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    Watchguard Firebox M400/M500

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    • chpalmerC
      chpalmer
      last edited by

      I just installed a Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz in my M400.. It had been running the original Celeron G1820 until this last week.

      Boots a bit faster.. has AES-NI now.. 4 cores now.. shows running cooler since the fans seem to be actively adjusting their speeds now. fans were always slow before.. even in the summer.

      The fans are a bit more noisy and constantly adjusting now which they never did when the Celeron was in place. Celeron showed constant 40c to 45c depending on weather here.. The i5 is a constant 39c.

      I have an updated BIOS on the board but cannot find the speed controls.. anyone remember where they are supposed to be?

      I want to adjust them more to be constant than the up and down they are doing now.

      Triggering snowflakes one by one..
      Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

      M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        The fan speed controls? They should be there under thermal control. Not much to play with though IIRC.

        Does it reboot correctly with that CPU?

        Steve

        chpalmerC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • M
          MH 0 @chpalmer
          last edited by

          @chpalmer I'd replace the existing fans, they are incredibly noisy at most speeds, if you find my posts above I posted a link to the Nocturnas that fit.

          chpalmerC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • chpalmerC
            chpalmer @stephenw10
            last edited by

            @stephenw10 Seems to boot fine. Freakin fast compared..

            ioapic0 <Version 2.0> irqs 0-23 on motherboard
            random: unblocking device.
            FreeBSD/SMP: 1 package(s) x 4 core(s)
            FreeBSD/SMP: Multiprocessor System Detected: 4 CPUs
            ACPI APIC Table: <ALASKA A M I>
            Event timer "LAPIC" quality 600
            avail memory = 6095597568 (5813 MB)
            real memory = 6442450944 (6144 MB)
            TSC: P-state invariant, performance statistics
            VT-x: PAT,HLT,MTF,PAUSE,EPT,UG,VPID
            XSAVE Features=0x1<XSAVEOPT>
            Structured Extended Features3=0xc000000<IBPB,STIBP>
            Structured Extended Features=0x27ab<FSGSBASE,TSCADJ,BMI1,AVX2,SMEP,BMI2,ERMS,INVPCID,NFPUSG>
            AMD Features2=0x21<LAHF,ABM>
            AMD Features=0x2c100800<SYSCALL,NX,Page1GB,RDTSCP,LM>
            Features2=0x7ffafbff<SSE3,PCLMULQDQ,DTES64,MON,DS_CPL,VMX,SMX,EST,TM2,SSSE3,SDBG,FMA,CX16,xTPR,PDCM,PCID,SSE4.1,SSE4.2,x2APIC,MOVBE,POPCNT,TSCDLT,AESNI,XSAVE,OSXSAVE,AVX,F16C,RDRAND>
            Features=0xbfebfbff<FPU,VME,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR,PGE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,CLFLUSH,DTS,ACPI,MMX,FXSR,SSE,SSE2,SS,HTT,TM,PBE>
            Origin="GenuineIntel" Id=0x306c3 Family=0x6 Model=0x3c Stepping=3
            CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz (2000.04-MHz K8-class CPU)

            Triggering snowflakes one by one..
            Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

            stephenw10S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • chpalmerC
              chpalmer @MH 0
              last edited by

              @mh-0

              Thanks.. I actually ordered three of those fans today so will try them.

              I also replaced the version of WGXepc64 that I was running as it seems I was on a pre-m400 version.. So I can adjust my fans with that instead of mussing with BIOS.

              Triggering snowflakes one by one..
              Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator @chpalmer
                last edited by

                @chpalmer said in Watchguard Firebox M400/M500:

                @stephenw10 Seems to boot fine. Freakin fast compared..

                But does it reboot though? There are a large number of 4th gen CPUs that just hang at reboot even with a different BIOS etc. The i3-4160 I have does not reboot for example and that makes it painful for anything!

                Steve

                chpalmerC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • chpalmerC
                  chpalmer @stephenw10
                  last edited by

                  @stephenw10

                  But does it reboot though?

                  I did a reboot this morning via the GUI "reroot" reboot. Came up fine. Is there another method you want me to try? This one is my primary firewall and I have to do things after hours unless I want to join "wine hour" here.. and Im fresh out of cheese.

                  (for those already typing.. yes I know how to spell whine. ;) )

                  Triggering snowflakes one by one..
                  Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

                  chpalmerC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • chpalmerC
                    chpalmer @chpalmer
                    last edited by

                    After some more testing with the new CPU.. Normal reboot does hang. Reroot reboot does not. I generally do not shut this one down ever so a non issue for me.

                    This box is 2.6..

                    Triggering snowflakes one by one..
                    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      Urgh. Disappointing. I wish I knew what caused that.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • J
                        JackMeyer
                        last edited by

                        Anyone run into issues with putty spitting out giberish on startup?
                        Downloaded Memstick installer, used balena etcher (from my understanding Balena will automatically un zip the .gz file) to flash to the same exact model CF card (Except mine is 8gb and not 4gb). Popped the CF card in, powered on the M400, used COM3 port and its just spitting out random letters and characters.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          Typically that happens if the baud rate is mismatched. It's 115200bps by default.

                          J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • J
                            JackMeyer @stephenw10
                            last edited by

                            @stephenw10 Yup that did it! ive been so used to cisco It never occurs to me that would ever need to change. When I get to the part where it has me select the target disk it doesn't let me select the CF card. I hit enter with the CF card highlighted and it returns the message "Not Enough Disks selected. 0 < 1 minimum" any Ideas on this?

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              You can't install onto the drive you booted from. You can install to a SATA SSD after booting from CF. Or you can boot from USB and and install to CF.

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                              • E
                                eisenb11
                                last edited by

                                I never realized that my M400 (i3-4370T) has been sucking away 40W 24/7. Thinking about doing the BIOS upgrade to enable SpeedStep as my system is barely stressed (1% CPU at this moment). Just curious - for anyone who has already enabled SpeedStep, what kind of power savings have you seen?

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • stephenw10S
                                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                  last edited by

                                  Does it reboot correctly with that CPU out of interest?

                                  The power draw can be affected by a number of things. Addtional drives. NIC that are linked. Fan speed. 40W does seem high though, how are you measuring it?

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                                  • E
                                    eisenb11 @stephenw10
                                    last edited by

                                    @stephenw10 No, the i3-4370T has the reboot hang issue. Not a big deal as instead I just do a HALT, then power off and on with the button afterwards.

                                    I'm measuring with an Emporia outlet device. At 1% load, I'm mostly idling. If SpeedStep is significant (e.g. drops it to less than 10W) it would be a worthwhile update, but I have no idea what to expect by enabling it.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • stephenw10S
                                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                      last edited by

                                      Enabling high C states usually has a greater affect, especially if your CPU is mostly idle.
                                      Check the available C state and the 'lowest' value. The default Celeron and BIOS don't offer much:

                                      [2.7.0-DEVELOPMENT][admin@pfsense.fire.box]/root: sysctl dev.cpu.0
                                      dev.cpu.0.temperature: 39.0C
                                      dev.cpu.0.coretemp.throttle_log: 0
                                      dev.cpu.0.coretemp.tjmax: 100.0C
                                      dev.cpu.0.coretemp.resolution: 1
                                      dev.cpu.0.coretemp.delta: 60
                                      dev.cpu.0.cx_method: C1/hlt
                                      dev.cpu.0.cx_usage_counters: 66905813
                                      dev.cpu.0.cx_usage: 100.00% last 620us
                                      dev.cpu.0.cx_lowest: C1
                                      dev.cpu.0.cx_supported: C1/1/0
                                      dev.cpu.0.%parent: acpi0
                                      dev.cpu.0.%pnpinfo: _HID=none _UID=0 _CID=none
                                      dev.cpu.0.%location: handle=\_PR_.CPU0
                                      dev.cpu.0.%driver: cpu
                                      dev.cpu.0.%desc: ACPI CPU
                                      
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                                      • E
                                        eisenb11 @stephenw10
                                        last edited by

                                        @stephenw10 Sounds like it may be worth a try. I may try to pick up another M400 so I'll have a backup and maybe try to "downgrade" it to a i3-4130T as well. Lower clock should use less power and I hear it doesn't have the reboot issue so a win-win. Might also upgrade that machine to pfsense 2.6 as I'm on 2.4.5 currently.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • stephenw10S
                                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                          last edited by

                                          With an i3-4160 and unlocked BIOS to enable speedstep:

                                          [2.7.0-DEVELOPMENT][admin@m400-2.stevew.lan]/root: sysctl dev.cpu.0
                                          dev.cpu.0.temperature: 37.0C
                                          dev.cpu.0.coretemp.throttle_log: 0
                                          dev.cpu.0.coretemp.tjmax: 100.0C
                                          dev.cpu.0.coretemp.resolution: 1
                                          dev.cpu.0.coretemp.delta: 63
                                          dev.cpu.0.cx_method: C1/hlt
                                          dev.cpu.0.cx_usage_counters: 20326
                                          dev.cpu.0.cx_usage: 100.00% last 1186us
                                          dev.cpu.0.cx_lowest: C1
                                          dev.cpu.0.cx_supported: C1/1/0
                                          dev.cpu.0.freq_levels: 3600/54000 3400/49609 3200/45377 3000/41815 2900/39829 2700/36458 2500/32748 2300/29177 2100/26204 1900/22916 1700/20193 1500/17168 1400/15710 1200/13290 1000/10588 800/8400
                                          dev.cpu.0.freq: 800
                                          dev.cpu.0.%parent: acpi0
                                          dev.cpu.0.%pnpinfo: _HID=none _UID=0 _CID=none
                                          dev.cpu.0.%location: handle=\_PR_.CPU0
                                          dev.cpu.0.%driver: cpu
                                          dev.cpu.0.%desc: ACPI CPU
                                          

                                          Kill-a-Watt style device shows it idles at ~27W

                                          That CPU doesn't reboot though so upgrades are a PITA!

                                          E 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • E
                                            eisenb11 @stephenw10
                                            last edited by

                                            @stephenw10 Oh, the i3-4130T is also on the reboot naughty list? I thought someone had posted in this thread that the 4130 was OK?

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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