Single home... device?

[Monviech (Cedrik)]

You probably had luck, I once had a RAID controller that ran with cache enabled and battery backup and UPS and somehow the RAID controller said "hmm lets get corrupted anyway on power off thx lol".

[kosta]

Ouch. Were those with OPNsense? OPNsense doesn't do much with the file system - normally I'd expect some corrupted logs at most. As far as PLP, I generally use SSDs with big caps, but of course all they'll do is write the buffer on the SSD, not the system ARC. I've had some poorly-behaved UPSs, that say "batteries are great" even after they die during a self test, and never had a file system go bad on me. Not even an NTFS machine with three levels of cache (system, controller, and SSD) and no PLP (consumer SSDs). Just luck?

It was due to power outages, with and older Samsung SSD, I think 830 or 840. It simply didn't boot any more, and when I looked at the console - for which I would have to disconnect it, bringt it to my workplace, connect monitor, keyboard and all that, which includes searching for cables... I had some weird CRC or so errors. Now, I could have messed with fsck and boot from USB, which I would have to create etc etc, I rather just reinstalled it.
However, I must also say that since I went ZFS, I had one power outage and no issues. It's no measurement in any case, but I do have regular updates, so it's not really a lot of hassle to restore the config.
In any case, I was even thinking of paying for a mainboard with IPMI, same like my Supermicro server, which would enable me to remain flexible, without having to move the box. But, at the same time, it costs €400, so yeah, also not for free.

That is why I asked what is the way to troubleshoot the Deciso box... I have seen the USB port, but what does it do exactly?

[Monviech (Cedrik)]

https://docs.opnsense.org/manual/how-tos/serial_access.html

Its a built in serial to USB converter, plugging a micro USB cable in and connecting it to your PC exposes an emulated COM port.

[BrandyWine]

Yeah, I punished myself enough for years now with my self built box - which is working alright - but God forbid it's not. I really want to go as far as possible away from boxes that break when power runs out. I do have UPS, but also that doesn't hold forever

You might need a better setup to avoid the corruption issue.
Something like https://www.vueville.com/blog/how-to-automatically-shutdown-linux-using-ups-on-power-failure/
How exactly on freeBSD is your homework.

[Patrick M. Hausen]

How exactly on freeBSD is your homework.

A NUT plugin for OPNsense exists and works ;-)

[kosta]

I do have NUT working, however need to configure it with OPNsense. There is a new UPS with 13min uptime. Tested well with PVE. I just want to make everything go away from consumer stuff to more professional. And console would be a step in the right direction. Kind of reminds me of Cisco serial cables. :D

Do you know whether there are any issues with Macs, when it comes to the serial connection? Like MBP with an USB->USBc converter? (have seen the info on the page about macOS, just asking for experience)

[Patrick M. Hausen]

@kosta works like a charm with Mac OS. You will find a /dev/cu.usbserialsomething or similar once you plugged in the USB cable.

Use with

Code Select Expand

sudo cu -l /dev/cu... -s 115200

or for more comfort with e.g. MacPorts:

Code Select Expand

sudo port install minicom
sudo minicom -s

"Cisco" serial cables were actually created by Dave Yost at UC Berkeley: https://yost.com/computers/RJ45-serial/

When we still ran an ISP with discrete modems and similar devices once I had collected enough "Cisco" cables (from renting routers to customers) I soldered adapters for all serial devices in the entire company and connected all of them in baby blue.

[pfry]

[...]
When we still ran an ISP with discrete modems and similar devices once I had collected enough "Cisco" cables (from renting routers to customers) I soldered adapters for all serial devices in the entire company and connected all of them in baby blue.

Not a bad idea. I bought a couple dozen (in black) from a long-gone surplus joint and took them to work, as everyone seemed to be hunting for one at one time or another. They wandered off over time; I think I have one left. Strangely, perhaps in return, we collected discarded umbrellas and handed them out to people when it rained. Go figure.

I abandoned a pile of networking gear at my workplace when I got laid off (it was all a decade or more old by then - easier to let the company clean it up). I might have something that uses a serial console, if I can find a computer with a serial port...

[BrandyWine]

How exactly on freeBSD is your homework.

A NUT plugin for OPNsense exists and works ;-)

It's year 2026, signal overlay on power line should be standard for UPS and all mobo's, and then OS's can hook into it. What does this mean? When UPS goes to batt mode it overlays a signal onto the AC voltage powering the devices (or DC if it's telco 48vdc). Then every piece of hardware should have it's input power filtered for such signal, which is then coupled to mobo, from there you cfg the OS to take action when such signal is identified (shutdown, do nothing, warn, etc etc).

Back to topic, my 2xsfp+ with three i226v's (N150 cpu), been running a-ok, cheap china made stuff. The mobo looked quality under magnification. How long it will last I don't know. N150 is a bit low end to handle 2x10G + 3x2.5G.

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Which UPS does this? And which power supply and mobo combo?

[pfry]

It's year 2026, signal overlay on power line should be standard for UPS and all mobo's[...]

Interesting idea. I could see this only from an end-to-end provider with little/no legacy equipment, kind of a tall order. Just use the X10/Insteon protocol and control the lights, too. (I actually have a bag of old X10 stuff, including a dual-phase repeater/amp. Woo.)

Topic? kosta's going for the DEC750, no question. We're just hanging out, now. Heh.

[passeri]

Do you know whether there are any issues with Macs, when it comes to the serial connection? Like MBP with an USB->USBc converter? (have seen the info on the page about macOS, just asking for experience)

I found it worked more smoothly than expected, a contrast with trying to work a serial connection to a Hunsn box. I used the cable which comes with the Deciso with an Apple USB A->C converter (A1632) but other converters should work. There are various apps on the app store. My preference after trying three is SerialTools. You can save a configuration document and start that. I think Apple's screen in Terminal works too.

[kosta]

Topic? kosta's going for the DEC750, no question. We're just hanging out, now. Heh.

No worries, always enjoying tech discussions, even if only reading along.

[Patrick M. Hausen]

I think Apple's screen in Terminal works too.

I did not try screen, but as I wrote cu does work.

[BrandyWine]

Which UPS does this? And which power supply and mobo combo?

None, that's my point.
Mobo makers (and PSU's) should start to incorporate it. I don't see it being a challenge of any kind, just needs to be incorporated.

Also this, why do we need SFP+ or RJ45 when USB-C (connector) has 10Gb bandwidth capability. Ethernet could technically mux to USB3.1 for 10Gb full-duplex, but also technically no need to mux it. SFP's and RJ45's take up lot's of space. Surely the locking piece is needed.