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OpenBSD on PC Engines APU2

This is a writeup on getting OpenBSD running on PC Engines APU2.

Motivation: I chose OpenBSD because I have a few ideas for building a router that protects IoT-rich networks. OpenBSD's combination of proactive security and a clean networking stack made it possible to quickly implement a proof-of-concept. If anyone's interested in working on such a project, contact me. :)

Note: Some of the steps require downloading software. Whenever possible, verify checksums of such software or better yet, download it from a well-known repository. Remember Reflections on Trusting Trust!

Hardware

Component Source Link Price
APU.2C4 system board (GX-412TC quad core / 4GB / 3 Intel GigE / 2 miniPCI express / mSATA / USB / RTC battery) PC Engines apu2c4 $122
Enclosure (3 LAN, black, USB) PC Engines case1d2blku $10
AC adapter 12V 2A euro plug PC Engines ac12veur2 $4.4
SSD M-Sata 16GB MLC, Phison S9 controller PC Engines msata16d $17
SD card 4GB pSLC Phison (MLC flash running in SLC mode) PC Engines, anywhere sd4b $6.6
Compex WLE200NX 802.11a/b/g/n miniPCI express wireless card PC Engines wle200nx $19
Pigtail cable I-PEX -> reverse SMA PC Engines pigsma 2 x $1.5
Antenna reverse SMA dual band PC Engines antsmadb 2 x $2.05
Null modem cable DB9-F to DB9-F PC Engines, anywhere db9cab1 $1.3
USB to RS-232 DM9-M adapter Sabrent (FTDI) USB-2920 $10.11
8GB USB Flash Drive Amazon, anywhere CZ50 $4.29

Total $202.68 without shipping.

Assemble the hardware per the instructions on the PC Engines website. Remember:

  • Cooling
  • Ground wireless card
  • Insert the SD card

Setup serial console

Note that the serial port settings for the APU2 are 115200 baud rate, 8N1 (8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit).

  1. Install the USB to serial driver
  2. Plug the USB end of the USB to serial cable to the Mac
  3. Plug the DB9-M end of the USB to serial cable to one end of the null modem cable
  4. Plug the other end of the null modem cable to the APU2
  5. Connect to the APU2 from the terminal: screen /dev/tty.usbserial 115200 (note: your device might be different, look for devices with tty and serial in their name)

Power the APU2 off and back on by pulling the plug and plugging it back in, respectively. You should see output on the screen.

Bootable TinyCore Linux USB flash drive

BIOS updates require flashing the ROM. Create a bootable USB flash drive with TinyCore Linux from PC Engines. It includes flashrom but doesn't include any ROM images you might need. Steps:

  1. Download TinyCore Linux (apu2-tinycore6.4.img.gz, sha256sum: 4b834077ec5da535b07ab7e17215eb8d64b71dbcfd3f9076d51252a0f7158f3c) and extract it to get apu2-tinycore6.4.img
  2. Download the latest ROM (apu2_160311.zip, sha256sum: e939187ebe29a45e6ef5000c1ca0564473495f41a5290797e4b639c340562f46) and extract it to get apu2_160311.rom. It is required for making wireless networking work and booting from an SD card
  3. Double click apu2-tinycore6.4.img to mount the image and drag apu2_160311.rom to it
  4. Eject the TinyCore Linux image (usually named SYSLINUX)
  5. Insert the USB flash drive to the Mac, figure out which device it is (with diskutil list, let's assume it's /dev/disk2) and unmount it (diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2)
  6. Write the TinyCore Linux image to the flash drive: sudo dd if=apu2-tinycore6.4.img of=/dev/rdisk2 bs=1m (note the use of rdisk2 - that's the raw device)
  7. Eject the USB flash drive

Update the BIOS

If the BIOS needs updating - the version displayed during boot is not the latest that's on the PC Engines website - follow these steps:

  1. Power off the APU2
  2. Insert the USB flash drive to one of the APU2's USB slots
  3. Connect the serial console cable
  4. Power on the APU2
  5. Press F10 to enter the APU2 boot menu. In the boot menu, opt to boot from the USB flash drive (usually option number 1)
  6. Once you get to a prompt, use flashrom to update the BIOS. The ROM file will be in /media/SYSLINUX: flashrom -p internal -w /media/SYSLINUX/apu2_160311.rom
  7. When verification is done, reboot the APU2 so changes take effect

Install OpenBSD

Bootable OpenBSD installation USB flash drive

  1. Download the OpenBSD installer, amd64/install59.fs (SHA256 fingerprint), file-system image (not ISO!) from one of the mirrors
  2. Insert the USB flash drive to the Mac, figure out which device it is (with diskutil list, let's assume it's /dev/disk2) and unmount it (diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2)
  3. Write the installer image to the flash drive: sudo dd if=install59.fs of=/dev/rdisk2 bs=1m (note the use of rdisk2 - that's the raw device)
  4. Eject the USB flash drive

Serial console settings for OpenBSD

Note: Starting with OpenBSD 6.0, this is done by the installer.

The following settings are required for proper serial console output:

stty com0 115200
set tty com0

Enter them in the boot> prompt when booting the installer. Put them in /etc/boot.conf so they're always in effect.

Install OpenBSD

  1. Power off the APU2
  2. Insert the bootable OpenBSD installer USB flash drive to one of the USB slots on the APU2
  3. Power on the APU2, press F10 to get to the boot menu, and choose to boot from USB (usually option number 1)
  4. At the boot> prompt, remember the serial console settings (see above)
  5. Also at the boot> prompt, press Enter to start the installer
  6. Follow the installation instructions

Firmware update

The driver used for wireless networking is athn(4). It might not work properly out of the box. Once OpenBSD is installed, run fw_update with no arguments. It will figure out which firmware updates are required and will download and install them. When it finishes, reboot.

Credits

These instructions were collected from websites, mailing lists, forums, and whatever I could find.