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doc:appunti:hardware:mini_pc_with_das [2024/04/29 09:36] – [Mini PC T9Plus with D4-300 TerraMaster DAS] niccolodoc:appunti:hardware:mini_pc_with_das [2024/10/04 10:42] (current) – [Installing Debian GNU/Linux] niccolo
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 My home server is acting also as a domestic firewall (running Debian GNU/Linux), so I opted for a dual LAN Mini-PC. Obviously the only problem is the storage: the embedded SDD disk is not sufficient for my media library, so I opted for an esternal USB Direct Attached Storage. The choice was a **D4-300 TerraMaster DAS** which will host **two 4 Tb 3.5 inches drives** (leaving two empty slots). My home server is acting also as a domestic firewall (running Debian GNU/Linux), so I opted for a dual LAN Mini-PC. Obviously the only problem is the storage: the embedded SDD disk is not sufficient for my media library, so I opted for an esternal USB Direct Attached Storage. The choice was a **D4-300 TerraMaster DAS** which will host **two 4 Tb 3.5 inches drives** (leaving two empty slots).
  
-^ Mini PC T9Plus  ^^+ Mini PC T9Plus  ^^
 ^ CPU       | Intel(R) N95, 4 Cores  | ^ CPU       | Intel(R) N95, 4 Cores  |
 ^ RAM       | 16 Gb  | ^ RAM       | 16 Gb  |
Line 14: Line 14:
 ^ WiFi      | Realtek RTL8852BE PCIe 802.11ax  | ^ WiFi      | Realtek RTL8852BE PCIe 802.11ax  |
 ^ Video     | Intel Alder Lake-N UHD Graphics  | ^ Video     | Intel Alder Lake-N UHD Graphics  |
 +
 +^  D4-300 TerraMaster DAS  ^^
 +^ Disk Slot Number       | 4  |
 +^ Compatible Disk Types  | 3.5" SATA HDD\\ 2.5" SATA HDD\\ 2.5" SATA SSD  |
 +^ USB                    | USB3.1 Type-C gen1 x 1  |
  
 ===== Installing Debian GNU/Linux ===== ===== Installing Debian GNU/Linux =====
  
-It seems that Linux **kernel 6.1.0** (as shipped with Debian 12 Bookworm) still does not support the WiFi adapter **RTL8852BE**.+It seems that Linux **kernel 6.1.0** (as shipped with Debian 12 Bookworm) still does not support the WiFi adapter **RTL8852BE**, see this page **[[rtl8852be_on_debian_12]]**. 
 + 
 +These are the USB and PCI peripherals: 
 + 
 +<code> 
 +Bus 001 Device 008: ID 1a86:7523 QinHeng Electronics CH340 serial converter 
 +Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0573:1573 Zoran Co. Personal Media Division (Nogatech) USB Audio and HID 
 +Bus 001 Device 005: ID 174c:2074 ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1074 High-Speed hub 
 +Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0bda:b85b Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Bluetooth Radio 
 +Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub 
 +</code> 
 + 
 +<code> 
 +00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Device 4618 
 +00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N [UHD Graphics] 
 +00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH USB 3.2 xHCI Host Controller 
 +00:14.2 RAM memory: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH Shared SRAM 
 +00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH HECI Controller 
 +00:17.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N SATA AHCI Controller 
 +00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 54bb 
 +00:1d.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCI Express Root Port 
 +00:1d.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCI Express Root Port 
 +00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Device 5482 
 +00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH High Definition Audio Controller 
 +00:1f.4 SMBus: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N SMBus 
 +00:1f.5 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N SPI (flash) Controller 
 +01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. 
 +        RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15) 
 +02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. 
 +        RTL8852BE PCIe 802.11ax Wireless Network Controller 
 +03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. 
 +        RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15) 
 +</code>
  
 ==== The RGB rainbow LEDs ==== ==== The RGB rainbow LEDs ====
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 </code> </code>
  
-===== Reboot problem =====+===== Always on =====
  
-Sometimes (randomly, about 50% of the time) the **reboot** command does not work. The shutdown process seems to proceed well and the PC seems to begin the reboot process, but the video signal does not switch-on and the host remains frozen.+Press **Del** at bootstrap time to enter the BIOS settings, go to the **Boot** page and set **State After G3** => **S0 State**. 
 + 
 +The ACPI power states are: 
 + 
 +  * S0: Normal Powered-On state (system working) 
 +  * S1: Standby 
 +  * S3: Suspend to Ram 
 +  * S4: Suspend to Disk 
 +  * S5: Shutdown state (soft off: some devices are still powered-on) 
 +  * G3: Mechanical off state 
 + 
 +===== USB Fast Boot problem ===== 
 + 
 +{{ .:mini_pc_t9plus:mini-pc-t9plus-bios-boot-usb.jpg?180|BIOS Fast Boot settings}} 
 +Sometimes (randomly, about 50% of the time) the **reboot** command does not work. The shutdown process seems to proceed well and the PC seems to begin the reboot process, but the video signal does not switch-on and the host remains frozen. The power LED remains on. 
 + 
 +The wake-on-lan (which is working well in normal power-off condition) does not reboot the PC when it freezes in that way. 
 + 
 +It seems that **the reboot problem is tied to the USB attached storage**. If I remove the TerraMaster DAS and allow the Mini PC to boot with just the GNU/Linux operating system from the SSD, the reboot seems 100% reliable. 
 + 
 +May be I found a workaround for the problem: in the BIOS settings I set the **Boot** => **Fast Boot** to **Enabled**, then I leaved the **SATA Support** to **All SATA Devices** but set the **USB Support** to **Disable** (just for safety I disabled all the boot devices, except SATA). Till now I tried several reboots, without any issue! 
 + 
 +The problem with this workaround is that **you cannot longer enter into the BIOS setup program**, because the USB keyboard is not initialized at boot and **you cannot press the Delete key**. 
 + 
 +If the system starts normally, it is simple to enter the BIOS setup from a Linux command propt; just issue the command: 
 + 
 +<code> 
 +systemctl reboot --firmware-setup 
 +</code> 
 + 
 +It seems that - by chance - I was able to **entered the BIOS setup even when Fast Boot was enabled**; it was a mix of keeping the Delete key pressed on the keyboard while long-pressing the power button for about 4 seconds, or by repeatedly pushing the power button 4 or 5 times. But I was not able to replicate this behaviour in a consistend manner.
  
 ===== The D4-300 USB attacched storage ===== ===== The D4-300 USB attacched storage =====
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 ... ...
 </code> </code>
 +
 +===== USB instability =====
 +
 +It turned out that **the USB bus is not reliable enough**, maybe due **power issues**. Simply inserting a USB storage key caused **read errors** on the USB attached storage and a consequent **kernel panic**.
 +
 +===== USB Direct Attached Storage =====
  
 ==== Performance ==== ==== Performance ====
 +
 +I installed two hard disks on the Terramaster DAS:
 +
 +  * Western Digital 3.5" 4Tb WD Red NAS 256 Mb, 5400 rpm, SATA 6Gb/s - **WDC WD40EFZX-68AWUN0**
 +  * Seagate IronWolf 3.5" 4Tb 64 Mb cache, 5900 rpm, SATA 6Gb/s - **ST4000VN008-2DR166**
 +
 +I made some tests on read performances on the USB attached device using **hdparm**. Here are the average results, which are similar on both my RAID disks (a bare 1% more performance on the Western Digital):
 +
 +<code>
 +hdparm -t /dev/sdb
 +/dev/sdb:
 + Timing buffered disk reads: 572 MB in  3.00 seconds = 190.47 MB/sec
 +</code>
  
 ==== Power management ==== ==== Power management ====
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-===== Web References =====+===== ACPI errors =====
  
 +During bootstrap several error messages appears on the console (and are logged in syslog):
 +
 +<code>
 +ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS01], AE_NOT_FOUND (20220331/dswload2-162)
 +ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.UBTC.RUCC], AE_NOT_FOUND (20220331/psargs-330)
 +ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.PC00.LPCB.ITE8.GETT], AE_NOT_FOUND (20220331/psargs-330)
 +...
 +</code>
 +
 +This is caused by the BIOS missing the "Advanced Error Reporting” mechanism. It is possibile to ignore it by adding ''pci=noaer'' to the Linux command line in **/etc/default/grub**:
 +
 +<file>
 +GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="pci=noaer fsck.repair=yes consoleblank=0 reboot=cold,force"
 +</file>
 +
 +Do an ''update-grub'' and reboot.
 +
 +===== Web References =====
  
   * **[[https://superuser.com/questions/928741/how-can-i-check-whether-usb3-0-uasp-usb-attached-scsi-protocol-mode-is-enabled|How can I check whether USB3.0 UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) mode is enabled in Linux?]]**   * **[[https://superuser.com/questions/928741/how-can-i-check-whether-usb3-0-uasp-usb-attached-scsi-protocol-mode-is-enabled|How can I check whether USB3.0 UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) mode is enabled in Linux?]]**
   * **[[https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/347006/systemd-how-do-i-automount-a-usb-filesystem-using-etc-fstab|systemd: How do I automount a USB filesystem using /etc/fstab?]]**   * **[[https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/347006/systemd-how-do-i-automount-a-usb-filesystem-using-etc-fstab|systemd: How do I automount a USB filesystem using /etc/fstab?]]**
 +  * **[[t9plus_mini_pc_rgb_led_control]]**
   * **[[https://www.reddit.com/r/MiniPCs/comments/18icusg/t9_plus_n100_how_to_control_led/|T9 Plus N100 - How to control LED]]**   * **[[https://www.reddit.com/r/MiniPCs/comments/18icusg/t9_plus_n100_how_to_control_led/|T9 Plus N100 - How to control LED]]**
   * **[[https://github.com/thekief/s1t-ledcontrol|LED Controller]]**   * **[[https://github.com/thekief/s1t-ledcontrol|LED Controller]]**
   * **[[https://minipcunion.com/viewtopic.php?t=4424|Mini PC RGB AK1 Plus - Controllo RGB]]**   * **[[https://minipcunion.com/viewtopic.php?t=4424|Mini PC RGB AK1 Plus - Controllo RGB]]**
 +  * **[[https://forum.manjaro.org/t/how-can-i-fix-these-acpi-errors/146857/|How can I fix these ACPI errors?]]**
  
doc/appunti/hardware/mini_pc_with_das.1714376207.txt.gz · Last modified: 2024/04/29 09:36 by niccolo