Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Watchguard Firebox M400/M500

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved
    Hardware
    57
    569
    506.8k
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      I used it on an M500. It's identical to the M400 other than the CPU and RAM which shouldn't make any difference for this.

      Did you use the original CF card?

      A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • A
        acsaba @stephenw10
        last edited by

        @stephenw10
        No, I have another CF and I have tried with USB stick as well. I have successfully boot Arc loader and ubuntu core.
        Many thanks for your feedback. I will keep working on it.

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

          It won't boot USB with the original BIOS but if you've got a CF that will boot at all that should work.

          A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • A
            acsaba @stephenw10
            last edited by

            @stephenw10 said in Watchguard Firebox M400/M500:

            iI won't boot USB with the original BIOS but if you've got a CF that will boot at all that should work.

            I can boot with the original bios using USB stick As I have mentioned, I did this couple of times.
            The condition is to remove the CF.

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

              Hmm, curious. I never managed to make that work before flashing the BIOS.

              A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • A
                acsaba @stephenw10
                last edited by acsaba

                @stephenw10

                b9c86442-dc9d-4e1f-a556-29afb951c3b4-image.png

                I manage to install Synology DMS 7.2 using an arc-24.6.2.img, then installed an SSD.
                The boot is still on the USB stick.

                I just ordered i5-4590T CPU as replacement for the original one and 8 GB CF to not brake the original CF.
                I will keep you posted.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • I
                  iJay-XTM5
                  last edited by

                  This M500 may have an unlocked bios, otherwise, it would not boot from USB IIRC. I had to unlock the bios through the serial console using the password others have posted in this forum. I was able to enable USB booting after unlocking the bios and successfully booted from a USB flash drive that had the USB memstick installer (Serial Console). I chose to install pfsense on the internal CF card as I did not want to open the box. The box boots off the CF now without a fuss.
                  I upgraded the CPU to an i5-4590T and installed low noise fans on my M400 previously, but it hangs on reboot every single time, so I left the M500 's original configuration as is.

                  A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • A
                    acsaba @iJay-XTM5
                    last edited by

                    @iJay-XTM5
                    Appreciate your feedback. I have a second M500 (I used both in datacenter in HA mode), so I can test on this as well. Yesterday did the CPU update and I'm looking forward to replace the fans as well. Unfortunately a low noise fan is expansive, so in case you have any hint please share with me.

                    Regarding CPU temperature, it is ~60-62C in full load with the original fans.

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

                      You can lower the fan speed existing fans to reduce the noise using WGXepc

                      That seems quite hot though. I assume you replaced the heatsink compound when you fitted that?

                      A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • A
                        acsaba @stephenw10
                        last edited by

                        @stephenw10 said in Watchguard Firebox M400/M500:

                        That seems quite hot though. I assume you replaced the heatsink compound when you fitted that?

                        Yes. I did.

                        What is a normal temperature on your end ?
                        Many thanks.

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

                          Depends on the ambient temp I guess but for a 'T' rated CPU I expect lower. My M500 with a 4670S runs slightly cooler than that at max:

                          last pid: 57560;  load averages:  4.20,  3.66,  2.22                                                                     up 0+00:13:56  19:53:36
187 threads:   9 running, 157 sleeping, 21 waiting
CPU 0: 29.1% user,  0.0% nice, 70.9% system,  0.0% interrupt,  0.0% idle
CPU 1: 29.9% user,  0.0% nice, 70.1% system,  0.0% interrupt,  0.0% idle
CPU 2: 30.7% user,  0.0% nice, 69.3% system,  0.0% interrupt,  0.0% idle
CPU 3: 32.7% user,  0.0% nice, 67.3% system,  0.0% interrupt,  0.0% idle
Mem: 106M Active, 9212K Inact, 339M Wired, 118M Buf, 7411M Free
Swap: 192M Total, 192M Free

  PID USERNAME    PRI NICE   SIZE    RES STATE    C   TIME    WCPU COMMAND
44930 root        135    0    12M  2076K RUN      2  10:53  99.97% yes
44987 root        135    0    12M  2072K CPU1     1  10:52  99.88% yes
44788 root        135    0    12M  2072K CPU0     0  10:54  99.87% yes
45189 root        135    0    12M  2068K CPU3     3  10:52  99.86% yes
    0 root        -60    -     0B   672K -        3   0:00   0.05% [kernel{if_config_tqg_0}]
57560 root         20    0    14M  3992K CPU2     2   0:00   0.03% top -HaSP
    6 root        -16    -     0B    16K pftm     0   0:00   0.02% [pf purge]

                          [24.03-RELEASE][root@m500.stevew.lan]/root: sysctl dev.cpu.0.temperature dev.cpu.1.temperature dev.cpu.2.temperature dev.cpu.3.temperature
dev.cpu.0.temperature: 58.0C
dev.cpu.1.temperature: 54.0C
dev.cpu.2.temperature: 57.0C
dev.cpu.3.temperature: 55.0C

                          The fans are pretty loud at that point!

                          [24.03-RELEASE][root@m500.stevew.lan]/root: ./WGXepc64 -f
Found Firebox M400/500
Current fanspeed is 78, minimum fanspeed is 1b

                          Also it's the hotest day of the year today in the UK so the ambient is ~30C in my 'office'.

                          A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • A
                            acsaba @stephenw10
                            last edited by

                            @stephenw10
                            Many thanks for the info. I will replace the heatsink compound again. Currently I'm using a Ceramic polysynthetic thermal compound which should not be bad :)

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

                              I wouldn't expect to need anything too special there. Just not trying to reuse the crusty stuff Lanner put on it 10 years ago!

                              For reference at mostly idle I see:

                              [24.03-RELEASE][root@m500.stevew.lan]/root: sysctl dev.cpu.0.temperature dev.cpu.1.temperature dev.cpu.2.temperature dev.cpu.3.temperature
dev.cpu.0.temperature: 40.0C
dev.cpu.1.temperature: 38.0C
dev.cpu.2.temperature: 40.0C
dev.cpu.3.temperature: 42.0C
[24.03-RELEASE][root@m500.stevew.lan]/root: ./WGXepc64 -f
Found Firebox M400/500
Current fanspeed is 2e, minimum fanspeed is 1b
                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • chpalmerC
                                chpalmer
                                last edited by

                                Don't know if anyone else has tried yet (and I have no reason to think it wouldn't work but..) I successfully upgraded to Pfsense+ on my M400 today running an i5 processor..

                                More to support Netgate and Pfsense than anything.. but in case anyone else is holding back.. ;)

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

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • First post
                                  Last post