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    Watchguard XTM 5 Series

    Hardware
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    • M
      menacingm
      last edited by

      I had the same issue and question but the answer for me was much simpler/easier than having to install secondary storage. Instead I used the SHELLCMD package to mount an NFS Share at post boot and then setup logs to write to the share. A much more elegant solution, especially if you hope to use any other software (Splunk etc) to parse your log files.

      Hope that helps.

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      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        I have to agree, general policy for flashing your bios should always be don't do it unless it offers something you need. That might go double for some hacked bios you downloaded from a forum!  ;)
        That said I have flashed it many times succefully, I'd have no hesitation flashing a new box if I found one for the right price. The problems Eamon had with the XTM8 were mostly due to a bios chip that wasn't correctly handled by flashrom. It was doubly unfortunate because it reported no errors and seemed to be functioning correctly.

        The XTM5 has provision for an internal HD by way of a power connector on the PSU and sata connectors on the board. I can't remember if the standard bios has HD auto detection enabled.  :-\

        Steve

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        • A
          angelkiller
          last edited by

          Hi, i can confirm that the bios from stephenw10 (xtm5_83.rom) works like a charm on my XTM 510. If i remind correctly, i boot pfsense on it and downloaded the bios direct to the XTM510 in a shell.
          After flashing i was wondering that the bios was still locked, but i read that the cmos have to reset. I removed the power cord and the battery, drink a coffee, and anything was fine with unlocked bios.

          Thanks to stephenw10!

          Now i try my luck with a XTM810 to boot a other system as Watchguards XTM OS.

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          • I
            iolaus
            last edited by

            Some updates:

            I've got my XTM 505 up and running.  I replaced the CPU with a Core2Duo E4500, replaced the RAM with a couple 1GB sticks I had lying around, and installed a 2.5" HD which I also had lying around.

            I mounted the HD to a modified Intel 2.5" to 3.5" converter cage.  The cage is mounted to the XTM 505 right behind the LCD on risers.

            The XTM successfully finds the SATA HD without any BIOS modification and I have SHELLCMD mounting it at boot time.

            Pictures:

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            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              Nice!  :)
              I would recommend removing the VPN accelerator card. It's just using power and isn't doing anything useful, unfortunately.

              Steve

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              • M
                menacingm
                last edited by

                Any one have any luck locating or compiling a suitable driver for the
                Cavium card? I believe a Linux one exists but no luck with BSD.

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                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  I believe it's closed source driver in Linux or at least you have to sign an NDA before they'll give you access to the SDK. No driver like that would ever make it into FreeBSD so it would have to be reverse engineered. Not an easy task.

                  Steve

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                  • M
                    menacingm
                    last edited by

                    Yeah that pretty much sums that up.

                    Anyone wanna buy a Cavium VPN card cheap?  ;D

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                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      You never know support for the low end cavium chips may yet appear once they are of no resale value.
                      It's a shame they chose to use a reversed pci-e connector, I've tried to find a female to female adapter bug failed. Having the pci-e bus terminated in an edge connector like that seems to be known as 'golden fingers'. Can turn up some interesting Google results!  :P

                      Steve

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                      • M
                        menacingm
                        last edited by

                        I'd say chances are pretty slim considering Cavium has already released several models newer than the one in this box (Nitrox CN1605). Still, you never know.

                        "Golden Fingers" you say?

                        Youtube Video

                        Could always use a PCI-e to mini-pci card or wifi card. Or a 10GB Ethernet card and mod the box to have a cable permanently attached internally and fed out the back. Not the most elegant solution but would make use of the port. Seems like there is enough room left to do something with it.

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                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          That's just it, you can't use any of those things without some sort of adapter because the slot is on the card! I had thought a back plane style riser of the sort sued for single board computers might do it but I haven't found one of those either.

                          Steve

                          Edit: Like this maybe: http://www.onestopsystems.com/backplane_427.php

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                          • S
                            ScottMcNaught
                            last edited by

                            Hello,

                            We have successfully installed pfsense on a watchguard xtm 505.

                            Just letting you know that the Quad Core Q8200S is supported by this motherboard and runs beautifully.
                            This CPU actually runs cooler than the Celeron - sits between 37-40C.  The "S" model is of smaller lithography and runs more efficiently / cooler.
                            http://ark.intel.com/products/40816/Intel-Core2-Quad-Processor-Q8200S-4M-Cache-2_33-GHz-1333-MHz-FSB

                            Our specs are:
                            2GB RAM
                            Quad Core Q8200S
                            8GB Transcend CF Card (with 4GB image)

                            Works great!

                            Thanks to everyone who contributed.

                            Scott
                            http://www.synergy8.com/

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                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              Ooo, nice!
                              The only reason I went for the E4500 (other than it was cheap on ebay) was that it matched the lithography and bus speed on the Celeron closely. If we can use 45nm and 1333MHz that opens up many other cpus.

                              Are you using the original BIOS?

                              Steve

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                              • S
                                ScottMcNaught
                                last edited by

                                Hi Steve,

                                Yes - original BIOS.  No changes or flashing needed.

                                I'm sure other faster CPUs will work.  But! Id be wary of the power consumption with other CPUs.  That PSU in the box is pretty small!
                                I would be pretty confident in saying that most of the CPUs in the "Compatible products" list of: http://ark.intel.com/products/36528/82G41-Graphics-and-Memory-Controller-Hub would work.

                                But I can certainly confirm the stability and operation of the Q8200S.  Power wise, we removed the VPN card and do not have a hard drive installed.
                                Here is a pic of the dashboard (some info removed).

                                Cheers,
                                Scott
                                http://www.synergy8.com/

                                pfsense.png
                                pfsense.png_thumb

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                                • M
                                  menacingm
                                  last edited by

                                  Regarding the LCDProc dev package not automatically starting at boot I'm trying StephenW's method for restarting the services with SHELLCMDs from here:

                                  http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,7920.msg344513.html#msg344513

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                                  • H
                                    Hawk78
                                    last edited by

                                    Is the XTM 5 series powerful enough to run squid and anti virus package? does it work with the CF card or do i need an appliance with HDD Installation (e.g. Symantec 5420)?

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                                    • M
                                      menacingm
                                      last edited by

                                      Yes & yes. I'm running off CF now and I have read of people installing an HD, but I'm not sure about using it to boot.

                                      Also, this unit is upgradeable. You can upgrade the proc to a C2D and RAM as well.

                                      All in all, a great box (with intel NICs) if you can get a good deal on one.

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                                      • H
                                        Hawk78
                                        last edited by

                                        The Xtm 510 has usually a Celeron 2Ghz CPU and 1Gb. Shouldn't this be enough power to run it with antivirus, proxy and content filter?

                                        Does it make sense to use 8gb CF card or higher for installation or should 4 GB be enough?

                                        Cu Hawk78

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                                        • M
                                          menacingm
                                          last edited by

                                          It certainly is for a small to medium network but every scenario is different, if you turn on all the bells & whistles, your mileage may vary.

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                                          • stephenw10S
                                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                            last edited by

                                            Exactly. It depends what throughput you need. If you're running Squid, Havp and Squidguard/Dansguardian you're not going to see 1Gbps. Chances are you don't need that though.
                                            There is no value in using an 8GB CF card. The largest image available is 4GB so the remaining space can never be used.
                                            If you want to use Squid as caching proxy you must run it from hd. The continuous writes would kill flash media in short order, the package will prevent you doing it in Nanobsd.

                                            Steve

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