Posts by mkopec

Greetings,

One possible reason for instability is the Core Performance Boost (CPB). Please try disabling it in the BIOS setup menu and see if it improves stability.

Regards

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I cant run at 160Mhz only 2 of my 5 5Ghz clients support it currently

It should not be a problem, devices without 160MHz support will just fall back to a narrower channel width that they support. I have some non-160MHz clients connected to mine for example.

I actually have the MT7915 card in my apu2 too, the non-DBDC version from AsiaRF: https://www.asiarf.com/shop/wi…g-n-2-4g-5ghz-aw7915-np1/

I'm getting over 1Gbps in iperf3 (server running on the apu2 itself) on openwrt 21.02.2, and 700-900 mbps to WAN (highly depends on workload, apu2 benefits from multiple connections). Card is running in AX mode, contiguous 160MHz mode on channel 120. OpenWRT 22 has lower LAN <-> WAN performance, flow offload is a bit slower now probably due to the switch to nftables, so for now I'm sticking to 21.02.

My card also gets pretty hot - i've once seen it go to 130 degrees C. In OpenWRT 22, the newer driver finally implements thermal throttling so the card won't exceed 100 degrees, but still. I now have this oversized 11mm thick heatsink on my card now and it just, barely fits into the original apu2 enclosure, and the temps are much more tolerable now. Limiting output power also helps bring temps down a bit. I've noticed no significant drop in performance going from 26 dBm to 23 dBm.

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The CPU scaling is not working well enough in openwrt

That is interesting, how did you fix it? just set the governor to performance? Wonder how that impacts CPB

Looks like the fix is already available in Debian 11, I've managed to set up hostapd on channel 36 with a WLE900VX card with the latest kernel 5.10.113:

Hi! Just wanted to let you know we're working on adding the RTC clock menu to the BIOS setup menu and it will likely be part of the next firmware release.

Hello Dysmas ,

BIOS versions 1.10 and 1.14 are quite old. Perhaps try updating to one of the newer releases on https://pcengines.github.io/ ?

Hhi fredfox ,

Unfortunately there is no option to set the clock from inside the BIOS. As a workaround, could try netbooting a Linux distro via the builtin iPXE and set the clock from there.

I'll ask if we could add this option to the BIOS menu, as it seems to be an important feature.

So, did it work alright?

If it works fine, and if you provided some details, we could add it to the list of supported Wi-Fi cards in the official documentation

Hi peanuts ,

AES-NI is supported natively by the APU3's SoC, and it should just work without extra configuration or modules. As for QAT, SafeXcel and CESA, none of these are available in the APU3.

So no, you don't need to select any modules in OPNSense to get best crypto performance out of your APU3

You could check out https://teklager.se/en/knowled…performance-optimization/ for other performance tweaks for OPNSense on APU.

Regards

computersalat wrote:

so which firmware is the most stable one to be used for APU3D4 while using ?

- Storage

- gsm/lte modem

- WiFi

The recommended firmware version is the latest v4.16.0.x series as the recent versions receive bug fixes and are tested more extensively. If you want to see the test results for all firmware versions, check out https://docs.google.com/spread…_Q_qmJEJ8_XqJc/edit#gid=0

Hi computersalat ,

Can you provide some details:

- which firmware version you were running before

- which firmware version you updated to

- which modem are you using

Some possible fixes that come to mind:

- Test the modem in the mSATA slot

- Swap the SIM card slots

- Enter BIOS Setup menu and disable "PCIe power management features"

- Enter BIOS Setup menu and enable "Force mPCIe2 slot CLK (GPP3 PCIe)"

Hi reox ,

It looks like a likely fix for this was recently merged into mainline: https://github.com/pcengines/a…9#issuecomment-1082472635 and will likely be part of the next Debian 11 point release.

Hi a_px ,

The apu2 has an onboard PC Speaker compatible buzzer. If you're running Linux, you can follow the steps from ArchWiki to make the speaker produce sounds.

Hello rahlquist , and welcome to the forum!

We have a similar adapter here in our lab and I can confirm it does work with a OXPCIe952 Dual Native 950 UART PCIe x1 card in an apu2. I believe the adapter you linked should also work in the apu3's mPCIe slot.

Do let us know if it does work for you!

Hello beneix ,

In general, you should not need to update your firmware unless you are having a specific problem that a newer version fixes. That being said, newer firmware versions add various features, bug fixes and performance improvements. You can see the changelog for the firmware here: https://pcengines.github.io/

Please see our official documentation for instructions on how to update your firmware: https://pcengines.github.io/ap…tation/firmware_flashing/

beneix Hello and welcome to the forum!

You can change the boot order using the sortbootorder utility built into the firmware. To enter sortbootorder, press F10 while booting to enter the boot menu and select the option "Payload [setup]". From there you can manage your boot order and other firmware settings.

Please see https://github.com/pcengines/sortbootorder for more information.

I hope this answers your question!

Hello a_px and welcome to the forum!

Please try enabling the EHCI0 controller in BIOS settings, it will enable the USB functionality in the mSATA slot.

See the documentation for more information: https://github.com/pcengines/a…ter/docs/mpcie_modules.md.

Hello apraile

These settings are safe to us. Force mPCIe2 slot CLK (GPP3 PCIe) is mostly meant for mPCIe modules that need it to work correctly. Otherwise it may increase your power usage somewhat, but it's still safe.

PCIe power management features is also safe and recommendable as long as your mPCIe modules work fine with it, and it may help reduce power usage of the system. If you're experiencing weird crashes or errors, it may help to disable this setting.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

> 1: There are mPCIe SATA controllers available. Some people have had success with ASM1061 based cards in the first mPCIe slot (but not in the second). I'm planning to try one (with vertical ports) in my APU2 soon.

I tested a module in my APU2C4, unfortunately it doesn't work well without BIOS modifications. Same issue as in https://github.com/pcengines/a…dules.md#sata-controllers

Hello kpfleming

'preserve runtime configuration' means preserving the boot order and BIOS settings when flashing the BIOS. If you're on FW before 4.14.0.1, there's nothing extra you need to do while updating, your settings will be overwritten as before. From 4.14.0.1 it's possible to update to newer versions without overwriting the BIOS settings by addding the parameter `--fmap -i COREBOOT` to flashrom while updating.