Zotac ZBOX CI323 nano

abc123

I just bought this box specifically to replace a EdgeRouter (ERPoE-5) which barely did anything…

So I have downloaded the AMD64 (64-bit) with USB Memstick and VGA as my options the SHA256 checksum was a match and I used PowerISO to create a bootable USB drive.

Only option changed in BIOs was to Boot Mode - Legacy,
8GB Ram Crucial
180GB Intel 520 SSD

Running Installer on a 64GB PYN USB 3.0 Drive
It boots up fine, installer runs:
[Enter] for multi user mode

I get a timeout here shown in IMG_3354.JPG

_to install
[Accept all Settings]
[Easy/Default]
Failure of command Here
Shown in IMG_3357.JPG
Details shown in IMG_3358.JPG

SOLVED: Took 180GB SSD and reformatted it to DOS, then re-inserted and ran installer. Worked perfectly as previously stated on pfSense 2.3

IMG_3354.JPG_thumb

IMG_3357.JPG_thumb

IMG_3358.JPG_thumb _

abc123

@movax:

Power consumption is highjer than PCEngines APU2.

Zotac ZBOX CI323 nano at idle - 8.9W. (two Ethernet cables plugged in, no wifi enabled, display port output enabled, and keyboard connected).

PCEngines APU2C4 - 5.7W (but this is with only one Ethernet card active right now. Other ones not plugged in. No wifi cards. Just the sata express SSD)

APU2C4 is a 1.0GHz quad core…not a good comparison

duren

@duren:

It's too bad none of the new ones have dual ethernet other than the MC beast with the GTX.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/zotac-zbox-mini-pc-gtx980-vr,31889.html

Looks like the new 545 has dual ethernet, albeit still realtek :(

CI545 Nano Intel Core i5-6300U, dual core 2.4 GHz, up to 3.0 GHz

https://www.zotac.com/ca/product/mini_pcs/zbox-c-series/all

opticalc

can we assume that these realtek network throughput issues go away when running pfsense in esxi? as esxi is now handling the actual hardware, and pfsense sees a pair of e1000 NICs?

duren

@XFN:

Observations/notes so far:

1. The Realtek NIC drivers are not stable on this system running 2.2.6-x64. I avoided 2.3 due to the reports of Atheros being more stable in 2.2.6, but it's possible that the NICs are better behaved in 2.3 or in 2.3.1. What would happen is reX watchdog timeout and a traffic hang a few seconds after pushing max throughput through the NIC. Forcing both NICs to 1000FD + flowcontrol + master (as seen here: https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=101587.0) seems to solve it, as does forcing 100FD.
2. The throughput tops out at about 600mbps in either direction. Could also be a Realtek driver issue. The CPU load is about 30%.
3. The Dell DW1707, in NGFF m.2 form factor using an E keying and a 1630 size, is detected by pfSense. It uses the Atheros AR9565 chip. I have not yet tried connecting a client to it in hostap mode, but it took the configuration w/o complaint.
4. The system varies between 9 and 10 watts at idle, headless, with PowerD enabled. Using a 4GB stick of Kingston 1600MHz DDR3L and a 40GB Intel 320 series SSD.

Does the Dell card work?

messerchmidt

@abc123:

I just bought this box specifically to replace a EdgeRouter (ERPoE-5) which barely did anything…

So I have downloaded the AMD64 (64-bit) with USB Memstick and VGA as my options the SHA256 checksum was a match and I used PowerISO to create a bootable USB drive.

Only option changed in BIOs was to Boot Mode - Legacy,
8GB Ram Crucial
180GB Intel 520 SSD

Running Installer on a 64GB PYN USB 3.0 Drive
It boots up fine, installer runs:
[Enter] for multi user mode

I get a timeout here shown in IMG_3354.JPG

_to install
[Accept all Settings]
[Easy/Default]
Failure of command Here
Shown in IMG_3357.JPG
Details shown in IMG_3358.JPG

SOLVED: Took 180GB SSD and reformatted it to DOS, then re-inserted and ran installer. Worked perfectly as previously stated on pfSense 2.3

format it in a pc and then load pf sense and everything is fixed? getting the same errors._

duren

@messerchmidt:

format it in a pc and then load pf sense and everything is fixed? getting the same errors.

I used Rufus and never had any issues. https://rufus.akeo.ie/

speeddragon

This machine just arrived to install pfsense, after 2 years ago my alix2d13 died on me :(

I was wondering, it worth going to dual channel ? I was thinking in just put a dimm of 8GB instead of 2x4GB.

Thanks

kss18

Yes, the Dell DW1707 wireless card works (paid $5.00 on ebay). I have since got a second identical unit that is ready to be put into production.

I have also got this Zbox with pfsense 2.3.2 talking to a Tomato Shibby router via OpenVPN with shared key – both bridged and routed -- using the cookbook recipes. Thanks for the overall good documentation!

Hard to beat the specs on Zotac CI323 nano for the price, even after adding 8GB memory, new wi-fi card, and 120GB SSD. My only wish would be that it used Intel instead of Realtek eth.

speeddragon

Has anyone having some issues with controller timeout ?

With an SSD I can't even install pfSense (installing Ubuntu and Windows 10 was fine), but changing to a normal HDD, the controller timeout still occurs, although i have successfully installed pfSense.

kss18

Yes, I see SDHCI controller timeout ~15 times at boot time. Beyond the annoyance of a longish boot time, I have not noticed anything else. There was an opnsense forum thread that said this occurs because there is no SD card in the slot, I have not verified it.

I just upgraded a Zotac box with Dell DW1707 wireless card to 2.4, and the wireless interface is no longer being recognized. Have to dig deeper why it worked find in 2.3.2 but not in 2.4. Anyone else see this behavior?

laapsaap

So why are people still buying this for pfSense when the realtek nics clearly has problems? I mean stable nics are like the most important thing here.

kss18

I think you misread my post – The realtek NICs in Zotac may have problems but do work out of the box for ETH LAN and WAN connectivity.

The Dell DW1707 is a wireless card based on Atheros QCA9565 / AR9565, which works fine in pfSense 2.3. This card is not being recognized by 2.4 so far. Not sure if this is my problem or a bug.

cohomology

I am thinking of getting this box to replace my aging watchguard. Since this board has an m.2 slot, I'm wondering if anyone has tried to hook up an m.2 ssd?

Doboy

@cohomology:

I am thinking of getting this box to replace my aging watchguard. Since this board has an m.2 slot, I'm wondering if anyone has tried to hook up an m.2 ssd?

Well i have been having nothing but troubles with the realtek nics, see my post in general help.. under load they crash at random times.. no WAN IP.. have to reboot.

tcarlisle

I wanted to relay my experience and findings in this thread. I am running pfSense on the Zotac ZBOX without issues. The nics are realtek, and I am not seeing any issues or unreliability and push them both well above 400mbps for extended periods.

That being said, I did go the route of installing ESX 6 and injecting the realtek driver into the image, etc. but that did not work out well at all. It worked, but the network throughput was very poor and there was no logical explanation for it. The switch ports showed a 1GB full duplex connection, ESX showed it was 1000mbps full, and pfSense reported the same, but throughput just wasn't there. I ran like this a while because the problem was not very impacting because I was on a 60mbps internet plan. I did notice issues on my internal net, like my HD video cameras were getting 2 to 5 frames per second – they are all hardwired, not wireless. .

But when I upgraded the internet plan to 200mbps, the issue was obvious and impacting. On average I got 75mbps, but it peaked to 130 and dropped to under 30 at times.

After de-virtualizing the pfSense by removing ESX, installing pfSense from the latest install image, and restored by configuration that I saved. Following that, I get 200mbps consistently and all my networked cameras are at 8-10 fps.

I did a lot of diagnostics and tinkering, trying to get the ESX 6 & pfSense combination to work, but came to the conclusion that there is a reason the N3150 and/or the realtek drivers are not certified by vmWare, and this is probably why.

mlowijs

@tcarlisle:

I wanted to relay my experience and findings in this thread. I am running pfSense on the Zotac ZBOX without issues. The nics are realtek, and I am not seeing any issues or unreliability and push them both well above 400mbps for extended periods.

So did you disable hardware offloading? Am thinking of getting the CI323 as a router on a 500/500 fiber connection.

Doboy

After a few weeks of trying to fix it i think i finally have my zotac box stable, no "watchdog timeout" and loss of WAN IP under heavy load in about 4 days. Longest run ever.

Need to test for a longer period of time for stability , but what i did was compile the latest realtek freeBSD drive (1.92) and load it on start up using kldload. Seems ok for now.

Before all this NOTHING was working stable. Always crashed on the WAN ip (watchdog timeout) no matter what interface it was assigned to (re0 - re1)

IggyB

@Doboy:

After a few weeks of trying to fix it i think i finally have my zotac box stable, no "watchdog timeout" and loss of WAN IP under heavy load in about 4 days. Longest run ever.

Hi Doboy,

Could you describe this issue more to me? I'm not sure i understand, how would one know if connection is dropping out? I haven't experienced anything like this. However i do experience a weird issue sometimes where network traffic would come to a halt for couple of seconds, the WAN doesn't seem to be dropping. I think this issue started appearing after i installed pfblocker and added some lists, i'm also running av scan on traffic through squid on 850 evo SSD. Without these packages i haven't had these issues.

Can you tell me how to check for this watchdog timeout dropout issue and how you compiled a new driver etc. Thanks.

IggyB

Have you guys updated the BIOS yet?

https://www.zotac.com/us/files/download/by_product?p_nid=501278&driver_type=238&os=All

I don't understand the latest changes.

Can anyone try to to explain?

Version 2K161012

Changed memory slot power (when AC Power attached)
Fixed ME / TXE disabled (when Deep Sleep S5 enabled)