Watchguard Help
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That's the same CF card and Freedos image that you used to flash the v7 image originally?
And it not getting to the 3 beeps?
To boot that card I would expect to have to have the BIOS values at their defaults, IDE channels set to auto. And it might not boot the first time after a cmos clear. It will boot and complain about a checksum error but should detect the card and boot correctly on the second attempt.
Can you confirm the CF is bootable in anything else? Not many people have CF bootable stuff to hand any longer. ;)
Steve
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Correct. Old Cisco 32MB i had laying around. My SSL 100 did not have CF card installed from factory. It had a 40GB IDE 2.5 (that went bad).
No, triple beep, ever. Just the 1 beep when it first powers up.
Phoenix - AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility
IDE Channel 0 Master
+=====================================================+========================+
| IDE HDD Auto-Detection [Press Enter]
| IDE Channel 0 Master [Auto]
| Access Mode [Auto]
| Capacity 32 MB
| Cylinder 496
| Head 4
| Precomp 0
| Landing Zone 495
| Sector 32I used this card with the default setting originally to flash the bios. I have another Transcend 32 GB CF here that gives me the same results. Also in the mail and should be here today a 4GB to try (just in case)
I dont have any other devices that use CF at the moment (other than my card reader).Thanks for your time!
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I just got brand new 4GB SanDisk Ultra in from Amazon. Same deal…
Cant say we didnt try -
Hmm, well if that card worked the first time I can't really see any reason it would not work again.
You wrote the image to it a second time? Or just copied the bios image onto the card directly?
I would have to try flashing the card again to be sure. Maybe use a different flashing program or write 0s to it first to sure it's clean.
Steve
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I just got brand new 4GB SanDisk Ultra in from Amazon. Same deal…
Cant say we didnt tryif you're using windows try this tool. i had better success using this than rufus & win32imager (both are great but it dont work for me this time)
http://m0n0.ch/wall/physdiskwrite.php
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I want to thank you all for taking the time to help me and for sharing your knowledge!
I have come to the conclusion that this motherboard is toast. I have taken all 3 of those CF cards and stuck them in the reader and booted my laptop off them just fine. Putting them back into the WG SSL100, fails to boot anything.
I have learned a lot from this and have purchased a XTM5 (on its way here now!!) I am certain I will have much better results. I have my CF ready to go as well as more RAM and dual core proc. Cant wait to share my results next week with you all!
Thanks again!
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You will like the XTM5 better anyhow. :)
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I won't disagree there. The XTM5 is much nicer. Of course you could have bought our hardware… ;)
It could be an entirely coincidental hardware failure but it seems unlikely. Very strange. I would not expect it to boot into the BIOS if it was a failure. :-\
Steve
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This looks like the x-core-e? Which is the same motherboard in X550e, X750e and X1250e? If you see it boot and then stuck, most likely the baud rate has changed during boot. As I recall freedos uses a different buad rate (9600) from the default bios buad rate (115200). Have you tried changing buad rate on your viewing computer after booting. Also when freedos has completed loading, it should make two beeps.
I had a couple of these x750e and I remember Watchguard's default buad rate is 115200 (same as pfSense) this would allow you to see the bios boot and then see pfsense boot. freedos baud rate is 9600. So you change to 9600 and you'll need to press "Enter" key multiple times to get the freedos console.
I think there is a feature, when you reboot the unit too many times it'll default to baud rate of 9600 for a one time boot. It'll work at this buad rate until you reboot. This allows idiots like me to at least see the system boot once, and then see freedos prompt. Believe me, I had my fair share of experience with the x-core-e series. Also note that these primitive console com were buggy and sometimes you get weird characters even when you are on the correct buad rate, make sure you have good ground on your serial connection and hit "Enter" key multiple times.
I think your motherboard is working. Once you get freedos prompt showing, move on to getting pfSense on the CF card.
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Yah, I remember now. So when I had the v81 bios flashed and freeDos on compact flash. I would keep my computer com baud rate at 9600 and boot it watchguard unit. I wouldn't see the bios boot, but after a while hit "enter" key a couple of time and the freeDos prompt appears.
Once I had pfSense on a compact flash. I keep my computer com baud rate at 115200 and I could see bios boot then pfSense boot.
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Hmm, it's been a long time since I did this… definitely worth trying. I would have expected to still hear the three beeps when freedos boots even if you don't see a console but I have a vague memory about that not happening.
Steve