PfSense on Firebox X550e: A few questions

stephenw10

Ah, well spotted.
My own PSU is a Chinese knock off so I can't directly compare it to a PicoPSU however it does have the additional P4 12V connector. I guess you could use the molex connector with an adapter but it's there to power a HD if you have one. You could just use the 90W PicoPSU which looks like it has the P4 connector.

Steve

dwfa

I already purchased the 120 picoPSU - sigh; I would have gotten the 90. I checked a few of them (but not the 90) to see if they come with the ATX P4 and none of the ones I looked at had that connector >:(. Now I sit and wait for my goodies. I will be building a 24U rack unit this weekend to put my toys in. Should be fun.

BTW backed up the 2GB pfSense that came with the box; used dd from my linux server and copied it to a 4GB CF. I tried to boot if off of it using my laptop, but it I get a OS error; grrrr. Need to figure out what is going on during the boot process.

Nod to Steven for all your help …

dwfa

Here are some updates:

Got the 2GB of memory and it is working okay.

Got the RS-232 null modem cable and I am able to see the system boot.
Counts memory shows the hard drive etc etc

Got a 32MB CF card in the mail and imaged it with the FreeDOS image found in the tutorial. I
imaged a few different way using the tools listed. End result I cannot boot into FreeDOS. I cannot
even press ESC to bypass memory check or press DEL to get into BIOS. I am using PUTTY
115200 8N1 (tired both XON/XOFF on and off). BTW I am using a Sony Windows 8 laptop. Any
suggestions as to what I can do to fix this? >:(

Got the new fans and they work good. CPU temp is about 36 with fans at x80 (or 128 decimal)
with no load; and much quieter (no lid at this point).

New CPU and PSU are coming Friday.

As for the rack I am building, got all the wood cut; but got side tracked with family stuff - just a little bit more before it is complete. :-)

dwfa

EDIT:

I should have said TAB above and not DEL; in any case it finally works, I can get into the BIOS. Not sure what the issue was. I am still having an issue booting into FreeDOS though. :o

I crated a new pfSense 4GB image on CF cards I had (using dd on my Linux machine) and all seems good :D. I was able to use the console to do the initial setup and it all worked. Still not able to get into FreeDOS - but that is another day's challenge…

stephenw10

Since your box already had the modified bios it will have been set to heads=2 in order to boot the larger CF card. In that configuration it won't boot the FreeDOS card. You have to access the bios setup (by pressing TAB as you found ;)) and set the primary IDE channel back to auto settings. It will then detect the 32MB card and boot FreeDOS. However why are you trying to boot into FreeDOS? It's useful to know how to do it but not necessary. If you want to try the newer bios version you can flash it from pfSense with flashrom. BIOS flashing is inherently risky though, generally it's best to avoid it unless you have to. Though I always welcome more testers for the v8 bios. :)

Steve

dwfa

Thanks for the info - I want exercise the experience of booting to FreeDOS. I have gotten into the habit of test things out to ensure if something goes I can fix them instead of trying to figure out how to fix two things (hope that makes sense).

I will change the bios settings and give it ago - thx a gain.

dwfa

Darkk

Just picked up Firebox X750e 8 port off of fleabay for under $100 so will be joining the fun soon. :)

I already have a firewall that I recently upgraded to newer hardware so I will be leaving that alone for couple of years. Funny said it's locked with unknown name and password. No biggie. Nothing factory reset can't fix. :) Besides, I'd do that anyway.

We have few WatchGuards XTMs at work that I manage. What about the little boxes like the XTM 21s? Can those load PfSense? I don't even know what CPU it's using. Have to research this.

Wanted to see what mods I can do with it besides just loading PfSense on it.

EDIT: After quick searching around on PfSense found XTM21 is not x86 hardware. Bummer.

stephenw10

Indeed the XTM2 boxes (older models at least) are ARM based, Intel X-Scale. I have spent a while attempting to load OpenWRT on one but got nowhere for months and gave up. Recently I made something of a breakthrough though so who knows. It's way more advanced than my normal level of tinkering hence the months of staring at code and scratching my head. ::)
Would be nice to get running though it has a pretty nice spec for that type of device, 256MB RAM and 256MB flash.

Steve

Darkk

Yep. Found a PDF file that talks about the hardware spec. All it said was the CPU runs at 667 Mhz along with 256 meg of RAM and flash.

The XTM21 aren't bad little boxes and we have a few of them. Some even have built-in wireless. Most without active Live Security so would be nice to get the software loaded with something else and put it into good use without the DRM.

I will keep digging around and if I find something I will post a link.

dwfa

We have progress. I was able to boot to FreeDOS; but first I had to change the baud rate to 9600. I will have to go back and check the instructions again to see if I missed that. I ran the biosid program but the CR/LF are messed up. It reads as if there are no line feeds after the logo. I can live with it.

dwfa

With my picoPSU arriving soon, I was wondering if there was a way to hookup the existing on/off switch to the new PSU? Has anyone done that?

stephenw10

It depends how much you mind damaging the existing PSU setup. The output from the power switch going to the PSU is a two pin plug that you may have difficulty obtaining the matching socket for. You might have to cut it off. If you don't mind cutting the wires then it would be fairly easy.
The input to the switch is spade terminal on the AC inlet, you may be able to use them. Looking at the PicoPSU 120 you may be very lucky and find that the connector in the DC input fits. :-\ Try it and see.

Steve

dwfa

I got my new PSU, I like ;D …

I was looking at the little connector for the power supply? Anyone know what that is called? Once I know the name I will order one and then hook that up to the on/off switch then voila...

connector.jpg_thumb

stephenw10

No idea I'm afraid. You'll have to connect to both sides of the switch though. I don't know if the spade terminals on the back of the IEC AC inlet can be pushed into the connector on the picopsu cable directly, seems like they might. I would think you'll juts have to offer it up and see.

Steve

dwfa

I sent a message to the company that makes the PSU on the offhand they answer me :P . I will continue to search; however, I want to preserve the modular connections. Thank for the input.

dwfa

I want to change the CPU, but it seems I cannot find a Pentium M LV cpu. Where did others get their LV CPU to put into their Firebox? I am jealous :'( …

stephenw10

I'm using standard voltage CPUs. I believe everyone else it also. I've only once seen a socketed LV Pentium-M and never seen a socketed ULV. To be fair it was claimed to be an LV model by the seller but I never actually saw it! ;)
Although the wikipedia page lists all models as being available socketed I'm unsure.

Steve

dwfa

I received information from Mini-Box regarding the PicoPSU, they provided a wiring diagram of the connection type they use (not the specific one for the PSU, but good enough). After some research and phone calls, I believe I found the parts to be able to connect into an on/off switch. The connector type is known as a Molex Mini-Fit Jr 4 circuit (circuit IMHO is misleading, it really means the # of pins). The Molex part numbers are:

Female housing 39-01-2040
Female terminals (22AWG) 39-00-0039

Male housing 39-01-2041
Male terminals (22AWG) 39-00-0041

I will be ordering some soon; just need to find an on-line distributor with reasonable prices. Hope this helps others if they want to build in an on/off switch.

As for the CPU; currently it is running 350C with no load using x80 fan speed. I need to run the tests to see what temp will be with the CPU running at peak load.

I would love to get a LV socket-ed CPU, but I just do not know where to find one :-\

stephenw10

Yep, I'd love to try one of those 10W 778s for example. Though I have no idea if the firebox would recognise it correctly.
CPU-world lists it a BGA only.

Steve

dwfa

Okay, I think I just got difference between PGA and BGA. The BGA CPUs are ones that do not have the pins whereas the PGA have the pins on them. I know it seems obvious; just never really thought about it before. That is the reason I could not find what I was looking for :-[ . I am clued back into the real world - for a short time at least…

dwfa

I am an unhappy camper :-[

I got everything situated and tried to cut over from my $40 dlink to the X550e. I did a release IP address on the dlink, switched the cables and big let down. It seems the WAN keeps going up/down up/down as seen in the demsg output. I switched the WAN from SK3 to SK1 to SK2 all the same problem. It gets the ip address from my ISP then drops it is an endless cycle.

Here are a few things I noticed:
[list]

CPU is 100% running check_reload_status at near 90%
I see this in the syslog


The command '/sbin/dhclient -c /var/etc/dhclient_wan.conf sk1 > /tmp/sk1_output 2> /tmp/sk1_error_output' returned exit code '15', the output was ''
The command '/sbin/ifconfig 'sk1' inet delete' returned exit code '1', the output was 'ifconfig: ioctl (SIOCDIFADDR): Can't assign requested address'

the port just keeps cycling up/down like a yo-yo

The only thing I found is information related to MSK drivers, but mine or SK. I will do more reading, but if anyone has info that would be great.

Thx …

EDIT:
I tested the X550e trying to get an ip address using my own Linux DHCP server and that had the same issue. The WAN interface behaved the same :-[. I would think this eliminates the an incompatibility between the hardware. X550e to Ubee for ISP and X550e to D-Link switch (16x1GB). If I use static addresses it works fan (could test it with ISP 'cause that is not how it works).