Watchguard XTM 5 Series

stephenw10

The SPI header pin-out was pretty standard from what I remember off-hand. I thought it was detailed in fact somewhere.

Hmm, looks like some of those links are 404ing… :'(

Steve

Edit: Attached SPI pin-out I used.

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Cortex

For all you guys who have upgraded your processors:

Have you used openvpn, and have you noticed increase in throughput and if so, what is your throughput.
I'd like to saturate a 100 mbit line, preferable with 256 bit
Right now my box with the standard celeron 440 passes 50 mbit (which is mi line's max speed) at 128 bit encryption, but it completely stalls it, fail to write rrd graphs, and becomes unresponsive. The cpu usage is 100 % or near 100 %.

Thanks in advance
/cortex

To answer at least partly one of my own questions:
I upgraded the unit with an E6400 I had laying around, and i worked smoothly. Just swapped the processors and booted up the unit.
I can now tunnel through 4 vpn's (128 bit) with 100 mbit at around 50 % cpu load.
It will be interesting to see what 256 bit encryption does to the cpu.

stephenw10

Seems like you may have had something configured wrong there. I would expect far more that 50Mbps even with the original Celeron. Atom D525 could pass 50Mbps OpenVPN.
Of course the usual caveats apply with regard to throughput testing.

Seems like it's working well with that upgrade though. :)

Steve

Cortex

Well. Actually my previous internet connection was 50 mbit. With the new 100 mbit I could reach 60-65 mbit, but still the unit would respond very slow, and it would stop writing rrd graphs.
I don't know anything about squeezing extra speed from the encryption/decryption settings. I just used whatever private internet access guides I could find.

DeLorean

@uknownme123:

10 Put drive in WG XTM 5 and boot ( have sound, serial, and WebGUI ) Note I did remove the 1GB CF card

Good job!. Unless you flashed the bios, you will not see the option to disable always boot from CF.…..

I have recently installed a SSD in a XTM 515 and did a full install,
i have not flashed the bios and the firewall boots fine straight from the SSD without the CF card.

Grtz
DeLorean

urby

Where are you all buying the DDR2-800 4GB sticks for this? I have been looking all over and cant seem to find any except for an ebay seller with this article.

Edit:
I did find these, at $155 for 2 4GB sticks it's pricy like others have said but is the low density type.

stephenw10

Hmm, I personally just ran with whatever I had already. I've never found a lack of RAM to be a problem.
That blog post certainly makes for scary reading. If you can't make those settings on a desktop it's unlikely to work in a network appliance!

Steve

uknownme123

@urby:

Where are you all buying the DDR2-800 4GB sticks for this? I have been looking all over and cant seem to find any except for an ebay seller with this article.

Edit:
I did find these, at $155 for 2 4GB sticks it's pricy like others have said but is the low density type.

Checked Ebay prices for 8gb ddr2 low density. Results showed some 4gb x 2 sticks, all priced over $100. Not worth it for me, too expensive but each to his/her own. In my opinion, unless you will be utilizing over 4gb like running virtual OS under pfsense with byhve or massive filter list in Snort/Dansguardian, I would not buy it.

I have some 4gb high density sticks, the ones labeled "for AMD motherboard," NO! they don't work on intel boards.

If you like the xtm5 look/platform, If you plan to go big like supporting a 500+ user connection for a large corporation you may want to look at more recent pfSense system like SG-8860 1U.

Smoothrunnings

Does anyone know where I can get the rack ears for the XTM 5 series? I bought a firebox which I am in the process of converting over but would like to find the rack ears for it; can't find any on ebay. I don't want have to buy a tray for my rack to put it on. lol :)

Thanks,

chpalmer

@Smoothrunnings:

Does anyone know where I can get the rack ears for the XTM 5 series? I bought a firebox which I am in the process of converting over but would like to find the rack ears for it; can't find any on ebay. I don't want have to buy a tray for my rack to put it on. lol :)

Thanks,

Ive got a pair.. But only found one of them in the drawer.. Ill keep looking and repost if I find the missing one.

uknownme123

Anyone know where I can get clear stickers, like these. I know the store has the white background ones. I got some of those. But the clear ones look super.

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Smoothrunnings

I have a two 510's now and want to convert one into a PFSense box. Can I use any LGA 775 Quad Core CPU or am I limited to specific ones? What have people done to mount their SATA drive into their Fireboxes?

Also do I need to use a 4GB CF card or can I use a 16GB one for PFSense? I am asking because I would prefer not to spend weeks waiting for one to arrive from Amazon or Ebay, the camera shops here in Toronto, ON, Canada only carry 16GB + cards.

And lastly where do I find the bios update?

Thanks

Alup

@stephenw10:

The SPI header pin-out was pretty standard from what I remember off-hand. I thought it was detailed in fact somewhere.

Hmm, looks like some of those links are 404ing… :'(

Steve

Edit: Attached SPI pin-out I used.

What was the offset you used. Because I have tried several times to re-flash the bios via SPI using my Willem PCB6 and the board still does not boot. If i try forcing the power on using the AT psu pins/jumpers it will light up all the leds and spin up the fans but it gets no where. It will not boot. Any ideas where I need to look?

chpalmer

@Smoothrunnings:

Can I use any LGA 775 Quad Core CPU or am I limited to specific ones?

What have people done to mount their SATA drive into their Fireboxes?

And lastly where do I find the bios update?

Thanks

I use - Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9650 @ 3.00GHz

I modified a 2.5" to 3.5 inch adapter bracket to fit. I know a guy that uses plexiglass.

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=43574.msg337492#msg337492

sammyji

@PFseb:

Had been busy with this is parallel to my normal work (I did not have so much time, because I had hoped to have it finished).

However, my preliminary findings (pictures will come when I find the optimal solution):

Replacement of case & CPU fan is a huge success, this eliminates a lot of noise (understatement);

PSU fan can be modified, but it is in general noisy, currently thinking to go PicoPSU, currently investigating the options -> modifying PSU fan is not wortth the hassle in time (to investigate & find -> low noise replacements do not exist)

What PSU power would be correct, the one currenly build in is overpowered:

CPU=35W (Celeron

3 Fans = 0.48W*3=1.5W

Mobo = 25-40W

Mem=2~5W (orginal XTM 520 mem)

Enclosure = 5~10W (estimate)

Additional HD = 3W

This mean a total of 94.5W when all components are working at max performance.
From PicoPSU the following kits can be used (net yet tested myself):

picoPSU-160-XT + 192W Adapter Power Kit

picoPSU-150-XT + 150W Adapter Power Kit

picoPSU-150-XT + 102W Adapter Power Kit

picoPSU-120 + 102W Adapter Power Kit (not recommended because you need an additional cable to convert a molex to a 4 PIN ATX)

Update 5-4-2016:
I got my hands on a picoPSU-150-XT + 102W Adapter Power Kit for 50 euro, which is quite a OK deal in Europe. Tested it yesterday and the box is super duper quiet. However when you have the box in thermal mode once in a while the fans spin up, which is not preferable. Better it is to have the fans by default spin a little faster than they do in thermal mode, in general the CPU will be cooled better and will never reach the BIOS threshold. Currenlty thinking of a way how to adjust.
(Probably by putting the fans in super fast mode in BIOS and adjust the speed with a resistor)
I hope to test this afternoon.

Now I will see where I can get my hands on, to test this in my Firebox.

What fans did u get? I'm thinking of spending some time on the firebox, upgrading the CPU and memory and tackle the noise as well

So this is my buy list

CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad - Q8400 or Q8200 about $10 (have a 200MB line and will be using this for openVPN/voip/PBX)
Memory - have some DDR2 lying around - will try to see if that works with the new CPU
Fans - ?? CPU/Case. Will probably leave the PSU fan alone $20
Ears - cant find the right ears for the box - ended up getting the wrong ones and will probably use those elsewhere

Thinking what the Power hit would be with the CPU Change

Alup

@sammyji:

What fans did u get? I'm thinking of spending some time on the firebox, upgrading the CPU and memory and tackle the noise as well

So this is my buy list

CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad - Q8400 or Q8200 about $10 (have a 200MB line and will be using this for openVPN/voip/PBX)

Memory - have some DDR2 lying around - will try to see if that works with the new CPU

Fans - ?? CPU/Case. Will probably leave the PSU fan alone $20

Ears - cant find the right ears for the box - ended up getting the wrong ones and will probably use those elsewhere

Thinking what the Power hit would be with the CPU Change

Can you post a picture of the ears? If they are the ones for the XcoreE series Then I would buy them from you. I have been looking everywhere for ears for my x1250e and can not find any.

Also, an update on my XTM 5 box that will not power on. I think there is a problem with the bios chip its self, The chip is a M25P80-VMW6TG by ST. I bought 5 of them on ebay to replace the one that is on my board, the total cost of the 5 chips? A whopping $2.49 USD.. Why the heck did I not just do that in the first place.. If the new chips do not fix the issue then I guess my next step is to break out the logic analyzer and go through the board with that and a multimeter to find why the hell it wont power on. its not the PSU as I already replaced it with a new one.

sammyji

They are some generic ones. Will post a pic soon.

My xtm5 box refused to power on initially too. Ended up being a memory stick issue. Reseated and it came back on. Male sure to have only the necessary components in it first before you add the pcie riser/additional ram/etc. Try to boot it stock. Not saying that you've missed something, but I did and almost threw my xtm530 out.

Alup

@sammyji:

They are some generic ones. Will post a pic soon.

My xtm5 box refused to power on initially too. Ended up being a memory stick issue. Reseated and it came back on. Male sure to have only the necessary components in it first before you add the pcie riser/additional ram/etc. Try to boot it stock. Not saying that you've missed something, but I did and almost threw my xtm530 out.

So when you say that it refused to power on were you getting any thing at all out of it? Because when I hit the power button on mine i get nothing, I do not get any kind of life out of it at all unless I force it on via the AT power switch jumper.

Also, something interesting. I discovered that you can get the XTM's (or close to them) straight from china…. https://tostarcn.en.alibaba.com/product/60044665760-800205511/_1U280SF_NM70SL_1U_VPN_Firewall_with_2_SFP.html

Or heck we could even upgrade our XTM boxes: https://tostarcn.en.alibaba.com/product/60476540616-802197910/LGA_771_ATX_Power_G41_6_LAN_Motherboard_network_Server_Firewall_router_Motherboard.html

Smoothrunnings

@Alup:

@sammyji:

They are some generic ones. Will post a pic soon.

My xtm5 box refused to power on initially too. Ended up being a memory stick issue. Reseated and it came back on. Male sure to have only the necessary components in it first before you add the pcie riser/additional ram/etc. Try to boot it stock. Not saying that you've missed something, but I did and almost threw my xtm530 out.

So when you say that it refused to power on were you getting any thing at all out of it? Because when I hit the power button on mine i get nothing, I do not get any kind of life out of it at all unless I force it on via the AT power switch jumper.

Also, something interesting. I discovered that you can get the XTM's (or close to them) straight from china…. https://tostarcn.en.alibaba.com/product/60044665760-800205511/_1U280SF_NM70SL_1U_VPN_Firewall_with_2_SFP.html

Or heck we could even upgrade our XTM boxes: https://tostarcn.en.alibaba.com/product/60476540616-802197910/LGA_771_ATX_Power_G41_6_LAN_Motherboard_network_Server_Firewall_router_Motherboard.html

Looks cool but there is a problem with getting one of these boards. It's got a different layout than the Watchguard XTM 5 series that it would really onto be ideal if one bought the case and power supply as well.

Edit: Moved quote tags

Alup

@Smoothrunnings:

Looks cool but there is a problem with getting one of these boards. It's got a different layout than the Watchguard XTM 5 series that it would really onto be ideal if one bought the case and power supply as well.

i just got pissed off at it and bought this http://www.ebay.com/itm/231955673350