Installing on Alix 2C3 with faulty Console Port
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Hi,
I have a bit of a problem, my Alix board has lost the functionality of it's console port and I'm trying to do a new install of 1.2.3. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what I could do, short of buying a new board.
Many thanks
Elliot
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How did it loose it?
Is the serial controller faulty? Or just the connector?If it's just the connector you might be able to solder the 3 wires directly onto the board.
Otherwise… I think i read a thread where somone set up a virtualmachine, mounted the CF card as only harddisk, installed the pfSense, edited the config.xml to match the required config of an alix, stored the config, removed the CF put it into the ALIX.
However i dont know if that really worked.
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Yeah, I did read that somewhere myself but it seemed extremely complex and I'm uncertain that it will work. I've checked the cable and it is working fine (shorted pin 2&3 and got echo back) so it is definitely the console chip or the physical port.
I'm trying to boot the embedded image with QEMU for osx but it just sticks at: Loading /boot/defaults/loader.conf
If I do get it booted (maybe with vmware in windows?) I'm still at a loss on how to configure it to use LAN1 as LAN, LAN2 as WAN, LAN3 as OPT1. Would love to know how to get this right.
Elliot
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Open the config.xml and replace whatever you configured with vr0, vr1, etc (the driver names of the NIC's in the ALIX).
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I've used a physical machine with a CF->IDE adapter to do an initial install and then popped the CF into an ALIX box without issue. The only caveat is the network interface mapping, but yeah, doing the config.xml modification described sorts that out (and even if it didn't, I think the ALIX boards boot with default associations now on interface mismatch, but I'm not totally sure on that or if it's just on the initial boot This is SOP for me when I set up ALIX boxes, it's easier than trying to install directly on the ALIX hardware IMO.
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You could use www.hacom.net for a version which support normal behaviour on the screen….
Thereby not needing the console port.
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(and even if it didn't, I think the ALIX boards boot with default associations now on interface mismatch, but I'm not totally sure on that or if it's just on the initial boot This is SOP for me when I set up ALIX boxes, it's easier than trying to install directly on the ALIX hardware IMO.
Ah yes. I think the newer snapshots/RC's default to vr0 and vr1 if there is an interface missmatch.
YOu should be ablte to just flash a new version and it should work. -
Thanks everyone
I'm using pfSense-1.2.3–20090718-2234-nanobsd.img. Would I be right in thinking this version will default to vr0 and vr1? I have tried connecting to each of the 3 ethernet ports and it appears DHCP is not active as I get no IP address.
Elliot
