pfsense 2.2.6 was running without issue on our Supermicro A1SRi-2758F
rangeley board (Intel Atom C2758)
When we upgraded to 2.3.2, the new system failed to boot due to having
insufficient RAM allocated to network memory buffers. We had to
interrupt the boot process increase the value of kern.ipc.nmbclusters
(as per below), then complete the boot process long enough to set system
tuneables (below) to allow subsequent startup.
What I've read online, the basic issue is that the combination of high
CPU count, high NIC count, and the igb driver create a (historically)
atypically demand for network buffer RAM. That is consistent with our fix.
The piece that's still missing for me is that there must have been some
change in default system setting for FreeBSD, or some other change
between versions, because the system booted fine with pfSense v 2.2.6
without the need for an advanced system tuneables. Unless there's
something specific/quirky with our setup, it would seem sensible to me
that for subsequent releases, there should be system defaults suitable
for modern boards with resources like those found on boards like
Rangeley. I observe that many others have had this same issue, so I
doubt that this is a case of our migrated settings preempting modern
suitable defaults.
Any thoughts?
kern.ipc.nmbclusters Increased to 8x observed MBUF Usage. Default is
too low for CVP Rangeley board, causing boot failure. 295600
kern.ipc.nmbufs Increased to 2x default value, ~2.2x observed usage
(netstat -m). Default is too low for CVP Rangeley board, causing lockups.
_______________________________________________
pfSense mailing list
https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list
Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
