Ntpd / gps need some love part II

pete

As the last thread got locked starting over again here.

Currently utilizing the following:

1 - Installed new from scratch PFSense Version 2.1.3 (current it locked up booting from a regular CD/DVD USB ROM drive.
2 - Will patch said version with: (Selfish right now and all I care about is using my GPS/PPS setup; nothing much else).

Updated this post with the 213 zipped files. I also removed the patch as it didn't work for me with 213 (212 worked).

Just a mention here relating to my personal upgrade to 2.2 Alpha. The files (php) and everything is in the menus just fine. But it didn't work for me (maybe its just me though).

ntp_gps_full_pack_213.zip.jpg

robi

Version 1.2.3 ????

stephenw10

Slightly confused Pete. Is this a report of working using Robi's most recent patch or are you looking for help with a 'lock up' problem? :-\ More details please if looking for help.

Steve

pete

Is this a report of working using Robi's most recent patch

Thank-you sephenw10

Yes; more to continue the GPS (ntpd / GPS need some love part II) thread. Well now it should probably be part III.

Here modded my PFSense box in Vivo sort of building new on another piece of media (well in the same box) which concurrently leaving my older updated PFSense running.

BTW what would turn this modification to an official PFSense "plugin"? What can I do to help this endeavor along?

I mean would it be something that folks would like to do; or do PFSense users not really care about said update?

charliem

@pete:

BTW what would turn this modification to an official PFSense "plugin"? What can I do to help this endeavor along?

I mean would it be something that folks would like to do; or do PFSense users not really care about said update?

I guess you mean a package rather than a plugin. You know this expanded ntpd and serial gps support is already pulled into 2.2Alpha pfSense core, right? So that means any work packaging it would have limited lifetime of basically one release, v2.1.3. IMHO not worth the effort, especially when there is a nice patchset for 2.1.3, and 2.2 is supposed to have a relatively short development cycle.

stephenw10

^Yep. Already in 2.2 and it's unlikely there will be another 2.1.x release. Although I thought that before 2.1.2 and 2.1.3! I guess further security issues aside. :)

Steve

pete

You know this expanded ntpd and serial gps support is already pulled into 2.2Alpha pfSense core, right?

No I did not know.

Thank-you charliem and Steve

Building new box / hardware while concurrently leaving old up and running which really doesn't have anything to do with OP though.

Where is 2.2Alpha core release at?

stephenw10

http://snapshots.pfsense.org/

I had a box running an older snapshot with no issues at all. I had to take it online to move it.
Check the 2.2 feedback subforum for any reports of issues. Be aware that any particular snapshot could be broken by some new update, though they are mostly good at this point.

Steve

pete

Thank-you Steve!

robi

If your box fails to boot properly/boot takes too long after applying the patch, consider checking if BSD's serial port driver was properly loaded:
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=66601.msg388380#msg388380

pete

Thanks Robi!

If your box fails to boot properly/boot takes too long after applying the patch, consider checking if BSD's serial port driver was properly loaded:
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=66601.msg388380#msg388380

Yup; had no issues with the 2.1.2 update and patch. It seems I can't get it "up" with the 2.1.3 update; although it did work once from a cold boot; then it quit working on subsequent reboots. Thought it was me and will have a look at the link above.

Yeah; with new 2.2 alpha seeing other issues; unrelated to OP but weird stuff like configuring a DHCP scope and having the application mess with my subnet, mask type stuff (well basic math problems not fat fingering anything).

I noticed that the new added integrated NTPD stuff didn't work for me on the 2.2 Alpha. It does see the serial port com; but it appears to mess with the configuration such that it doesn't work with my Sure GPS with PPS configuration.

pete

Yup; still no go with 2.1.3 and playing some today with 2.2.

Creates the GPS0 device. "cat gps0" isn't showing anything. Tried both generic and suregps setups. (with 2.1.2 I could get both to work).

Same issue is seen on both boxes.

Looking to see this:

ntpq -c clockvar
assID=0 status=0011 clk_okay, last_clk_17,
device="NMEA GPS Clock",
timecode="$GPGLL,4134.4393,N,08800.6282,W,193236.078,A*24", poll=21,
noreply=1, badformat=0, baddata=0, fudgetime1=155.000, stratum=0,
refid=GPS, flags=5

and getting this instead:

[2.1.3-RELEASE][root/dev(3): ntpq -c clockvar
assID=0 status=0000 clk_okay, last_clk_okay,
device="Undisciplined local clock",
timecode=, poll=2,
noreply=0,badformat=0, baddata=0, stratum=12,
refid=76.79.67.76, flags=0[/quote]

charliem

What's the output of:

dmesg | grep uart (to be sure kernel is finding the uart)

cd /dev; ls -l cua* gps* pps* (make sure devices and links are created properly)

stty -f /dev/cuau0 (assuming cuau0 is found above, tells you current baud rate of the port)

cat /dev/cuau0 (should stream NMEA sentences)

All this should work regardless of how ntpd is configured (or mis-configured), so verify this stuff before moving on to ntpd. Maybe you've already done this.

If this fails, do you have another machine with a serial port you can test your GPS units with? Even a USB serial adapter would be OK for debugging NMEA sentences, since you are not yet concerned about PPS. If you have a windows machine, this is one of the best NMEA monitoring / setup programs I've used: http://homepage2.nifty.com/k8/gps/file/NmeaMon.htm You can select your chipset and send configuration strings from a populated library.

pete

Thank-you Charlie.

Yup; was testing it originally looking at the sentences with PHP stuff on PFSense 2.1.1 & 2.1.2. Worked just fine in generic or SureGPS modes. I did unpower and repower the SureGPS to make sure something didn't go amiss. The SureGPS has been modded to provide PPS (well actually a few months back). I had been using it for years though without the PPS modification.

http://www.satsignal.eu/ntp/Sure-GPS.htm

dmesg | grep uart (to be sure kernel is finding the uart)

root(1): dmesg | grep uart
uart2: <16550 or compatible> port 0x3e8-0x3ef irq 10 on acpi0
uart2: [FILTER]
uart3: <16550 or compatible> port 0x2e8-0x2ef irq 11 on acpi0
uart3: [FILTER]
uart0: <16550 or compatible> at port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 flags 0x10 on isa0
uart0: [FILTER]
uart1: <16550 or compatible> at port 0x2f8-0x2ff irq 3 on isa0
uart1: [FILTER]

Just noticed that no PPS is here:

ls -l cua* gps* pps*
crw-rw–-- 1 uucp dialer 0, 80 May 13 15:41 cuau0
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 81 May 13 15:38 cuau0.init
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 82 May 13 15:38 cuau0.lock
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 86 May 13 15:38 cuau1
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 87 May 13 15:38 cuau1.init
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 88 May 13 15:38 cuau1.lock
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 51 May 13 15:38 cuau2
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 52 May 13 15:38 cuau2.init
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 53 May 13 15:38 cuau2.lock
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 57 May 13 15:38 cuau3
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 58 May 13 15:38 cuau3.init
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 59 May 13 15:38 cuau3.lock
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 10 May 13 15:41 gps0 -> /dev/cuau0

stty -f /dev/cuau0
speed 4800 baud;
lflags: -isig -iexten -echo
iflags: -ixon -ixany -imaxbel ignbrk -brkint ignpar
oflags: -opost -onlcr tab0
cflags: cs8 -parenb -hupcl clocal
discard dsusp eof eol eol2 erase erase2 intr kill
^@ ^@ ^@ ^@ ^@ ^@ ^@ ^@ ^@
lnext min quit reprint start status stop susp werase
^@ 0 ^@ ^@ ^@ ^@ ^@ ^@ ^@

After the above just noticed my PHP pages are gone…cuz I did a Firmware update yesterday back to 2.1.3 (virgin) out of frustration.

Instead of patching (which was working sort of); do you have a copy of the current PHP files for 2.1.3 that I can just copy over again?

cat /dev/cuau0 or cat/dev/gps0

is how I was originally testing and it worked fine.

I did modify the sure gps to provide PPS and that too was working fine…..well its been a few months back now...

The original set up though started some 10 years ago on a Wintel server running Tardis acting as my NTP server. I can move the serial connection back to watch the chatter today....

pete

Started from scratch here with the PFSense 2.1.3 box;(virginal) as I reinstalled the firmware upgrade.

I had patched 2.1.2 with no issues. I have not run the patch cuz when I did a couple of days ago; it did not work.

I am curious why I see the two messages regarding the issues with the patch.

Will test the PFsense 2.2 Alpha version again later on today with integrated stuff today.

File-0.jpg_thumb

File-0a.jpg_thumb

File-1.jpg_thumb

charliem

I haven't used the built-in patching tool, so I'm no help there, sorry.

Have you got the GPS / Serial ports straightened out? I'd worry about that first and worry about ntpd/gui second. I see you have (4) serial ports that show up in the bios. Are they all four wired to headers on the MB? And all 4 brought out to a connector? Silly question, but have you tried your GPS on each connector?

I also see (in another thread) you used the entry in loader.conf.local to get two of your serial ports to show up, attaching via isa rather than acpi. Any reason you only enabled two of them? Maybe having both isa and acpi involved changed the order, and what was previously COM1 is now COM3?

robi

@pete:

stty -f /dev/cuau0
speed 4800 baud;

Note that SureGPS board uses by default 9600 baud, and there's an init procedure also which sets it to 9600. So don't forget to also tell NTPd to connect at 9600.
This is because some reported that in certain cases, after longer power loss, the board comes back at 9600, even though you've set it to different value earlier. There is a way to hard-code it better in the card, as stated in their doc, but I don't see the reason to do that. As I've noticed, FreeBSD also defaults at 9600 so all should match by default.

robi

@pete:

I did modify the sure gps to provide PPS and that too was working fine…..well its been a few months back now...

The original set up though started some 10 years ago on a Wintel server running Tardis acting as my NTP server. I can move the serial connection back to watch the chatter today....

I also suggest to check if your board is still working fine, sending NMEA senteces. You can also chech the PPS functionality with this Serial Port LEDs little Windows app. You should see the DCD pin in action.

pete

Thank you robi and charliem.

Curious if I did follow the patch update procedure correctly? Why do I see the errors?

Do you have a copy of the zipped files for 2.1.3 such that I can just copy them over instead?

Its strange though that I all I did was patch up 2.1.2 and it worked right away.

All of the serial ports connect to the mother board but always used first serial port and it worked. I will change the other serial ports to ISA. With last redo of FW I just changed one of them.

Yup; when I first updated to 2.1.3 noticed the issue and unpowered and powered up SureGPS. I then just looked at it with a terminal and it worked fine.

Today just hooked up my laptop and its kicking out NMEA sentences just fine at 9600 baud. Tested the PPS and saw it flashing. After a bit it quits flashing. Restarting the application I see it flashing again.

I don't recall now if this is what it always did or something new. It looks to be fine to me.

The GPS is in the attic three floor up (well and another staircase to the attic). I decided today to remote power it in case I do have to power it on or off.

This is interesting….just plugged the RS-232 cable back to the PFSense box and looked at the serial output.

I see stuff now on GPS0 (wrong speed) but I didn't see it before. Trying to set the baud rate to 9600 using stty...so I can see it working before I patch it again.

Patched anyways. Not seeing the new PHP pages though.

Turned on the 2.2 Alpha. It appeared to work for a few minutes where I could see NMEA sentences just fine. I then save the settings and the baud rate changed back such that I saw hash. Doesn't create a PPS0 device from what I can see.

Trashed it though saving the NTP serial settings.

Warning: fopen(/tmp/config.lock): failed to open stream: Device not configured in /etc/inc/util.inc on line 127 Warning: flock() expects parameter 1 to be resource, null given in /etc/inc/util.inc on line 164 Warning: fclose() expects parameter 1 to be resource, null given in /etc/inc/util.inc on line 165

suregps.jpg_thumb

robi

Here you go.

Try overwriting the files. Are you on a full HDD install, or NanoBSD?

ntp_gps_full_pack_213.zip.jpg