PC Engines apu2 experiences

Vollans

@logan5247 I don't plan to until I know there are APU LED drivers available, as for sanity at home I rely on those a lot to know whether NBN is working or the backup connection.

rcoleman-netgate

@logan5247 During testing I migrated mine without a single issue.

kinch

@logan5247 not yet, but i will do it later today, provide feedback then...

Qinn

Upgraded pfS 2.5.2 CE to 2.6.0 took about 11 minutes, all went well, after upgrade had to update Avahi.

Thnx Netgate!

DaddyGo

@qinn said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

Thnx Netgate!

same here on test apu4d4 / FW v4.15.0.2

++++edit:

and it also worked perfectly (let's see what it will show us)....

Vollans

I can confirm the apuled.ko driver that worked in 2.5.2 still works in 2.6

kevindd992002

What is the use of the apuled driver and how do you install it?

fireodo

@kevindd992002 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

What is the use of the apuled driver and how do you install it?

A possible utilisation you can find here:
Apuled

Regards,
fireodo

alexouxou

Hello,

I'm running APU2 Legacy firmware v4.0.33 and would like to switch to the mainline firmware.
When I bought my APU2 a few years ago I tried to do this update without success.

Is there something specific to verify in order to switch from legacy to mainline firmware.

I saw in this post that I just havec to connect via SSH to my APU2 and then execute these commands (adapted to the current release):

pkg install flashrom

(upload the firmware to /tmp with scp and run:)

flashrom -w /tmp/apu2_v4.15.0.3.rom -p internal:boardmismatch=force
Shutdown pfSense, pull the power for 10 seconds, then boot up.

Is there something else to do or should it run without any error ?
If there is an error, is it possible to rollback ?

Thanks in advance,
Alex

Vollans

@kevindd992002 The apuled driver controls the three LEDs at the front of the box. I use it to provide a quick visual check of the box status.

I have a little script that runs every couple of minutes so that LED 1 shows me how hard the CPU is having to work, flashing at higher speeds as it works harder. LED 2 shows me that my main FTTN/VDSL connection is working, with solid being all ok, flashing being packet loss and no LED being connection dead. LED 3 shows me that my backup 4G connection is working and flashing the same way as my VDSL one does.

You can write a script to make the LEDs do whatever is useful to you. If you do a search for apuled.ko you'll find full instructions and a link to the driver.

dugeem

@alexouxou

No longer any need to use boardmismatch=force since legacy v4.0.15 or mainline v4.6.7.

So just the command

flashrom -w /tmp/apu2_v4.15.0.3.rom -p internal

(Source github.com/pcengines)

daemonix

Hello all!

What do you think is a better wifi antenna placement for an AP2 with both 2.4 and 5 PCIe cards from an RF point of view? 2 antenna each band. Any suggestions?

One side (let's say closer to COM) takes both 2.4G antennas and the other side, closer to USB, takes the 2 5G antennas.
OR
On the back panel (the one with all the IO) takes one 2.4 and one 5G and the second antennas are 'crossed', meaning that on the side closer to the first 2.4G we place a 5G and visa versa.

Qinn

If I may suggest something, when you need more WiFi range then instead of the APU's WiFi use a few Unifi nanoHD's (access points) as they have managed to create a good roaming WiFi network.

daemonix

@qinn I agree completely!
Just to be clear! I know the limitations but I have this setup as backup/testing.

so my question is more related to all your RF expertise in relation to this case/proportions.

Qinn

@alexouxou said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

Hello,

I'm running APU2 Legacy firmware v4.0.33 and would like to switch to the mainline firmware.
When I bought my APU2 a few years ago I tried to do this update without success.

Is there something specific to verify in order to switch from legacy to mainline firmware.

I saw in this post that I just havec to connect via SSH to my APU2 and then execute these commands (adapted to the current release):
pkg install flashrom

(upload the firmware to /tmp with scp and run:)

flashrom -w /tmp/apu2_v4.15.0.3.rom -p internal:boardmismatch=force
Shutdown pfSense, pull the power for 10 seconds, then boot up.
Is there something else to do or should it run without any error ?
If there is an error, is it possible to rollback ?

Thanks in advance,
Alex

This is what I just did

[2.6.0-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/tmp: flashrom -p internal -w apu2_v4.15.0.3.rom --fmap -i COREBOOT
flashrom v1.2 on FreeBSD 12.3-STABLE (amd64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 4, resolution: 2ns).
coreboot table found at 0xcfeba000.
Found chipset "AMD FCH".
Enabling flash write... OK.
Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x00000000ff800000.
Using region: "COREBOOT".
Reading old flash chip contents... done.
Erasing and writing flash chip... Erase/write done.
Verifying flash... VERIFIED.
[2.6.0-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/tmp:

Then halt the system from the GUI or do

[2.6.0-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/tmp: /etc/rc.initial.halt

pfSense will shutdown and halt system. This may take a few minutes, depending on your hardware.
Do you want to proceed [y|n]? y

pfSense will shutdown and halt system now.
 Stopping package Avahi...done.
 Stopping /usr/local/etc/rc.d/pfb_dnsbl.sh...done.
 Stopping /usr/local/etc/rc.d/pfb_filter.sh...done.
[2.6.0-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/tmp:
*** FINAL System shutdown message from root@pfSense.localdomain ***

System going down IMMEDIATELY

Then when you checked the APU is down, so all lights are out, pull the power cord and wait for 20 seconds and then plug it back in.

logan5247

I just saw that firmware v4.17.0.1 was released.

Interestingly, the notes say "Support for APU7 (APU3 variant with 2.5GbE i225 NICs)"

Are there specs on this board? Does it exist yet for sale? I thought the SoC on the APU couldn't go past 1Gbps?

EDIT: There is apparently an APU6 that has a 1Gb SFP slot.

Stewart

@logan5247 said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

Are there specs on this board? Does it exist yet for sale? I thought the SoC on the APU couldn't go past 1Gbps?

Yeah, even 1Gbps is really pushing it. I would love it if they came out with something that could push a 2.5Gbps connection but they just keep making derivations off of the same old Geode GX-412TC from 8 years ago. They'll need to come up with something, though. It goes EOL at the end of next year.

soder

@stewart I dont understand, why pcengines is unable to come up with a modern more recent embedded design. They literally built their company on 1 single product. This 1 Ghz board is too weak since many years.

Stewart

@soder said in PC Engines apu2 experiences:

@stewart I dont understand, why pcengines is unable to come up with a modern more recent embedded design. They literally built their company on 1 single product. This 1 Ghz board is too weak since many years.

While we are able to get near Gbit speeds out of it, we only use it up to 600Mbps if there's more than a few people using it. I sent them an email yesterday to see if they have plans for something new since the CPU goes EOL next year. Not sure if I'll ever hear back from them but it's at least worth checking out.

A Former User

@logan5247

I just saw that firmware v4.17.0.1 was released.

It will be nice if the PC Engines company will be able
to set up one or more new series, because if all peoples
will be buying only protectly or Qotom stuff they might
be not able to realize those projects any more!!!!

Interestingly, the notes say "Support for APU7
(APU3 variant with 2.5GbE i225 NICs)"

Absolutely wrong, sorry for being rude in some eyes here.
PC Engines is a verry small company, found up by an swiss
engineer and on highest count there will be working at
the maximum of up to 10 peoples. They have begun with
the Alix series and now the APU series is up. Each series
will be its total own series. It was starting with APU1 and reached actual now APU6B4.

The board will be also namend to their state of technical art. As an example;
APU - the board series
APU1 - APU series number (generation)
APU4D4 - APU series, 4 generation, distribution state with 4 GB of RAM

A - alpha status (state) (not for us)
B - beta status (state) (for technical enthusiasts)
C - consumer ready state, ready to sell for the masses
D - distribution state or level of the board, all is fine
ready for distribution sellers with stock pile

2 - 2 GB RAM
4 - 4 GB RAM

Are there specs on this board?

Not available at this state as I am informed.

Does it exist yet for sale?

Please read above about what type (A-D) is for what technical state and for whom. If the APU6B4 is in beta state it must or should be reaching C or D state and on
the other hand they will work on the next generation of
the APU7.

I thought the SoC on the APU couldn't go past 1Gbps?
If they, I saied if they will be using Intel Atom C3000
with 4 Cores, it might be that you will be able to see numbers witched and written by you here, again it might be able! Please don´t pin on that information.

EDIT: There is apparently an APU6 that has a 1Gb
SFP slot.

May be good for me and other as I see it right!

Please think on Europe here, many ISPs are offering something like VDSL and VDSL2 and VDSL2+ so sfp
VDSL modems are verry popular in Germany, Austria, and/or Suisse.