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    Watchguard XTM 5 Series

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    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      Did you add the code to set the ARM LED red? Don't think I can live without that now.  ;)

      Steve

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      • M
        Moose0
        last edited by

        @t-rexky:

        Keep in mind that the XTM box BIOS defaults to IDE mode on SATA, not AHCI.  If you installed pfSense on a machine in AHCI mode then perhaps it chokes on the XTM in IDE mode…  I don't know enough about pfSense driver implementation to be able to talk intelligently about this.  Hopefully someone else can chip in.

        Figured out what my problem was… I was trying to boot on a GPT partition scheme.. I know what I'm doing, I swear!

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        • T
          t-rexky
          last edited by

          @stephenw10:

          Did you add the code to set the ARM LED red? Don't think I can live without that now.  ;)

          Steve

          Unfortunately no, this is one of the features that I personally did not require.  I presume it's fairly trivial to implement?

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          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            Yes just add the registers and values to the bootblock SIO table.

            | Register | Value | Description |
            | 07 | 08 | Logical device to 8, GPIO2 |
            | 30 | 01 | Enable GPIO2 as GPIO |
            | f0 | cf | Set bits 4 & 5 as output |
            | f1 | 20 | Set bit 5 high, Red |

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            • T
              t-rexky
              last edited by

              Looks pretty straight forward, thanks for the info!  I also looked up the data sheets to confirm I understand what this is changing.

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              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                I spent more hours than I care to admit reading that datasheet!  ;)
                Finding those values when the GPIOs are not enabled by default required a lot of trial and error.

                Steve

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                • T
                  t-rexky
                  last edited by

                  I can only imagine how many hours you spent on this!  Reverse-engineering can be a lot of fun, but with a general purpose chip and so many possibilities this must have been labour of love…

                  I modified the most recent version of my unlocked BIOS to implement the LED initialization to red and the adventurous can obtain the file from my dropbox:

                  https://www.dropbox.com/s/o09qcz21apu4dk6/xtm515-bios1.3-unlocked1.9.led.rom.zip?dl=0

                  This has been tested on one of my units and it works fine.  Please note that this version does not implement any SpeedStep definitions - it is effectively the unlocked WatchGuard factory BIOS with all my other tweaks.

                  Peter.

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                  • T
                    t-rexky
                    last edited by

                    Back once more with a little bit of the BIOS modifying information that I promised a while ago.  Unfortunately I do not have the time to write elaborate instructions, but in any case there is a minimum amount of knowledge required in order to be successful, so just a few pointers should be enough.

                    Fundamentally, a few software tools and files are required that one can locate on the "net" with a little bit of effort. As always, be cautious about the source and do the required virus checks, etc., especially for items 1 and 2 below:

                    • AmiBCP-3.51.zip

                    • MMTool_322_1B_21Fix.zip

                    • Intel IASL compiler tools for platform of your choice (I compiled it for my Mac) to modify the ACPI module

                    • Any hex editor if you would like to change the string displayed on the LCD

                    • Intel microcode update files for your CPU

                    The AmiBCP program is used to unlock the BIOS, modify the displayed menus, enable the red LED, change boot version string, change any other BIOS strings, etc.

                    The MMTool program is used to extract/insert/replace individual modules within the BIOS.  For example, you can use it to replace the microcode for the specific platform and cpuid, or you can replace the ACPI_AML module with one that contains the Speedstep configuration specific to your CPU.

                    For a little bit more information I would refer you to the realm readme file in my unlocked BIOS archive that I posted a little bit ago.  I tried to be a little bit more descriptive in it and indicate where the changes are being made.  It should be a good starting point.

                    Peter.

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                    • StlCardsFanJRS
                      StlCardsFanJR
                      last edited by

                      I've successfully upgraded an XTM 505 and 515 using the following DIMMs.
                      XTM 505: CRUCIAL CT25664AA800.K16F (2 GB 240-PIN DDR2 DIMM UNBUFFERED)
                      XTM 515: G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ (DDR2 2GB PC2-6400 CL5-5-5-15 1.8V-1.9V) @wildio:

                      Hi everyone!  Thanks for all the info in here.  With it, I've managed to convert an XTM 515 to a very nice Sophos box.  However, I keep getting stuck on upgrading the memory.  I've tried everything I see here and nothing is working.  Does anyone have a link or part number for the memory I will need?  Would be super awesome!  Don't think Amazon is going to let me return anything else for another 10 years probably.

                      XTM-505_DIMMs.jpg
                      XTM-505_DIMMs.jpg_thumb
                      XTM-515_DIMMs.jpg
                      XTM-515_DIMMs.jpg_thumb

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                      • T
                        TraderX
                        last edited by

                        Hi All,

                        First post with plenty of reading ahead so glad to have found this forum and great to see such a strong community.

                        Very much rookie status so looking for basics of what I'm missing to get going again.

                        So far Ive done the following:

                        Upgraded both XTM530's with ram 4gb and c2d e8400 proc's
                        Burnt 2 4gb cf cards one with pfsense 2.43 serial image and freedos1.2 using win32disk
                        Using putty and usb/rj45 fdti chip console cable to connect via console port

                        Using tab I can access locked bios and navigate through menus, however when I let either
                        box with either card boot with burnt images 530 boxes seem to freeze with no sign
                        of OS's running, only cursor in top left or centre of screen unresponsive.

                        AMIBIOS(C)2006 American Megatrends, Inc.
                        MB-7580 Ver.WD0 04/26/2010
                        CPU : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU    E8400  @ 3.00GHz
                        Speed : 3.00 GHz

                        Press DEL to run Setup (F4 on Remote Keyboard)
                        Press n if you want to boot from the network
                        Press F11 for BBS POPUP  (F3 on Remote Keyboard)
                        The MCH is operating with DDR2 667
                        DRAM Timing: Tcl:5/Tras:15/Trp:5/Trcd:5/Twr:5/Trfc:44/Twtr:3/Trrd:3/Trtp:3
                        Initializing USB Controllers .. Done.
                        4062MB OK

                        Have I missed step or could there be something wrong with hardware or images burnt?

                        Lastly CPU seems to be running unusually hot at 65 degrees celius so could this be related?

                        thanks

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                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          What exact image did you use? At what point does it appear to freeze?

                          65C does seem very hot. How are you measuring that? Is the heatsink seated correctly? Fans running?

                          Steve

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                          • T
                            TraderX
                            last edited by

                            Hi Steve.

                            Googled after posting and 65deg seems to be mid range for that proc where the second box
                            with slower proc runs cooler at 38deg.

                            conflicting results from further testing??

                            Both boxes "seem" to freeze after the controller cards loads the CF card images
                            pfSense-CE-memstick-serial-2.4.3-RELEASE-amd64.img

                            AMIBIOS(C)2006 American Megatrends, Inc.
                            MB-7580 Ver.WD0 04/26/2010
                            CPU : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU    E8400  @ 3.00GHz
                            Speed : 3.00 GHz

                            Press DEL to run Setup (F4 on Remote Keyboard)
                            Press n if you want to boot from the network
                            Press F11 for BBS POPUP  (F3 on Remote Keyboard)
                            The MCH is operating with DDR2 667
                            DRAM Timing: Tcl:5/Tras:15/Trp:5/Trcd:5/Twr:5/Trfc:44/Twtr:3/Trrd:3/Trtp:3
                            Initializing USB Controllers .. Done.
                            4062MB OK

                            Auto-Detecting Pri Master..IDE Hard Disk
                            Pri Master : SanDisk SDCFH-004G  HDX 6.03
                                        Ultra DMA Mode-2
                            Auto-detecting USB Mass Storage Devices ..
                            00 USB mass storage devices found and configured.

                            0078

                            However the orig watchguard CF card doesnt seems to freeze still running after 7-10mins

                            Though strangly after in the bios for 3-5mins it freezes

                            Freeze.jpg
                            Freeze.jpg_thumb

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                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              Hmm, my box with that same CPU rarely gets above 45C. However that's mostly idle and booted into the OS where it's running various CPU halt features to reduce usage. The BIOS setup does not do that.

                              Also your CPU target temperature is 70C so the fans are probably not spooling up.

                              I would expect it to boot that image if it's written to the CF card correctly (I recommend using Etcher) but that's an install image meant for installing to something else like an SSD maybe.

                              You might try booting a Nano image as a test: https://nyifiles.pfsense.org/mirror/downloads/pfSense-CE-2.3.5-RELEASE-2g-amd64-nanobsd.img.gz

                              Steve

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                              • T
                                TraderX
                                last edited by

                                I've removed cleaned and repasted the E8400 proc with similar bios temps
                                but guessing that is secondary at this stage.

                                the second box runs at 45dec Celsius so will look at first box temps

                                Swapped out ram, hdd, switched sata ports, replaced drive, removed partitions but cf card with image above still
                                wont boot BUT can confirm both boxes boot and work from nana image using etcher which
                                confirmed was burned sucessfully.

                                Downloaded last image from pfsense NY USA site where first image was pfsense asia

                                Will try 2.35 serial amd64 installer but doesnt seem likely will work given 2.43 is stable

                                Running out of idea of than that?

                                EDIT: sigh 2.35 did start and installed to hdd so back to troubleshooting why 2.43 wont install on my XTM530?

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                                • stephenw10S
                                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                  last edited by

                                  Did you verify the file checksum?

                                  Allow Etcher to extract the file? (write the img.gz file directly).

                                  I have done exactly that on my box here and it worked fine.

                                  You can always just update from 2.3.5.

                                  Steve

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                                  • T
                                    TraderX
                                    last edited by

                                    didnt know etcher could extract the img.gz file but great feature.

                                    In hindsight may have well been a checksum error, as again downloaded 2.43
                                    serial from another pfsense site and it installed last night.

                                    We learn the most "doing" through our own and other peoples experiences so
                                    thanks so much Steve and hope others will benefit from this.

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                                    • T
                                      TraderX
                                      last edited by

                                      Next ;) would like to unlock the bios with added features, from your experience which is the
                                      latest safe image I could upgrade too?

                                      And the cpu fans are definitely spinning up high then slows which I repasted the cpu heatsink, what else could
                                      be causing the high temps. The heatsink sheild are warm to hot so transfer seems effective.

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                                      • stephenw10S
                                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                        last edited by

                                        I think either of the two images linked in this thread should be fine. I've only tested the one I modified. Quite a few people have flashed that now and I haven't had any reports of failure.

                                        t-rexky's bios includes the modified DSDT table if you have one of the CPUs he's using.

                                        Flashing the BIOS is inherently risky. You have been warned etc! 😉

                                        Steve

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                                        • T
                                          TraderX @stephenw10
                                          last edited by

                                          Thanks Steve.

                                          I'm guessing the failure rate when flashing is very low, much the same as a pc motherboard
                                          as you say noone has reported failure? 👀

                                          Did I recall seeing someone or you sucessfully recovering a bricked unit with with some hardware
                                          or replacing the bios chip but again guessing its surface mounted

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                                          • stephenw10S
                                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                            last edited by

                                            Yeah, I bricked mine a few times using an older bios editing program that had glitchy results. I recovered it using 4 resistors and a parallel port cable. I don't think I have anything with a parallel port that still work though. 😉

                                            The actual images available now

                                            Steve

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