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    Watchguard X750e running pfSense on a SATA hard drive easily with about $10 mods

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    • V
      vizi0n
      last edited by

      For the fans I use the script described here (option A) : https://www.hexhound.com/quiet-the-fan-on-your-pfsense-watchguard-firewall/

      It allows you to set a threshold temperature and the fan adjusts automatically

      For the LCD fix, what do you mean? I'm using lcdproc-dev and it works fine on my box, and when you backup your settings it should automatically reinstall the packages when you restore from a backup. At least, it did on mine

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      • H
        harveje
        last edited by

        Yep, that's where I got my info last time, got to watch that vi command line tho…
        I finally had to copy everything into a txt doc then copy and paste into pf

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        • H
          harveje
          last edited by

          Well the ide drive fit and works so well I'm just going to use it and make a copy on a sata drive for a backup.
          Updating the Bios was the key factor. Boot up time is way faster too.
          Thanks to All

          pfs-ide.JPG
          pfs-ide.JPG_thumb

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          • A
            arganox
            last edited by

            Hi all,

            Sorry for resurrecting this thread but I figured it would be nice to keep the info together.
            I did perform this mod and all is running and booting ok.

            Though I did notice some strange errors in the logs when the devices is running:

            
            (ada0:ata0:0:0:0): READ_DMA. ACB: c8 00 97 9d 6f 49 00 00 00 00 80 00
            (ada0:ata0:0:0:0): CAM status: ATA Status Error
            (ada0:ata0:0:0:0): ATA status: 51 (DRDY SERV ERR), error: 84 (ICRC ABRT )
            (ada0:ata0:0:0:0): RES: 51 84 c6 9d 6f 09 09 00 00 50 00
            (ada0:ata0:0:0:0): Retrying command
            
            

            BIOS (v8) settings:
            IDE master is set to HDD
            Both IDE channel and Access mode are on auto

            IDE primary Master PIO and UDMA are set to Auto
            IDE HDD Block mode and IDE DMA transfer access are enabled

            I think the later two settings are posing these issues though not sure.
            Could anyone tell me how to fix this? or give me some pointers?

            Regards,

            Arganox

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            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              That's using a SATA drive with an adapter or an old IDE drive?

              Steve

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              • A
                arganox
                last edited by

                Steve,

                Thanks for the reply.

                I did indeed use a SATA drive with the same connectors as Vizi0n did.
                Forgot to mention that tiny detail  ::)

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                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  Hmm, I would guess that's some quirk of the adapter maybe. Assuming the drive itself is good.

                  Steve

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                  • K
                    kobzar
                    last edited by

                    Wery thanks for this manual.
                    I was repeat it in myself. And now all is fine.

                    WatchGuard x750e + 2GB + SATA-IDE 320GB

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                    • F
                      fibrewire
                      last edited by

                      @vizi0n:

                      @fibrewire:

                      You could have just gone with a Microdrive  :)

                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microdrive

                      http://www.ebay.com/itm/230860368181

                      Yes I could, but due to the rarity, and possibility of cheap chinese knockoff, I prefer going the regular hard drive way. And it was cheaper to get 2 adapters for less than $10 vs getting a microdrive for $15-20 since I already had the hard drive. The turnaround is also quicker if I ever need to replace it.

                      I just wanted to add that 14 months later, the Microdrive swap has worked really well and is completely idiot-proof. I have a stack of drives on my desk here from that initial buy I made in December 2015 and they are all working great. Probably why Apple elected to use them in their line of iPods so many years ago. They are definitely not counterfeit, there are millions of them ready to go into a landfill and at $2/each its a headache-free way to get hard disk performance into a Watchguard appliance. Super low-power too, if the power goes out and the Watchguard appliance needs to run on a UPS.

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                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        Hard to argue with $2.  ;)

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                        • D
                          DeLorean
                          last edited by

                          You can use a 2.5" Sata SSD connected to a Sata controller card,
                          thats connected with a PCI-E 1x flex riser cable to the PCI-E 4x slot on the motherboard.
                          The differents in navigating speed trough the web UI is like day and night compared to a embedded version run from CF.
                          I have a x750e thats converted like this, and runs great.

                          Grtz
                          DeLorean

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                          • K
                            kobzar
                            last edited by

                            I was do it!
                            But i have a few different moments.
                            First, after install i doesn't normally booted. pfsense 2.3.3
                            I was stuck after LAN interfaces is initialized.
                            So, i going to boot promt, insert
                            set console="comconsole"
                            boot

                            After this i setup my network interfaces and next reboot was fine.
                            I use 320 Sata drive with two partition / and swap without any problem.
                            Thanks for the manual.

                            WatchGuard x750e + 2GB + SATA-IDE 320GB

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                            • D
                              DeLorean
                              last edited by

                              The x750e with 32Gb SSD connected to a Sata Controller card conversion that i made a few months ago.

                              Grtz
                              DeLorean

                              ![20170329_201750 (Large).jpg](/public/imported_attachments/1/20170329_201750 (Large).jpg)
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                              • V
                                vizi0n
                                last edited by

                                @DeLorean:

                                The x750e with 32Gb SSD connected to a Sata Controller card conversion that i made a few months ago.

                                Grtz
                                DeLorean

                                That is a very nice mod!

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • D
                                  DeLorean
                                  last edited by

                                  @vizi0n:

                                  @DeLorean:

                                  The x750e with 32Gb SSD connected to a Sata Controller card conversion that i made a few months ago.

                                  Grtz
                                  DeLorean

                                  That is a very nice mod!

                                  Thank you.
                                  It was a bit of struggle to get everything together on 1 plexi plate.
                                  When de power connector is disconnected from the SSD, and after removing the 2 red backplates,
                                  the total conversion can then be slide out.

                                  Grtz
                                  DeLorean

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                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    Nice.  :D

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                                    • K
                                      kobzar
                                      last edited by

                                      In last time a have e error on this board.
                                      Some one have the same issue?
                                      https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=128143.msg706598#msg706598
                                      I can't diagnose problem to resolve this mistake.

                                      WatchGuard x750e + 2GB + SATA-IDE 320GB

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                                      • F
                                        Fmslick
                                        last edited by

                                        I am so happy to find this and that I am not the only one still using this hahaha!!

                                        I just got some COLO on the low low and I have a x550e (post is for a x750e so i'm a lower class :P ) w/16GB flash card in there now but I just got my 160GB IDE H.D.D. that will be install later on this week. However I am having an issue this the LED indicator lights and display, the indicator lights only come on for activity (I guess that is cool) however the display will only show cpu load. I used this https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/PfSense_on_Watchguard_Firebox#Overview and some other things here on the forum from googling but no luck.

                                        2.3.4-RELEASE (i386) - NANO
                                        built on Wed May 03 15:22:11 CDT 2017

                                        @DeLorean your mod is top of the line :)

                                        19095440_1792212197461425_2140738194708077408_o.jpg
                                        19095440_1792212197461425_2140738194708077408_o.jpg_thumb

                                        We all start same where

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                                        • stephenw10S
                                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                          last edited by

                                          The lcdproc package should run pretty reliably in 2.3.4 with whatever option screens you selected.

                                          To get the NIC LEDs working as expected you need the modified drivers that set the LED registers correctly. However I've seen some reports of them not running nicely in 2.3.X. YMMV.

                                          Steve

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                                          • F
                                            Fmslick
                                            last edited by

                                            @stephenw10:

                                            The lcdproc package should run pretty reliably in 2.3.4 with whatever option screens you selected.

                                            To get the NIC LEDs working as expected you need the modified drivers that set the LED registers correctly. However I've seen some reports of them not running nicely in 2.3.X. YMMV.

                                            Steve

                                            yeah I will have to work on the LCD a bit and I think I am one of them who is going to have the LED's not run nicely :/ I did modified the drivers and they are still the same. Guess ill have to look into this a bit more.  ::)

                                            EDIT/ADD TO:
                                            So I got my IDE drive and installed it, I will make a new post later on to update on the progress

                                            We all start same where

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