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    Successful Install on Watchguard Firebox X700!

    Hardware
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    • H
      hornpipe2
      last edited by

      Hey all.

      Picked up a Firebox x500 at Salvation Army for $10 last week.  I know it's old hardware, but that red paint job… : )

      Was able to install pfSense on a 2gb CF card and set everything up: re0 as WAN, re1-4 bridged to make LAN, and re5 as GUEST (plugs to spare unsecured WiFi router).  Thanks for all the posts helping me along so far!

      I've found my box at least to be really sensitive to shutdowns at the wrong time: had to reimage the CF card (or at least the NanoBSD slice) a couple times because of power getting pulled.  I don't know if this is related to my card, box, or the design of the x500 in general.  Something to be aware of, anyway.

      lcdproc-dev failed to unpack properly after about 10 mins of activity, with an LZMA error.  Don't know what that was all about.  Haven't tried again.

      Oh, also: how do I get into the BIOS?

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      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        Hmm, I've pulled the plug on my box many times without ever having a problem. Sounds like you may have an issue. Check that the filesystem is mounted read-only (shown on the dashboard).

        There is no way of accessing the BIOS over serial on these boxes. You need to use a PCI graphics card and a keyboard header. You shouldn't need to access it though.

        @hornpipe2:

        I know it's old hardware, but that red paint job… : )

        Yep.  ;D

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        • M
          moogoom
          last edited by

          I have problem.
          I make update pfSense in my Firefox X700 from 2.1 to 2.2 and… my LCD not work. :(

          Beginning package installation for LCDproc-dev .
          Downloading package configuration file… done.
          Saving updated package information... done.
          Downloading LCDproc-dev and its dependencies...
          Checking for package installation...
          Downloading https://files.pfsense.org/packages/10/All/lcdproc-0.5.6-i386.pbi ...  (extracting)
          ERROR: No digital signature! If you are SURE you trust this PBI, re-install with --no-checksig option.
          of lcdproc-0.5.6-i386 failed!

          Installation aborted.Removing package...
          Starting package deletion for lcdproc-0.5.6-i386...done.
          Removing LCDproc-dev components...
          Tabs items... done.
          Menu items... done.
          Services... done.
          Loading package instructions...
          Include file lcdproc.inc could not be found for inclusion.
          Removing package instructions...done.
          Auxiliary files... done.
          Package XML... done.
          Configuration... done.
          done.
          Failed to install package.

          Installation halted.

          Any sugestion ?

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          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            You need to allow unsigned packages in System > Advanced,  Miscellaneous tab. The dev package is unsigned, and probably should be. It's got issues in 2.2 though they can be worked around:
            https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=7920.msg479877#msg479877

            Steve

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            • N
              negimudkip
              last edited by

              Don't know if anyone has gotten a "ata0: DMA limited to UDMA33, controller found non-ATA66 cable" when installing 2.2 on the X1000.

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

                That's to be expected, the connection is not UDMA-66 capable. Is it preventing it from booting? You might need to disable DMA, read this:
                https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=20095.msg480824#msg480824

                Steve

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                • N
                  negimudkip
                  last edited by

                  @stephenw10:

                  That's to be expected, the connection is not UDMA-66 capable. Is it preventing it from booting? You might need to disable DMA, read this:
                  https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=20095.msg480824#msg480824

                  Steve

                  Yes, it's preventing me from booting. So I just have to edit the file in the "Diagnostics - Edit File" in the /boot/loader.conf file, then update? Just want to make sure….

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                  • stephenw10S
                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                    last edited by

                    You need to use the file:
                    /boot/loader.conf.local

                    The standard loader.conf file isn't copied across when you do a firmware update and can be overwritten.

                    However that log line about the cable is normal because it isn't an 80pin cable/connection. What do your boot logs actually show before it fails to boot?

                    Steve

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                    • P
                      power_matz
                      last edited by

                      Any hint to make a clean install on a HD? I installed it on a new HD but the system isn't showing any output on the serial console. I tried two HDs, always the same.
                      Booting from a CF card is working with output to putty.

                      Is there is another way like the X750e boxes for starting?

                      I used the box with the 2.1 version without any problems. The console always showed up.
                      The display light is going out while starting…. very strange.

                      Matthias

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

                        Hmm, that's tricky. You're using the same HD so it's unlikely to be a BIOS detection  issue. You'd need to use a PCI graphics card to determine that though.
                        How did you install to the drive? There's no HD activity LED on the X700 so it may be booting to something and failing at, say, the mountroot> Have you enabled serial output?
                        It seems likely to be a bootloader problem. Have you tried upgrading from a 2.1.X install?

                        Steve

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                        • P
                          power_matz
                          last edited by

                          Hi,
                          just installed a fresh 2.1.5 with the same result. No output from the serial console. What do you mean with enable serial output? When booting from the watch guard CF card serial output works.
                          It is the same HD like before (with 2.1). I install in a virtual machine then going to the firebox.

                          Matthias

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                          • P
                            power_matz
                            last edited by

                            OK, found the problem. Either it was a USB adaptor for installing the HD or the virtual machine software.

                            I switched to real hardware, now it works!

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                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              Ok, cool.
                              The standard full install to a hard drive doesn't use the serial console by default. You have to either select the embedded kernel by default or enable  the serial console in the advanced option in the webgui to see it. You do see something though on the serial port though even without enabling it.

                              Steve

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                              • D
                                dig1234
                                last edited by

                                +1 on the red paint job  :)
                                So whats the status on the old watchdog timeouts issue with the realtek nics, has anyone noticed improvement on 2.2 with it's upgrade to freeBSD 10? I have one sitting in a closet offline bc of that issue.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • P
                                  power_matz
                                  last edited by

                                  @stephenw10:

                                  Ok, cool.
                                  The standard full install to a hard drive doesn't use the serial console by default.

                                  I used the embedded version, so serial port just works. Sorry for the missunderstanding.

                                  Matthias

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                                  • K
                                    kcallis
                                    last edited by

                                    @stephenw10:

                                    You need to use the file:
                                    /boot/loader.conf.local

                                    The standard loader.conf file isn't copied across when you do a firmware update and can be overwritten.

                                    However that log line about the cable is normal because it isn't an 80pin cable/connection. What do your boot logs actually show before it fails to boot?

                                    Steve

                                    I get the following: "DMA limited to UDMA33 controller found non-DMA66 cable"

                                    Is there anyway to make this go away directly in the console? This never gets to the point that I can actually to the interface configuration!

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                                    • R
                                      RickcJ7
                                      last edited by

                                      I just purchased a x700. Been following along and am installing pfSense 2.2.2 2g nano on a 2GB card. I am trying to get to the command line (OK) to get rid of the "DMA limited to UDMA33…" message, but when I get to this line:

                                      Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or any other key for command prompt.
Booting [/boot/kernel/kernel]...

                                      I pressed all keys except Enter, the space bar, all letters, but it never goes to the OK prompt, just keeps booting. I'm using PuTTY with 115200, 8N1 on Com1. Do I need to press anything special to get to the prompt?

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

                                        No, like it says any key should interrupt the bootloader.
                                        Check your console cable is correct and not damaged etc.

                                        Steve

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • R
                                          RickcJ7
                                          last edited by

                                          @stephenw10:

                                          No, like it says any key should interrupt the bootloader.
                                          Check your console cable is correct and not damaged etc.

                                          Steve

                                          Ah! Thank you. I just had to reseat my serial cable, and it start working. That was driving me nuts.

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                                          • S
                                            sa_lontoc
                                            last edited by

                                            Hello to everybody..I successfully installed pfsense (from my limited understanding) to a firebox x1250e, I upgraded the CPU to Pentium M 1.7 and memory to 2Gig, PFsense is also running on 60Gig hard drive using the full version. I'm only running pfBlockerNG, LCDproc, Shellcmd and Filemanager. I tried squid, snort and squidguard but I'm having difficulty isolating false positive so I removed them.

                                            My question is, what else do I need to add/removed from the settings below to get the max out of this box?

                                            /boot/loader.conf.local

                                            hw.msk.msi_disable=1
                                            hw.pci.enable_msi=0
                                            hw.pci.enable_msix=0
                                            hint.p4tcc.0.disabled=1
                                            hint.acpi_throttle.0.disabled=1

                                            Command prompt:

                                            /conf/WGXepc -l red_flash

                                            /conf/WGXepc -l green

                                            /conf/WGXepc -f 32

                                            /usr/bin/nice -20 /usr/local/sbin/LCDd -r 0 -c /conf/LCDd.conf > /dev/null &

                                            /usr/bin/nice -20 /usr/local/bin/lcdproc C L I T U &

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