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    Watchguard Firebox M400/M500

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    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      I haven't seen one. It's pretty easy though. Install to CF in something else and swap it in. Or write the installer to CF and install to SSD if you've installed one.

      Steve

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      • S
        Smoothrunnings @stephenw10
        last edited by

        @stephenw10 And what about flashing the bios that I have seen in this thread?

        Thanks,

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

          That's optional. If you do that you can just boot from USB and install as any standard appliance.

          Steve

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • CerberusXXC
            CerberusXX
            last edited by

            Hi all! I'm excited to say that I recently acquired 2 Firebox M400s to tinker around with. I'll probably end up leaving the BIOS alone on them, but I do have a few hardware questions:

            1-CPU: From what I've seen in this thread, it looks like the i3-4130 is the way to go as far as a plug and play CPU. If anyone has other thoughts here, let me know! (I have not ordered CPUs yet for these)

            2-RAM: I've seen some debate here about whether or not a 16GB RAM configuration will work. Has anyone had success running 16GB on the stock BIOS? Or should I just stick with running 8GB in a 2x4GB configuration?

            3-Storage: What are everyone's opinions here? (Pros and Cons?) I'm debating about getting a new CF card to install on or if I should just remove the CF card all together and drop an SSD in. If you're using a CF card, what size are you using? I've seen them from 4GB all the way up to 64GB. (I've seen pfsense successfully installed on a 16GB card, but wasn't sure if that was the only size you could use for this application or if any size would work.)

            My final question (for now anyways, because I'm sure I will have more... lol) is for @stephenw10: For getting the Arm/Disarm lights working, will I need to have a modified BIOS, or can I leave that alone?

            Thanks all!

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

              I have not tried a 4130 but as you say others have reported good things about them. They are usually the cheapest CPU that will fit. I can tell you the 4160 runs fine but for some reason will not reboot which is very inconvenient!

              You almost certainly don't need 16GB, I've yet to find a good excuse to upgrade from 4GB.

              It will run from CF but you need to take steps to reduce writes if you do. Remove SWAP at install, enable RAM disks once booted. The CF is slooooow. Updates can seem to take forever. It's very easy to install to CF though.

              You don't need to change the BIOS to run WGXepx64.

              Steve

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              • M
                Mookatroid
                last edited by

                @zanthos ... Just sent you a PM :)

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

                  @zanthos ... NVM bud. I got it sorted :)

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                  • M
                    Mookatroid @Mookatroid
                    last edited by Mookatroid

                    @zanthos

                    After ~5 months I thought it time to pursue M400v2 :)
                    I had ordered the necessary parts some time ago, and finally had the opportunity to complete the overhaul.
                    i.e. update to BIOSv6 w/NVMe Support + transition to an NVMe SSD
                    I am happy to say it has all been successful !
                    So my M400 is now running off a 256GB PCI-E Solid State Drive !
                    ๐Ÿ‘
                    WooHoo !
                    Pic below of completed M400v2....

                    IMG_3392.JPG
                    IMG_3393.JPG

                    Thanks again to zanthos for all of the custom BIOS efforts !

                    PS ... a quick edit to note that what the pics do not show are the rubber bumpers underneath the M.2 SSD itself that keep it all raised up for air flow, etc. The anti-static layer is more of a precaution versus anything else.

                    chpalmerC M 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 3
                    • chpalmerC
                      chpalmer @Mookatroid
                      last edited by

                      @Mookatroid said in Watchguard Firebox M400/M500:

                      @zanthos

                      After ~5 months I thought it time to pursue M400v2 :)
                      I had ordered the necessary parts some time ago, and finally had the opportunity to complete the overhaul.

                      Where did you source the adapter board RC-75842?

                      Nice upgrade! ๐Ÿ˜€

                      Triggering snowflakes one by one..
                      Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

                      S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • S
                        Smoothrunnings @chpalmer
                        last edited by

                        @chpalmer He bought is from Lanner or so he said! :)

                        chpalmerC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • chpalmerC
                          chpalmer @Smoothrunnings
                          last edited by

                          @Smoothrunnings said in Watchguard Firebox M400/M500:

                          @chpalmer He bought is from Lanner or so he said! :)

                          Thanks!

                          Triggering snowflakes one by one..
                          Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • M
                            Myst412 @Mookatroid
                            last edited by Myst412

                            @Mookatroid said in Watchguard Firebox M400/M500:

                            @zanthos

                            After ~5 months I thought it time to pursue M400v2 :)
                            I had ordered the necessary parts some time ago, and finally had the opportunity to complete the overhaul.
                            i.e. updated BIOSv6 w/NVMe Support + transition to an NVMe SSD
                            I am happy to say it has all been successful !
                            So my M400 is now running off a 256GB PCI-E Soldi State Drive !
                            ๐Ÿ‘
                            WooHoo !
                            Pic below of completed M400v2....

                            Thanks again to zanthos for all of the custom BIOS efforts !

                            PS ... a quick edit to note that what the pics do not show are the rubber bumpers underneath the M.2 SSD itself that keep it all raised up for air flow, etc. The anti-static layer is more of a precaution versus anything else.

                            alt text

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

                              Why not! ๐Ÿ˜

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                              • M
                                Mookatroid @Myst412
                                last edited by

                                @Myst412

                                because-i-can-gif-2.gif

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                • S
                                  Smoothrunnings
                                  last edited by

                                  I got my Firebox M400 today thanks to @Mookatroid :)

                                  After a upgrading it a little bit, I installed an i5-4570, why? Because that's what I had on hand. And pushed the memory to 8GB. I ordered a SSD which I had @Mookatroid along with 2.4.5 base.

                                  The one feature I didn't realize the router came with until I got it was a power button on the front. My previous router a CAR-3030 SmoothWall and before that the Firebox XTM 5 series don't have this feature, I hated having to remote my server panel to reach in with my arm to hit the switch.

                                  Thanks,

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • devid79D
                                    devid79
                                    last edited by

                                    what software should i use to modify the rom thoroughly ?? i want to change system name etc ... thx a lot

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • chpalmerC
                                      chpalmer @stephenw10
                                      last edited by

                                      @stephenw10 said in Watchguard Firebox M400/M500:

                                      You can dump the BIOS image from the pfSense command line using flashrom but it cannot re-write it.

                                      Searching though this thread still but what has everyone done to flash the bios on an M400 with software?

                                      Ive got a donor box Im playing with. :)

                                      Ive got the latest bios code from this thread..

                                      Triggering snowflakes one by one..
                                      Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

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

                                        You can flash it with AMIs dos tool, afudos. Maybe their uefi tool if you hook up a monitor the internal VGA pins. I forget if I tried that...

                                        https://forum.netgate.com/post/836153

                                        Steve

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                                        • chpalmerC
                                          chpalmer
                                          last edited by

                                          Thanks Steve: From your graphic it looks like you booted somehow while pfsense was active.. Is that not the case? I assume you booted from a freedos on CF card and worked from there..??

                                          โ˜บ

                                          Triggering snowflakes one by one..
                                          Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

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

                                            Yeah I booted FreeDOS from a CF card. Looking back that is confusing. I was connecting to the M400 com port from another pfSense box that was next to it at the time, so the first line there is from an SG-5100.

                                            Steve

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