Re: [Soekris] [SPAM] Re: yet another dead 6501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2017-09-05, Hendrickson, Kenneth  wrote:
> No, let me correct that.
>
> I think the APU hardware has some PCI-E slots.
> I think I bought wireless hardware, that was advertised as being compatible 
> with OpenBSD.
>
> And I haven't been able to get it working yet.  :-(
>
> Most of that work was in the December 2015 timeframe, so it was a while ago.
>
> I've forgotten .

Make sure that you are using a minipcie slot not the msata slot.
If it still fails, check that the bios is up to date, and if that doesn't
help, post to m...@openbsd.org with a dmesg.


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Re: [Soekris] net6501: doesn't start if not first unplugged for 8 minutes

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2017-04-19, Nenhum_de_Nos  wrote:
> as many of you I got my dead one here. Now I look foward to a new brand, and 
> look for same kind of issues on the new APU2 from PcEngines.

APU2 is still a bit new to identify this type of problem. I haven't
seen any problems with WRAP, ALIX or APU1 and I don't see a reason for
it to be different. But then neither have I seen problems with net4501,
net4521, net4801, net5501 - all have been rock solid.

> Does anyone knows if there is a mailing list, just as this, for their
> products?

Just the web forum.

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Re: [Soekris] net5501: FreeBSD ipfw and the elusive 75Mbps throughput

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2016-06-10, Jed Clear  wrote:
>> The vr driver always copies transmit mbuf chains into longword-aligned
>> buffers prior to transmission in order to pacify the Rhine chips.  If
>> buffers are not aligned correctly, the chip will round the supplied
>> buffer address and begin DMAing from the wrong location.  This buffer
>> copying impairs transmit performance on slower systems but cannot be
>> avoided.  On faster machines (e.g. a Pentium II), the performance
>> impact
>> is much less noticeable.
>
> Interesting. You'd think the drivers would align the packets on Rx and I 
> vaguely recall that FreeBSD managed to go zero copy a few major versions ago. 
>  Although that could be for straight forwarding.  IPFW and NAT might behave 
> differently.  Not sure I'd have any control over it. 

The manpage is outdated, this is only done for the old chips.
It's not needed and isn't done for VT610x.


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Re: [Soekris] net5501: FreeBSD ipfw and the elusive 75Mbps throughput

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2016-06-09, Christopher Hilton  wrote:
> At the end of the day I think that 75 ~ 85 MBit's per second is the =
> limit on the vr interface in net5501.

Bandwidth is only part of the equation; packets-per-second matter too.
Even if you get to 75-85Mb/s I'd still consider that as a stopgap,
if you get a lot of small packets you run out of steam again.

> If you only have one firewall/router I'd replace it with either =
> a Net6501 or some other Intel Atom/PCIe/Intel Gigabit based solution.

If looking at other vendors, don't restrict yourself to boards with
Intel CPUs, there are also some small boxes using AMD GX-412TC and
Intel I210AT NICs (em) that work quite nicely.


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Re: [Soekris] I see development of the net6801 has been dropped.

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2015-10-19, Dan Shechter  wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 9:26 AM,   wrote:
>>> Jerome Ibanes  hat am 19. Oktober 2015 um 01:09
>>> geschrieben:
>>> Does anyone has experience with Supermicro SYS-5018A-FTN4?
>>>
>>> Specs: http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/1U/5018/SYS-5018A-FTN4.cfm
>>> Quote: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816101837
>>>
>>> The quality is certainly not comparable to what we've seen from
>>> Soekris, but this seems to be an acceptable solution for the price.
>>
>> I am using one of them and pretty happy. IMHO it's a good Soekris 
>> replacement.
>
> What about Serial console, especially for the BIOS?
>
> -Dan

They have a BIOS option to set them to use serial console, it's not active
by default so you need to plug in a keyboard or use IPMI for initial setup.

Watch out for IPMI on these. This usually *is* enabled by default, setup with 
a common default admin password, and to share the first main NIC if nothing's
connected to the management port, leaving access to the console/power/etc a
lot wider open than you probably want.


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Re: [Soekris] Fragmented packets with force 100/Full on the 5510-60

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2014-05-26, François Cachereul  wrote:
> Hi,
>
> We have the following problem with the 5510-60 running Linux (2.6.26 or
> 3.2):
> The second fragment of packets send on an interface configured 100 full
> without auto-negotiation is not send. The problem happens in this
> precise case not with 100 half nor 10 full/half. It can be solve setting
> the interface down and up (with ip link for example).
> This problem seem to be a hardware as it does not happen with the same
> Linux driver on another equipment (Via Rhine II - VT6102).

Testing VT6102 doesn't really rule anything out, it has a number of
differences to VT6105M so the driver will take some different codepaths.

If your driver enables checksum offload, it may be worth trying with that
disabled?.


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Re: [Soekris] any hints for an adsl pci card for opensbd ?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2014-04-06, Jan Ceuleers  wrote:
> On 04/05/2014 07:44 PM, Vittorio Cipriani wrote:
>> Hi,
>> I want buy some soekris device to build an openbsd hardened firewall,
>> but I need of an advice about an adsl pci modem card. Anyone could help me ?
>
> ADSL-only: Sangoma S518. You'll need drivers though; there's a howto on
> the Sangoma website.
>
> ADSL2+ (with fallback to ADSL): Traverse Viking. No drivers needed
> because the card presents itself to the system as a Realtek Ethernet
> interface.
>
> You'll probably have to get these second-hand somewhere because I think
> that they're both end-of-life.
>
> Jan

The original post said,

  "I'd avoid a pci card with a router abilities because I have
  some doubts about its security. I mean that a typical home
  netgear/linksys  router are really easy to hack. it's very
  simple download the firmware from the vendor site, uncompress
  it and then insert some kind of trojan/sniffer then flash it
  on the device. So I have the same suspects on  pci router
  card thus I want a pure adsl modem card instead of a mdem
  router. And finally why shoud I want a router inside a host
  with just one ethernet port 

So the Viking-type cards (router glued onto a PCI ethernet i.e
http://linitx.com/product/adsl2-pci-card-single-port-adsl-modem-annex-a/12181)
are exactly what OP is trying to avoid.

For the "pure adsl modem card" it's going to be something like a
Solos (if you can find a source, as they are EOL) or S518 (sangoma's
site doesn't say they are EOL, though the OS support list doesn't
include anything recent, so may need some fiddling for current
systems, and they're adsl1 only). But there is no driver support
for any of these on OpenBSD.


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Re: [Soekris] net6501 : CPU architecture ?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2013-05-10, Conrad Kostecki  wrote:
> Am 10.05.2013 16:14, schrieb fabrice bessettes:
>> Hi list,
>>
>> [...]
>>
>> But I was wondering if the Soekris CPU E6xx  is really a 64 bit CPU ? or
>> if the openBSD kernel amd64 includes 32-bit in it. In this case, I might
>> reinstall my system.

OpenBSD/amd64 only runs in 64-bit mode.

> Seems so. Ubuntu and Gentoo work perfectly fine with a 64-Bit kernel out 
> of the box. Without any patching. So the CPU seems to be 64-Bit 
> capable.. I don't know, why Intel says, that this is not possible.
>
> Cheers,
> Conrad

The CPU is supposed to only support 32-bit mode but it appears that the
6501 bios may not set this up correctly.


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Re: [Soekris] net6501: temps and fans redux

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2013-03-20, Peter Neubauer  wrote:
> As I understand it, the CPU temperature sensor is relative to a 
> parameter called Tjmax (maximum junction temperature), but the hardware 
> provides no way for software to determine this parameter.  The Linux 
> driver requires a special option to set the correct Tjmax ("coretemp 
> tjmax=90").  I presume OpenBSD needs a similar option.

If only there was a platform independent mechanism by which a computer
could tell the OS about things like power states, temperatures, watchdogs,
etc...


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Re: [Soekris] net6501 fail to boot

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2013-02-28, Dominic Pageau  wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 4:54 PM, Stuart Henderson  
> wrote:
>>
>> I don't know whether it affects the Soekris-supplied Transcend devices,
>> but some SSDs do not like unexpected power cycles. The sandforce-based
>> crucial msata in my laptop even keeps a count of these (I can see them
>> with smartctl -a).
>>
>
> Even if you gracefully shutdown your OS, you always end up with some
> sort of power lost on your drive.

The OS can at least stop the device before it shuts down and cuts power.
I'm not just talking of Power_Cycle_Count, there is a separate counter
Unexpect_Power_Loss_Ct.

> The idea is to stop writing on disk
> before doing so.  I use a read only file system, so should not be an
> issue (I think).

The drive doesn't know you have a read only FS.

All it knows is that you had an unclean shutdown so it has to assume
there may have been a write immediately beforehand which didn't fully
complete.

SSDs can be rather complex; underneath the layer presented as a "disk"
some have a layer of compressed blocks and control information, which in
some cases may very well get corrupted and need checking/recovering
at startup.

> Anyway, following that taught I have done some more
> testing even if I really doubt that it is the issue.
>
> To be sure that it was not related to power cycling, I did test again
> without power cycling.  I just use the reset button with exact same
> result.

this was just one idea, but it is something to be aware of. at least
you can expect slower startups with controllers in some SSDs.


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Re: [Soekris] Multiport PCI-X serial card for net6501?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2013-02-25, Michael Sierchio  wrote:
> I'm looking for a multiport serial card that will work in a net6501 -
> prefer at least 8 ports, 16 would be nice.

Note this is PCIE not PCI-X..


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Re: [Soekris] net6501 fail to boot

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2013-02-27, Dominic Pageau  wrote:
> I have 14 net6501 installed in vehicle where power is cut almost every
> day.  Typical uptime is 5 hours to few days.  Power lost is not an issue as
> filesystem is read only.  I am using Sokeris supplied TS32GMSA300 mSATA
> drive.
>
>>From time to time some computer do not reboot and hang at Grub reporting
> "Error 21" or reporting nothing but hang.  I have reproduce that issue 4
> times in lab.

I don't know whether it affects the Soekris-supplied Transcend devices,
but some SSDs do not like unexpected power cycles. The sandforce-based
crucial msata in my laptop even keeps a count of these (I can see them
with smartctl -a).

I wonder if systems expecting this sort of thing regularly might actually
do better with a decent CF card..


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Re: [Soekris] RESOLVED: Problem on net5501 upgrading to FreeBSD 9.1 from 8.3

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2013-02-18, Corey Halpin  wrote:
>  I don't know if the code in 9.1 is using IDE emulation or trying to get=20
> configuration information via AHCI.

The CS5536 in the net5501 does not have AHCI, the SATA connector is behind a 
bridge.


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Re: [Soekris] Clock losing time on Net5501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2013-02-13, Christian Weisgerber  wrote:
> Joakim Aronius  wrote:
>
> [OpenBSD]
>> I have not had time to look into the 'new' rc.d controlsystem for
>> starting and stopping services but a cronjob with '/etc/rc.d/ntpd
>> restart' should do the same thing as a reboot.. But I could not find
>> anything on special handling like writing hw clock during shutdown,
>> could be internal in ntpd.
>
> ntpd(8) doesn't have anything to do with it.  The hardware clock
> is set by the boot(9) call when halting/rebooting the system.
>
> settimeofday(2) and clock_settime(2) will also set the hardware
> clock.  However, only "ntpd -s" calls settimeofday, once at startup.
> In normal operation, ntpd uses adjtime(2), which does not touch the
> hardware clock.

So, in theory, this should force it to be written:

# date $(date +%Y%m%d%H%M.%S)

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Re: [Soekris] FreeBSD 8.3 / net5501: illegal instruction (core dumped)

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2013-01-03, Martin Johnson  wrote:
> Happy New Year to All...
>
> Any ideas on solving the error message "illegal instruction (core dumped)" 
> from GCC on FreeBSD 8.3?

The error message is coming from running the newly built x264 binary,
it was probably built to use streaming SIMD extensions not supported on
the geode.

It looks like there is a way to build it without assembly optimizations,
that's probably worth a try (but I don't know FreeBSD ports enough to tell
you how to do that).

http://svnweb.freebsd.org/ports/head/multimedia/x264/Makefile?revision=305618&view=markup:

42  OPTIONS_DEFAULT= ASM PGO GPAC
43  ASM_DESC= Assembly optimizations (devel/binutils)


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Re: [Soekris] Soekris 6501-70 / 6501-50 Network Throughput under Debian / OpenBSD

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-11-14, Lon Willett  wrote:
> On Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:51:54 +0100
> Mitja Muženič  wrote:
 I don't know how it is with other operating systems but it's safe to
 presume that unless your OS actively sets the CPU to the high speed
 state your net6501-50 and net6501-70 units will be severely
 underclocked.
>
> So linux has been lying to me: my net6501-70 CPU is really running at 
> 600 MHz.  That explains why it's so slow with its (fortunately rare) CPU 
> intensive tasks.

This is because the TSC (timestamp counter) used to calculate cpu
speed is run at a constant rate in these newer Intel CPUs (indicated
by the constant_tsc flag in Linux /proc/cpuinfo, or CTSC in the cpu
attach line in very recent OpenBSD -current),unless the OS knows how
to handle this, it will report the maximum cpu speed, so you don't
see that it was running at a lower rate.

http://anoncvs.estpak.ee/cgi-bin/cgit/openbsd-src/commit/?id=4b2a0a3689f8b7eb014d69d959ba537e89339103


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Re: [Soekris] UK Soekris resellers?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-09-27, Jan Ceuleers  wrote:
> On 09/27/2012 12:06 AM, Stuart Henderson wrote:
>> Are there any UK-based Soekris resellers (other than a rather expensive
>> amazon vendor with no feedback)? Pricing in EUR/USD can be a bit awkward
>> in some cases so there are times this would be useful. Not looking for any
>> myself right at the moment (though I'd been wondering a while, during
>> which time I've bought a couple of pcengines boards from linitx because
>> they'll turn up the next day at a known price) but this mail was prompted
>> by someone asking on IRC and other people mentioning that this had put
>> them off buying hardware..
>
> I bought the first few of my Soekris boxes while I was based in the UK
> (now back in Belgium), from Soekris Europe. UK delivery was not a problem.
>
> Not sure why pricing in EUR/USD would be awkward; that's what exchange
> rates are for.

OT but you don't know the exact cost until after the transaction
has taken place and shows on the card statement, and dealing with
invoices in multiple currencies complicates accounting for small
businesses who normally only handle a single currency.


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[Soekris] UK Soekris resellers?

[Stuart Henderson]

Are there any UK-based Soekris resellers (other than a rather expensive
amazon vendor with no feedback)? Pricing in EUR/USD can be a bit awkward
in some cases so there are times this would be useful. Not looking for any
myself right at the moment (though I'd been wondering a while, during
which time I've bought a couple of pcengines boards from linitx because
they'll turn up the next day at a known price) but this mail was prompted
by someone asking on IRC and other people mentioning that this had put
them off buying hardware..


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Re: [Soekris] net4801 reset button in OS

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-07-18, David Mattes  wrote:
> --===1034955111==
> Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=f46d042dfdc5134ed304c521fa6c
>
> --f46d042dfdc5134ed304c521fa6c
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
>>
>>
>> >
>> > Has anyone had success implementing software reset?  How?
>>
>> http://lists.soekris.com/pipermail/soekris-tech/2009-December/016234.html
>>
>> Thank you!  Ugh, I realized I have a 4501 board, not a 4801.  I had seen
> the post you mention, but it's still not clear to me how those pins map to
> memory locations that can be programmatically read.

Should be in the Elan SC520 datasheet if you aren't using an OS which
already provides a driver for this, or you can probably find some old code
if you search for things like "net4501 gpio" etc.

For the reset button I don't know if it's latched on the 4501 but I guess
it's likely. Dump the state of all the gpio lines, then press the button once,
dump again and see what changed...


> Regards,
> David
>
> --f46d042dfdc5134ed304c521fa6c
> Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color=
>:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex">=3D"h5">
>>> Has anyone had success implementing software reset? =A0How=
> ?http://lists.soekris.com/pipermail/soekris-=
> tech/2009-December/016234.html" target=3D"_blank">http://lists.soekris.com/=
> pipermail/soekris-tech/2009-December/016234.html
>Thank you! =A0Ugh, I realized I have a 4501 board, no=
> t a 4801. =A0I had seen the post you mention, but it's still not clear =
> to me how those pins map to memory locations that can be programmatically r=
> ead.
>Regards,David
>
> --f46d042dfdc5134ed304c521fa6c--
>
> --===1034955111==
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
> Content-Disposition: inline
>
> ___
> Soekris-tech mailing list
> Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com
> http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
>
> --===1034955111==--
>

Is the html mail really necessary?


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Re: [Soekris] Soekris Net-5501 and TightVNC?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-07-20, aa...@aa6qn.sytes.net  wrote:
> As a TightVNC server. I was looking for the proper Linux kernel graphics
> framebuffer to compile into the kernel to support a virtual vnc
> framebuffer.

You're probably looking for Xvfb (this doesn't need anything in-kernel).

> I did see some mini-pci video cards on ebay that I was considering.

The Soekris boards are not really the wrong hardware if you want to run a video 
card.


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Re: [Soekris] net4801 reset button in OS

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-07-11, David Mattes  wrote:
> --===0246186895==
> Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=14dae93407b385b3c804c4853238
>
> --14dae93407b385b3c804c4853238
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Hi,
>
> I have changed the Reset button behavior in net4801 BIOS from Hard to Soft.
>
> Is it possible to read the reset button state in the *nix operating system?
>  I'm looking for documentation on how/where this button is attached to the
> CPU I/O and can not find anything.
>
> Has anyone had success implementing software reset?  How?

http://lists.soekris.com/pipermail/soekris-tech/2009-December/016234.html


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Re: [Soekris] Soekris 6501-70 / 6501-50 Network Throughput under Debian / OpenBSD

[Stuart Henderson]

Replying to an old(ish) post.

On 2011-12-14, Josh  wrote:
> Is there any way to improve the network throughput under OpenBSD?

Some more information came to light...
Here's a workaround until it can be fixed:

sysctl hw.setperf=0
sysctl hw.setperf=100


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Re: [Soekris] Network console and other net6501 features

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-05-30, Chris Wilson  wrote:
> I have a feeling that the serial console, the only way to configure a 
> Soekris, 
> is very 1970s. Admittedly it is quite reliable, but slow, fiddly, most modern 
> computers don't even have a serial port any more, and I've found 
> USB-to-serial 
> converters quite unreliable, with dropped characters causing issues using the 
> terminal and boot menu.

Sounds like you have bad USB-to-RS232 converters, I and many others find
serial console access highly reliable and simple, even via USB, fast enough
for the purpose, and (as a big advantage over ethernet-based access) it is
unaffected by NIC firmware crashes etc. This is especially useful on
machine likes these where the serial port can be used to forcibly
reset the power supply (+++ POWER) which can clear the majority
of such problems that might be encountered.

> I've found it useful to connect a Wiznet serial-to-LAN gateway to in-school 
> servers, to allow remote access to the serial console even if the machine is 
> misbehaving. However this is pretty ugly to look at, and fragile.

I guess ugliness/fragility would depend on what enclosure you use...


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Re: [Soekris] Resolved - Re: Bridging OpenBSD

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-04-27, Lars Noodén  wrote:
> Thanks to those who responded.  The hints helped.
>
> A way to get DHCP over bridged interfaces in OpenBSD is to make the
> bridge but assign an IP number to each interface anyway, not just the
> first one.  dhcpd will squawk about interfaces sharing the same subnet,
> but will bind to the first one if it is configured to do so.   The
> bridge itself is not allowed an ip number of its own.
>
> In that way each of the hosts plugged into the Soekris are available on
> the same subnet.
>
> /Lars

You should not be assigning addresses to more than one interface.

Is there a problem with the method I suggested i.e. put the address
on *one* interface and list the interface names in dhcpd_flags?

I suggest following up on an openbsd list as this is not a soekris
issue.


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Re: [Soekris] Bridging OpenBSD

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012/04/29 14:24, Malcolm Herbert wrote:
> On Sat, Apr 28, 2012 at 08:05:27PM +0000, Stuart Henderson wrote:
> |On 2012-04-26, Greg Troxel  wrote:
> |> I wonder if the issue is that dhcp is implemented by bpf, and bpf raw
> |> frames are not bridged.
> |
> |Yes, exactly. You would need to specify the list of network adapters
> |in dhcpd_flags in /etc/rc.conf.local, then /etc/rc.d/dhcpd restart.
> 
> wierd ... wonder why mine works on NetBSD then ...

probably because because NetBSD is different to OpenBSD..
sounds like maybe it duplicates frames to bpf listeners on any member
interface of a bridge; this would simplify dhcpd configuration but I think
also makes it harder to use bpf to diagnose problems with the bridge,
it would prevent you checking on which physical port traffic is sent/
received on.

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Re: [Soekris] Bridging OpenBSD

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-04-26, Greg Troxel  wrote:
> I wonder if the issue is that dhcp is implemented by bpf, and bpf raw
> frames are not bridged.

Yes, exactly. You would need to specify the list of network adapters
in dhcpd_flags in /etc/rc.conf.local, then /etc/rc.d/dhcpd restart.



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Re: [Soekris] No Debian mirrors available during installation

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-04-05, Lars Noodén  wrote:
> I'm trying to install Debian on a net5501 and regardless of whether I
> try to get squeeze, wheezy or sid, the same error pops up:
>
>   "The installer failed to download a file from the
>   mirror...Retry, Change mirror, Cancel"
>
> The installation process detects network hardware fine (eth4: Realtek
> Semiconductor ...) and successfully gets an address via DHCP.  However,
> it's not able to reach any mirrors.

Realtek - I presume this is a pci nic then? do the onboard ones work? 


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Re: [Soekris] problems with net6501-70

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-03-20, Ulf Zimmermann  wrote:
> Trying pfsense and FreeBSD9.0 via pxeboot, I get at some point to see
> the swirly on my serial terminal but nothing else, it is as if all other
> text is white on white or black on black. Has anyone seen something
> similar? I am not very picky about what I put on these, as soon I get
> ... a NTP daemon, as I want to use these as our NTP masters for the
> internal network.

This sounds like the boot loader hasn't been told to put the console
on the serial port, so you don't get output after the kernel has
started running.

I don't know how to set this for pfsense/FreeBSD, there should be
something in documentation for the boot loader. On OpenBSD you
either type 'set tty com0' into the boot loader, or place that line
in /etc/boot.conf on the tftp server that you pxeboot from.


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Re: [Soekris] net6501: Timer problems with Debian, no HPET support detected

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-03-10, Frank Schuhmann  wrote:
> Is the bios from the Soekris net6501 ACPI conform?

No

This came up on the list before, see "Re: FreeBSD/amd64 on
Net6501 working!" from Dec 2011.

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Re: [Soekris] confused about installing pfSense on net6501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2012-02-29, Ovidiu Predescu  wrote:
> Method 1: PXE install
>
> I first tried to use PXE to do the install. I have a small machine
> that runs dnsmasq as DHCP and TFTP server. I downloaded the
> pfSense-2.0.1-RELEASE-i386.iso.gz and installed the contents of the
> file in a directory accessible to the TFTP server. I'm serving the
> boot/pxeboot file from the tftp server. The net6501 box finds the
> pxeboot file, but it gets stuck shortly after:
>
> Building the boot loader arguments
> Relocating the loader and the BTX
> Starting the BTX loader
>
> It looks like the next load phase never happens.

I don't know the FreeBSD/pfSense boot process particularly well,
but that seems like it most likely *is* booting, just isn't using
the serial console. Look for a boot-loader parameter to adjust this.


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Re: [Soekris] Searching for PCI Express, UMTS card + SIM card dock

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2011-12-30, Thomas Merkel  wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> i'm looking for an UMTS card for the PCI-Express slot. My Soekris board
> is an net6501. One of the important things are that the UMTS card should
> work on Linux and has an SIM dock included.
>
> Have someone experience with an good PCI-Express card?
>
> Thanks and best regards,
> Thomas

It's a bit awkward.

There are lots of cheap holders that carry a MiniPCIe card in a PCIe slot,
but these have no SIM holder.

Someone posted here a while ago with some suggestions; one is to use a
half-size MiniPCIe UMTS card (which don't seem to be very common) in a riser
(Delock 65230) which fits the full size MiniPCIe slot and includes a SIM holder.

There is also Delock 89235 which fits the PCIE slot and includes a SIM holder
and antenna connectors, but it looks like it also requires a connection to
a USB header in order to use the SIM holder. (I don't have one so don't
know for sure about this).

Or you might find some stock of the end-of-life Novatel EU850D which has
a sim-holder built-in, but afaik this is the only card which does.


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Re: [Soekris] vr0 using OpenBSD stops responding.

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2011-12-10, Frank Schuhmann  wrote:
> Hi Brandan,
>
> on the Windows 7 side all significant updates are done?
> You?ve checked the Windows 7 internal firewall, to be sure that the false is 
> not
> pointed or placed in their?
>
> Because you wrote that the Win XP was not producing the problem, but Win 7
> should do it, it is perhaps the TCP window scaling, as declared in the RFC 
> 1323.
> In some similar other cases it was sometimes fixing the problem (pfsense) and 
> in
> sometimes also not, but to quick test it out the spended time will to be of
> value.   

Yes this is what I meant about the improvements in the Windows network stack.
This sort of thing used to cause a problem with stateful firewall rules in 
places
(because we do sequence number tracking) until we started doing "flags s/sa keep
state" by default. However it wouldn't result into the interface totally locking
up until it's reset. (btw Brandon, Note that "ifconfig vrX down; ifconfig vrX 
up"
would probably also clear it without a full reboot).

> On the BSD side perhaps you try to turn of the scaling, I?m not an OpenBSD
> professional but it must be turn out by setting up a shell order likes  -w net.inet.tcp.rfc1323=0> 
> If not or it must be typed in, in other direction it will be super that 
> perhaps
> an OpenBSD familiar list member would correct this please.

This is the correct command but it only affects the local tcp stack,
not forwarded packets, so I think this will have no effect here.

>
> And at the other point I consider what Stuart Henderson was mentoring to you.
> Perhaps the best at all,   
> but keeping an eye on the net6501 is also a nice option ;)
>
>
> I hope this is helping you out. 
>
> 
> Kind regards
>
> Frank
>
> -Original Message-
> From: soekris-tech-boun...@lists.soekris.com
> [mailto:soekris-tech-boun...@lists.soekris.com] On Behalf Of Brandan Rowley
> Sent: Friday, December 09, 2011 11:11 PM
> To: 'soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com'
> Subject: [Soekris] vr0 using OpenBSD stops responding.
>
>>Hi,
>>I am new to the list so be gentle if this has been posted already.  I am using
> two net5501 (with the VPN chip) running OpenBSD 4.9 to setup a VPN tunnel.  
>>The tunnel has been up and running for a while.  We've recently added Windows 
>>7
> PC to the network.  Performing file transfers from the Windows 7 PC's 
>>across the VPN tunnel causes the internal interface of the net5501 to stop
> responding.  A reboot is needed to get the interface communicating again.  
>>This repeatable.  Windows XP clients have no issues.  Is this a fix or
> workaround for this?  I've tried OpenBSD 5.0 and read of similar issues on
> OpenBSD, 
>>but have not found a resolution.
>
>>Regards,
>>Brandan
>
>
>  
>
> __ Hinweis von ESET NOD32 Antivirus, Signaturdatenbank-Version 6699
> (20111210) __
>
> E-Mail wurde gepr?ft mit ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>
> http://www.eset.com
> =

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Re: [Soekris] vr0 using OpenBSD stops responding.

[Stuart Henderson]

Might be worth looking at ciphers/hashes and see if switching to
a different type improves things.

Don't automatically assume that hw acceleration is going to help;
it reduces cpu use but has high overheads so it can make things
worse in some cases.


On 2011-12-09, Brandan Rowley  wrote:
> Hi Aric,
>
> Thanks for the reply.  That sounds about right, I'm getting about 7Mbit of 
> IPsec traffic.  I have tried turning on/off ipcomp with no real improvement.  
> For this particular tunnel I'm now needing more throughput.  I've been 
> looking at the net6501 and am considering giving it a try.
>
> Regards,
> Brandan
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Aric Warsaw [mailto:awar...@gmail.com] 
> Sent: Friday, December 09, 2011 3:43 PM
> To: Brandan Rowley
> Cc: soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com
> Subject: Re: [Soekris] vr0 using OpenBSD stops responding.
>
> Hi Brandan
>
> I've experienced just this even with the crypto accelerator card.
> That was back on OpenBSD 4.8.  I've found that about 8-10Mbit of IPsec 
> traffic is all you're going to get out of these guys...your mileage may vary. 
>  Taking IPsec full throttle for 30 minutes or longer was causing my 5501 to 
> fall off the networklost layer 2 and serial to the box entirely.
>
> My work around was to QoS the IPsec traffic down.  Another option that I 
> hadn't done personally and assuming you've enabled ipcomp, you can turn it 
> off to save CPU resources.  Again hadn't done it.  Most IPsec documentation 
> for OpenBSD tells you to enable this in /etc/sysctl.conf, so it might break 
> your flows and SAs.
>
> This is the setting:  net.inet.ipcomp.enable=1  # 0 to disable or just 
> comment out the line
>
> Let us know if you try it and notice a difference.  Hope that helps.
>
> -Aric
>
>
>
>
>
> 2011/12/9 Brandan Rowley :
>> Hi,
>>
>> I am new to the list so be gentle if this has been posted already.? I 
>> am using two net5501 (with the VPN chip) running OpenBSD 4.9 to setup 
>> a VPN tunnel.? The tunnel has been up and running for a while.? We've 
>> recently added Windows 7 PC to the network.? Performing file transfers 
>> from the Windows 7 PC's across the VPN tunnel causes the internal 
>> interface of the
>> net5501 to stop responding.? A reboot is needed to get the interface 
>> communicating again.? This repeatable.? Windows XP clients have no issues.
>> Is this a fix or workaround for this?? I've tried OpenBSD 5.0 and read 
>> of similar issues on OpenBSD, but have not found a resolution.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Brandan
>>
>>
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Re: [Soekris] vr0 using OpenBSD stops responding.

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2011-12-09, Brandan Rowley  wrote:
> Windows 7 PC to the network.  Performing file transfers from the Windows 7 =
> PC's across the VPN tunnel causes the internal interface of the net5501 to =
> stop responding.  A reboot is needed to get the interface communicating aga=
> in.  This repeatable.  Windows XP clients have no issues.  Is this a fix or=
>  workaround for this?  I've tried OpenBSD 5.0 and read of similar issues on=
>  OpenBSD, but have not found a resolution.

There was a very recent fix for a vr(4) problem committed to -current,
I would try updating the OS to 5.0 then updating sys/dev/pci/if_vr*
to the latest version and building a new kernel.

http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/sys/dev/pci/

This is probably a candidaatte for going into 5.0-stable after it's
had more testing.

As to why Windows 7 but not XP triggers it, this is probably due to
improvements in their network stack making it likely traffic is sent
more rapidly over a medium/high-latency link.


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Re: [Soekris] new to list

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2011-10-20, Ralph Green  wrote:
>  If you want to run Ubuntu, think about the version you want to run.
> Starting with Ubuntu 10.10, Ubuntu requires a CPU with CMOV support.
> They compile it for the 686 architecture, but the CMOV support is the
> only thing I have found that is needed that a 486 does not have.  The
> geode on the Soekris 4500 series and 4801 boards is only capable of
> running an Ubuntu kernel up to version 10.04(supported with security
> updates for servers until 2015).  I don't have any Geode LX boards(which
> the 5501 uses), so I can't say for sure, but I expect the 5501 would
> work with newer Ubuntu versions.

No Ubuntu to test here, but geode LX does have CMOV support.


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Re: [Soekris] NET6501 Mini PCI Express slots: UMTS/3G WWAN support?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2011-06-20, soek...@custodes.info  wrote:
>
> On Jun 20, 2011, at 1:23 PM, Martin Johnson wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> 
>> The NET6501 has two Mini PCI Express slots.  Is it possible to use
>> 3G/UMTS WWAN cards in one or both slots?
>> 
>> For comparison, the Alix 6F2 board has a built-in SIM card slot, which
>> functions only if the Mini PCI Express slot is populated with a suitable
>> WWAN card:-
>>  http://www.pcengines.ch/alix6f2.htm

Two SIM slots, you can choose which is active by GPIO.

>> I don't see a SIM card slot on the NET6501.  Does this mean the 6501
>> can't be used as a 3G/UMTS router?  Or is there some way to make it
>> work, other than using a USB 3G dongle?
>> 
>> Thanks!
>> 
>> - Martin
>> 
>
> Both Mini PCIe slots are wired for USB, which AFAIK all WWAN cards use.
>
> There isn't a SIM slot on board, but some WWAN cards come with their
> own SIM slot for cases like this.

I wondered about this too, it seems a bit of an oversight.
There are a few WWAN cards with their own SIM slot, but not many.


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Re: [Soekris] Using net5501 as a switch

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2011-06-12, Christopher R. Hertel  wrote:
> There are four-port (actually 5-port) switches on PCI cards out there.
>
> These cards provide 10/100/1000 switching between all five ports, but one of
> the ports is wired internally to the PCI bus and makes the device look like
> a regular Ethernet card.
>
> I have no idea if any such card would work in a Soekris system.  I just know
> they're out there.
>
> The only advantage of using such a card with a Soekris, however, is that you
> could get one with all five interfaces running at 1Gbps.  As has been
> discussed on this list previously, that might not actually be a good thing.

The other advantage of these cards is that typically they're vlan-
capable and, in some OS, can be programmed by the machine.

> The cheaper and probably better solution would be to get an inexpensive
> five-port GigE switch and connect the first port to the Soekris.

There are cheap vlan-capable small switches (there's a routerboard
one, for example, with some interesting features like vlan tag
translation and rate limiting) but typically these must be
configured by a web interface.


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Re: [Soekris] Avoiding inadvertent PXE boot

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2011-05-13, Devin Reade  wrote:
> What settings should be selected to maximize the chance of booting 
> from the SATA SSD drive under such circumstances?  I suspect that
> the problem is the BootDrive setting which for all three machines is
> BootDrive = 80 81 F0 FF

there is no manual for the 5501 and the 4801 manual is outdated, but there
is some documentation that soekris customers have written themselves in
http://wiki.soekris.info/What_do_all_those_BIOS_settings_do? which explains
this setting.


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Re: [Soekris] What's the difference between OpenSoekris and flashrd?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2011-04-16, Ed Flecko  wrote:
> Thank you Chris.
>
>:-)
>
> 1.) What's the openbsd.vnd file, and how would you mount it?

See the FAQ,
"Modify new /etc to include necessary configuration".

> 2.) If you DO mount it and wanted to edit the /etc files, I can see
> how you could configure PF, but you couldn't configure the NICs of the
> Soekris (could you?), because their respective re0 (or however their
> NIC's are identified) aren't yet created...because you installed the
> OS on the CF while it was attached to another PC.

Just create the hostname.vr0/whatever files in the /etc.


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Re: [Soekris] *BSD vs Linux

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2011-04-14, Steve Clark  wrote:
> Look I was only responding to the person that wanted to use *BSD and
> not have to make public enhancements, changes, etc,  he or his
> company
> made. That to me makes it seem he/them was/were only interested in
> taking and not returning anything. 

It is quite possible to provide source code for most changes you make
and hold back on some of them. Indeed GPL can be a real administrative
hassle if you have some changes which upstream is not interested in
taking, you have to maintain a local copy of any code you've supplied
to others just in case one of them decides they want a copy of the
source sometime in the future.

Many people *do* feed code back even when they aren't required to,
because to do otherwise often means redoing your work to fit in with
changes made in upstream code. For any significant change this can
be a huge amount of work, so there's no point in keeping something
private unless it's either trivial or worth a lot.

In any event, the GPL doesn't stop people from taking without
returning anything. I would guess probably the majority of people
who don't pay for their software give nothing back whatever the
license. GPL doesn't force people to give anything back, it's
just about making sure people who receive your binaries also
get source code.

Anyway you should wait for my brother, he's much bigger
and much tastier... Trip trap, trip trap, off to munch the
sweet grass the other side of the river.


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Re: [Soekris] speed throughput

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2011-02-22, Nick Knight  wrote:
>
> I am looking to get a feeling for the capability of the soekris equipment. I
> have been using the net 4501 for a number of years and just started looking
> at the 5501.
>
> As Internet speeds are increasing so has the requirements on these devices.
>
> So what experiences do you have of getting high speed through put and on
> what OS/device etc.
>
> We have only taken the net 5501 up to around 20MB, throughput - will you get
> more through it?

Yes, but how much throughput you can get depends on packet sizes,
OS and configuration. While you can get close to 100mb/s with bulk
transfers, fire a bunch of small packets through and it will be
much more restricted.


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Re: [Soekris] vpn1401 rng / hifn7955

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2010-12-18, Nix  wrote:
>
> Is this a bad time to point out that with  you
> could have had a very paranoid hardware RNG with known-working Linux
> support? :)
>
> (yes, it probably is, I know.)
>
> I have one on my net5501 and it works perfectly, also feeding entropy to
> the other machines on my network (at 4Kb/s of entropy you're unlikely
> to need more than one on a small network).

fwiw, the Geode LX on the 5501 has an RNG onboard...


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Re: [Soekris] Install OpenBSD on net4501 with a compact flash?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2010-10-29, Ed Flecko  wrote:
> I've found a few tutorials using the PXE boot method, but that seems
> pretty cumbersome.

Really it's not, it saves a lot of rebooting the machine with the
CF hard drive adapter and swapping cards around (which can be fiddly -
you might like to leave a little tab of tape sticking out to use as
a handle).

If you do use the swap-cards-around method don't forget to set things
up to use a serial console otherwise you'll have to put the card back
in the other machine and edit /etc/ttys and /etc/boot.conf.


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Re: [Soekris] (no subject)

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2010-07-30, JF Straeten  wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 08:51:55AM -0700, Shabnam Koosha wrote:
>
>> I have a soekris net4526 and I want to change the OS. I want to
>> install FREBSD on it and its current OS is Pyramid linux (such a
>> headache). Does any one know how to install a new OS on it? I am
>> kind of newbie, please help me. :)
>
> You'll find suitable documentation here :
>
> http://wiki.soekris.info/Main_Page#Operating_Systems
>
> and specifically for FreeBSD here :
>
> http://wiki.soekris.info/Installing_FreeBSD

Good pointers, but be aware that the net4526 has at most 256MB,
and possibly as little as 16MB, of flash storage. So it's fairly
likely you'll need to produced a cut-down image and copy it to
the flash storage via some other OS (possibly the installed
Pyramid linux, or possibly something else via pxeboot).


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Re: [Soekris] Would a net5501 reliably host a web site?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2010-06-24, Ralph Becker-Szendy  wrote:
>
> The real limitation will probably be amount of memory: To run a 1TB file
> server under OpenBSD you really need to have at least 1GB of memory
> available to the file system (once the kernel has taken its part), so
> you can run fsck and have enough file system buffer space.

You can hugely reduce fsck's memory requirements by adjusting newfs
parameters, especially increasing block size and decreasing inode density
from the defaults. Consider the expected average file size and have a
play with different parameters. Try it on a running system where you
can send SIGINFO to the fsck process and you'll get some feedback on
how far it's got. If you haven't tried adjusting this before, I think
you will be very surprised at the difference it makes.

If you have free RAM when the system is running you might want to
look at increasing the kern.bufcachepercent sysctl (this memory isn't
dedicated to buffer cache; if processes start using more memory they
take it back). But further discussion along these lines should
probably move to an OpenBSD list.


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Re: [Soekris] Bios update problem on 5501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2010-01-13, Christopher Camden  wrote:
>> download -
   ^^
Bob, try this. Note the dash.


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Re: [Soekris] 5501 ekstra ekstra com port

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-12-29, Ebbe Hjorth  wrote:
> I looked at a pci com port card, but at a cost of 150 euro, i hoped that
> with your help, i can get it running a little cheaper, but a com port here
> in 2009 is expensive :-( So should have saved all the old ones i had :)

besides the USB options others have mentioned, a standard PCI RS232 card should
cost significantly less than 150 euro (more like 10-20 euro for two ports).


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Re: [Soekris] OpenBSD installation problem

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-12-14, aniss siyouti  wrote:
> One other question,is it possible to install the file sets of openbsd
> without connecting the soekris to internet.Can i transfer these file from
> my computer to the soekris using tftp.

For the *.tgz file sets you'll need to use ftp or http, tftp isn't
available for that (nor would you really want it, it's horribly slow).
I've installed quite a few machines by PXE without internet connection
by running the DHCP server, tftpd and ftpd on a laptop. No problems
at all.


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Re: [Soekris] GPIO control of SW1(Reset Button) on 5501 with OpenBSD

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-12-13, Lars Nooden  wrote:
> Lars Nooden wrote:
>> The bios for the net5501 can set the reset switch so that it is under
>> software control and accessible using GPIO.  What device and pin would
>> that be under OpenBSD 4.6 ?
>
> I went through and did a rather systematic attempt at checking all the
> gpio pins that I could find on devices gpio0 and gpio1, trying input for
> both internal pull-up and internal pull-down.

A momentary press of the button will latch the output, so you don't
have to read the pin at exactly the time you press the button.

I'm not sure about pins on the 5501, and there's still no manual(!),
but on the 4801 you need to take GPIO47 low to reset the latch, then
you can read the state on GPIO18. It would at least be worth trying
the same pins as a starting point since other GPIO-related things
are similar between the two devices. (If you need to read the button
in realtime, you hold the latch reset line low).


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Re: [Soekris] vr interface problem

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-09-20, Dánial Olsen  wrote:
>
>> ifconfig vrx down; ifconfig vrx up fixes your problem?
>
> I don't know. I just experienced this one time and didn't try that, but 
> perhaps I'll reproduce and try.

Unplug and re-plug the cable a dozen times or so, you'll probably repeat it.


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Re: [Soekris] vr interface problem

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-09-18, Dánial Olsen  wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I just had a weird problem with two of my 5501 boxes, running OpenBSD 4.3, 
> connected to the same switch.
>
> The problem was that two of the four connected vr interfaces seemingly 
> stopped working.
> I tried connecting a crossed cable between the boxes and also between the 
> boxes and my laptop, but tcpdump on the 5501 did not see any incoming traffic 
> - only outgoing. After some testing the 5501s were rebooted and then the 
> interfaces worked as normal. This behaviour was perhaps triggered by the 
> switch, to which they are connected, lost power a few times over the course 
> of a couple of hours.
>
> My issue doesn't seem new as these two threads show:
>
> http://72.32.12.210/archives/openbsd/2007-10/0886.html
> http://www.nabble.com/Re:-soekris-5501-wierd-vr%284%29-maybe-PHY-problem-%28was-Re:-man-dhcpd.interfaces--%29-td15694468.html
>
> Does anyone know if there is a solution for this problem? 
> Is this solved in a newer version of OpenBSD or FreeBSD perhaps?

It was fixed in OpenBSD earlier this year, it's in -current snapshots
and the forthcoming 4.6 release, or you can try this diff which may or
may not apply to earlier versions.

Index: if_vr.c
===
RCS file: /cvs/src/sys/dev/pci/if_vr.c,v
retrieving revision 1.81
retrieving revision 1.83
diff -u -p -r1.81 -r1.83
--- if_vr.c 29 Mar 2009 21:53:52 -  1.81
+++ if_vr.c 30 Apr 2009 18:28:29 -  1.83
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* $OpenBSD: if_vr.c,v 1.81 2009/03/29 21:53:52 sthen Exp $*/
+/* $OpenBSD: if_vr.c,v 1.83 2009/04/30 18:28:29 mpf Exp $  */
 
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 1997, 1998
@@ -366,20 +366,38 @@ allmulti:
 void
 vr_setcfg(struct vr_softc *sc, int media)
 {
-   int restart = 0;
+   int i;
 
-   if (CSR_READ_2(sc, VR_COMMAND) & (VR_CMD_TX_ON|VR_CMD_RX_ON)) {
-   restart = 1;
-   VR_CLRBIT16(sc, VR_COMMAND, (VR_CMD_TX_ON|VR_CMD_RX_ON));
-   }
+   if (sc->sc_mii.mii_media_status & IFM_ACTIVE &&
+   IFM_SUBTYPE(sc->sc_mii.mii_media_active) != IFM_NONE) {
+   sc->vr_link = 1;
+
+   if (CSR_READ_2(sc, VR_COMMAND) & (VR_CMD_TX_ON|VR_CMD_RX_ON))
+   VR_CLRBIT16(sc, VR_COMMAND,
+   (VR_CMD_TX_ON|VR_CMD_RX_ON));
 
-   if ((media & IFM_GMASK) == IFM_FDX)
-   VR_SETBIT16(sc, VR_COMMAND, VR_CMD_FULLDUPLEX);
-   else
-   VR_CLRBIT16(sc, VR_COMMAND, VR_CMD_FULLDUPLEX);
+   if ((media & IFM_GMASK) == IFM_FDX)
+   VR_SETBIT16(sc, VR_COMMAND, VR_CMD_FULLDUPLEX);
+   else
+   VR_CLRBIT16(sc, VR_COMMAND, VR_CMD_FULLDUPLEX);
 
-   if (restart)
VR_SETBIT16(sc, VR_COMMAND, VR_CMD_TX_ON|VR_CMD_RX_ON);
+   } else {
+   sc->vr_link = 0;
+   VR_CLRBIT16(sc, VR_COMMAND, (VR_CMD_TX_ON|VR_CMD_RX_ON));
+   for (i = VR_TIMEOUT; i > 0; i--) {
+   DELAY(10);
+   if (!(CSR_READ_2(sc, VR_COMMAND) &
+   (VR_CMD_TX_ON|VR_CMD_RX_ON)))
+   break;
+   }
+   if (i == 0) {
+#ifdef VR_DEBUG
+   printf("%s: rx shutdown error!\n", sc->sc_dev.dv_xname);
+#endif
+   sc->vr_flags |= VR_F_RESTART;
+   }
+   }
 }
 
 void
@@ -1132,11 +1150,11 @@ vr_start(struct ifnet *ifp)
struct mbuf *m_head;
struct vr_chain *cur_tx;
 
-   if (ifp->if_flags & IFF_OACTIVE)
-   return;
-
sc = ifp->if_softc;
 
+   if (ifp->if_flags & IFF_OACTIVE || sc->vr_link == 0)
+   return;
+
cur_tx = sc->vr_cdata.vr_tx_prod;
while (cur_tx->vr_mbuf == NULL) {
IFQ_DEQUEUE(&ifp->if_snd, m_head);
@@ -1283,6 +1301,7 @@ vr_init(void *xsc)
CSR_WRITE_2(sc, VR_IMR, VR_INTRS);
 
/* Restore state of BMCR */
+   sc->vr_link = 1;
mii_mediachg(mii);
 
ifp->if_flags |= IFF_RUNNING;
Index: if_vrreg.h
===
RCS file: /cvs/src/sys/dev/pci/if_vrreg.h,v
retrieving revision 1.21
retrieving revision 1.22
diff -u -p -r1.21 -r1.22
--- if_vrreg.h  18 Jul 2008 13:38:40 -  1.21
+++ if_vrreg.h  28 Apr 2009 12:54:31 -  1.22
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* $OpenBSD: if_vrreg.h,v 1.21 2008/07/18 13:38:40 thib Exp $  */
+/* $OpenBSD: if_vrreg.h,v 1.22 2009/04/28 12:54:31 mpf Exp $   */
 
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 1997, 1998
@@ -350,7 +350,8 @@ struct vr_desc {
 #define VR_RXSTAT_RX_PHYS  0x0800
 #define VR_RXSTAT_RX_BROAD 0x1000
 #define VR_RXSTAT_RX_MULTI 0x2000
-#define VR_RXSTAT_RX_OK0x4000
+#define VR_RXSTAT_RX_VIDHIT0x4000 /* 6105M */
+#define VR_RXSTAT_RX_OK0x8000
 #define VR_R

Re: [Soekris] Question with net5501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-09-06, der Mouse  wrote:
> Looking at the diff between the 3.1 driver and the -current driver,
> most of the changes look irrelevant (eg, changing how to get the softc
> from the device), but there are some that aren't.  None look obviously
> related to the Rhine III, but I don't know the chip, so it's possible
> some of the generic-looking changes are necessary for Rhine III
> support.

There are a few changes in OpenBSD's vr(4) driver that it might be
beneficial to bring across. (probably simpler than bringing .Fx's
rewritten driver over).


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Re: [Soekris] Replace an ADSL modem-router

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-08-19, Lars Nooden  wrote:
> Chris Cappuccio wrote:
>> Lars Nooden [l...@umich.edu] wrote:
>>> Chris Cappuccio wrote:
 this is essentially the same as an ultra-cheap versatek 170p modem... 
>>> Not at all the same capabilities.  Compare:
>>>
>>> http://www.traverse.com.au/downloads/adsl/vikingdat_03.pdf
>>> http://www.versatek.com/products/vxver170p.htm

conexant vs. broadcom. a few more features on the v170p I think.

>>> Point to a HOWTO for running the 170p with NetBSD, OpenBSD or a Linux.
>> 
>> I'll write one.  Here it is:
>> 
>> 1. Plug in the ethernet cable
>> 2. ifconfig YourEthernet0 192.168.0.2/24
>> 3. Telnet or HTTP to 192.168.0.1
>> 4. Configure VPI/VCI and mode (RFC 1483 bridging, PPPoA, PPPoE, etc...)
>> 5. Party like it's 1999
>
> Hmm.  You've skipped the part about loading the 170p with OpenWRT,
> Tomato, PFSense or something similar...

the 170p would just be used instead of the viking card, not the whole
card+soekris combination.

it's nice to have a way to avoid the separate box, power supply
and cable, but you clearly pay extra for that.


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Re: [Soekris] net5501-70 + tdm410

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-06-10, Alex Samad  wrote:
>
> Is any one else using a tdm410 in one of these boxes ?  How are you
> getting the power to the card for the FXS ports. I have noticed, just
> behind the molex connector pins P8 and digum talk about a pwr2400b which
> is a PCI face plate that connects to the cards some how !!!, I am
> thinking it is via these 2 pins, but I can't tell which is +ve and which
> is -ve or even if I am right.

Have you tried asking Digium?

> Soekres might be time to expand the size of the box a little bit :)

I've got a whole stack of cards which *just* don't fit the 5501 case.
quad NICs, fibre NICs, SCSI controllers, ... another 5mm or so would make
all the difference.


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Re: [Soekris] NET5501 UDMA and SSD woes

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-04-18, David Alexander  wrote:
> On Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:55:14 + (UTC), Stuart Henderson
> wrote:
>
>>On 2009-04-18, David Alexander  wrote:
>
>>> I'd still like to figure out how to tell OpenBSD to try using a higher
>>> UDMA mode.
>>
>>search for 80-wire in /sys/dev/pciide.c, you'll find the checks
>>which limit the device to mode 2.
>
> Thanks!  Funny, I was looking for "40" when I needed to try "80".
> Found it and now I'm running at UDMA mode 5, although the gain wasn't
> significant.  My simple read test went from 25MB/s to 30MB/s.  Still,
> it's good to know that the OS isn't artificially limiting throughput
> and it's probably down to the 5501 now.
>
> Anyone else getting better SATA throughput?

Considering the maximum ethernet speed, 25MB/s (200Mb/s of course)
isn't really a bottleneck for much of what you might use a 5501 for.

I haven't tried it on the Soekris, but by way of comparison, I have
a 32GB Vertex in an OpenBSD amd64 box, seq reads are at 100MB/sec and
writes at 50MB/sec with simple dd tests. (The speed of random access
has to be seen to be believed...)


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Re: [Soekris] NET5501 UDMA and SSD woes

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-04-18, David Alexander  wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:59:10 -0700, David Alexander 
> wrote:
>
>>According to the Soekris web page the 5501 has an UltraDMA-100
>>controller.  I'm having trouble getting it to try anything above
>>UDMA mode 2.
>>
>>My problem is that I just bought an OCZ Vertex SSD and according to
>>atactl it only supports ATA-5, 6, and 7...aka UDMA modes 3 and above.
>>So now I'm stuck with a machine that supports up to mode 2 and a drive
>>that needs mode 3 or higher.
>
>
> Well, I found out that part of my problem was having the SSD and the
> CF on the same channel at the same time.  Once I copied all my data
> from the CF to the SSD and removed the CF the SSD started working fine
> at UDMA mode 2.  This gives me performance equal to my CF card with
> reads in the 25MB/s range.
>
> I'd still like to figure out how to tell OpenBSD to try using a higher
> UDMA mode.

search for 80-wire in /sys/dev/pciide.c, you'll find the checks
which limit the device to mode 2.


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Re: [Soekris] Hardware reset

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-03-26, Soekris Mailinglist  wrote:
> Is there a way to see if the box has been reset by pressing the hardware
> reset button?
>
> The box is 4501 and 5501 both running Linux-2.6.28
>
> Thanks,
> Thomas Albech

there's a BIOS "Reset" setting which switches between the button
doing a hard reset, and being a "soft" button readable on a GPIO
pin. is that what you're looking for, or were you after something
to tell you if that's what caused the previous reboot? (which I
don't think is possible).



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Re: [Soekris] Hardware problems with new 5501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-03-24, Vasily Ivanov  wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 12:57:26AM +0000, Stuart Henderson wrote:
>> > 1. I cannot do upgrade of BIOS (1.33->1.33c)
>> 
>> cu on OpenBSD works reliably following these instructions:
>> http://wiki.soekris.info/Updating_Bios#cu_and_tip
>
> it fails also.
>
> --
> .
>> download -
> ~C> lsz -X b.bin
> Sending b.bin, 784 blocks: Give your local Xmodem receive command now
>
> Xmodem sectors/kbytes: 0/0k Retry 0: Timeout on sector ACK
> Xmodem sectors/kbytes: 19/2k Retry 0: NAK on sectors
> Xmodem sectors/kbytes: 80/0k Retry 0: Got 72 for sector ACK
>
> Retry 0: Timeout on sector ACK
> Retry 0: Timeout on sector ACK
> ...(11 times retry)
> Retry 0: Timeout on sector ACK
>
> Transer incomplete
> ---

Then I would have to guess at a cable problem, I can confirm this method
has worked many times for me, on all sorts of hardware (real and USB serial
ports, 4501/4521/4526/4801/5501) and cables (homemade DE9-RJ45 adapters,
commercial 3-wire cables, commercial null modem cables)..




>> > Below I attached four logs:
>> >  a) with the only CF card. There OpenBSD 4.5 on card, this system is
>> > correctly work on laptop, for example.
>> >  b) with the on HDD, OpenBSD 4.5 .
>> >  c) PXEBoot log with OpenBSD 4.4
>> >  d) two attempts to do BIOS upgrade
>> >
>> > The a,b and c have the same finish.
>> 
>> you missed "set tty com0" at the boot loader prompt.
> Yes, I had done it in cases a) and b) --- I had got absolutely empty output.
>
> Thanks, 
> Vasily

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Re: [Soekris] Hardware problems with new 5501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-03-24, Vasily Ivanov  wrote:
> Hi, all
>
> Last week I've got a new 5501-70 box.
> Unfortunally, there are a number of problems with this box.
>
> 1. I cannot do upgrade of BIOS (1.33->1.33c)

cu on OpenBSD works reliably following these instructions:
http://wiki.soekris.info/Updating_Bios#cu_and_tip

> 2. Three (CF, HDD, PXEBoot) ways of booting have failed :(. 
>
> Below I attached four logs:
>  a) with the only CF card. There OpenBSD 4.5 on card, this system is
> correctly work on laptop, for example.
>  b) with the on HDD, OpenBSD 4.5 .
>  c) PXEBoot log with OpenBSD 4.4
>  d) two attempts to do BIOS upgrade
>
>
> The a,b and c have the same finish.

you missed "set tty com0" at the boot loader prompt.


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Re: [Soekris] OpenBSD4.4 boot> not waiting.

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-02-09, Christopher R. Hertel  wrote:
> Has anyone seen this?
>
> I just installed OpenBSD4.4 on the flash in my 4501.  I've got a simple
> /etc/boot.conf:
>
> stty com0 19200
> set tty com0
>
> The system boots just fine but there is no five second delay at the boot>
> prompt.  Odd.  So I changed the /etc/boot.conf to read:
>
> set timeout 10
> stty com0 19200
> set tty com0
>
> ...and still get the same results.  No delay at the boot> prompt.  The 4501
> is up to date:  comBIOS ver. 1.33.
>
> Hit me with the clue bat?

I've noticed this too on 45xx hardware. I'm sure it didn't happen
in the past, but I don't recall whether it started after a BIOS
update or after a boot loader update.

If it helps someone with more knowledge of comBIOS to identify
the problem, this timer uses the get RTC time/date calls (Int 1A,
AH=02 and AH=04).


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Re: [Soekris] upcoming changes to gpioctl behavior in openbsd ?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-01-23, Stuart Henderson  wrote:
> On 2009-01-23, Lars Noodén  wrote:
>> A while back Marc Balmer wrote:
>>
>>  Beware that the GPIO subsystem has seen substantial
>>  changes recently.  In -current, and thus upcoming
>>  releases, GPIO pins can only be configured at
>>  securelevel 0.
>>
>> Where is a description of the upcoming changes, for those who would like
>> to plan?
>>
>> Regards
>> -Lars
>
> It's probably simplest to just read the new version of the manual
> pages:
>
> http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=gpioctl&manpath=OpenBSD+Current&arch=i386
> http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=gpio&manpath=OpenBSD+Current&arch=i386

Oh, sorry; seems the online copy isn't updated yet; here it is
in plaintext.


GPIOCTL(8)  OpenBSD System Manager's Manual GPIOCTL(8)

NAME
 gpioctl - control GPIO devices

SYNOPSIS
 gpioctl [-q] device attach device offset mask
 gpioctl [-q] device detach device
 gpioctl [-q] device pin [0 | 1 | 2]
 gpioctl [-q] device pin [on | off | toggle]
 gpioctl [-q] device pin set [flags] [name]
 gpioctl [-q] device pin unset

DESCRIPTION
 The gpioctl program allows manipulation of GPIO (General Purpose In-
 put/Output) device pins.  Such devices can be either part of the chipset
 or embedded CPU, or a separate chip.  The usual way of using GPIO is to
 connect some simple devices such as LEDs and 1-wire thermal sensors to
 its pins.

 Each GPIO device has an associated device file in the /dev directory.
 device can be specified with or without the /dev prefix.  For example,
 /dev/gpio0 or gpio0.

 GPIO pins can be either ``read'' or ``written'' with the values of logi-
 cal 0 or 1.  If only a pin number is specified on the command line, the
 pin state will be read from the GPIO controller and displayed.  To write
 to a pin, a value must be specified after the pin number.  Values can be
 either 0 or 1.  A value of 2 has a special meaning: it ``toggles'' the
 pin, i.e. changes its state to the opposite.  Instead of the numerical
 values, the word on, off, or toggle can be used.

 Only pins that have been configured at securelevel 0, typically during
 system startup, are accessible once the securelevel has been raised.
 Pins can be given symbolic names for easier use.  Besides using individu-
 al pins, device drivers that use GPIO pins can be attached to a gpio(4)
 device using the gpioctl command.

 The following configuration flags are supported by the GPIO framework:

   in  input direction
   out output direction
   inout   bi-directional
   od  open-drain output
   pp  push-pull output
   tri tri-state (output disabled)
   pu  internal pull-up enabled
   pd  internal pull-down enabled
   iin invert input
   ioutinvert output

 Note that not all the flags can be supported by the particular GPIO con-
 troller.

 When executed with only the gpio(4) device name as argument, gpioctl
 reads information about the GPIO device and displays it.  At securelevel
 0 the number of physically available pins is displayed, at higher se-
 curelevels the number of configured (set) pins is displayed.

 The options are as follows:

 -q  Operate quietly i.e. nothing is printed to stdout.

FILES
 /dev/gpiou  GPIO device unit u file.

EXAMPLES
 Configure pin 20 to have push-pull output:

   # gpioctl gpio0 20 set out pp

 Write logical 1 to pin 20:

   # gpioctl gpio0 20 1

 Attach a onewire(4) bus on a gpioow(4) device on pin 4:

   # gpioctl gpio0 attach gpioow 4 0x01

 Detach the gpioow0 device:

   # gpioctl gpio0 detach gpioow0

 Configure pin 5 as output and name it error_led:

   # gpioctl gpio0 5 set out error_led

 Toggle the error_led:

   # gpioctl gpio0 error_led 2

SEE ALSO
 gpio(4)

HISTORY
 The gpioctl command first appeared in OpenBSD 3.6.

AUTHORS
 The gpioctl program was written by Alexander Yurchenko
 .  Device attachment was added by
 Marc Balmer .

OpenBSD 4.4December 5, 2008  2


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Re: [Soekris] upcoming changes to gpioctl behavior in openbsd ?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-01-23, Lars Noodén  wrote:
> A while back Marc Balmer wrote:
>
>   Beware that the GPIO subsystem has seen substantial
>   changes recently.  In -current, and thus upcoming
>   releases, GPIO pins can only be configured at
>   securelevel 0.
>
> Where is a description of the upcoming changes, for those who would like
> to plan?
>
> Regards
> -Lars

It's probably simplest to just read the new version of the manual
pages:

http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=gpioctl&manpath=OpenBSD+Current&arch=i386
http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=gpio&manpath=OpenBSD+Current&arch=i386

Basically you must configure the pins for the type of operation you
require (in, out, inout ) by adding gpioctl commands in rc.securelevel.
Once configured, a pin is available for use after the securelevel has been
raised.

On some machines, some GPIO pins could destroy your hardware, this
gives some extra protection against accidental or deliberate misuse.

$ grep gpio /usr/src/usr.bin/mg/theo.c


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Re: [Soekris] Test the watchdog

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-01-14, Thorsten Mühlfelder  wrote:
> So I need a damon, too? I thought it's a kernel only thing because there is 
> extra hardware for this task.

Can be either, but wouldn't you want to know that userland is
still functional?

>> > As far as I know the net4501 watchdog should reboot the machine when the
>> > kernel hangs. How can I test this with Linux?

If there's a userland daemon, the previous suggestions of kill -9
should be fine.

If you don't have a userland process involved and the kernel is
tickling the watchdog (e.g. as with kern.watchdog.auto on OpenBSD)
then making the kernel stop running would be a good way to test it.
I usually just put the kernel into DDB if I want to test this,
since it stops it from running. Maybe you could use whatever
kernel debugger Linux has.


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Re: [Soekris] BootDrive = 80 FF FF FF

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2009-01-03, Lars Noodén  wrote:
>
> A Net4801 unit I have is not letting me do PXE boot.
> Which of the settings get changed to allow PXE boot again?

this, I expect:

>   PCIROMS = Disabled


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Re: [Soekris] impossible to link eth1, eth2, eth3 but eth0 is well working

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-12-05, stef <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> The OS is  working good  and I made some tests in order to use it as a 
> router.
> But it's impossible to communicate with eth1 eth2 eth3.  eth0 is well 
> working.

As the other posts point out, this is a broken configuration.

What are you actually trying to achieve?


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Re: [Soekris] 5501 boot from cdrom

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-12-04, Andrew Thomas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> PXE boot isn't really for the faint hearted.

depends on the OS. for some it's very simple providing you can
read and follow instructions, just a handful of steps. for others
iirc you get to either configure NFS or rebuild your boot loader...

> For a start you will need
> a Linux PC with a DHCP server and a proper PXE configuration/image.

DHCP and TFTP servers are available for almost every OS, then you
just need to place a boot-loader and kernel (and maybe a boot loader
config file) in a directory accessible via TFTP, and configure DHCP.

no need for Linux, or even any Unix-like OS.


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Re: [Soekris] 5501 boot from cdrom

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-12-04, Ebbe Hjorth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I just bought a soekris 5501, with flash, sata disk and a 40 to 44 pin
> converter, to boot from cdrom, but i think im missing a manual to get it
> booting from the cd rom, can you please advice? Right now i dont have the
> flash card in.

It can not boot from CDROM.


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Re: [Soekris] FreeBSD install on 5501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-11-30, Ebbe Hjorth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I have a pre-buy question.
>
> Im reading on the soekris.info page, which under freebsd install says
>
> Media install
> If you can attach, perhaps temporarily, a floppy, CD or DVD drive, then
> the FreeBSD handbook describes the normal FreeBSD install process.

I don't think the author actually tried it.

to install onto HD/CF to use on the Soekris, you can do one
of these:

- boot an installer from the network. this is very easy
with some OS. FreeBSD is not the simplest...

- install files (at least the installer, if not the whole OS)
onto the HD/CF on another machine then move it to the Soekris


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Re: [Soekris] Installing Debian Linux from a CD

[Stuart Henderson]

> is it possible to install Debian Linux from a Debian CD?

No, the Soekris BIOS doesn't allow you to boot from CD.


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Re: [Soekris] Soekris-tech Digest, Vol 57, Issue 3

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-11-04, Andrew Gordon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm aware that this problem doesn't apply in places where direct PPPoE 
> connections are widely available: here in the UK, 99% of ISP connections 
> are PPPoA only.

nope, see BT SIN 386. working absolutely fine here and at some
customers (it's my normal setup). not sure about LLU providers
(well, tiscali definitely don't, I don't know about others),
but they don't make up 99% of UK connections...


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Re: [Soekris] net4801 ppp throughput?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-10-27, Malcolm Herbert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm using a net4801 running OpenBSD 4.0 for a PPPoE link rather than
> my ADSL2+ modem. I am now using the modem in bridge mode as the port
> forwarding code in the firmware is rather lacking in features and I'm
> quite familiar with pf under OpenBSD as I've used it elsewhere ...

I would suggest:

1. upgrade OpenBSD, newer versions have much better performance on 4801
2. use pppoe(4) (kernel pppoe) not pppoe(8) as it seems you're doing

I get line speed (600KB+/s) out of a 5501 for pppoe running OpenBSD,
4801 is slower but not enough slower that it would give you the speed
you see, there must be another problem.


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Re: [Soekris] pxeboot problems with net4801/openbsd

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-10-27, Andrew Stack <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> tftp server and bsd.rd/boot.conf is in /tftpboot.
>
>
> set tty pc0
> stty pc0 19200

s/pc0/com0/ and move the file to /tftpboot/etc/boot.conf

> boot bsd.rd

it's usually better to use "set image bsd.rd" here, then you
get a chance to type at the boot loader if you need to.


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Re: [Soekris] CompactFlash cards and Soekris boards

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-10-10, Davy MELINA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Use JFFS2 filesystem on your CF not EXT3FS or use TMPFS for your /var.

CF already does wear-levelling in the card's controller.
And longevity is *far* better than many people seem to assume.

You may want to arrange for read-only filesystems to avoid
unclean shutdowns, but that's a totally different matter.


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Re: [Soekris] Linux IDE driver for CF card

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-10-01, Thorsten M. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I've set up a a Linux system with strpped down kernel on my net4501

You do mean _4501_ not 5501?

> board. Now my problem is, that the CF card is really slow. hdparm shows
> ~2 MB/s transfer speed and UDMA is disabled.

I don't think 4501 has UDMA.


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Re: [Soekris] SanDisk 64 MB Compact Flash Cards

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-09-05, Ryan Corder <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Sat, Sep 06, 2008 at 12:33:58AM +0700, Soekris Maillist wrote:
>| Anyone know where to buy these?
>| 
>| The smallest ones I can find here in Thailand seems to be 2 GB, which is
>| extreme overkill for a 16 MB image.
>
> If you do find anything that small, please let ALL of us know.

What's the point? They won't be any cheaper.


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Re: [Soekris] mini-pci serial (was: Two PCI peripherals on one unit?)

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-08-22, Lars Noodén <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Since soekris devices have one mini-pci slot, would it be possible then
> to use the regular PCI for extra ethernet while using the mini-PCI for
> 2-port RS-232 card?

Yes, of course.


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Re: [Soekris] NET5530 - Information about Led

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-07-25, Massimiliano Cianelli <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>> Of course you could rip the LEDs off the board and stick your own ones
>> into the holes on the front of the case, if you don't think you need
>> tham.
> Yes.. I can do that, but.. where I can connect those led on the board? :-P

The GPIO connector. There's no manual so you'll have to make do
with the wiki. http://wiki.soekris.info/Unofficial_Hardware_Manual#net5501


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Re: [Soekris] COM2 Problem with OpenBSD4.3 on NET4501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-07-23, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Great suggestions everyone!  We're definitely getting closer.  Indeed I am 
> certain the wiring is correct; that was one of the first things I checked.  
> Instead, this is looking more like an OpenBSD configuration or hardware 
> issue.  For example, if I jumper TX and RX together on the IDC10 header as 
> suggested above and run a simple loopback program (listed below), I receive 0 
> bytes back on the read. 

Please try a known working program until you are sure the hardware
is ok. With txd looped to rxd, when you "cu -l /dev/cua01" and type
something, it should be immediately displayed back.

> This program displays both 9600 for the old and new rates.

If I try that here, it leaves the port in a state where if I try and
use cu afterwards, it will receive but not transmit.

> I'm not entirely certain of how OpenBSD differentiates the tty and cua 
> devices 

See tty(4) ("man 4 tty").


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Re: [Soekris] COM2 Problem with OpenBSD4.3 on NET4501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-07-23, Bill Maas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> RTS/CTS is enabled by default, at least on a net5501 (I had trouble with
> an oddly wired cable a while ago).

afaik, that would only affect the boot loader. for OpenBSD, use
a boot loader dated after 2008/04/20, it was rewritten to access
the hardware directly rather than via BIOS.


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Re: [Soekris] COM2 Problem with OpenBSD4.3 on NET4501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-07-23, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> OpenBSD 4.3 installed smoothly, but I’ve been wrestling with serial 
> communication over COM2 for days now.  At the moment I have a simple C 
> program 
> designed to echo any data sent to the serial port to stdout.  I’ve tested the 
> program on other OpenBSD 4.3 PCs without issue, but when I move the code to 
> the Soekris board, I see data being received, but it’s entirely corrupted.  
> At 
> this point I have tried sending the data at multiple baud rates, both with 
> and 
> without CTS/RTS.  The results are always the same.  I receive data as it’s 
> being sent, but it’s not the data I expect.

Your program is probably ok, but you could isolate it by using a known-
good program like cu.

# cu -l -s  /dev/cua01

> The code for the echo program is listed below.  Must CTS/RTS be connected?

No, you aren't using modem control lines, so RXD/TXD/GND is enough.

> noticed in another message thread, 19200 is the recommended baud rate for 
> COM2.  Is this true?  If so, why?  Must I use 19200?

No, you can use any speed supported by the port.

> Any other recommendations?

Check things are wired correctly. The pinout is given in the board's
manual, http://www.soekris.com/manuals/net4501_manual.pdf, also see
http://wiki.soekris.info/Serial_port. Some PCs use this layout, others
don't. If you use an IDC DE9 connector the ribbon cable should be
crimped on flat, not split and reorganised.


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Re: [Soekris] working wireless minipci cards in 802.11a or g mode under OpenBSD 4.3

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-07-17, Guillaume FORTAINE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> http://www.oxfordtec.com/uk/p119/SparkLAN-WMIR-215GN-WLAN-802.11n-draft-MiniPCI-Wifi-Module---Laptop-Internal-Ralink-RT2860-Chipset-Wireless-Adapter/product_info.html

I've got one of those exact cards as an AP, it works nicely. I don't
know if it does 54Mb/s, 11Mb is fine for my use.


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Re: [Soekris] HDD 500 Gb Sata problem on 5501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-07-17, Erwin Geuens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> for a customer we want to use a 500 Gb sata disk (WD caviar GP500) as  
> mini file server. However during boot (bios 1.33) the disk is  
> recognized as 136 Gb with parameters 1024-255-63.
> Is there a way to fix this?
> Thx
> Erwin
>
> PS: we will boot on a 4 Gb CF first, the HDD is a data disk.

it probably doesn't matter, the OS should see the whole disk.


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Re: [Soekris] net5501 Successor

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-07-11, Guillaume FORTAINE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 2) If we want to enjoy it, we will need an additional vpn1411 Board

I'll be surprised if that helps (assuming you actually use
AES128 so you can take advantage of the on-chip hw crypto of
the Geode LX).


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Re: [Soekris] net5501 network throughput

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-07-05, Chris Babcock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> A 5501 can handle the full bandwidth of 100M links. However whether a 
> 5501 can handle your environment depends on how complex a ruleset you 
> are planning on using for firewalling.

Besides ruleset, it also depends a lot on how many packets per
second, and assuming a stateful firewall, how many of those have
to traverse the whole ruleset. 5501 is pretty tight for a link
you *expect* to run at 100Mb/s.


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Re: [Soekris] 5501 USB to RS-232 Adapater.

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-07-02, Sargun Dhillon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Really, anything will work.
>
> Don't be picky. It'll be your loss. Really most people use the same FTDI
> chip. Do not waste you money.

Prolific is common too, there's a small bunch of others that
turn up.

Main thing to watch out for is to check that BREAK works if you
might at some point need to send it; it's not possible with some
USB/RS232 adapters, and if you might need this sometime in the
future, check it out when you get it...


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Re: [Soekris] Traverse Technologies Viking PCI ADSL2+ Card

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-06-26, Adam Retter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I had a Traverse Pulsar ADSL PCI card in a net4801 with the standard
> Soekris net4801 case and the fit was fine.

The standard net5501 case is, ermm, rather more roomy, though
it's 5mm or so too short to fit the fairly common "half-length"
format (~175mm) cards.

>The problem I had was that
> Traverse whilst claiming to support FreeBSD/OpenBSD originally were
> never able to produce working/stable drivers. I did interact with
> their tech support department for some time and they did try and
> resolve the issues but the drivers had been written by a contractor
> and we never managed to get a working/stable driver.
>
> I see they are only offering Windows/Linux drivers for the Viking and
> so maybe you will have more luck with that...

This newer card appears to just be a standard ADSL router chip
glued onto a PCI ethernet card, configured by web interface.

The main possible problem area is with phy drivers but it will
probably work ok. Would be nice to see a dmesg and know for
sure, though...


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Re: [Soekris] Traverse Technologies Viking PCI ADSL2+ Card

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-06-26, David Coppa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'd like to build a compact ADSL router with some server capabilities
> (http, smtp) using a net5501-70 and the adsl2 pci card in the subject.
>
> Will this card work/fit well? Anyone using It?

The size should be ok for the standard case, and it says the right
things about voltage. Unfortunately the manual for net5501 isn't
available and the details on the website don't mention how much
power can be drawn. Even if it did, you'd also need to know the
power consumption of other devices (e.g. MiniPCI, hard drive if
you have one).

> PCI Interface:
> 32 bit PCI Rev 2.2
> 3.3V or 5V Signalling
> Universal Keying for 3.3V or 5V PCI
>
> Power Supplies: 3.3, 5 & 12VDC
>
> Consumption: 8W (ADSL2+ typical)
>
> Physical Dimensions: 138mm * 55mm * 15mm (L*H*W)
>
> http://www.traverse.com.au/downloads/adsl/vikingdat_03.pdf
>
> The onboard Ethernet controller (RTL8139) makes the modem appear to
> the O/S as a standard Network card.
> Thus drivers are not a problem.


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Re: [Soekris] Problem upgrading 5501 firmware

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-06-25, Zlatko Ignjatovic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I cannot upgrade it to 1.33, when I issue ?download? in monitor, C
> letters start showing in the monitor (as they should), but when I try to
> upload the 1.33 image, the process is immediately stopped.

See wiki.soekris.info, there is a good bios update guide.

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Re: [Soekris] Compatibility Issue w/ Soekris 5501 and Cisco 2640 Switch

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-06-11, Chuck (Doc) Beaudette <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> When I replaced the 4801 with a new 5501, the throughput between the Cisco
> 2640 and the Soekris router dropped to next to nothing. We tried several
> different configurations (Auto negotiate, fixed 100mb Full-Duplex, etc.),
> nothing seemed to make any difference. Finally, we put a Netgear switch
> between the Cisco 2640 and the Soekris 5501 which cleared the problem. The
> 2640 is an older swtich, so the next option is try an upgrade to a 2660
> switch then see if we can connect the Soekris directly.

Which OS/version? There is a bug in auto negotiation order in some
PHY drivers based on FreeBSD (now fixed there) that affects cisco
3550 and maybe it also affects others.. (actually the problem only
happens with a combination of a bug in the PHY driver and a cisco
bug).  http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=92599


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Re: [Soekris] Cold boot failures on Net5501?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-06-10, Chris Babcock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I have tried many different models and brands of non-industrial flash, 
> and there seems to be significant differences in what ATA capabilities 
> different cards have.  In practice, the vendors don't seem to include 
> the ATA interface differences in their benchmarks, and the ATA 
> capabilities can make a significant difference in performance.  I have a 
> Lexar card here that is supposed to be a 300x card and a SanDisk that is 
> a 200x card, and the SanDisk performs about 20% faster despite the 
> difference in "official" speed.  (Note: Lexar cards _SUCK_ on Soekris 
> because they don't honor CS in any sane way)

Yes really, use SanDisk. All the 2GB+ and all recent 1GB have
multi-sector I/O transfers, this improves performance a lot.
And they reset correctly, that's a big help if you have to use
them in a system built using the old CF spec, it saves forcing
the OS to disable DMA, and also helps this problem on the
Soekris boards.


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Re: [Soekris] 19" Rackmount Case for the 5501

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-06-04, Carlos Castro <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Does anyone know of a 3rd party vendor who might have a 19" rack mount case
> for the net5501 boards?

http://wiki.soekris.info/Alternative_chassis


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Re: [Soekris] Net5501 and pfsense / no CF boot

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-05-30, C. Schlecht <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> --===0199348912==
> Content-Type: multipart/alternative; 
>   boundary="=_Part_4507_11920883.1212155576987"

ugh

> I have a Net5501-70and tried to install pfsence. First, I copied the image
> on a CF card and tried to boot --> "no boot device available".

It might be useful to describe how you copied it.


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Re: [Soekris] Want to build a router

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-05-23, Farid Hajji <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Fri, 23 May 2008 12:51:54 -0400
> "Stephen Brown Jr" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>> Does OpenBSD use iptables just like linux for packet filtering? Are
>> there any good front ends for it? (I really like Firehol, Shorewall,
>> or a web based frontend)
>
> Try pf:
>
> http://www.openbsd.org/faq/pf/
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PF_(firewall)

This is also a good introduction:
http://home.nuug.no/~peter/pf/


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Re: [Soekris] OpenBSD installation problem

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-05-22, Georgios Tsarpalis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I just bought a net5501 and I'm trying to install OpenBSD 4.3 on it
> without success. I follow the standard pxeboot procedure as described in
> the documentation, but the serial connection just seems to hang whenever I
> type the "set tty com0" command. If I simply try to boot the kernel image
> will load but there is no output after that. Any ideas?
>
> This happened both with cu and screen using a thinkpad with openbsd and
> ubuntu.

Until a couple of weeks ago the boot loader accessed the serial port
hardware via the BIOS, which isn't working on this board unless you have
the modem control lines wired up in your null-modem cable.

Try a -current snapshot, the boot loader has been rewritten to access
the port directly.

Alternatively if you *really* don't want to run -current, you can
pull just the boot loader from a snapshot, but it's simpler to just
use the whole thing.


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Re: [Soekris] OpenBSD and Net5501-70 'vr' issues?

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-05-21, K K <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 10:24 AM, Moe Sizlak <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> As someone mentioned earlier the problem seems to be entirely vr driver 
>> related.
>
> This makes me concerned.
>
> We've had a couple of 5501's from KD85 running as simple Internet
> firewalls (OpenBSD 4.2 and 4.3) for a couple of months now with no
> reliability issues, and I just ordered four more systems for
> deployment on new installs where we need only a few megabits (6-16).
>
> Should we worry?

If it's plugged into a switch which stays up when the 5501 is up, no.
If you plug PCs which reboot often straight into the 5501, yes.

> I'd really prefer to avoid such a workaround, but if that is
> necessary, is there any particular dual-port card known to work well?

Everything I tried which physically fits has worked ok, but the
standard case is *just* too short for the Sun QFE or SysKonnect
1000baseSX in my pile... quad em(4) and dual fxp(4) have been
fine.

> Very disappointing.  Where's the best place to find and follow details
> for this problem?

There's been a bit of mention here and on an openbsd list (I think it
was tech@). I started to look at the freebsd diff (fixed in 1.129 ->
1.130 of http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/src/sys/dev/vr/if_vr.c)
but slightly lost interest as I'm only using them with a switch so
I don't experience too much pain from it...


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Re: [Soekris] Add-on NICs for Soekris, survivability

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-05-19, farlies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> I will try a supported NIC on the pci port of the soekris box and use
>>  that for connection to the XP box.
>
> Since the topic has been broached, we're also looking for an
> NIC that will work in 4801/5501.  Some of our machines face
> a "hostile" network--one that has seen various DoS attacks
> (arp flood etc.) We've observed systems lock up under attack, becoming
> useless until power cycled.  We'd like to select a NIC/driver/OS that
> would hold up as well as possible.  Does anyone have any experience
> suggesting some brand/model (100Mb) is more robust under these
> conditions?

You don't mention many details. Speed of internet connection? How many
packets-per-second of DoS? You might well need a more powerful CPU
than the Geode to cope with attack conditions... You might actually
find the 4801 does better than 5501 if you use an OS that enables
interrupt holdoff.

Using the hardware watchdog timer might at least get the machine
rebooted automatically when it hangs btw.


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Re: [Soekris] hard reset required on soekris box when connecting via xp (non-html)

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-05-18, Pontus <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> This sound exactly like the problem I've been having with my soekris
> running OpenBSD 4.2. I've usually solved it by logging on the serial
> console and doing ifconfig vr1 down/up. Nice to hear that it probably
> isn't hardware related.

I have a suspicion it may be a hardware (chip) problem that the
newer driver works-around, but *shrug* the errata and proper datasheet
for these chips aren't public, and anyone who knows for sure probably
signed an NDA.


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Re: [Soekris] hard reset required on soekris box when connecting via xp (non-html)

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008/05/18 12:56, Peter van Oord van der Vlies wrote:
> I have the same issue on openbsd 4.2(not tried 4.3 yet)

4.3 won't help this problem.

> Sometimes it will not allow any traffic on the interface that is 
> connected by a cross-cable. Only on machines that runs VISTA/XP i had 
> this issue.
> The only solution was reset. the soekris.

"ifconfig vr# media auto" (replace # with the correct number)
should also unwedge it. I also see this when I repeatedly
plug/unplug a connection to some types of switch.

Affected interfaces can transmit but not receive.

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Re: [Soekris] hard reset required on soekris box when connecting via xp (non-html)

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-05-18, Moe Sizlak <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>  I have had a net5501 running monowall 1.3b11 for about a month now
> but find that most days after cold booting my XP box I need to hard reset
> my soekris box to connect.

This is almost certainly an interaction between the vr(4) driver
and the NIC in the 5501 (it also affects the PCEngines alix but not
most other supported chips). If you can connect from another machine
and force it to disable/re-enable the interface (or force the media
type to change) it should come back up without rebooting.

I believe I noticed it happening more often when using the auto-
crossover (i.e. connecting to a PC using a straight cable).

When certain devices are plugged into the NIC first (e.g.
Thinkpad X40) it stops this problem from happening (i.e. plug
in a good device, then replace with one that normally has the
problem, then the problem won't occur).

...so you might try plugging the linux box into the port for
the XP box when it first boots, then change it over.

The other way is to plug in a switch that stays powered-up, since
this behaviour is associated with losing link to the nic.

It's meant to be working ok in the newer vr(4) driver on FreeBSD 7+
(m0n0wall is based on older FreeBSD 6.3), but as far as I'm aware
the relevant part to fix just this problem hasn't been isolated
from the huge number of changes (both style and code) in the same
commit.

This definitely also affects OpenBSD, it looks like also NetBSD
and DragonFlyBSD as well as FreeBSD <=6..


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Re: [Soekris] What is the max power supplied to PCI slot of net4801, and if it is possible to use multiple high power cards through mikrotik PCI extention board

[Stuart Henderson]

On 2008-05-01, Mark Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Thu, May 01, 2008 at 12:49:39PM +0900, Izumi Utakoji wrote:
>
>> Will it be possible to use multiple miniPCI high power cards, on
>> net4801, through mikrotik 4 miniPCI slot PCI extention board?
>> I want to use
>> 600mW high power card from Engenius EMP-8602+S

The 600mW relates to output power. Check the card specification to find
out about input power requirements, hopefully it will tell you..

> I don't know about the Soekris in particular but PCI specifies a maximum
> of 25W per slot.

net4801 has a manual, you'll find the relevant information there.

N.B. if you search the mailing list archives (marc/gmane) you'll find
various warnings about running multiple radios in close proximity.


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