Watchguard Firebox M400/M500
-
@iJay-XTM5
I assume we will need to activate a chat here to exchange the Lanner BIOS file as a PM feature does not seem to exist.
However, with that said, further chats with Lanner did reveal that the FW-7585 does not officially support any Xeon CPUs. Only i3, i5, i7. They would not say if the FW-7585 unofficially supports Xeon, but the datasheet for the FW-7585 does not list Xeon options at all. So ... this "gift" of Xeon support may end up being a mod they did only for the WatchGuard build.
I have an E3-1265Lv3 on the way, so fingers crossed one way or another.
Let me know if you would still like the Lanner BIOS file. :) -
@Mookatroid Yes, I would like to get a copy of the bios please! I've never used the chat feature; hopefully it isn't going to be too difficult. Good luck with your xeon transplant, I suspect the 1265Lv3 will not be as troublesome as the 1220L.
-
@Mookatroid
Hi Mookatroid
Thanks for getting the BIOS file. I'm very much interested. I can also mod the BIOS again with the latest Microcode patches, UEFI drivers, default settings and so on.
It will take a while, during October I probably won't have time to do it. -
@iJay-XTM5
I dropped a link into a chat for you :)
-
@zanthos
Hey Zanthos,
I dropped the link into a chat with you.
Please let me know when you download it OK and keep me posted on your mod'ing efforts.
Many thanks ! -
Does anyone know what the fan noise is like in comparison to a Dell R210/220?
-
A lot quieter! At least a modified BIOS/fan settings. Those Dell units are loud.
Steve
-
That’s what I was thinking but figured someone here would know. I’ve been told the r210ii/r220 are very quiet compared to their other units however.
Whats your opinion if it has a non modded bios? Right now my cpu temp is staying around 50C +- 3C so I’m hesitant to lock fan speeds slower.
-
Well I could be mistaken about that particular Dell model. All the Dell units I've ever heard have been loud.
What load? What ambient temp? Do I recall you swapped out the CPU in yours?
Mine runs 40-45C with lower than stock fan speeds but is mostly idle. 20-25C ambient.
Steve
-
@stephenw10
I did swap out to an i3-4370. Ambient is 22C. Load is idle basically. No packages running outside of base install and shellcmd. -
Hmm, well that's hotter than I might have expected but not dramatically. I'm running an i3-4160. I did spend some time optimising the heatsink as it looked a bit crude.
It does not reboot with that CPU, I think you see that too?Steve
-
It does hang. Last I looked we were all thinking it had to do with running a hdd instead of the compact flash. That’s interesting. Wonder what a different cpu can cause that to happen...
-
Indeed. I have to find some time to poke the settings. Still running from CF here so not that.
-
I wouldn’t mind running the pentium g3420 from the M500 but like the M400’s g1820, it doesn’t support aes-ni. Even though it’s no longer a requirement for 2.5 when ever it does release I would rather not give it up along with the hyper threading. As far as I’m aware the i3 series is the first point where either or both are available.
-
Has anyone been able to get their box to boot from usb with an unlocked bios for the purpose of install to a hdd or is it hard locked to prevent this?
-
If you use the BIOS @zanthos posted you can do whatever you want. It's completely unlocked. To a dangerous level!
-
I just picked up a 4130 off eBay so we’ll see if the rebooting issue goes away when it arrives and I get a chance to install it.
-
@stephenw10 said in Watchguard Firebox M400:
If you use the BIOS @zanthos posted you can do whatever you want. It's completely unlocked. To a dangerous level!
I may give it a shot to unlock mine but I’m in no place to unbrick it if it goes badly so we’ll see.
-
This post is deleted! -
Hello again,
I thought I would chime in with my M400 deployment progress :)
As noted earlier, the factory M400 accepted 2 x 8GB PC3-14900E DIMMs and I am running an i3-4130 CPU while I wait for my Xeon to arrive.
While waiting, I purchased a Lanner PCI-E Riser for the FW-7585.
Installation was simple enough, however, I have not found a way to enable that slot for PCI-E video yet.
Using a riser on my previous firewall (Caswell CAR-2030) was an easy solution to add VGA output, but so far no joy with same on the M400 + riser.
So I pushed forward and made a custom cable for the onboard VGA header.
As it turns out, the 2mm pitch header is the same as the old 2.5" IDE drives, so I was able to turn this old IDE adapter ...
into this ...
by just soldering up Red, Green, Blue, Hsync, Vsync and Ground.
Works like a charm ! :)
From there, the newly acquired VGA output made backing up the password-protected M400 factory BIOS a much easier task followed by flashing the unlocked/mod'ed BIOS provided by Zanthos.
So things are progressing well now, short of the money invested into the PCI-E riser than may never find a purpose.
But it is what it is :)
Will update again once I install my pending Xeon CPU and take a crack at installing pfSense onto a SATA SSD.
