Screen resolution - why do I need to ask for this here?
-
You are not understanding what is meant by console... Not talking about old school 9 pin connection.. Did you read the thread I linked too?
Simple usb console cable is what is used these days... Not sue what your going on about several inbetween? Put the box your setting up as your router next to your PC.. Once you have it setup its gui admin, or ssh.. And now you can put it where you want it for normal use - right next your 55 inch TV I take it ;)
-
If you are installing on a generic PC with some extra NICs in it though you're unlikely to have a serial console available. You definitely won't have a USB console.
I would always use a VGA connection over HDMI if that's available.
For almost all graphics hardware FreeBSD/pfSense does not use any specific driver. It uses the generic console mode. It's up to the BIOS and graphics hardware to pass that to the display and up to the display to show it correctly.
pfSense doesn't include anything additionally for graphics because most of the time it's expected to operate headless and the generic console output is sufficient to install and occasionally troubleshoot.I imagine your TV is capable of displaying it but it may well need some settings adjusting. The one I used did. I just hit auto-scale IIRC when I did it.
Steve
-
@johnpoz said in Screen resolution - why do I need to ask for this here?:
You are not understanding what is meant by console... Not talking about old school 9 pin connection.. Did you read the thread I linked too?
Simple usb console cable is what is used these days... Not sue what your going on about several inbetween? Put the box your setting up as your router next to your PC.. Once you have it setup its gui admin, or ssh.. And now you can put it where you want it for normal use - right next your 55 inch TV I take it ;)
Is this cable (https://www.amazon.com/Console-Essential-Accesory-Ubiquity-Switches/dp/B01AFNBC3K) ????
I am old school, and I mean I had no cable that had usb on one end and rj45 on other... The ones I used back then was ... you guessed it right: seriel 9 pins.
That made me shiver. But as I understand you right, and yes, I did read the link you provided, there is now a cable (above link) that I can put in my laptop's usb and the rj45 can go into one of the network ports?
Is that correct? -
@avandel-0 said in Screen resolution - why do I need to ask for this here?:
But as I understand you right, and yes, I did read the link you provided, there is now a cable (above link) that I can put in my laptop's usb and the rj45 can go into one of the network ports?
Is that correct?No.
There is also a serial RJ-45. Works the same as the 9 and 25 pin D shell ports.
Be aware not all serial RJ-45 ports are wired the same. -
@andyrh any link to a cable is what I ask, and how do I designate the onboard network controller port to console?
I do think that one of the ports must be dedicated to console???? Or is this also a wrong idea? -
Search your favorite online retailer:
usb to rj45 adapter serialThe label by the port is the only way to see the difference. The manufacturer docs may be useful. Some are labeled with words, others with icons.
-
@andyrh You are aware I am building one of my own? I have this 64 bit 3Ghz intel with 4Gb ram and a 4 ports gbit interface in it. It has onboard also usb and a rj45 network port. So we are talking about a selfmade old pc upgrade to firewall/router here....
There is no indication.... yet! -
I missed that.
I use the VGA port to a spare monitor port and a keyboard on my pfSense firewall, a Lenovo desktop.
(Not plugged into my great big TV ) -
Just to be clear here you almost certainly cannot use a serial console for this build.
A generic PC probably doesn't have a (9-pin) serial port and that's what you would need.
Dedicated appliances sometime have RJ-45 serial ports but they are wired to serial internally, they are not Ethernet. No generic PC will have that.
Dedicated appliances sometimes have USB consoles but internally they are wired to a USB to serial chip. Again, no generic PC will have that.When you install on a generic desktop PC your console choices are serial, if it has an old-school 9-pin port, or VGA/keyboard (whatever video output it has).
Steve
-
@stephenw10 Ok, so If I have this thought over carefully, the best way is to buy a simple serial card (pci) and a serial cable to usb if I want to use 'a console'.
On top of that, the serial cable needs prolific driver to communicate between them with the connection speed. (https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/hardware/connect-to-console.html)
At some point it says: If the client PC does not have a physical serial port, use a USB-to-Serial adapter.
Now before I go out and spend more money on this tiny, not so tiny anymore, project, what do they mean here?
I mean, come on, USB I get that, but when the laptop and the pfSense pc either have serial port, what do they mean by that? USB is serial, but what does this mean? -
Those instructions are referring to connecting a client (usually a laptop) to an existing pfSense install that has a serial console.
I would not attempt a serial console connection unless your pfSense target device already has a serial port and as I understand it yours does not.
It is technically possible to add a serial card but pfSense will almost certainly not use that as it's primary console by default. Your system will have serial ports defined internally as com1 and com2 but just not connected to anything and pfSense will try to use com1. You would be required to add loader values to change the com port with would be difficult with no console!
So don't do that.On a generic desktop system like that you should use the VGA console which means a keyboard and monitor attached via whatever video output it has.
If you can use an actual VGA connection I would do that.
Other wise try to borrow a monitor with HDMI for the install or look at the settings your TV has for it's inputs.
Steve
-
@stephenw10 thanks, now I am going to find me a monitor.....
-
@stephenw10 I wish someone at pfSense would put in the documentation the simple facts:
When making this from a old PC, USE A VGA monitor!!!!!!!
Bought myself a refurbished monitor with vga cable, (22 euro) and it is working fine, and the monitor has unlike TV's, a auto-adjust key.Thanks again for helping......
(mumbles in himself... wish I went to this step way earlier.....grmph.....)
-
Well, glad you were able to get installed eventually.