Watchguard Firebox M400/M500
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Just want to list my experience with the M400.
-flashed unlocked bios
-removed CF, added SSD
-stock cpu, idle cpu temp ~53C, 35W , ambient 28C
max cpu 45W -
That seems quite warm for the stock CPU at idle unless you've turned the fans right down?
Not alarmingly hot though.Steve
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@stephenw10 yea, my temps are quite high compared to others. I messed with the fan settings to full blast and that was still the lowest temp I got.
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Hmm, maybe re-apply the hearsink compound then. Or just not worry about it, it's not that hot.
Steve
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Hey all, Just got a M500 box and I am trying to flash the bios via FreeDOS but I couldnt get putty or screen to output anything via serial. I am using a FTDI rj45 serial to usb adapter, could this be the issue? Thanks in advance.
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Do you see the BIOS output at 115200bps?
The console redirect will probably allow you to see the FreeDOS output at that baud rate too unless you are setting 9600 specifically.
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@stephenw10 Nope I didnt see BIOS output at 115200 bps as well. Is my console port dead? Trying to crimp some connector to connect VGA but cant find a VGA cable for the life of me. I just ordered some VGA extension cable and it should arrive the same day. Ill update on whether or not I get a VGA output.
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Mmm, I would certainly confirm the console setup on something else if you can.
Do you hear the fans spin down slightly? Does it beep? Any indication that it's actually POSTing.
Steve
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@stephenw10 said in Watchguard Firebox M400/M500:
Yea it posts, I heard the 4 beep when i swapped the cpu to i5-4590T + the fan won't spin down. I swapped it back to the Pentium it came with and it boots with a single chime then the fans spins down. I believe that indicates POST. Also the LED indicator on the side shows green before i wiped the CF card to flash FreeDOS.
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Yup OK you should definitely see some output on the serial console at 115200 then.Edit: Wrong! There's no output from the default BIOS.
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@stephenw10 I guess my serial console port dead then. Tried putty on windows, reinstalled FTDI drivers. Tried it on linux. I got nothing on 115200 and 9600. Unless it want me to plug it in to a real serial port rather than using ftdi usb.
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Doesn't need to have flashed the M500 with the unlocked BIOS before he can use the console port?
Mookatroid (I think) who setup my M400 told me recently to access the bios from the console required the bios on the M400 to be unlocked, which he did for me.
I moved to a UDM-Pro recently and wanted to reinstall pfSense.
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Try using a Windows 10 machine with Putty see if that makes a difference.
Make sure you go into device manager to find out which COM port your cable is plugged into.
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@smoothrunnings Did both on linux and windows. No dice. Im going to jerry rig the VGA once i get the extension cable.
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Mmm, you're right. Too many boxes!
Yeah, there's actually no output at all on the console until pfSense boots with the default BIOS on there.
Do you see that using a CF card with the memstick-serial image on it?You don't have to flash the BIOS.
Steve
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@stephenw10 Yea I didnt use CF card with memstick serial image on it. I wanted flash the bios to use my i5-4590T. Give me a sec ill flash the CF card again real quick with the memstick serial image.
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@cakuma Just to let you know, If you're using my unlocked BIOS, there won't be any output on the VGA port, it is disabled in the BIOS. Also, VGA output depends on the CPU if it has an integrated IGP or not.
You would need to change the BIOS settings to enable VGA output which seems to be impossible without a working serial console.My first advice: get another serial adapter. It might be broken. I had that several times. Those cheap china adapters cannot handle currents that may be high on serial ports and get damaged quickly.
Also, according to your picture, it seems your adapter is RJ45 (CISCO console style) to USB. Make sure, the cable REALLY is CISCO style and has proper pinout. -
Yea you guys were right the console is actually outputting now with the memstick-serial image.
Just wanted to flash the unlocked bios so I can use the spare CPU i have. There should be a way to flash from within pfsense/freebsd right? -
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Well the first thing I would try is installing UFS using the default values.
The memstick serial image will boot legacy or UEFI. If it booted UEFI it would have installed as that unless you specifically selected not to and it may not boot that by default.
It's been a while since I poked around in that though.
Edit: Ah you edited! It's booting?
