Extreme temperature spikes since pfsense 2.7.0 update?

Networking & Firewalls
1

Hi hrere,

is anyone else getting these extreme thermal spikes since the pfsense CE update? Happened already twice since May where the appliance would be hot as a frying pan and after a reboot would cool down immediately. The room temp is cool and it hasn’t done this ever before (in years). First time it happened Tailscale had a key expired and seemed hung (?). After key renewal temps went down. Last time the machine was hovering at 80+°C for hours this wasn’t the case and a reboot fixed it immediately. Any idea what could cause this? It’s an i7 computer which usually has a processor load of 5-20% max… even when those heat waves happen.
Is there a way to get notified when the machine is beyond a certain temp? It was pure coincidence that I noticed that 80°C where going for hours and I’m worried the thing could self-destruct if this goes unnoticed.

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Here’ temp vs processor load when it was running at 80+ deg. So it seems like the system/processor load don’t correlate at all to the temperature

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2

I bought a usb fan 5V 120mm which sits on top of pfsense and keeps it at 40-45 C.

3

Yeah, that would help with the symptoms but I was wondering about the cause. Why does it get so hot when the processor(s) are working no harder then when the temp is at 40-50°C which has been the average for the last 4 years before the update? In fact it has never EVER gone over 60°C in the years before. Now it has spiked randomly to extreme levels for no apparent reason.

4

Also: Having read stories about malware infected electric cigarettes that you charge via USB I’m kinda hesitant to plug in a made in china USB fan into a firewall :wink:

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