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    Watchguard Firebox M400/M500

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
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    • C
      caKuma @stephenw10
      last edited by caKuma

      @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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      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        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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          caKuma @stephenw10
          last edited by caKuma

          @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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          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by stephenw10

            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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              caKuma @stephenw10
              last edited by caKuma

              @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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                Smoothrunnings @stephenw10
                last edited by

                @stephenw10

                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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                  Smoothrunnings @caKuma
                  last edited by

                  @cakuma

                  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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                    caKuma @Smoothrunnings
                    last edited by

                    @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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                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      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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                        caKuma @stephenw10
                        last edited by caKuma

                        @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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                        • Z
                          zanthos @caKuma
                          last edited by

                          @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.

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                            caKuma
                            last edited by caKuma

                            Capture.PNG

                            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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                              caKuma @stephenw10
                              last edited by

                              This post is deleted!
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                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by stephenw10

                                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?

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                                  caKuma @stephenw10
                                  last edited by caKuma

                                  @stephenw10 Capture.PNG
                                  I feel like an idiot, im just kinda tired trying to figure things out and i missed the message where you told to install ZFS with GPT(BIOS + UEFI). Thank you so much for helping me. Right now imma see if i can get freedos working and flash the bios.

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                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    Nice! 👍

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                                      caKuma
                                      last edited by caKuma

                                      fdos.PNG
                                      pfsensefirebox
                                      ^I used the freedosbios2 on here, opened the image and extracted the m400 bios and afudos to the image then flashed to the CF. FreeDos boots now. Time to see if it flash.
                                      fdos.PNG
                                      Edit: I deleted the bios for other watchguard boxes that came with freedosbios2 image and added the m400.rom/afudos, it worked this time.

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                                        caKuma
                                        last edited by

                                        alt text
                                        pfweb.PNG
                                        All good! Can't thank you all enough.

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                                        • stephenw10S
                                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                          last edited by

                                          Nice. Does it reboot correctly with that CPU? Some do not and there seem to be no clear pattern.

                                          Did you enable powerd/speedstep? That 'T' CPU probably has a bunch of frequency levels.

                                          Steve

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                                            caKuma @stephenw10
                                            last edited by caKuma

                                            @stephenw10 I dont think it reboots properly, it halts the system and just get stuck and i have to press the power button to fully shut it off then power on again. I did enable speedstep but i feel like i should just keep it stock for the low tdp.

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