Messages

1

Hardware and Performance / Re: Qotom box - Flashing light issue

« on: July 05, 2021, 10:39:09 am »

It almost seems like it's trying to start up but gets a brownout and resets, which could indicate a bad power supply. It's not really flashing, but more like turning on and then losing power.

Flashing or blinking usually has a fixed pattern which also happens when the PC is in standby mode.

Anyhow, Qotom is pretty good at their customer service (for an Aliexpress supplier  ) so I'm sure they'll figure it out and get you up and running.

Thanks. I don't really know what it could be, but tbh, I was suspecting that too. It does seem like a dodgy PSU. They only got me to send back the motherboard + RAM + SSD

I've since sent it to:

<Person's name>
Shenzhen Qotom Technology Limited
415, Bldg. A1 Hangkong Rd
Huafeng Intelligence Valley,
Hangcheng High-tech Shenzhen
518126 Guangdong
China
Tel. +86 18620300696

Via Parcel2Go

They asked me to declare the value as $35 USD, so I declared it as £25

Cost to me is £15.79 to send it back to China.

2

Hardware and Performance / Re: Qotom box - Flashing light issue

« on: June 30, 2021, 06:58:16 pm »

It looks like a hardware error.
I'd start by opening the box up, and remove everything that can be removed (memory, harddisk, memory, cpu?, etc). Clean contacts and put them back. make sure everything is seated properly. Check for loose cables as well.
Also there should be a 3 pin header there with a jumper on it, which determines the power-on behavior. In my box this is on the underside of the PCB, and you need to unscrew the cpu heatsink to get the board out, because the other side of the heatsink is glued to the casing. Check this jumper is present and either on position 1-2 or 2-3.
If the system still doesn't boot, I'd send it back for RMA/warranty

Hi,

I've tried their troubleshooting techniques, and it still hasn't worked, so I've been asked to send the motherboard + RAM + SSD back

Their troubleshooting techniques include:
- Replacing the RAM
- Removing the BIOS battery, waiting two minutes and putting it back in

Qotom initially just wanted the motherboard back, however I said I can't test the RAM/SSD, so they've wanted that back too. If you can test the RAM/SSD, that's another step you could do.

In addition, I've moved the jumpers as you suggested too

Putting this here, in case anyone has the exact same issue, and is in need of any help. It makes it a bit quicker, if they can say to either the Qotom store, or a reseller in their own country that they've done the above, and makes the RMA process a bit quicker if they've said I've already done x, y and z.

I'll post this back to the address they've given soon (Apparently the motherboard is just $35)

3

Hardware and Performance / Re: Qotom box - Flashing light issue

« on: June 20, 2021, 03:24:24 pm »

It looks like a hardware error.
I'd start by opening the box up, and remove everything that can be removed (memory, harddisk, memory, cpu?, etc). Clean contacts and put them back. make sure everything is seated properly. Check for loose cables as well.
Also there should be a 3 pin header there with a jumper on it, which determines the power-on behavior. In my box this is on the underside of the PCB, and you need to unscrew the cpu heatsink to get the board out, because the other side of the heatsink is glued to the casing. Check this jumper is present and either on position 1-2 or 2-3.
If the system still doesn't boot, I'd send it back for RMA/warranty

Hi

Thanks. I'll try the jumper thing, and if it still doesn't boot I'll ask to get a replacement

4

Hardware and Performance / Qotom box - Flashing light issue

« on: June 20, 2021, 12:54:32 am »

Hi,

I've received my Qotom box, but it's doing this:

https://youtu.be/LDCA_4nOpzA

I've asked the Qotom store, and they've asked me to reseat the RAM, which doesn't sound like it's something that'd fix it. It didn't.

Similarly, they're asking me to reseat the battery too. DOes anyone know exactly why the Qotom box might be doing this?

Thanks

5

Hardware and Performance / Re: wifi 6 card compatiility

« on: May 12, 2021, 10:19:01 am »

My post is about mini pcie card , not Access Point

What mini pcie card is ti possible at wifi 5 so?

I wouldn't recommend WiFi inside a firewall though I can see why you might want 4G connectivity there as a backup

If space is a premium, why not get a Mikrotik wireless access point? They're fairly small for what they are.

6

Hardware and Performance / Re: Qotom box - Installing Opnsense

« on: May 12, 2021, 10:16:13 am »

the jumper is so that it reboots after powerloss, that have nothing to do with installing

i havent done anything with "thermal paste and heatsink", works fine anyway

Thanks! I've had a look on YouTube how to do that, and that seems to have helped me with that bit

I might get a USB Noctua fan, to put on the outside to help cool it down too

7

Hardware and Performance / Re: Qotom box - Installing Opnsense

« on: May 10, 2021, 02:27:06 pm »

boot usb stick and install

Don't I need to do anything with the jumper? Or also with the thermal paste and heatsink?

8

Hardware and Performance / Re: What hardware?

« on: May 10, 2021, 10:01:47 am »

I'm using the Qotom you mention. I like it alot, just remeber to move the jumper for boot on power (if you like, after power failure I like autorestart). Are there bettwr solutions? Maybe but so far I have seen none. And it is not using alot of power either, nor.does it get hot. As I wrote above, I like it alot, and it is perfect for me (that I am having config challenges has nothing to do with the hardware). From my perspective: go for it!

Thanks. Which one do you have? How exactly do you move the jumper? Do you unscrew it, move the little blue thing from one pin to another pin?

My Qotom box has arrived now. Could I ask where I should move the jumper to? Do you want photos?

9

Hardware and Performance / Qotom box - Installing Opnsense

« on: May 10, 2021, 12:17:19 am »

Hi

I've just got my Qotom box now, but I'm not sure how you install opnsense on here? Also, do I have to mess around with jumpers?

Thanks

10

Hardware and Performance / Re: Qotom vs Fitlet2 - What should I buy?

« on: April 08, 2021, 07:11:22 pm »

got a similar qotom box ~1year ago and it´s been working without problems

i got the 7500u 16gb/128gb

i also added a usb driven fan that i attached on top of it, maybe not needed but it does run a bit cooler
idle about 50c

I've gone and bought it with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. The SSD is likely overkill, as is the RAM atm, however I figured if I want this to last, it'll be much easier to swap out the RAM than it is the hard drive as you'd have to reflash firmware etc.. rather than simply just swapping out a bit of RAM.

Reddit shows that it supports a max of 32GB RAM too
https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/m8nxb4/_/

That person is running it with a "Samsung 32GB DDR4 2666MHz RAM Memory Module for Laptop Computers (260 Pin SODIMM, 1.2V) M471A4G43MB1" stick of RAM

This person also took it apart a bit to add some extra TP, and another added heatsinks

https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/i2ghrl/_/

11

Hardware and Performance / Re: Qotom vs Fitlet2 - What should I buy?

« on: April 08, 2021, 11:54:53 am »

With case:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000893344365.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.643c2e0eAwa3ey

Damn. Wish I saw that earlier. I've actually bought this now
Gone and bought this one now given it's a newer CPU and could last years. It supports 32GB RAM too

US $301.56  16%OFF | QOTOM Mini PC Q555G6 Q575G6 with 7th Core i5-7200U/i7-7500U  6 Gigabit NICs, COM, Fanless Pfsense Sophos Untangl Firewall Router
https://a.aliexpress.com/_ufg0Ct

With the Q575G6 / i7 7500u CPU
8GB RAM
256GB SSD

For $453.76 in total

12

Hardware and Performance / Re: Qotom vs Fitlet2 - What should I buy?

« on: April 08, 2021, 01:00:51 am »

Dual mem slots board:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000738202595.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.643c2e0e0FyWZD

Thanks. No case however?

13

Hardware and Performance / Re: Qotom vs Fitlet2 - What should I buy?

« on: April 08, 2021, 12:12:35 am »

Well both use DDR3, both use Intel i211 NICs. So the main difference is the processor. i7s are superior to those available for the Fitlet, even though the i7s may not be the current generation; it is a pretty device though.
I've got two Qotom's one for test and one that runs live, one i5 and one i7, the i5 runs live; neither have ever given me a problem and I know of may others who have them and have had zero issues.
At the end of the day either one will work well, so really it's a question of personal taste.

Thanks. At around 15W as well, there won't be any notice-able electricity consumption difference too, given that the Qotom is ultimately cheaper so that's something too I guess. Thanks!

I'm guessing it isn't worth getting this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32920921042.html?gps-id=pcStoreJustForYou&scm=1007.23125.137358.0&scm_id=1007.23125.137358.0&scm-url=1007.23125.137358.0&pvid=a551eddd-6c95-49c0-be50-77c1841272b5&spm=a2g0o.store_home.smartJustForYou_819228519.0

With 16GB RAM 512GB SSD
And Q575G6 I7-7500U (no WiFI) ?
TOtal cost:$544.77 + VAT + CUSTOMS + DUTY

Thanks

14

Hardware and Performance / Qotom vs Fitlet2 - What should I buy?

« on: April 07, 2021, 04:19:01 pm »

I'd like to have IPS enabled on broadband up to 500Mb/s. I have 350Mb/s down speed at home - We'll be switching to another supplier soon too.

So I'm considering either this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32864883139.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.13747428uMTVlk&algo_pvid=1f4804a8-a636-430b-befb-86e5f2892a9f&algo_expid=1f4804a8-a636-430b-befb-86e5f2892a9f-0&btsid=2100bdd516178046115954180e9fc3&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

8GB RAM 256GB SSD
Q370G4 i7-4510U
Total: $336.85 + VAT + duty/customs (Free shipping)

OR this:

https://fit-iot.com/web/product/fitlet2-build-to-order/
Atom x7-E3950 [CE3950]
8 GB [D8] $61.00
TPM installed [TPM] $12.00
M.2 SATA 64 GB [M64S] $37.70
No OS
FC-POED Gbit Ethernet with PoE Device [FPOED] FACET Card
No WiFi
Standard Top Cover
Standard branding
Commercial Temperature Range
Standard DC input range 7V – 20V
Total: $351.80 + $50 for delivery + VAT + duty/customs

Or indeed any other device you can recommend that's fairly small in size (Replacing my Fortinet 60e that I had as a lab for a year)

I only have LAN and WAN connected to my Fortinet currently.

15

General Discussion / Client VPN into network?

« on: September 25, 2020, 08:25:44 pm »

Hi,

I have DDNS configured on my firewall atm which really isn't the best way to access my firewall (not an Opnsense appliance)

Then I've got VIPs set up to access other resources, behind the firewall too. I don't have a firewall at this place, nor do I have a static IP
I believe that you can create a VPN with an FQDN

Would it be possible to create a VPN that uses a client to login to it?

That'd be fairly useful, given a lack of firewall on this end

Thanks