OPNsense nano on APU2 with SD card

[JosQuelqu1]

Hi everyone,

I can't find the answer so I'm posting my question here.

The problem I have is OPNsense won't reboot. The installation go through but at reboot it says "Can't load Kernel".

I had the same problem with previous version 17. Tried i386 and amd64. BIOS on APU2 is up to date (4.6.8 ). Connected with PuTTY at speed 115200.

What I did:
- Write the SD card with the current nano image (18.1.6) with Win32DiskImager.
- Put the SD card in the APU2.
- Power it on. Everything's going fine.
- When the menu appears I hit the reboot option.
- After couples of minutes it says "Can't load Kernel".

Also, when it's booting, all the characters are dduupplliiccaatteedd.

Any idea?

Thank you.

[franco]

Hi there,

"dduupplliiccaatteedd" chars are an issue with the BIOS. It's meant to be "bold font".

We seem to be having this issue sporadically, but it is somehow tied to the CF / SD card you're using the Nano image on because others (including developers) are not able to reproduce this.

Others have sidestepped the issue by using an USB serial installer to install to the SD card on the system. Reboots should be safe there.


Cheers,
Franco

[JosQuelqu1]

Hi Franco,

I tried at least 3 different models of SD card. I had the same problem with pfSense.

The exact board model is APU2C2.

It does work great with USB installer but it takes a bit more time to setup. We install a lot of these.

[franco]

It's either the SD card or the box, at the moment more likely the SD card, but I can't say for sure.

Here comes a bold request: would you be willing to (temporarily) share an SD card or worst case a model of the APU that definitely has this bug with me to be able to look at it?


Cheers,
Franco

[JosQuelqu1]

What do you mean by "share"? Like sending one kit over? Or you only need the model numbers?

The board is APU2C2
https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2c2.htm

SD cards are Kingston SDA10/16GBCR and SDCS/16GBCR
https://www.kingston.com/en/flash/sd_cards/sda10
https://www.kingston.com/en/flash/microsd_cards/sdcs

[franco]

Yes, sending a kit over temporarily. No APU2C2 crossed my desk that showed this behaviour.


Cheers,
Franco

[JosQuelqu1]

Hi,

Sorry for the delay I just came back from vacation today.

I asked my boss about sending one to you. Can you PM the address?

I'll get back to you as soon as he will tell me if I can send it or not.

[JosQuelqu1]

Hi Franco,

I did not had any come back yet to ship the unit.

Until then, can you tell me how you install it with the nano image?

[franco]

Use an USB stick with Nano or Serial to boot. Insert SD card.

Escape to console using user "root" password "opnsense". Select option 8. Type:

# opnsense-installer

Install onto SD card. Reboot, remove USB stick.

SD card should come up and survive reboots.


Cheers,
Franco

[JosQuelqu1]

But the idea of the nano image is not to write it directly on the SD card?

Then insert the SD in the APU and install from it?

It's doing the same thing on a USB flash drive.
- write the nano image on the USB drive
- boot on it (there is no other boot device available)
- when it's ready, I reboot
- same probleme

[franco]

> But the idea of the nano image is not to write it directly on the SD card?

Not sure I understand this question? Both Serial and Nano write to the USB stick, but Nano is a preinstalled system, the Serial is a live system installer.

> It's doing the same thing on a USB flash drive.
> [...]
> - same probleme

Sure, when you use the Nano on an USB like you would on an SD card why should it change.

Here we go again based on what I said before:

On the first USB Nano boot, log in as "root" with user "opnsense". Choose option "8". Insert the SD card. Type:

# opnsense-installer

Install the system on the SD card.

Reboot, remove USB, but not SD card. SD card should work and survive reboots.


Cheers,
Franco

[JosQuelqu1]

ok but I thought it was meant to be put on the SD card directly without further steps.

I guess we can close this.

Thank you