Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    OPNsense dead

    General pfSense Questions
    3
    21
    8.5k
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • B
      brainzina
      last edited by

      Hi!

      I had a OPNsense running for half a year without any problems.

      Yesterday I had a power breakdown for 5 minutes and my pfsense died. With dying I mean it doesn't do anything. I got that by not receiving IPs for the running computers. I tried plugging it off and on, connecting my MacBook directly to the PFsense but nothing.
      Today I got a null modem cable for directly getting the output but all I get is some letters as you can see in the picture.

      My question is now: Is the PFsense broken or is something wrong with the connection of the null modem cable.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • P
        phil.davis
        last edited by

        Can't see your screenshot!
        For a serial console, try various speeds 9600, 38400, 115200 bps. Garbled characters usually just means the speed is not set right.

        As the Greek philosopher Isosceles used to say, "There are 3 sides to every triangle."
        If I helped you, then help someone else - buy someone a gift from the INF catalog http://secure.inf.org/gifts/usd/

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • B
          brainzina
          last edited by

          Sorry, screenshot is visible now.

          Thanks for your reply. I will try another speed and also another driver of the USB-adapter when I am home again.

          I actually thought that the speed is fixed by the PFsense and is always 9600?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • P
            phil.davis
            last edited by

            With 2.1.* the speed is usually 9600 but it can be changed. The BIOS of your system might output at a different speed, so if the BIOS is trying to tell you something first then you would need a different speed to see that.
            Try a whole list like 2400,4800,9600,19200,38400,115200 and hopefully you will get some joy and then be able to see what real problem the system has.

            As the Greek philosopher Isosceles used to say, "There are 3 sides to every triangle."
            If I helped you, then help someone else - buy someone a gift from the INF catalog http://secure.inf.org/gifts/usd/

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              Indeed. OPNSense made quite a few boxes. If it's the smaller 3-port ALIX based box I believe the default bios rate is 38,400.

              Steve

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • B
                brainzina
                last edited by

                Thanks for your help!

                It is this box: https://www.applianceshop.eu/security-appliances/security-appliances-desktop-and-wallmountable/pfsense-based-desktop/opnsense-desktop.html

                I will try all the speed settings and hope for a positive result.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  OK, that is built on the ALIX board which uses a default baud rate of 38,400 for accessing it's BIOS. However it can be changed so Applianceshop may have set it differently, seems unlikely though.
                  This does indicate that it might be displaying the BIOS and then not booting anything for some reason. You may have to reflash the CF card if the boot loader is corrupt.

                  Steve

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • B
                    brainzina
                    last edited by

                    OK I tried all the different speeds. 115200 was working.

                    Unfortunately I only can see the effect Steve was describing above. It is booting the BIOS and then showing only two horizontal lines. (Screenshots)


                    Is there any chance to save this or do I have to flash everything? I have a backup of the configuration so it shouldn't be a big problem though.

                    Thanks for all your help!

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      Hmm, well that's not what I expected to see. The link you posted is to the exact model?
                      Phil will be able to give you much better advice on this as he uses these boards daily. However as far as I know the ALIX boards don't use an AMI BIOS they use a custom tinybios:
                      http://www.pcengines.ch/tinybios.htm

                      Some early ALIX boards seem to use an Award BIOS but no AMI.  :-\

                      Steve

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • B
                        brainzina
                        last edited by

                        No, the link wasn't the exact model. After some research I did the last minutes, I know it is another model. I bought it in April but the link I was getting it from doesn't work anymore. A friend just gave me the package so I don't even know the exact CPU.

                        I am trying to look that up to get the right image to flash to the CF card.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • B
                          brainzina
                          last edited by

                          So here is the exact data of my device.

                          OPNsense Ghz - pfSense desktop & wallmountable appliance OPN-20074-B
                          CPU Options
                          1 x Intel Atom Z530P - 1.6 GHz
                          Warranty
                          1 x Standard 1yr Warranty - Parts & Labour
                          Power supply [Wall mountable]
                          1 x Power supply - EU plug
                          Firmware options
                          1 x pfSense version 2.1 [Release]
                          Memory Options [2Gb requires 1.6Ghz CPU]
                          1 x 2 GB RAM
                          Flash Memory Upgrade Options
                          1 x 4Gb Compact Flash SLC

                          I am thinking of using a new CF card if the old one is the cause of the whole situation.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • stephenw10S
                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                            last edited by

                            That BIOS output is still odd. Try pressing 'TAB' to enter the setup when it first appears.

                            OPN-20074-B seems to be this:
                            https://www.applianceshop.eu/opnsense-a10-dual-core-desktop.html

                            But that has a different CPU and storage.  :-\

                            Steve

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • B
                              brainzina
                              last edited by

                              I cannot press anything while booting. TAB (and also "s" which I read in another board) doesn't do anything.

                              I flashed a new system to a CF card. If I boot with the CF card in I get exact the same result as shown above.
                              If I boot with CF card inside with a new BIOS on it, I only get this message "Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key". If I then press any key it just repeats the message again and again. CTRL + C doens't work and and break (which I can send with ZTerm) has no effect as well.

                              I tried the old CF card and another one.

                              Now I am at the end of my thoughts and of everything I could find on the internet.

                              Any ideas?

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                How did you write the image to the CF card? Which image did you use exactly?

                                Steve

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • B
                                  brainzina
                                  last edited by

                                  I used dd on a MacBook to write the image to the CF card. I thought about trying physdiskwrite on a Windows machine to double check tonight.

                                  The exact line was:

                                  sudo dd if=/Users/XXX/Desktop/pfSense-2.1.5-RELEASE-4g-i386-nanobsd.img of=/dev/disk4

                                  Anything wrong with that?

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    Nope looks good. A lot of people write the gzip'd file without extracting it first.
                                    The output from the BIOS still seems odd to me, it doesn't look like other embedded boxes I've used. Given that the box failed to boot after a power failure and it doesn't seem to be the boot media it may be a bios issue. Could just be the cmos, you could try resetting it.
                                    Have you tried containing applianceshop to ask what the bios output is supposed to look like?

                                    Steve

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • B
                                      brainzina
                                      last edited by

                                      Good idea to hard reset the CMOS. Any ideas how to that with my board? I already googling it.

                                      I'll attach a picture of the board.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • stephenw10S
                                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                        last edited by

                                        It's this in case you hadn't realised:
                                        http://www.openvox.cn/products/ippbx/embedded-motherboards/127/ipc110-detail.html

                                        and:
                                        @http://www.openvox.cn/pub/misc/IPC110%20Hardware%20Installation%20Guide%20v1.0.03.pdf:

                                        CN6              clear CMOS
                                        Setting Function
                                        Close 1-2 Clear CMOS
                                        Open 1-2 (default) Normal

                                        Steve

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • B
                                          brainzina
                                          last edited by

                                          Thanks, I already found it!

                                          So just to be sure. I set the jumper plug in the power chord, wait for a few seconds, plug out the power cord, remove the jumper and that's it. Right?

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • stephenw10S
                                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                            last edited by

                                            Normally you would:
                                            Remove the power cord.
                                            Set the jumper.
                                            Wait ~30s.
                                            Reomve the jumper.
                                            Replace the power cord.

                                            Steve

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.