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    Watchguard Firebox M400/M500

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    • P
      pglover19
      last edited by

      What is the best CPU to use for the M500 model? Thanks..

      Z 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Z
        zanthos @pglover19
        last edited by

        @pglover19
        I have installed an Intel Xeon E3-1285L v3 3.1GHz in my M400...

        P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • P
          pglover19 @zanthos
          last edited by

          @zanthos said in Watchguard Firebox M400:

          @pglover19
          I have installed an Intel Xeon E3-1285L v3 3.1GHz in my M400...

          The prices on Ebay is still high for the Xeon E3-1285L v3 CPU. Any other alternatives?

          Z 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • P
            pglover19 @stephenw10
            last edited by

            @stephenw10 said in Watchguard Firebox M400:

            Use WGXepc64. Source. 64bit binary.

            Read about its development here if you're interested:
            https://forum.netgate.com/topic/29470/as-good-as-solved-watchguard-firebox-arm-disarm-led

            Steve

            I tried using the program on my Firebox M500 and it is not working. See attachment.

            0_1551267726934_48eef350-25c5-42f9-8ad6-2868e09ee10a-image.png

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            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by stephenw10

              Yeah, it doesn't do the fan control but does it set the led as expected?

              What's the supplied CPU in the M500?

              Steve

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              • Z
                zanthos @pglover19
                last edited by

                @pglover19 said in Watchguard Firebox M400:

                The prices on Ebay is still high for the Xeon E3-1285L v3 CPU. Any other alternatives?

                Check this list:
                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Xeon_microprocessors#Haswell-based_Xeons
                Choose any of the LGA 1150 based CPU's. They should work all... (But I can't guarantee that…)
                At least you can inject the latest Intel CPU microcodes to the BIOS to support those CPU's.
                My Intel Xeon E3-1285L v3 3.1GHz did work indeed without any modification.

                I 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  Or indeed almost any Haswell LGA 1150 CPU is likely to work. So a load of i3/i5s you could choose.
                  What are you planning to use it for? What do you need a replacement CPU to do?

                  Steve

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                  • P
                    pglover19 @stephenw10
                    last edited by

                    @stephenw10 said in Watchguard Firebox M400:

                    Or indeed almost any Haswell LGA 1150 CPU is likely to work. So a load of i3/i5s you could choose.
                    What are you planning to use it for? What do you need a replacement CPU to do?

                    Steve

                    I am looking for a AES-NI CPU. This unit will only be used in my home lab. I am running pfSense on 2 DELL R320 servers in HA mode in my production environment.

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                    • P
                      pglover19
                      last edited by

                      The CPU in the M500 is G3420.

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                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by stephenw10

                        Then any relatively cheap i3 like the 4130 will work. That will give you a faster CPU with hyperthreading and AES-NI.

                        I think someone fitted one earlier in this thread. (edit: several people in fact)

                        Steve

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                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by stephenw10

                          For reference here is the console log of the BIOS update commands I used.

                          [2.4.4-RELEASE][root@5100.stevew.lan]/root: cu -l /dev/cuaU1 -s 9600
                          Connected
                          
                          Freedos on COM1:
                          Freedos
                          Current date is Sun 03-03-2019
                          Current time is  9:30:01.88 pm
                          C:\>dir
                           Volume in drive C is FREEDOS1.0
                           Volume Serial Number is 4A84-36BD
                           Directory of C:\
                          
                          KERNEL   SYS        44,889  08-20-06  7:08a
                          COMMAND  COM        66,945  08-29-06  2:40a
                          BIOS                 <DIR>  03-03-19  8:37p
                          AUTOEXEC BAT           277  03-03-19  9:28p
                          MODE     COM        16,254  05-12-05 12:05p
                                   4 file(s)        128,365 bytes
                                   1 dir(s)      23,560,192 bytes free
                          C:\>cd bios
                          C:\BIOS>afudos
                          +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                          |                 AMI Firmware Update Utility  v3.07.00                     |
                          |      Copyright (C)2014 American Megatrends Inc. All Rights Reserved.      |
                          +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                          | Usage: AFUDOS.EXE <ROM File Name> [Option 1] [Option 2]...                |
                          |           or                                                              |
                          |        AFUDOS.EXE <Input or Output File Name> <Command>                   |
                          |           or                                                              |
                          |        AFUDOS.EXE <Command>                                               |
                          | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
                          | Commands:                                                                 |
                          |         /O - Save current ROM image to file                               |
                          |         /U - Display ROM File's ROMID                                     |
                          |         /S - Refer to Options: /S                                         |
                          |         /D - Verification test of given ROM File without flashing BIOS.   |
                          |         /A - Refer to Options: /A                                         |
                          |       /OAD - Refer to Options: /OAD                                       |
                          | /CLNEVNLOG - Refer to Options: /CLNEVNLOG                                 |
                          | Options:                                                                  |
                          |     /MEUL: - Program ME Entire Firmware Block, which supports             |
                          |              Production.BIN and PreProduction.BIN files.                  |
                          |         /Q - Silent execution                                             |
                          |         /X - Don't Check ROM ID                                           |
                          |       /CAF - Compare ROM file's data with Systems is different or         |
                          |              not, if not then cancel related update.                      |
                          |         /S - Display current system's ROMID                               |
                          |       /JBC - Don't Check AC adapter and battery                           |
                          |  /HOLEOUT: - Save specific ROM Hole according to RomHole GUID.            |
                          |              NewRomHole1.BIN /HOLEOUT:GUID                                |
                          |        /SP - Preserve Setup setting.                                      |
                          |         /R - Preserve ALL SMBIOS structure during programming             |
                          |        /Rn - Preserve SMBIOS type N during programming(n=0-255)           |
                          |         /B - Program Boot Block                                           |
                          |         /P - Program Main BIOS                                            |
                          |         /N - Program NVRAM                                                |
                          |         /K - Program all non-critical blocks.                             |
                          |        /Kn - Program n'th non-critical block(n=0-15).                     |
                          |     /HOLE: - Update specific ROM Hole according to RomHole GUID.          |
                          |              NewRomHole1.BIN /HOLE:GUID                                   |
                          |         /L - Program all ROM Holes.                                       |
                          |        /Ln - Program n'th ROM Hole only(n=0-15).                          |
                          |      /ECUF - Update EC BIOS when newer version is detected.               |
                          |         /E - Program Embedded Controller Block                            |
                          |        /ME - Program ME Entire Firmware Block.                            |
                          |       /FDR - Flash Flash-Descriptor Region.                               |
                          |       /MER - Flash Entire ME Region.                                      |
                          |      /MEUF - Program ME Ignition Firmware Block.                          |
                          |         /A - Oem Activation file                                          |
                          |       /OAD - Delete Oem Activation key                                    |
                          | /CLNEVNLOG - Clear Event Log.                                             |
                          |   /CAPSULE - Override Secure Flash policy to Capsule                      |
                          |  /RECOVERY - Override Secure Flash policy to Recovery                     |
                          |        /EC - Program Embedded Controller Block. (Flash Type)              |
                          |    /REBOOT - Reboot after programming.                                    |
                          |  /SHUTDOWN - Shutdown after programming.                                  |
                          +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                          C:\BIOS>dir
                           Volume in drive C is FREEDOS1.0
                           Volume Serial Number is 4A84-36BD
                          
                           Directory of C:\BIOS
                          
                          .                    <DIR>  03-03-19  8:37p
                          ..                   <DIR>  03-03-19  8:37p
                          M400     ROM     8,388,608  01-14-19 10:57a
                          AFUDOS   EXE       168,944  11-10-14  3:14p
                          AFUEFI   EXE       159,392  04-24-14  3:59p
                                   3 file(s)      8,716,944 bytes
                                   2 dir(s)      23,560,192 bytes free
                          C:\BIOS>afudos backup.rom /O
                          +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                          |                 AMI Firmware Update Utility  v3.07.00                     |
                          |      Copyright (C)2014 American Megatrends Inc. All Rights Reserved.      |
                          +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                           Saving current BIOS into file: backup.rom
                           Reading flash ............... done                
                          C:\BIOS>dir
                           Volume in drive C is FREEDOS1.0
                           Volume Serial Number is 4A84-36BD
                          
                           Directory of C:\BIOS
                          
                          .                    <DIR>  03-03-19  8:37p
                          ..                   <DIR>  03-03-19  8:37p
                          M400     ROM     8,388,608  01-14-19 10:57a
                          AFUDOS   EXE       168,944  11-10-14  3:14p
                          AFUEFI   EXE       159,392  04-24-14  3:59p
                          BACKUP   ROM     4,194,304  03-03-19  9:52p
                                   4 file(s)     12,911,248 bytes
                                   2 dir(s)      19,365,888 bytes free
                          C:\BIOS>afudos m400.rom /B /P /N
                          +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                          |                 AMI Firmware Update Utility  v3.07.00                     |
                          |      Copyright (C)2014 American Megatrends Inc. All Rights Reserved.      |
                          +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                           Reading flash ............... done                
                           - ME Data Size checking . ok
                           - FFS checksums ......... ok
                           Erasing Boot Block .......... done                
                           Updating Boot Block ......... done                
                           Verifying Boot Block ........ done                
                           Erasing Main Block .......... done                
                           Updating Main Block ......... done                
                           Verifying Main Block ........ done                
                           Erasing NVRAM Block ......... done                
                           Updating NVRAM Block ........ done                
                           Verifying NVRAM Block ....... done                
                          C:\BIOS>
                          

                          After running that the box reboots twice and beeps a few times. Alarming if you're not ready for it!

                          I leave creating a FreeDOS bootable USB stick as an exercise for the user.

                          The BIOS file Zanthos linked here has everything unlocked. I'm sure you could prevent it booting using some of the options there so if you do this choose wisely.

                          Also BIOS flashing is inherently dangerous etc etc! 😉

                          Steve

                          Z 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                          • Z
                            zanthos @stephenw10
                            last edited by

                            @stephenw10
                            Do I understand that correctly: You tried to flash that BIOS file, the box rebooted twice and beeped a few times. But after it worked?

                            Because when I tried the first time, I messed with the afudos parameters and bricked my box. So I had to use a SPI programmer to revive it...

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              Yes, sorry, that worked fine after going through it initialization routine because the cmos was cleared.

                              Steve

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                              • Z
                                zanthos @zanthos
                                last edited by

                                @zanthos
                                I just upgraded the RAM in my M400 with this one:
                                Kingston Value RAM KVR16N11K2/16 (2x8GB).
                                It works!

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • S
                                  Scorch95
                                  last edited by

                                  Does anyone know what the power draw on these are roughly? I don’t have any way to measure mine but trying to spec a ups as the storm last night knocked power out and corrupted the install. Gonna have to pull the unit and reimage it but would like to prevent this going forward. My fault for not already having a ups but I can prevent it in the future.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    ~35W peak at boot then ~26W once booted and idle according to my plugin power meter.

                                    Steve

                                    S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • S
                                      Scorch95 @stephenw10
                                      last edited by

                                      @stephenw10
                                      Thank you!

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • M
                                        moppa
                                        last edited by

                                        Can anyone suggest a compatible replacement PSU? Can't find the exact model and similar FSP ones on ebay dont have the 8 pin motherboard connector.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • stephenw10S
                                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                          last edited by

                                          You can get a 4pin to 8pin P4 adapter. Or you may not even need all 8 pins connected. There is no PCIe card in the M400 by default. I have not tried either personally.

                                          Steve

                                          M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • M
                                            moppa @stephenw10
                                            last edited by

                                            @stephenw10 brilliant, never thought of an adapter. Thanks!

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