Re: [Soekris] Best Mini-pci wifi card
If you're using pfSense 2.0.1 (FreeBSD 8.2 based IIRC) you'll find the best compatibility with Atheros cards that do b/g or a/b/g only (no a/b/g/n) using the AR5004 chipset. I believe updated chipset support for the newer a/b/g/n cards is in FreeBSD 9.x but pfSense isn't there yet. One card that I've personally used in a 4501 with FreeBSD 8.x is the following: http://store.netgate.com/5004-MP-ATHEROS-4G-CM9-80211abg-miniPCI-Card-P125C26.aspx -Proto On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 5:58 PM, ghda...@netzero.net wrote: > I just became a proud owner of a net5501. I installed pfsense 2.01 on a small > Sata drive and all seems to be working great. > Now my question. Would it be better to hang a wifi router off one of my > Ethernet ports or buy a Mini-PCI type III socket wifi card ?? > I already have a old Linksys WRT54G with DD-WRT on it. I just have no > experience with the little laptop type wifi cards. This probably sounds like > a no brainer but I am thinking of building a bridge between the mini wifi > card and the WRT54G. > any help would be appreciated. > Greg Davis > > ___ > Soekris-tech mailing list > Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com > http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] freebsd 8.3 on net5501 booting from CF questions
On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 9:18 PM, Michael Sierchio wrote: > On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 6:05 PM, Philip wrote: > >> /dev/ad0s1a on / (ufs, local, noatime) >> devfs on /dev (devfs, local, multilabel) >> /dev/ad1s1d on /var (ufs, local, soft-updates) >> /dev/ad1s1e on /data (ufs, local, soft-updates) > >> I didn't ask for "soft-updates"; it seems to be the default. Is it >> good/bad/doesn't matter on something like a net5501 ? Reliability and >> crash recovery are more important to me than performance. > > Softupdates is designed to maintain disk integrity in event of a crash > or power outage. It tracks and enforces metadata dependencies. > > No filesystem can guarantee against all data loss, but softupdates > maintains filesystem consistency. > > I would not use softupdates for a stable queue - it destroys atomicity > of link/unlink operations, for example (though it is possible to force > data/metadata writes after link operations by opening the directory > itself rw, then immediately closing it, according to private > communication from Kirk McKusick). > > I think that, for your purposes, it's the right choice. > > - M If you want true reliability you might want to use the "sync" mount option. This performs all IO to the disk synchronously. It does come with a performance penalty in IO but if you're more interested in reliability over disk write speeds (particularly for /, which shouldn't see very many writes anyway) you might want to look into it. -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] new to list
On Tue, Oct 18, 2011 at 4:11 PM, Karl Auerbach wrote: > > I hear that SSDs suffer from the same issue and that they eventually > wear out and stop - I have heard, but don't know the details, that the > SMART interface has a "time to live" value for SSDs. > >--karl-- > ___ > Soekris-tech mailing list > Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com > http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech > IIRC, this is due to lack of support for the TRIM command, which clears and rewrites old fragmented sectors in the background. Newer SSDs support TRIM, as do recent Linux kernels so it shouldn't be as much of an issue. This doesn't have any bearing on the SSD wearing-out after too many writes though. Also no CF, to my knowledge, supports TRIM (Google just proved me wrong... the CF 6.0 spec does include TRIM support). -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Determining board revision
On Fri, May 13, 2011 at 11:31 AM, Devin Reade wrote: > Is there any way to determine the board revision for a 5501 > other than cracking open the case? In particular, can this > information be retrieved remotely via the serial port? > > Devin Linux? dmidecode might have such information (I don't have access to a Linux-on-Soekris box to confirm) -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Hardware crypto acceleration on Debian
On Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 5:01 PM, Guillaume Filion wrote: > You're right, CRYPTO_DEV_GEODE creates module geode-aes, but from what > I understand it's only used by the kernel. OpenSSL doesn't support it > and I couldn't find a patch. > With the speed of the Geode CPU in a 5501, you'd likely not see a significant (if any) improvement in speed when using userland programs like OpenSSL with onboard crypto accelerators. The context-switch from userland to kernel for the crypto processing will be much more expensive than the crypto itself. I ran some old benchmarks of the crypto processor in the Geode LX (can't seem to find them now), but with a patched OpenSSL I didn't see any real improvement versus letting software do the whole thing. In short, crypto accelerators in SBCs like the Soekris are more for in-kernel crypto processing (like aes-encrypted disks and IPSec), and less for userland processing. Obviously I don't know what you're trying to do with OpenSSL, but in my own experience having crypto accelerator support in userland gave me no measurable benefit. -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Hardware crypto acceleration on Debian
2011/4/18 Guillaume Filion : > Hi, > > I've been looking into using the hardware crypto acceleration on the Geode > chip of the net5501 (and maybe get a vpn1411 card) on my web load balancer > (nginx) running on Debian. > > Right now I'm a bit confused on what my options are, so let me write my > understanding of the situation and please correct anything that is > inaccurate: > > 1. The geode hardware crypto acceleration only works for aes-128-cbc. > vpn1411 works for a lot more ciphers/key sizes. > > 2. There's no out-of-the-box support for hardware crypto acceleration of the > geode or the vpn1411 under linux. > > 3. The only way to support it is with ocf-linux, which requires a patch for > the kernel and openssl. > > 4. There's no debian kernel package available with the ocf-linux patch > already in place. > > 5. ocf-linux only supports kernels up to 2.6.26 (debian stable is at > 2.6.32). > > 6. I should really consider switching to openbsd... > > Please tell my if I'm missing something, otherwise, I think I'll seriously > look into implementing #6... (I'm not running either the Geode or vpn1411 crypto under Linux so take what's below with a grain of salt, but...) Looking at the kernel config for my ubuntu 10.04 server, I do see entries for both of these crypto devices in the mainline default kernel: CONFIG_CRYPTO_DEV_GEODE=m CONFIG_CRYPTO_DEV_HIFN_795X=m CONFIG_CRYPTO_DEV_HIFN_795X_RNG=y The Geode should cover the Geode LX CPU's onboard crypto and the HiFn 7956 would be the vpn1411. OpenSSL may still need to be patched, but in-kernel ops would utilize both crypto accelerators should the appropriate modules be loaded I would think. -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] *BSD vs Linux
2011/4/12 Ryan Whelan : > Watching the mailing list, it -seems- like BSDs are more prevalent on the > soekris platforms then Linux. I've only ever used Linux ( a custom > Buildroot build and hand-rolled kernel ). I am NOT trying to troll, and I > know this is a technical mailing list, but I'm really curious why those that > chose BSDs chose them? Without being a BSD user, I'm hoping to get some > insight into what I don't know. > In my case, I've been an even-handed user of both FreeBSD and Linux for several years. I've always preferred the FreeBSD network stack for firewalls, routers, and other network-edge devices as it performs well with generally less upkeep as opposed to Linux (YMMV). That, and I immensely prefer working on firewall rulesets in either pf or ipf as opposed to navigating iptables. In choosing which to use for a Soekris, the decision was made when I found the founder of Monowall talking about how he originally designed his small FreeBSD systems to run on compact-flash: https://neon1.net/misc/minibsd.html Those instructions were all that I needed to setup my own build environment and begin using FreeBSD with a soekris. Four major releases later and I'm still using FreeBSD for my Soekris and ALIX boxes, all with very little issue (minus the occasional power brick going bad). -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Install OBSD via PXE, script, flashrd, etc.?
On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Ed Flecko wrote: > Hi folks, > I guess this is an opinion type question: > > I'd like to install OBSD on my 4501 to use as my home firewall (using > PF of course), and I see that you can either do that via PXE or > installs like flashrd, etc. I'm wondering what pros/cons there are to > the different methods? > > It seems like installs such as flashrd are set up to provide you with > a stripped down version of OBSD with only the networking/firewall > components included, , stripped down kernel, etc., so that seems like > a good way to go. > > I have a MacBook Pro laptop (with VMfusion) and a Windows PC with > VWware workstation to use by setting up a virtual OpenBSD machine on > (that's normally how you'd do it, wouldn't you?), so I guess I could > use those to install the OS on my compact flash but I don't where to > start. > Here's a good place to start: http://wiki.soekris.info/Installing_OpenBSD -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] linux installiation
2011/1/3 John Black > Hi folks, > I am newbie linux and soekris. I buyed from ebay net4521. Now next step is > installation linux to soekris board. But i can't. I just tried directions > like this. > > http://strugglers.net/wiki/Debian_on_Soekris > > I do not success installation. I have linux and ubuntu OS, 1 GB CF and USB > CF card reader . > > Anyone help me. I am lost. > > Thanks > > John. > > > http://wiki.soekris.info/Main_Page is a good place to start, they have several how-to's for various Linux and BSD installs on Soekris hardware. -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] FreeBSD 8.1: kernel config ("kernel: stray irq7")
On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 4:39 AM, Martin Johnson wrote: > On 08/12/2010 19:30, Martin Johnson wrote: > >> After updating from 7.1 to 8.1, I'm seeing "kernel: stray irq7" kernel >> messages in the syslogs on three NET5501's. > ... >> The box is a NET5501-70 with a SATA laptop drive, and no extra cards. >> So I start to think there's something in my kernel config that doesn't >> suit the 5501 hardware. > > I have now trimmed down my kernel config for FreeBSD 8.1. If anyone > wants it, it can be downloaded from http://net42.co.uk/downloads/NET5501 > > Everything seems to work, but "top" is still reporting up to 10% of CPU > time being taken by interrupts, even when the system is idle: > > CPU: 0.0% user, 0.0% nice, 1.9% system, 9.3% interrupt, 88.7% idle > > After each boot, the log shows "kernel: stray irq7" and later "kernel: > too many stray irq 7's: not logging anymore", as if there's something on > the Soekris board generating IRQs that we aren't handling. > > I believe IRQ 7 on FreeBSD kernel reports is a placeholder for missed > interrupts. Just looking at interrupt counters: > > # vmstat -i > interrupt total rate > irq0: clk 158121051 1000 > irq3: uart1 2221 0 > irq4: uart0 375 0 > irq7: 6 0 > stray irq7 6 0 > irq8: rtc 161876641 1023 > irq11: vr0 680731 4 > irq14: ata0 436168 2 > irq15: ata1 ohci0+ 94943420 600 > Total 416060619 2631 > > Could the stats for irq0 & irq8 reflect a clock that's ticking a bit too > quickly for a relatively slow CPU? > I would expect to see some CPU utilization for interrupt processing at all times on an AMD Geode CPU (my PCengines ALIX uses 3-5% CPU at all times for interrupt processing). You could try lowering the clock-rate on the box and see if that helps the CPU issue. There's been some discussion on the FreeBSD lists that 1000 isn't really necessary (IIRC they were talking about changing the default back to 100 on 9 but I haven't played with CURRENT in a while so I don't know the final outcome of that). In /boot/loader.conf, set the following: kern.hz="100" The only times I've needed the timer set to 1000 is when I've used polling on Ethernet interfaces. Personally, if you aren't seeing any performance problems or network delay I wouldn't bother messing with it. Having 10% CPU used at all times shouldn't pose a problem unless you're seeing performance issues. -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Linux throughput of 5501 vs 4801?
On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 2:56 AM, Phil Karn wrote: > My Soekris 4801 has provided flawless service for years as a Linux > bridge/QoS router/NAT/6to4 tunnel until I recently had to retire it. > > It just wasn't fast enough to keep up with my U-verse service when I > upgraded it recently to 3 Mb/s up, 24 Mb/s down. > > I had no trouble getting the 3 Mb/s up, of course. But I just couldn't > get more than about 18-19 down. > > I temporarily swapped in a Via C3 running a very similar build. It has > no trouble getting 23+ down, which is about as close as I can reasonably > expect. > > I'd buy a 5501 if I can be *assured* that it will be fast enough. Will it? > > I generally track the latest Linux kernels. I don't do a lot of packet > filtering as we don't run Windows and I don't generally believe in > firewalls anyway. My routing table is small (8 entries) and static. I do > traffic shaping with QoS, but only in the upstream (i.e., slow) > direction. But it's also a NAT so it does track IP connection state, and > those tables can get rather large. > > The box actually acts primarily as a bridge. (It's long story having to > do with braindamage in the U-verse 2Wire gateway; see > http://www.ka9q.net/Uverse for all the gory details). > Considering the CPU difference between the 4801 and the 5501, and the fact that you were able to get 18-19 with the 4801, I believe a 5501 would work for a 24Mbps link but I don't have hard evidence to support it. I can say a 5501 works very well with my 10Mbps cable connection (bursting to 16). -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Temperature in net5501-70
On Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 1:23 PM, Alan wrote: > On Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 7:04 PM, Erhard Schwenk wrote: >> Alan wrote: >>> How about heatsinks? >>> >>> I'm thinking about these: >>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835708009 >>> >>> I could use 4 for the CPU and 1 for the CS5536, but I'm not sure how >>> well they will perform without any fan or airflow. >>> >>> What have other people in the mailing list done to lower the >>> temperature? Is 68-70 degrees normal? >> >> We have several net5501 and net4801 working in standard Cases as well as >> in double-board 1U 19" Cases, all using 2,5" Hard Disks or SSD. There >> was only one machine up to now we noticed higher temperatures than >> hand-warm on any component and in that case the Problem was that it was >> lying on top of a very heat-producing switch in a Rack without any Fans. >> >> So this sounds a little bit strange. What variant of net5501 do you have >> there and what peripherials are connected to it? > > I have a net5501-70 with 512Mb of ram, 8Gb sandisk cf, a mini-pci > AR5008 wifi, and a Digium TDM422 pci card. The cpu load is below 5% > constantly, yet the temperature reported by lm_sensors is 67-70 > celsius. It goes down to 54-56 if I keep the enclosure open. > > This is a picture of the system: > http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/7826/img1536z.jpg > > The system hangs after a few hours of use, but I'm not sure its > because of the temperature, because although it hangs more often when > its hot, it also happens when the enclosure is open. > > There are no strange kernel messages, and I have enabled > CONFIG_X86_MCE and CONFIG_X86_MCE_AMD (Machine Check / overheating > reporting). > > I don't understand why the CPU gets so hot when its idling, I also > enabled CONFIG_NO_HZ, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. > > Any ideas? > Are you sure your power supply is equipped to handle the load of the board, WiFi, and that Digium card? Since the Digium requires an extra molex power connector, I'm wondering if the system is getting enough power. What is your power supply rated for? -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Installing FreeBSD 8.0 on Soekris net5501
On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 4:24 PM, Henrik /KaarPoSoft wrote: > Dear all, > > I have just purchased a Soekris net5501 and tried to install FreeBSD > 8.0 on it. > However, I cannot get it to work, and I am hoping for your kind suggestions. > > I installed FreeBSD 8.0-RELEASE i386 to a Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 (3.5" > 160GB) SATA harddisk on a different computer (let's call it SERVER). > Sliced and partionened the disk; enabled DHCP and SSH; installed the > FreeBSD. > Boots fine on SERVER. > > Then I connected the SATA disk to the Soekris box, and powered up. > > I have connected several different terminal emulators to the Soekris box: > Windows2000 / HyperTerminal > Windows2000 / TeraTerm > (Also tried Windows2000 / Poderosa; but missing the .NET libraries I did > not succede) > Ubuntu 9.04 / tip > Ubuntu 9.04 / gtkterm > Ubuntu 9.04 / cutecom > > For each of those I started out with 19200 baud, 8 bits, 1 stop bit. > > The Soekris box boots up nicely and shows the expected output in all the > terminal emulators. > I do not press control-P so Soekris loads the FreeBSD boot loader, which > correctly shows the F1, F2, F3 options. > I touch nothing and the boot loader (seemingly) starts to boot FreeBSD. > I get a lot of gibberish (kind of the same in all the above emulators). > However, i clearly notice some dash-slash-pipe-backslash repetiitons, so > I kind-of expcted that FreeBSD was booting. > After half a minute or so the output stops. > However, the terminal seems non-responsive to any input (letters, > CR/enter, control-C, etc). > > The Soekris box does not seem to acquire a DHCP address. > > After having tried this a lot of times (with the different terminal > emulators) I give up. > > I remount the disk in the SERVER. > The /var/log dir show NO log entries between the initial SERVER boot and > the current one. > So apparently the FreeBSD boot (if that is what is what) has not > progressed to find the disk. > > Just "for the fun of it" I installed Ubuntu Lucid Alpha2 desktop on a > free partition on the SERVER. > Btw, this owerwrote the FreeBSD bootloader with GRUB2. > (Yes, I could have chosen a stable server version of Ubuntu, but this > was the CD I happened to have lying around). > > Booting the Soekris box I get > GRUB loading. > error: no such partition > grub rescue> > > If I try the commands "?" or "help" I get > Unknown command > > If I try "ls /" I still get > error: no such partition > > Finally, on the SERVER I installed pfSense 2010.0217-2217. > (Works like a charm on the SERVER and another box) > > But booting the Soekris box gives > > FreeBSD/i386 boot > Default: 0:ad(0,a)/boot/loader > boot: P > > Does anyone have a suggestion on what to try next ??? > > Thanks in advance > > /Henrik > ___ > Soekris-tech mailing list > Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com > http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech > FreeBSD by default uses 9600 baud for serial lines. You probably want to go into CTRL-P in the BIOS and set the baud rate to 9600, which I believe will work for bootup (first thing I did with my 4501 ages ago). -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] FreeBSD 8 kernel config for 4521?
On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Scott Newell wrote: > Does anyone have a known good FreeBSD 8.0 kernel config for the > '4521? I've tried building kernels twice now (to correct the Elan > timekeeping errors), but both kernels fail on the Soekris with > "kernel trap 18 with interrupts disabled", which apparently is an > "integer divide fault". Here's one I used with my old 4501 (FreeBSD 6, not 8, but should be similar) BEGIN: # $FreeBSD: src/sys/i386/conf/GENERIC,v 1.429.2.7.2.2 2006/05/01 00:15:12 scottl Exp $ machine i386 cpu I486_CPU ident MINIBSD6_STABLE_20061125_1655 # To statically compile in device wiring instead of /boot/device.hints #hints "GENERIC.hints" # Default places to look for devices. makeoptions DEBUG=-g# Build kernel with gdb(1) debug symbols makeoptions MODULES_OVERRIDE="hifn" #optionsSCHED_ULE # ULE scheduler options SCHED_4BSD # 4BSD scheduler options PREEMPTION # Enable kernel thread preemption options INET# InterNETworking #optionsINET6 # IPv6 communications protocols options FFS # Berkeley Fast Filesystem options MD_ROOT # MD is a potential root device options PROCFS # Process filesystem (requires PSEUDOFS) options PSEUDOFS# Pseudo-filesystem framework #optionsCOMPAT_43 # Compatible with BSD 4.3 [KEEP THIS!] options SYSVSHM # SYSV-style shared memory options SYSVMSG # SYSV-style message queues options SYSVSEM # SYSV-style semaphores options _KPOSIX_PRIORITY_SCHEDULING # POSIX P1003_1B real-time extensions #optionsKBD_INSTALL_CDEV# install a CDEV entry in /dev options ADAPTIVE_GIANT # Giant mutex is adaptive. # Bus support. device isa device pci # ATA and ATAPI devices device ata device atadisk # ATA disk drives options ATA_STATIC_ID # Static device numbering # Floating point support - do not disable. device npx # PCCARD (PCMCIA) support # PCMCIA and cardbus bridge support #device cbb # cardbus (yenta) bridge #device pccard # PC Card (16-bit) bus #device cardbus # CardBus (32-bit) bus # Serial (COM) ports device sio # 8250, 16[45]50 based serial ports # PCI Ethernet NICs that use the common MII bus controller code. # NOTE: Be sure to keep the 'device miibus' line in order to use these NICs! device miibus # MII bus support device sis device wlan# 802.11 support device wi # WaveLAN/Intersil/Symbol 802.11 wireless NICs. device ath device ath_hal # Atheros HAL (includes binary component) #device ath_rate_amrr # AMRR rate control for ath driver #device ath_rate_onoe # Onoe rate control for ath driver device ath_rate_sample # SampleRate rate control for the ath driver # Pseudo devices. device loop# Network loopback device mem # Memory and kernel memory devices device io # I/O device device random # Entropy device device ether # Ethernet support device sl # Kernel SLIP device ppp # Kernel PPP device tun # Packet tunnel. device pty # Pseudo-ttys (telnet etc) device md # Memory "disks" device gif # IPv6 and IPv4 tunneling #device faith # IPv6-to-IPv4 relaying (translation) # The `bpf' device enables the Berkeley Packet Filter. # Be aware of the administrative consequences of enabling this! # Note that 'bpf' is required for DHCP. device bpf # Berkeley packet filter device pf device pflog device pfsync device wlan_wep#802.11 WEP support device wlan_ccmp #802.11 CCMP support device wlan_tkip #802.11 TKIP support device wlan_xauth #802.11 external authenticator support device wlan_acl#802.11 MAC ACL support device crypto device cryptodev device gre device vlan device if_bridge options ROOTDEVNAME=\"ufs:ad0a\" options CPU_ELAN options CPU_ELAN_PPS options CPU_SOEKRIS options CLK_USE_I8254_CALIBRATION options MP_WATCHDOG options NO_SWAPPING options HZ=1000 options DEVICE_POLLING options ALTQ options ALTQ_CBQ options ALTQ_RED options ALTQ_RIO options
Re: [Soekris] FreeBSD is missing my serial ports
On Sun, Dec 27, 2009 at 2:24 PM, Ebbe Hjorth wrote: > Hi, > > I installed FreeBSD v8.0 on my laptop, and moved the harddrive to my > Soekris 5501 with an extra serial port. > > Now i run freebsd i need the two serial ports, but they doesnt show up in > freebsd, why not? > > Note that with FreeBSD 8 they changed the tty layer and instead of serial ports being sio0, sio1, etc... they are now uart0, uart1, etc... Your dmesg does show two serial ports (uart0, uart1) so you should be all set. -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] net5501 network performance?
On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 8:00 AM, Aragon Gouveia wrote: > Hi, > > I'm looking to use a net5501 as a small home router+switch running > FreeBSD 7 and if_bridge(4) to bridge some of its ethernet ports. I was > wondering how other owners are finding the performance of the net5501? > Is it able to saturate two ethernet ports in one direction when > switching MTU sized packets? > > > Thanks, > Aragon > ___ > Soekris-tech mailing list > Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com > http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech > Using if_bridge as a "switch", I don't know if you'll get full-duplex 200Mb saturation across two ports, but routing performance should be more than adequate for a small home or home-office setup. I'm using the same Geode LX700 CPU on a 6Mb cable uplink with no problems and maybe 10% CPU utilization at peak. Granted, I'm using a Dell PowerConnect 8-port GigE switch so switchport saturation is dealt with there (and I've maxed-out my GigE cards long before I reached maximum capabilities of the switch). -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] LoadBalancer work
On Sun, Feb 8, 2009 at 8:19 PM, Luis Daniel Lucio Quiroz wrote: > Hi > > Recently I was looking for hardware for a loadbalance. I'ill use LVS + > Heartbeat (linux-based). However, during my reading I've found this: > http://www.austintek.com/LVS/LVS-HOWTO/HOWTO/LVS-HOWTO.install.html > > They claim that soekris 45XX are not good for this task. I'd like to use > 55XX, does anybody has use these boxes for LoadBalanced work? > > Any impression and comment? > > TIA > > LD > ___ > Soekris-tech mailing list > Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com > http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech > According the that HOWTO link, cache sizes are the significant factor with the 4801. Given the GeodeLX has a 64kb data and 64kb instruction cache plus 128kb L2 cache (taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geode_(processor)#Geode_LX ) I'd expect it to fare better but don't have any hands-on experience with LVS personally. I don't know why the author(s) are busting on CF so much. IMO once the OS is loaded into RAM from the CF its not really an issue. All my setups are booted read-only and using MFS for anything needing frequent writes (under FreeBSD 6/7/8). -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Test the watchdog
On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 3:38 PM, 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. > dmesg gives me: > sc520_wdt: WDT driver for SC520 initialised. timeout=30 sec (nowayout=0) > > > On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:29:40 -0500 > "Michael Proto" wrote: > > > On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 3:10 PM, Thorsten Mühlfelder >wrote: > > > > > Hi > > > As far as I know the net4501 watchdog should reboot the machine when > the > > > kernel hangs. How can I test this with Linux? > > > ___ > > > Soekris-tech mailing list > > > Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com > > > http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech > > > > > > > > > > > I can't speak for the linux version as I run FreeBSD on my ALIX and > Net4501 > > boards, but I can kill -9 my watchdogd process and the box will reboot > > within about 15 seconds. I suspect a similar test could be performed > under > > Linux. > > > > > > -Proto > I'm no authority on the subject (I've learned most of what I know simply by lurking this list and reading PHK's posts), but there are two pieces to watchdog-- the kernel-side piece and a userland daemon that acts as a dead man's switch. The userland watchdogd (or whatever linux's equivalent) enables the kernel bits and sends a "I'm still running" message to the kernel every few seconds. If the kernel doesn't get that message, it assumes userland is broken and institutes a reboot. This is why you can test with a kill -9 to the watchdogd program-- it doesn't have time to deactivate the in-kernel watchdog component before it dies. -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Test the watchdog
On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 3:10 PM, Thorsten Mühlfelder wrote: > Hi > As far as I know the net4501 watchdog should reboot the machine when the > kernel hangs. How can I test this with Linux? > ___ > Soekris-tech mailing list > Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com > http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech > I can't speak for the linux version as I run FreeBSD on my ALIX and Net4501 boards, but I can kill -9 my watchdogd process and the box will reboot within about 15 seconds. I suspect a similar test could be performed under Linux. -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Problem with gunzip / dd in rc.firmware
Dominic Blais wrote: > Hi, > > I did hack a bit in m0n0wall on the net4801 platform and I now get to a > point where this line of rc.firmware: > > /usr/bin/gunzip -S "" -c $2 | dd of=/dev/$CFDEVICE bs=16k > /dev/null 2>&1 > > doesn't work as expected. > > > I added a shell access to my running system to see what's happening: > > cat /var/etc/cfdevice > ad0 > > gunzip -S "" -c ./net48xx-2.0.img |dd of=/dev/ad0 bs=16k > dd: /dev/ad0: Invalid argument > 25+1 records in > 25+0 records out > 409600 bytes transferred in 0.219173 secs (1868844 bytes/sec) > > I see the CF light turning on for a fraction of second.. (0.219173 I guess). > > If I remove the bs=16k , it writes forever until I disconnect the power 5 > minutes later... > > > Any idea of what could the problem? > > Thanks! > Try specifing ibs and obs instead of bs in the dd statement... gunzip -S "" -c ./net48xx-2.0.img | dd of=/dev/ad0 ibs=16k obs=16k -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Multiple Wireless Network Card Problem
David Burke wrote: > I have a Soekris NET4526 board with two wireless (mini-pci) cards running a > stripped down version of RedHat Linux. The software that I am running was > written by another company so I am not terribly intimate with their > software. I will tell you that it is configured to operate as a router. > > My problem is that the board and software works fine when I have either of > the two wireless cards installed in the Soekris board by themselves, but as > soon as I install the other card such that both are installed > simultaneously, I can't get either of them to work. What I mean by this is > that the "Signal Level" reported by iwconfig goes from say -47 dBm with only > one card installed to -95 with both installed. Each of the two wireless > cards are setup for completely different frequencies (i.e. one at 4.9x GHz > and the other at 5.8x Ghz). > > I have verified that they are both configured properly using iwconfig and > ifconfig. The most baffling thing is that I would think that as long as one > of them is disabled (i.e. down) that the other one would work just like it > was the only one installed in the board but it doesn't. > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. Are you sure you have a power supply that's able to drive both cards? What is it rated as? -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] 802.11g only
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hello, > > We have Metrix Mark II (containing Soekris net4826) > > The kit (ref: http://metrix.net/metrix-mark-ii-kit-p-14.html) comes with a > mini PCI card called CM9 that supports b/g mode (ref: > http://metrix.net/cm9-p-2.html) > > The problem is that so far we have not been able to get the thruput beyond > 6Mbps and we suspect that it is most likely due to AP falling back to 'b' > since there are unwanted yet uncontrolled devices with 'b' mode in the > vicinity. > > Does anyone know how to set up this card so that it works in 802.11 'g' > only mode. > In FreeBSD you could set the "pureg" option as part of the ifconfig statement that initializes the card. From the ifconfig man page: pureg When operating as an access point in 802.11g mode allow only 11g- capable stations to associate (11b-only stations are not permit- ted to associate). To allow both 11g and 11b-only stations to associate, use -pureg. -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] net4501 vs Wistron CM9
I was using it in an "old" NET4501 that I bought back in 2002 (I think). ComBIOS ver 1.25, didn't seem to have any issues with it if I can recall (although I've since switched to a WRAP platform as my main router for now, which has the CM9 card in it). -Proto Ben wrote: > Thanks for the replies Martin, Michael. > Of course, they do lead to other questions... > > Martin, that's discouraging. Did a card with another chipset ever work > in the 4501? Maybe Netgate will swap for a card known to work in this board. > > I've read some discussions on here about the merits of various power > supplies. Is that the power issue you mean? > > Michael, that's encouraging. Do you recall your comBIOS version, or in > general how old your 4501 was/is? I'm thinking maybe different > production runs featured different capabilities (a long shot, huh?). > What power supply did you use? The FreeBSD angle is interesting and I'll > look into it, but I've been a fanboy for Leaf-Bering since the LRP era. > And a lurker on their list for as long. Martin, I'd be remiss if I were > to leave this paragraph without a word of thanks, however OT, for all > the work and support you do for the Bering Team. Thanks man. > > As for me, I should have done some more research before trying to build > my own WAP. Arrg. > > -bp > > > Michael Proto wrote: >> I was actually using a Wistron CM9 802.11b/g MiniPCI card (purchased >> from www.netgate.com) with my own 4501 up until about 3 months ago (when >> I upgraded it to a PC Engines WRAP board). I didn't have any problems >> using it, although I was using FreeBSD 6 as the OS and not Linux >> (specifically, an offshoot of Manuel Kesper's MiniBSD project, >> https://neon1.net/misc/minibsd.html). >> >> Worked just fine in my testing here. >> >> >> -Proto >> >> Martin Hejl wrote: >>> Hi Ben, >>> >>> I've never been able to get any Atheros card (ok, I only own two kinds - >>> an older one from Netgate, and several CM9s) to work with the 4501. They >>> all work great with the 4801s as well as the PCEngine boxes I have, so I >>> guess it's an issue with the 4501s (I seem to recall a PCI reset or >>> power issue with the 4501 boxes, or something like that - but I can't >>> find it in my archives right now. If somebody else could either confirm >>> that or prove me wrong, I'd be quite happy about that). >>> >>> Martin >>> >>> >>> Ben wrote: >>>> Can these two play together nicely? >>>> I can't see where the CM9 is being recognized by BIOS (v1.30) >>>> >>>> Wouldn't the device in the top line here get an irq if the card were >>>> being recognized? >>>> >>>> >>>>> comBIOS ver. 1.30 20070326 Copyright (C) 2000-2005 Soekris >>>>> Engineering. >>>>> >>>>> net45xx >>>>> >>>>> CPU 80486 133 Mhz >>>>> Mbyte Memory0064 >>>>> >>>>> Pri Mas SanDisk SDCFB-32LBA 490-4-32 31 Mbyte >>>>> >>>>> Slot Vend Dev ClassRev Cmd Stat CL LT HT Base1Base2 Int >>>>> --- >>>>> 0:00:0 1022 3000 0600 0006 2280 00 00 00 >>>>> 0:16:0 168C 0013 0201 0116 0290 10 3C 00 A000 10 >>>>> 0:18:0 100B 0020 0200 0107 0290 00 3F 00 E001 A001 11 >>>>> 0:19:0 100B 0020 0200 0107 0290 00 3F 00 E101 A0011000 05 >>>>> 0:20:0 100B 0020 0200 0107 0290 00 3F 00 E201 A0012000 09 >>>> cat /proc/pci doesn't help much. Granted, it's a cut-down version from >>>> Leaf-Bering. The Wistron was recognized in a Dell laptop under both >>>> Knoppix and winXP, so the card does seem to be functional. >>>> >>>> Any tips or pointers to docs or sites or archived messages will be >>>> greatly appreciated. Personal anecdotes and remedies are highly prized, >>>> of course. I've sifted through [Soekris-tech] but come up pretty >>>> empty-handed. There's been posts on how 4 or 5 out of 70-some Wistron >>>> cards are bad, and some about 'dead' 4501's, neither of which seem to >>>> fit this situation. >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> -bp >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ___ >>>> Soekris-tech mailing list >>>> Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com >>>> http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech >>>> >> >> > ___ > Soekris-tech mailing list > Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com > http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] net4501 vs Wistron CM9
I was actually using a Wistron CM9 802.11b/g MiniPCI card (purchased from www.netgate.com) with my own 4501 up until about 3 months ago (when I upgraded it to a PC Engines WRAP board). I didn't have any problems using it, although I was using FreeBSD 6 as the OS and not Linux (specifically, an offshoot of Manuel Kesper's MiniBSD project, https://neon1.net/misc/minibsd.html). Worked just fine in my testing here. -Proto Martin Hejl wrote: > Hi Ben, > > I've never been able to get any Atheros card (ok, I only own two kinds - > an older one from Netgate, and several CM9s) to work with the 4501. They > all work great with the 4801s as well as the PCEngine boxes I have, so I > guess it's an issue with the 4501s (I seem to recall a PCI reset or > power issue with the 4501 boxes, or something like that - but I can't > find it in my archives right now. If somebody else could either confirm > that or prove me wrong, I'd be quite happy about that). > > Martin > > > Ben wrote: >> Can these two play together nicely? >> I can't see where the CM9 is being recognized by BIOS (v1.30) >> >> Wouldn't the device in the top line here get an irq if the card were >> being recognized? >> >> >>> comBIOS ver. 1.30 20070326 Copyright (C) 2000-2005 Soekris Engineering. >>> >>> net45xx >>> >>> CPU 80486 133 Mhz Mbyte >>> Memory0064 >>> >>> Pri Mas SanDisk SDCFB-32LBA 490-4-32 31 Mbyte >>> >>> Slot Vend Dev ClassRev Cmd Stat CL LT HT Base1Base2 Int >>> --- >>> 0:00:0 1022 3000 0600 0006 2280 00 00 00 >>> 0:16:0 168C 0013 0201 0116 0290 10 3C 00 A000 10 >>> 0:18:0 100B 0020 0200 0107 0290 00 3F 00 E001 A001 11 >>> 0:19:0 100B 0020 0200 0107 0290 00 3F 00 E101 A0011000 05 >>> 0:20:0 100B 0020 0200 0107 0290 00 3F 00 E201 A0012000 09 >> cat /proc/pci doesn't help much. Granted, it's a cut-down version from >> Leaf-Bering. The Wistron was recognized in a Dell laptop under both >> Knoppix and winXP, so the card does seem to be functional. >> >> Any tips or pointers to docs or sites or archived messages will be >> greatly appreciated. Personal anecdotes and remedies are highly prized, >> of course. I've sifted through [Soekris-tech] but come up pretty >> empty-handed. There's been posts on how 4 or 5 out of 70-some Wistron >> cards are bad, and some about 'dead' 4501's, neither of which seem to >> fit this situation. >> >> Thanks, >> -bp >> >> >> >> ___ >> Soekris-tech mailing list >> Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com >> http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech >> > ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
[Soekris] net48xx EOL?
I was looking at the PCEngines website yesterday and noticed they have an End-of-Life notice for the SC1100 CPU (http://pcengines.ch/wrapeol.htm). I take it this is going to also affect the net48xx product line? Anyone know the details? -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
Re: [Soekris] Net4801 emulator
wouter lists wrote: > Hi all, > > I'm trying to build a custom freebsd for my soekris. I have only one > soekris which acts as my internet connection. > > So every time I modify something to the image, I have to change CF's > on my soekris. > > So is there anything like an emulator or something else where I can > test my images so I don't have to use my soekris for this. > As Matt Ryanczak mentioned, VMware works very nicely for this. I'm currently using the freely-available VMware Server (http://www.vmware.com/products/server/) as a prototyping environment for some Soekris and WRAP projects. The only thing you can't really do is a final-test of an image in VMware as the hardware in a VMware virtual machine won't match what is in the Soekris. I've been using this setup for over a year now with no problems. -Proto ___ Soekris-tech mailing list Soekris-tech@lists.soekris.com http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
