My guide to installing pfSense on Watchguard x750e

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?

stephenw10

There seems to be some problem with 2.5 (FreeBSD 12) on those boxes but you should still see something boot. And then fail.
When I installed mine I used the internal VGA header to access to BIOS and force it to boot the installer but I believe it should be possible to boot the install image from CF.
See: https://forum.netgate.com/post/969046

What image exactly are you using?

You should continue this there or in the XTM800/1500 thread.

Steve

KyleBrown

A friend of mine has been following this guide but, at the moment, is getting this as an output. Any help would be appreciated.

Gertjan

@kylebrown

That problem was solved last year.
The solution was : switch the devices to 'on'.

stephenw10

Um, yeah hard to see what you're showing there. Just the putty screens in the center?

Both seem to be showing the same thing and on different com ports so I'd suggest neither is correct.

What device are you installing to?

What image are you using?

How are are you trying to install it?

A lot has changed since 2017....

Steve

Gertjan

@stephenw10 said in My guide to installing pfSense on Watchguard x750e:

different com ports

I see this :

and you see comm ports ??

edit : Oh wait, just zoomed into 400 % : I see comm ports .....