No - you don't need to have any network cables connected.

Can you provide:

The exact version of pfSense you're running (eg 1.2.3-RELEASE nanobsd)

Exactly what the problem is (so far, all we know is "it doesn't work")

I currently have two ALIX 2D3 running 1.2.3 Released with no problems.  I would try reflashing with 1.2.3 and if the problems still persists, save the aluminum case and throw the motherboard in the trash.  BTW, have you tried another power supply?

Roy…

Thanks jasonlitka. Looks like that is it then….

Looks like it won't be in FreeBSD 8.1 either (pfsense 2.0)....

Time to go and buy another NIC (or look at another FW disty)

Thanks all for quick response to my original query.

I can share my config with you, although… some call it overkill  :o

I run pfSense in a Vmware ESX enviroment, and therefore have access to quite a few virtual NICs (which is nice for segmentation and VLAN purposes).

This is the vlan-config running inside vmware :

http://0o2471.net/15677

And this is what the physical cabling looks like :

http://0o2471.net/15653

The VLAN 200 is a isolated connection to my DSL-modem, incase I need things to have direct access (official IP's), and if I put a host in this VLAN it will get a DHCP from my ISP.
The VLAN 300 is my internal VLAN for regular connected laptops \ computers that I trust, I'm thinking of implementing a auth of some sort for this VLAN.
The VLAN 400 is my Wireless Guest network, the host connected here have no access to the internal network, but talk only to pfSense and the internet, there is also a captive portal here
The VLAN 500 is my Wireless internal network, where I myself and other trusted computer connect, same priveleges as VLAN 300, but this SSID is hidden and WPA2-protected, also my IP-telephone is on this network
The VLAN 600 is the management VLAN on which only managementstuff is, like the Switches, accesspoints and iLO of the servers

This is btw only my lab :P

OK, managed to fix it, although not sure how.

I just tried different combo's from the documentation on boot up issues and it finally worked…

You might be able to have the best of both worlds if you setup your keyword filtering software on another box (in a DMZ, perhaps) and then forward web traffic through it.

Keyword filtering is rather expensive in terms of CPU, it would probably be better on its own box anyhow. I know some people have setup a separate server for something such as DansGuardian to use as a local proxy.

Hi Jonny,

Actually I have a pfsense box running on Citrix XenServer 5.5, I got the same error when I ran VM.

To fix this simply I downgrade my Bios version from computer.

I dont know if this issue will fix yours but is a way.

Regards,
Heitor Lessa

You gave me some ideas…. and i found the problem.  On our DNS server we were using C Names to point to our thirdparty sql sqlserver, but that record had been deleted sooo the sql connection call didn't know where to go (actually it was calling the wrong server).  I put the C record back in... and we're good to go.

thanks for your help!
Rookie mistake on my part!  :(
:)

I replicated the same exact setup after installing pfsense 1.2.3 and it seems work well. I guess there was some error in system files since the box was shut down few times not properly - just guessing.

when using non standard ports over http/https you have to specify the port with :xx, replace xx with port number, this overrides the defualt port number for that protocol (http=80, https=443).
Thats why if you could ssh into it, i figured it was something like that (especially since you said it has to be easy)

Glad I was able to spare you the trouble.

this is all you will need:
http://192.168.1.1

Internet should be DHCP, LAN should be 192.168.1.1

http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Tutorials
http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Main_Page

Thank you both for your assistance, I'll track down a serial cable and install it that way.  Your advice is appreciated.

Thanks for the reply. I am using a serial console. I actally started with that and added the VGA afterwards. I am running it at 9600 baud. I see the BIOS serial output OK.

I am using a 512Mb CF card. Thanks for the explanation about the CD install.

@jimp:

You say you wrote the image to a card. If you used a NanoBSD image, these do not support VGA and write their output to the serial port instead.

If you connect a null modem serial cable to the port on the router, you should see the boot messages.

That other thread is referring to a full install from CD.

pfSense also has a very different setup for initialization scripts and some of the layout is different.

Whew, got it to work now, by not choosing "Packet Mode" during the bootblock creation part of the installation.

First, your serial port should be set for 9600. Go into the ALIX BIOS (press 's' during the memory test) and set the speed to 9600 and set your serial client to match. Try to boot again, if it's still not right, then something must be wrong with the CF or how it was written.

You're sure you decompressed that image first before writing? And you're sure it's disk1?

Usually the command looks more like:

gzcat pfSense-1.2.3-RELEASE-4g-nanobsd.img.gz | dd of=/dev/disk3 bs=16k

It's possible that the CF is defective, but unlikely. If even the first part of the CF was written correctly, you should have gotten the pfSense boot menu with an F1/F2 choice.

Good point; thanks for the info tid-bit.
That may very well explain the issue I'm experiencing.

I'll poke around in the local forums.

I've not had such issues with other ISP's in the past.

Are there other methods that you can think of that I can employ to achieve similar results?

I'll try the VPN.

If the wiki isn't enough, I'll came back to the forum.

;D