask the owners of the board to give a little feedback about the performance in daily use.
Specially i would like to know about following topics:

Performance when useing OpenVPN with 1 to 5 Clients at the same time / multiple instances of OpenVPN
LAN - LAN Routing performance with the Realtec NICs
Performance with Proxmox / XEN and different Host-Systems ontop ( likely pfsense )

Thanks in advance

@messerchmidt:

the Celeron j is a pig without aes-ni

http://us.hardware.info/reviews/5334/24/amd-am1-vs-intel-bay-trail-d-review-cheap-desktop-platforms-benchmarks-truecrypt-71-aes-+-aes-ni

Took a quick look at the article. Nice feature but when taking a look at compatible Mainboards, you will start crying… ;)
So far I only found 11 Mainboards whitch are compatible. All with just 1 NIC, and DDR3 normal size (imho s0-DIMM is the new Standard)

So give me one Board with Dual NIC / S0-DIMM for nearly the same price as the Gigabyte GA-J1900N-D3V and i'm willing to buy and test.
;D

FarmerB3d

So I'm a few months in now with this board and cannot complain.

It sips electricity
It handles my BB connection (160/12) without breaking out a sweat.
It does far more than I could ever do with DD-WRT (Apples and Oranges)
It runs very cool (M350, no fan, hovers around 51-52c)
The CPU ticks along, never going above 10% when doing speed test over open VPN, 160Mb/s down with compression turned on
You need to run the latest Alpha code (totally stable for me, I don't upgrade automatically though, no point)
The realtec NICS - I think I might have found their problem side

Hudrator

So the first impressions with pfsense on this board:

BIOS Version F3
WLAN Card Archos 9280 Chipset
Pfsense 2.2 Beta Snapshot from 05.10.14

-Installation from USB worked well.
-When configuring the WAN interface, I faced some Problems
Receiving DHCP lease from my cable network
–> problem solved by switching from Realtec NIC to an additional Intel NIC
(Not sure if this Problem is driver related)
-I hardly tried to setup dualband Wlan. Wasn't capable cause settings were over written by the different clones of the wireless interface. Seems that there are still some bugs.
Had to reinstall pfsense all the time to get rid of old configurations.
Hopefully there will be some further development till release of 2.2

godsfshrmn

I've been looking at this board. Does anyone have any experience using it with gigabit WAN? I believe I saw 250 with some CPU headroom but I wanted to be sure.

Edit: there appears to be a revision 2.0 hardware on gigabytes website. Anyone tried it?

Logger79

First a great big thanks to w00t!

With w00ts bios settings the install was a breeze, no kernel panic, no nothing. I used "pfSense-memstick-2.1.5-RELEASE-arch.img.gz".

I would recommend this write up on bios update: http://www.gigabytenordic.com/wordpress/flash-update-bios-gigabyte-bay-trail-motherboards-j1800-j1900/

@godsfshrmn:

I've been looking at this board. Does anyone have any experience using it with gigabit WAN? I believe I saw 250 with some CPU headroom but I wanted to be sure.

Edit: there appears to be a revision 2.0 hardware on gigabytes website. Anyone tried it?

I'm using the onboard NICs and they seem to work just fine, but I've only got a 100 Mbit so I don't know how they behave at higher speeds.

I bought my motherboard last month and it shipped with F2; I couldn't find any version markings on it, I looked for it though.

nzimmers

Hi all

I have a GA-J1900N-D3V on the way and noticed it has a mini Pci-e slot, and was wondering if anyone has tried a mini-pcie ssd.

for example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1K62383992&cm_re=mini_pcie_ssd--20-609-436--Product

I've seen conflicting information on the net (imagine that) some to the effect that it depends on the kind of link to the architecture (USB or SATA or something else) while other places say mini-pcie is universal and should work.

The case I'm getting should have enough room to accept a card that is a little larger (here's the case): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811815042

Your thoughts appreciated….

nz

godsfshrmn

I received my board today and I wanted to report back. I'm fortunate to have municipal broadband here, and it is 1gbps. I went through the install process and got it to boot from the USB stick. I ran a speed test and was only seeing about 550mbps. I typically see 850+ consistently. I'd like to try checking "disable hardware checksum offload" under System > Advanced > Networking, but it doesn't save on rebooting. I'm getting >80% load on core0 and 30% on core1, while the rest remain idle. System load doesn't really move, but there are a ton of interrupts.

I'm having problems booting from the SSD I have installed. I've saved everything to the SSD and used the quick default settings. When I reboot, I see the "F6 PXE Boot: F1" lines and essentially enter a reboot loop. It does not report any errors. Any thoughts? I've tried all kinds of different BIOS settings without any success.

nzimmers

@godsfshrmn:

I received my board today and I wanted to report back. I'm fortunate to have municipal broadband here, and it is 1gbps. I went through the install process and got it to boot from the USB stick. I ran a speed test and was only seeing about 550mbps. I typically see 850+ consistently. I'd like to try checking "disable hardware checksum offload" under System > Advanced > Networking, but it doesn't save on rebooting. I'm getting >80% load on core0 and 30% on core1, while the rest remain idle. System load doesn't really move, but there are a ton of interrupts.

I'm having problems booting from the SSD I have installed. I've saved everything to the SSD and used the quick default settings. When I reboot, I see the "F6 PXE Boot: F1" lines and essentially enter a reboot loop. It does not report any errors. Any thoughts? I've tried all kinds of different BIOS settings without any success.

godsfshrmn, which bios version are you running on the motherboard?

amunrara

man, this board is a big headache :(

i received it 3 days ago, and after hours of suffering, i got it running.
…and i don´t even know how i made it work lol
soon, i am getting a wifi card, i think its going to be another headache..