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    PfSense 2.3.3 on x750e

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    • K
      Kimbie
      last edited by

      Hi,

      I have a x750e watchguard on its way to turn it into a pfSesne box.

      I have found a number of guides about installing pfSense 2.1 but no recent guides for 2.3.3 does anyone have an updated guide on what I need to do to get 2.3.3 installed?  I have seen a lot of mention of the 8.1 BIOS but not sure where to get that from.

      I was thinking about getting a microdrive as a few people have done is the performace of a microdrive better than a CF card?

      Kimbie

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      • chpalmerC
        chpalmer
        last edited by

        https://sites.google.com/site/pfsensefirebox/home/XEBIOS_81.BIN

        https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/PfSense_on_Watchguard_Firebox#X-Core-e    is probably the best source of information about these boxes right now.

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

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        • K
          Kimbie
          last edited by

          @chpalmer:

          https://sites.google.com/site/pfsensefirebox/home/XEBIOS_81.BIN

          https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/PfSense_on_Watchguard_Firebox#X-Core-e    is probably the best source of information about these boxes right now.

          Thanks for that, I will get it downloaded later :)

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          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            Probably not worth getting a microdrive or a super fast CF card since the CF slot doesn't have pins connected to support DMA.

            Use a laptop HD and an adapter for any real speed. If you need that. Running Nano from CF doesn't read/write the card that much anyway.

            Steve

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            • K
              Kimbie
              last edited by

              @stephenw10:

              Probably not worth getting a microdrive or a super fast CF card since the CF slot doesn't have pins connected to support DMA.

              Use a laptop HD and an adapter for any real speed. If you need that. Running Nano from CF doesn't read/write the card that much anyway.

              Steve

              Hi,

              It will be used mostly on my home network, then once or twice a year at a 20 person LAN mainly to control access to the 6mb internet the venue has.

              So with that use case in mind, would I be better off with a 4Gb CF card or get the adaptor for a laptop hdd?

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

                I'd stick with Nano on the CF card unless you need/want to run Snort or Squid.

                The card speed doesn't affect general firewall throughput.

                Steve

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                • K
                  Kimbie
                  last edited by

                  @stephenw10:

                  I'd stick with Nano on the CF card unless you need/want to run Snort or Squid.

                  The card speed doesn't affect general firewall throughput.

                  Steve

                  No won't be needing those things that I know of

                  Thanks for the advice :)

                  Kimbie

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                  • D
                    DeLorean
                    last edited by

                    @stephenw10:

                    Probably not worth getting a microdrive or a super fast CF card since the CF slot doesn't have pins connected to support DMA.

                    Steve

                    At my personal experience, i have learn that a Super Fast CF card is better then a low speed CF on the E-Core boxes.
                    Since version 2.3 in combination with low speed CF cards, not only the bootup time is extended,
                    but there can occur multiple errors during bootup.
                    This error messages linked to the low speed CF are this :
                    ata0: timeout waiting for write DRQ

                    This error message can sometimes be 6 or 7 repeatly show up during bootup.

                    I have opened last year a topic about this behaviour.
                    https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=115699.msg642205#msg642205

                    Grtz
                    DeLorean

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                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      I haven't seen that error personally but I can say that firmware upgrades can take forever on a slow CF card. Like really almost unbelievably slow!

                      Still doesn't affect throughput once it's booted though and really it shouldn't reboot very often.

                      Steve

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                      • N
                        nerone
                        last edited by

                        Hello,

                        I think I have flashed the XEBIOS 8.1 but I'm not shure.

                        My appliance is still showing "pfsense B7" at boot.

                        How do check that my appliance is successfully running 8.1 BIOS?

                        Running the biosid program? But I don't see any difference in biosid from before and after the flash…

                        Kind regards
                        Nerone

                        King

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • D
                          DeLorean
                          last edited by

                          @nerone:

                          Hello,

                          I think I have flashed the XEBIOS 8.1 but I'm not shure.

                          My appliance is still showing "pfsense B7" at boot.

                          How do check that my appliance is successfully running 8.1 BIOS?

                          Running the biosid program? But I don't see any difference in biosid from before and after the flash…

                          Kind regards
                          Nerone

                          King

                          Did you do a CMOS reset by removing the battery for a minute ?

                          If Bios 8.1 is flashed, the LCD screen say "pfSense B8" at boot.

                          Grtz
                          DeLorean

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • K
                            Kimbie
                            last edited by

                            So got around to opening up my x750e and there is a blue IDE port soldered onto the motherboard, can this be used at all?

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • D
                              DeLorean
                              last edited by

                              @Kimbie:

                              So got around to opening up my x750e and there is a blue IDE port soldered onto the motherboard, can this be used at all?

                              Yes, this can be used to hook up a 2.5" IDE HDD or a SSD (need extra IDE to Sata adapter).
                              You reach the same goal with the black connector right beside the blue IDE connector.
                              The only benefits of running pfSense from a HDD or SSD is that you can run the full installation,
                              and have better support for installing packages that require many read/write actions (Squid , Snort etc….)
                              Also the bootup time is faster compared to a CF card.
                              The throughput speed stays same.

                              Grtz
                              DeLorean

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