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    Watchguard Firebox M400/M500

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    • D
      DeLorean
      last edited by

      @revsie:

      These people seem to think pfSense can be installed!

      https://www.ebay.com/itm/Watchguard-Firebox-m400-firewall-security-appliance-or-PFsense-/122868662426

      That's right.
      All models above M300, like M400, M440 and M500 should be useable for pfSense.

      Grtz
      DeLorean

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      • R
        revsie
        last edited by

        @Scorch95:

        Any updates?  ;D Just maybe hoping you got an image of pfsense running on this by now.  :P

        Edit: Looks like they use ECC DDR3-1600. Single 4 GB stick makes upgrading to 8GB easy.

        Could pick up an i3-4130 for cheap and it adds hyper threading plus a boost from 3.2 to 3.4Ghz all the while only adding 1w to tdp making it 54w. It also gives you AES-NI support. If you're looking for more cores you'll need to go with a Xeon to keep ECC support I believe.

        After reading your post again Scorch95 I have seen the error of my ways and ordered i3-4130.

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        • S
          Scorch95
          last edited by

          I don’t believe you’ll run into any problems unless watchguard did something like the XTM8 and spec’d It without a COM1 port. I’m waiting as patiently as I can but I’m looking to upgrade from my XTM5 to either an XTM 400 or XTM 470. I’d like to get the 470 as it uses a skylake processor and a msata drive but either one will keep me good to go with 2.5 and aes-ni.

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          • R
            revsie
            last edited by

            Well I might try later this evening, if I get time.

            I did have 2 of these but just sold 1 for £400, they are sort after so they seem to be a little expensive. I think I was lucky to get one from work!

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            • R
              revsie
              last edited by

              Well, a little further.

              The i3-4130 arrived and is installed, there were no errors and the system loaded up successfully, I haven't flashed pfSense yet so it loaded the Watchguard firmware. But good news is the processor runs fine.

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              • S
                Scorch95
                last edited by

                Did you add more ram or are you gonna stick with 4Gb?

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                • R
                  revsie
                  last edited by

                  Hi,

                  For now, stick with the 4GB, see how it all goes.

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                  • S
                    Scorch95
                    last edited by

                    Any luck?

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                    • R
                      revsie
                      last edited by

                      Not yet I'm afraid, had a few car troubles which have taken over and I also start a new job soon so getting ready for that!

                      I will get back to you as soon as I can though, I really want to get this up and running.

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                      • R
                        revsie
                        last edited by

                        Well, finally had time to look at this, so far so good.

                        I just backed up the 4GB compact flash card, wrote the 64-bit nano image to the CF card, put it back in the Firebox M400, started up and voila!

                        I can connect using the front com port and I can connect to the web GUI using port 1, 0 seems to be for the WAN, haven't finished setting it up but can confirm everything seems to be ok, very simple to setup with no issues so far. Will update when I have some more info.

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                        • D
                          dlucas46
                          last edited by

                          Can you install flashrom from the terminal and then make a copy of the bios please?

                          The exact instructions for doing so should be the same as for the xtm 5

                          Thanks

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                          • stephenw10S
                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                            last edited by

                            If you try to use flashrom on the M400 you will see this:

                            BIOS_CNTL = 0x0a: BIOS Lock Enable: enabled, BIOS Write Enable: disabled
Warning: Setting Bios Control at 0xdc from 0x0a to 0x09 failed.
New value is 0x0a.

                            I highly recommend not using it! Or you too can spend some fun hours in the flashrom IRC room.  ;)
                            In the end I powered it off and it booted back fine but…

                            afudos or the Intel fpt tool seem to work better.

                            I took several backups and got different checksums each time. Not a good sign.

                            Also worth noting that board has a jumper to enable write access to the ME section of the flash. Didn't seem to make any difference.

                            All that said I did mod the BIOS and flash it back (only the BIOS section) and it was successful. Enabled console redirect. Set the fans to a rational speed. Enabled Speedstep.
                            The result is still password protected, I've yet to find a way to clear the password. So even though you can see the POST via serial you cannot enter the setup.  :(

                            Steve

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                            • D
                              dlucas46
                              last edited by

                              Great so it looks like watchguard really locked the bios down this time!

                              What limitations does the stock bios have?

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                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                Other than the 3 things I changed it also has turbo mode disabled. Boot order is probably an issue too. I think it boots CF by default first though it does boot USB if CF is not present/not bootable.

                                Steve

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                                • D
                                  dlucas46
                                  last edited by

                                  @stephenw10:

                                  Other than the 3 things I changed it also has turbo mode disabled. Boot order is probably an issue too. I think it boots CF by default first though it does boot USB if CF is not present/not bootable.

                                  Steve

                                  Have you tried booting / installing from a SSD or other HDD?

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                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    I did a full install to CF card, no swap and /var and /tmp moved to RAM. Works fine…for now at least.  ;)

                                    I imagine it would boot from SATA no problem, the BIOS is not configured to only boot from CF just to boot from that first. So if you break your install you will need to format the CF card in something else or re-install in something else (which is what I did).

                                    Steve

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                                    • I
                                      iJay-XTM5
                                      last edited by

                                      @Steve, would you mind sharing details on bios flashing/slowing the fans down?

                                      By a bit of luck, I will have a M400 headed my way in the near future. Are there any details on how to install pfsense on an M400? I have previously installed pfsense on an XTM525 via a CF card as well as externally with an SSD. I am planning to transplant the 120 GB sata drive from the XTM 525 to the M400.

                                      I'd appreciate any help/pointers with the installation.
                                      Thanks!

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                                      • I
                                        iJay-XTM5
                                        last edited by

                                        I would like tp reiterate my request for help with the M400 box. I recently took delivery of the M400 and need help with flashing the bios. I have read the XTM5 thread but  unlike my XTM525, the M400 box does not seem to display the bios menu, via the console, during the boot process.
                                        I am not sure how the go about dumping the bios to the CF card, unlocking the options and flashing it back again. I'd be grateful if someone could point me to the right thread/direction.
                                        Many Thanks for your help!

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                                        • S
                                          Scorch95
                                          last edited by

                                          What have you tried and what errors, if any are you getting? I would recommend putting a Hdd/ssd into an external enclosure and load pfSense that way. Then drop it into the m400 and finish setup that way. Remove CF entirely and it should boot after it doesn’t find a CF. When dealing with equipment outside what most will spend in a rack piece you’ll find yourself the guinea pig sometimes and will have to blaze ahead and create a new path so speak when you run into trouble.

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                                          • I
                                            iJay-XTM5
                                            last edited by

                                            @Scorch95, I have not installed pfsense in the M400 box yet but I do have a working SSD installation which was working flawlessly in an XTM525 box. So far I have only booted the M400 with stock Watchguard firmware while I monitored the console output. The fans on this box appear to be equally noisy if not more than the XTM5 and I was hoping I would get the fans and bios fixed when I transplant the SSD into this box. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find instructions on how to patch the bios and am stuck for now.
                                            I have recently ordered an IDC12 connector to make a VGA monitor cable, so I can boot DOS. Hopefully I can use afu and get a copy of the bios to patch. I am not an expert at this and would rather prefer somebody smarter than me give me directions. I am willing to be the beta tester! At some point in the future I would also like to update the processor to an i3 which does AES-NI as the Celeron in the box currently is not able to execute AES-NI instructions.
                                            Will post details when I get DOS going.

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