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    Storage options for use with x750e

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    • P
      phil.davis
      last edited by

      You can write any of the nanoBSD images to a CF card at least as big as the image. No trouble getting an 8GB CF card and writing the 4GB image to it.

      As the Greek philosopher Isosceles used to say, "There are 3 sides to every triangle."
      If I helped you, then help someone else - buy someone a gift from the INF catalog http://secure.inf.org/gifts/usd/

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      • R
        ray167
        last edited by

        Thanks that clears up part of my first questions.

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        • R
          ray167
          last edited by

          I just checked the options for the embedded images and I see options for several different sized images. Am I correct to assume that the larger the image file the more options included with that pf sense?

          Thanks

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          • P
            phil.davis
            last edited by

            They all have identical software. You get 2 "slices/partitions" with identical copies of FreeBSD with pfSense code, and 1 partition for the config file. You can boot from either of the 2 FreeBSD-pfSense bootable partitions - that is very handy when doing upgrades, as the upgrade write the new version to the opposite partition and boots from that. Switching back is thus easy.
            A bigger image just means more free space in the partitions for installing packages. On 512MB and 1GB images you could install lots of packages and run out of space. On 2GB and 4GB images I thnk it would be practically impossible to use up all the space on packages.

            As the Greek philosopher Isosceles used to say, "There are 3 sides to every triangle."
            If I helped you, then help someone else - buy someone a gift from the INF catalog http://secure.inf.org/gifts/usd/

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            • R
              ray167
              last edited by

              I see that is very enlightening thanks. I have been really wrapped up with the hardware side of my x750e that I have not delved too deep into the software side, but will start looking into it.

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              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                At least 1 other user has reported success using a CF-SD card adapter to boot an X750e.
                I've not seen anybody using an IDE-SATA adapter though, where did you read that? In terms booting from a HD the larger IDE drives seem to fair much better against the buggy bios. >80GB you're probably OK with the default bios settings and booting pfSense normally. 20 or 40GB drives usually require special measures to boot.

                Steve

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                • R
                  ray167
                  last edited by

                  Hi Steve,

                  in regards to the ide-sata adapter I read somewhere on this forum that someone had success using an ssd in the x750e, so I assumed they used some sort of adapter to connect the sata to the ide.

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                  • stephenw10S
                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                    last edited by

                    You can get IDE SSDs but I wouldn't ever get one myself. They are far more expensive and some are very early SSDs complete with all the short comings they had.

                    http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-32GB-SSD-2-5-Inch/dp/B000T9QRKE

                    Steve

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                    • R
                      ray167
                      last edited by

                      Oh wow I didn't know they made ssd with IDE connection. Your right definitely not worth it. I think I will just grab two 8 gig CF cards off a local shop or even ebay. I would also grab a sata to ide adapter to try it out. Steve do you think there maybe big issues with that approach or is it something I can work out in time?

                      Thanks

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                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        With using a CF card? Probably not. You may need to run from HD if you want to use Snort or Squid, though many people don't.

                        With using an IDE-SATA adapter? No idea. The bios is picky about the geometry presented to it (some bug causes it to miscalculate the boot point with certain geometries) so anything could happen.  ;)

                        Steve

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                        • R
                          ray167
                          last edited by

                          Hi I managed to get my hands on two 8 gb Sandisk extreme III cards. Unfortunately I am having issues booting PF. I tried writing the 4 GB images to both the cards with either physdisk and also used win32diskimager with no success of getting a boot out of either of the cards. In putty I get as far as the post message where it shows all the onboard devices but goes no further. I have changed the speed to 9600 bauds on the motherboard so I can see the post messages and the PF start up, but I only see post message and nothing else. I have followed, as far as I can tell, the tutorial instructions for the x750e-e to the letter. Is their a way to test the cf cards and see if they are bootable?

                          Thanks

                          So I decide to try something to figure out if its a CF card issue. I popped in the original 128 MB CF card that came with the machine and which also has the freebsd image that I used to flash the bios. It does work, but when I wrote the same image to the 8 gig sandisk cards and went through the auto detect and then the setting changes for the large size to be recognized I dont seem to be able to boot from either card. I am guessing its a card compatibility issue? Is there more I can do or should I find some 4 gig CF cards.

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                          • stephenw10S
                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                            last edited by

                            Yep, it's probably a card geometry issue. Have you tried booting the cards with the bios settings all at auto?
                            Are you going through the process of going to auto to detect the correct values for C and S before settings H to 2?

                            I did, a while back, attempt to collect geometry values that worked and those that didn't in order to try to determine what values caused problems. I never got very far. It would also be interesting to know how the original user who suggested settings heads to 2 came up with that workaround. I have always assumed it was a well known bios workaround from earlier buggy bioses, like the 32GB bug for example. However I've never been able to find any references to that.

                            Steve

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                            • R
                              ray167
                              last edited by

                              Hi Steve,

                              I have tried the steps you posted all last night with no results. I am going to try and find some 2 or 4 gig sandisks to try out.

                              Thanks

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                              • R
                                ray167
                                last edited by

                                Here is a pic of the card so other people dont run into the same issue.

                                20140215_103319.jpg
                                20140215_103319.jpg_thumb
                                ![autodetect 1 .jpg](/public/imported_attachments/1/autodetect 1 .jpg)
                                ![autodetect 1 .jpg_thumb](/public/imported_attachments/1/autodetect 1 .jpg_thumb)
                                autodetect.jpg
                                autodetect.jpg_thumb

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                                • R
                                  ray167
                                  last edited by

                                  I finally got my hands on a 4 gig CF card pic below. This one loads pf sense no problem. Now I have got a bit of an issue again with setting up the wan and lan. I follow the auto config and both connections get detected, but after the system reboots in the top portion where the wan and lan have IP addresses my setup does not. I also get the error
                                  "mskc2: Uncorrectable PCI Express error mskc3: Uncorrectable PCI Express error".
                                  I havent really seen this issue in my searches of the forum, but if there is a post I would appreciate a link.

                                  Thanks

                                  20140215_214737.jpg
                                  20140215_214737.jpg_thumb

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                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    That's normal, at least every box shows it and it doesn't seem to cause any problems.
                                    It is possible to stop that error by replacing the nic firmware config file. However doing so is quite difficult and potentially risky and as I say it doesn't actually help the function in any way.

                                    See: https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,20095.msg250430/topicseen.html#msg250430

                                    Steve

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                                    • R
                                      ray167
                                      last edited by

                                      Thanks for the link. I did get it finally up and running just restarted the wizard again and this time it worked. Also got my D-link dir-825 as an AP for wireless connection. Now I will move onto fan modifications to quite them down.

                                      Thanks

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                                      • stephenw10S
                                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                        last edited by

                                        They go fairly quiet once you've turned them down. I don't run them lower than 32 but others have gone lower.

                                        Steve

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