My guide to installing pfSense on Watchguard x750e

dhoffman98

In VI, when on a line, hitting the letter "O" will insert a new line below the line you are currently on.

kobzar

I do it in another way:

Just insert what are you needed in /boot/loader.conf.local

--# cat /boot/loader.conf.local

kern.cam.boot_delay=10000
hw.msk.msi_disable=1
hint.ata.0.mode=PIO4

400killer

Thanks Kimbe and kobzar! You guys got me up and running on a x5500e with 2.3.4. I would not boot off the stock 512Mb CF card flashed with the bio's using Win32DiskImager. I tried it using Rufus to make a bootable disk, and it booted right into FreeDOS.

Also, I would not boot automatically with putting the hint command in the /boot/loader.config file. I used Kobzar's suggestion and put it in the /boot/loader.conf.local file, worked like a charm. It is also the location recommended in the pfsense watchguard wiki. Thanks again guys.

Also a huge improvement in fan volume is Hex Hounds: https://www.hexhound.com/quiet-the-fan-on-your-pfsense-watchguard-firewall/ website. To get it to work 2.3.4 Goajunkie found you need to change the permissions on a couple files after the install though. 1.chmod a+x /usr/local/etc/rc.d/fanctrld.sh 2. chmod a+x /usr/local/sbin/fanctrld.

Hope this helps others.

DeLorean

@Kimbie:

If you have done it right you should get a familiar style BIOS screen to what you get on a PC before the heady days of UEFI

6. Go into "Standard CMOS Features" Scroll down to the "IDE Master 0" press enter and change this to "Manual" and then change Access Mode to "CHS" escape back out to the main BIOS screen.

7. Go into "PC Health Status" and there is a section for fan speed should be the first option set this to "BB" this will make the fans quieter on boot up.

A few notes here.

Setting IDE Master 0 to "Manual" and Access Mode to "CHS" is no more needed when u use the BIOS version 8.1 ,
only the older BIOS version like 7 needed those specific changes.
You can leave these settings on "AUTO", the bigger CF card will be detected with no problem since BIOS version 8.0

Under PC Health Status changing the value to BB is also not recommended, because this setting can sometimes crash your BIOS,
and the result is NO Booting at all, and a CMOS reset is needed for get back in business.
This is not recommed if you want stability in your network

The only BIOS settings that i change in the BIOS is enabling ACPI for showing the cpu temp in the Dashboard,
and the shutdown temperature of the cpu as a safety.

Other then that, i verry nice tutorial for installing pfSense to a X E-Core Watchguard 8)

Grtz
DeLorean

stephenw10

You should definitely put the lines

hint.ata.0.mode=PIO4
hw.msk.msi_disable=1

in /boot/loader.conf.local

The standard loader.conf file can be overwritten at an update.

Steve

djskytv

hi i banging my head on the wall .
i'm trying to install pfsense on the cf card . its timing out searching for ata after starting the install process.
can i install on a hdd first on a laptop the install the hdd in the firebox??
any help appreciated thank you

stephenw10

You do not normally 'install' to a CF card. Instead you write the Nano image to it directly with a bit-for-bit writer like Win32 Disk Imager. Though recently I have found etcher to be my tool of choice in any OS. (https://etcher.io/)

Yes you can install to a PATA hard drive in a laptop (if you have one that old) and transfer it. I have done that a number of times. You may have to set the drive path though on first boot because it might be different to the laptop.
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/PfSense_on_Watchguard_Firebox#Booting_from_HD_3

Steve

numberer6

Question for anyone who has successfully installed pfSense on their x750e. Do you have a backup for the original Watchguard x750e BIOS? I want to install that BIOS for a special project. The x750e I bought on eBay had pfSense B8 installed on it already.

Things I've learned:

Using a 64MB CF with the FreeDOSBios2.img works fine
I successfully backed up the BIOS on my x750e (ver B8)
As a test, I installed ver B7, that worked
I was able to restore the backup ver B8 BIOS image
This BIOS backup image does not install: https://sites.google.com/site/pfsensefirebox/home/biosbkup.bin

I'm hopeful once I get a good Watchguard BIOS image, I'll be able to install that on this system.

DeLorean

The original Watchguard Bios doesn't support big CF cards like 4Gb and bigger,
besides converting the x750e back to the Watchguard OS (Fireware), there isn't any profit
to use the original Bios.

Grtz
DeLorean

diesel678

Has anyone got the latest pfsense 2.4.1 working on X750e? thanks

DeLorean

@diesel678:

Has anyone got the latest pfsense 2.4.1 working on X750e? thanks

No, because since version 2.4 there is no 32Bit version available.
The x750e can run only 32Bit version of pfSense.
The latest version for the x750e is 2.3.5

Best regards
DeLorean

CuriousG

@DeLorean:

@diesel678:

Has anyone got the latest pfsense 2.4.1 working on X750e? thanks

No, because since version 2.4 there is no 32Bit version available.
The x750e can run only 32Bit version of pfSense.
The latest version for the x750e is 2.3.5

Best regards
DeLorean

Will Celeron M 5xx series CPU work on X-Core-e?

DeLorean

@CuriousG:

Will Celeron M 5xx series CPU work on X-Core-e?

No, a Celeron M 5xx is socket BGA479
A Watchguard X Core-E series use a socket mPGA478C

For a X Core-E series, i always used a Intel Pentium M 760 @ 2Ghz 533Mhz with Dothan Core.
The motherboard of this type firewall only support cpu's with a Banias or Dothan core.
After replacing the cpu, you must set the 2 sets of dip switches from Banias setting to Dothan,
oftherwise the 2Ghz cpu will run as a 1.7Ghz due wrong multiplier setting.

Grtz
DeLorean

GavinSlayer

Hello,

So I am thinking of loading pfSense on an X750e that I inherited. Two questions:

If I upgrade the processor to the Pentium M 760 @ 2Ghz 533Mhz Dothan Core, will I be able to load the latest version of pfSense?
Will this device support loading pfSense with an SSD vs. the Compact Flash?

Thank You!

chpalmer

@gavinslayer

You can run 2.3.5 on it but not any of the later versions. These boxes are pretty much done at this point.

Support for 2.3 branch is going away.

Gertjan

30 days and counting : pfSense version 2.3 End of Life approaching

stephenw10

Yes, those boxes are pretty much for fun or experimenting only now.
If you do go ahead you might want to choose one of the 400MHz FSB Pentium M CPUs as they are supported directly by powerd so you get proper frequency scaling.

Steve

maevoureik

I've been trying to run "awdflash" to both backup and also flash x750eb7.bin and xebios_81.bin, but it doesn't appear that awdflash is working at all. After numerous attempts and boots, I'm still seeing nothing but "WG Bios v1.3" on the LCD screen of my XTM800series.

Video Link

stephenw10

The XTM800 is not an X-Core-e model, it's a much later device. If that really is the hardware you're running then flashing that bios to it successfully would almost certainly brick it!
The XTM800 BIOS is not locked though so BIOS flashing is not required on those.

What device do you actually have there?

Steve

maevoureik

@stephenw10 XTM850 hardware # SL8AE14 is the device I have. If BIOS is not locked, then why doesn't a CF card loaded with pfSense 2.5 (or 2.4.5) serial image boot up?