pfSense on Watchguard M370

stephenw10

The header is not on the chip directly. I think the pinout is given here in the thread somewhere though.

However if it's anything like previous boards it requires power from the board to work. Otherwise you'll not see anything from the chip at all.

VioletDragon

@stephenw10 that could be a possibility. But I think it's better for a close up picture that the writing on the chip is readable so we know what chip it is, make and model not only that voltage of the chip too.

Some motherboards has it's own SPI Power Supply which requires some form of external power from the Power Supply of the machine at least.

Regards

stephenw10

Mmm, nope looks like it isn't: https://forum.netgate.com/post/1030176

Also that's where those pics are from!

stephenw10

So when you try to read the chip as shown here:

Note the following steps are for the AsProgrammer software. The steps are mostly same for both programmer software. Do not attempt the steps below unless the CMOS battery has been removed and the power cable has been disconnected from the M370.
a. Launch AsProgrammer
b. Click “Read ID” button and you should get a list of 3 chips (2 WINBOND W25Q128 chips and 1 Spansion. I believe you can select either of the WINBOND options but I used the W25Q128FV.

Do you see the chip ID'd?

v16v

Where is the bios chip itself, can't find it?

VioletDragon

@v16v attach a picture od the board. Preferably by chipset and CMOS battery.

Regards

v16v

I don't have a camera, just a cell phone, but it takes bad pictures.

v16v

VioletDragon

@v16v On the board take a look at PU16, left of that there is a EPROM. Attach what the chip says.

Regards.

v16v

@VioletDragon

VioletDragon

@v16v I'm not getting much online about that check,

What does this chip say ?

Regards

stephenw10

So can we assume your flash software is not recognising the flash chip via SPI?

v16v

@VioletDragon

VioletDragon

@v16v It hard to say, where the BIOS chip is on that board is tbh.

Regards

cNone

First of all I want to say hello to all.

So now I have a M370 unit in my hand and I haven't opened it yet. I have a spare 120GB mSATA SSD and bios passowrd. I have read the thread and I am very confused about how to install pfSense on my M370. Are there any step-by-step guied or at least requirements (such as connecting to unit via ssh or hooking it to a network to access the bios) first things to do list? Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Squuiid

@cNone From memory, put pfSense on USB stick. Insert USB stick.
Connect console cable to console port and ensure your box shows it posting when powered on. Use Putty on Windows or SERIAL on Mac.
Go into M370 BIOS and select boot from USB stick. Install pfSense.

https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html

https://www.decisivetactics.com/products/serial/

cNone

@Squuiid Ah thank you for the starters, how to monitor this sequence? Connect via ssh with a cisco console cable is OK? An how to put pfSense in a usb stick? Just burn with rufus? And which image?

EDIT: Thanks for your edit, I just need to know which image should I download and how to burn it to a USB.

Squuiid

@cNone
pfSense-CE-memstick-serial-2.7.2-RELEASE-amd64.img.gz
USB memstick installer (Serial Console)

Yes, console cable (not SSH, just terminal)

Mathias HH

@cNone Can you please provide me the password?

cNone

@Mathias-HH You can find the p@sw*rd in this very thread. I have not tested it yet, but I am pretty sure it will work. Just look for a firewall image ;)