Thanks, chpalmer, that worked! Now a bit different problem: Using the same cable you linked, I can't get into BIOS. I only get gibberish on the screen (behaving like a wrong speed is set). Of course, I switched the speed to 115200 8N1. Edit: Re-made the serial cable with proper shielding, that has done the job. All problems solved.

Given the errors you're seeing, odds are high that there is actually a problem with the drive. In all the years I've been dealing with SMART, two things have been evident: 1. SMART is prone to false negatives – Just because SMART says a drive is OK, doesn't mean it is. Especially when it comes to physical defects of various kinds or serious controller problems. 2. If SMART says a drive has a problem, it has a problem. So you can trust that if SMART finds a problem, it's definitely a problem but if SMART says it's OK, you have more work to do. Same with software RAM tests like memtest86.

old junk. you can try, but might be a waste of time

I have an APU1D4, 16Gb msata drive, assembled in the black case with power supply. PM me if interested.

@whosmatt: Does the client have (or can they obtain) multiple static IP addresses on the WAN?  That, IMO, would be the easiest way to handle things.  pfSense as the primary gateway, but the PIX with its own public IP address and a private IP address that is on a network that pfSense has an interface on.  Static routes or policy based routing would route the appropriate traffic over the PIX and everything else through pfSense. They only have 1 IP available at the moment but I'm assuming/hoping they will be able to obtain multiple IPs.

Theoretically it should work, practically Realtek NICs are not recommended. I would prefer this board then: http://www.asrock.com/ipc/overview.us.asp?Model=SBC-230

and if you ever have the need to increase the connection speed via VPN client, you might try the solution provided in this thread https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=115992.msg652957#msg652957

@AliasNeo: The redundancy issue is a valid one, I planned on using the current "test server" for when updates are urgent. It won't be even remotely similar to the new system but it will cover the bare functionalities. You can have redundancy (failover) via CARP with dissimilar hardware for sure.  It can take a little planning but it's not terribly complicated.  Good luck!

@jahonix: Don't expect too much from the Realtec NIC in conjunction with VLANs. I'm not.  I'm more excited about the CPU.  I'll post more when I actually get my hands on one.  The recent emergence of pfSense on ARM has dimmed my excitement about this device a tad but it should be fun to tinker with.

OK, I solved again. Here are the steps: 1. Remove pfSense and install VMware ESXi (free). 2. Install pfSense on ESXi as VM. 3. Configure Ethernet interfaces, but do not use AOC-SG-12 Dual port Server LAN Adapter ports. They will not work as expected. 4. Run tests - 850 MBps NAT.

Last proof of this night it was shrink disk with custom installation. HD is 250Gb, I shriked it to 100Gb Cheers! Now pfsense in online :-) Thanks all for help

Yeah, I am looking for a good 1U or similar box that will support full gigabit speeds.  Not having much luck, and I cant afford to purchase the pfSense units that will do 1 gig for a home setup.

I've got two of the Intel PRO 1000 PCIE cards (from Amazon); one in a NAS4FREE NAS box I built and the other in my PFSense box.  Cheap and reliable.  If the motherboard you are using has a PCIE and a PCI slot available, get a PCIE card as PCI will limit the bandwidth and should be avoided like the plague if possible.  Those HP cards with the Intel chip are also nice, I have the 4 port one in a server and it is a well made card for a low price.  If you are trying to put something together without breaking the bank they are a good way to go.

Well, I gave that a shot (replacing with em) and didnt see much of an improvement. However, I noticed that when I enable trim on my SSD, the WAN in errors seem to have decreased by a margin, but are still there.  Any other suggestions on tuning this thing?

What's the RAID controller on the R200?  If it's a hardware controller (It's been a long time since I've been in a Dell shop but I recall the PERC 5 and 6 were), you should just be able to swap in a new drive and the controller will do the rest.  The OS should be agnostic about that part, again if it's a true hardware RAID controller. As for the config file, I'm not sure, but one way to test without blowing things up would be to fire up a 2.3.2 VM and restore your 2.2.5 to it.

Package arrived today but I'm not home. Yes specs say 2 Realtek NICS

If they are all on the same USB bus it is possible that there is not enough power for all four devices. My understanding is that the Hilink devices require lots of power.

Finally! I got the replacement NIC today and can report that it worked without any problems at all. Thanks for all the helpful inputs and suggestions.

It should be set to AES-NI However, that will only accelerate AES-GCM for IPsec

If your board supports AES-NI, you must select it from that list yourself to enable the module.