Thinking about using a firebox, some questions
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The minimum CF card size is 512MB for the NanoBSD images so you need to access the bios.
Instructions for doing that are here.Yes you can use a USB serial adapter. Make you know it is working before you start or it's easy to get confused. Connect up your serial cable/usb adapter/terminal program and boot the Watchguard OS. You should see the boot up at 115200 8N1.
Steve
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The minimum CF card size is 512MB for the NanoBSD images so you need to access the bios.
Instructions for doing that are here.Yes you can use a USB serial adapter. Make you know it is working before you start or it's easy to get confused. Connect up your serial cable/usb adapter/terminal program and boot the Watchguard OS. You should see the boot up at 115200 8N1.
Steve
Ok cool!
So the things i need before starting is:#Firebox (doh!)
#Nullmodem cable
#cf card with 16mb+ (maximum 256mb)
#cf card for the OS (4gb) -
Yes.
You can use the CF card that comes in it if you don't want the Watchguard OS (or back it up first).
There is almost no point in using a 4GB over a 2GB card and there is absolutely no point in using a super fast card. pfSense won't use UDMA and it only reduces boot time slightly anyway.Steve
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I just received a message from the post office that finally they have arrived.
Just came up with a question.
Do i need to flash the bios or just enable these things? (for larger cf cards).If i understand everything right i need a nullmodem cable to access the bios? and a cf card 512mb+ to use with pfsense.
Do i need anything else?
//BR
Patrik -
Recently some other users have had great trouble getting a 512MB card to boot. It seems that at least some 512MB cards will not boot with the bios set either at 'auto' or heads=2 so to be safe get a card at least 1GB. I have personally used 2GB and 4GB cards with no problems.
Steve
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Recently some other users have had great trouble getting a 512MB card to boot. It seems that at least some 512MB cards will not boot with the bios set either at 'auto' or heads=2 so to be safe get a card at least 1GB. I have personally used 2GB and 4GB cards with no problems.
Steve
Ok! then i'll buy a 1-2gb card.
But i dont need to flash the bios or? Can you tell me the steps in short… :)
//BR
Patrik -
Yes you will need to flash the bios.
To do that you need the serial cable (and usb adapter if you need it) and a very small CF card. You can use the card from the box if you don't want to keep it.
Instructions to do it are here.Steve
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Haven't picked it up from the post office yet, but i found a Intel T5500 SL9U4 (Core2duo 1,66ghz 667bus) do you think it will work in the firebox?
//BR
Patrik -
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No it won't. We are still talking about the x5500e?
Only Pentium-M and equiavalent Celerons will work. Of those only 400MHz FSB are supported by the est driver giving the best power savings.Steve
Ok! i see, i also have a Pentium M 750 1,86ghz but since its a 533 bus it won't work with the eist driver either i guess?
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Hi! just picked the fireboxes up from the post and i just opened one of them up.
And the motherboard doesnt look like yours, i think it look exactly the same as the x750e but this one has one more card with ports.
But when i boot it up it says x5500e.Here are some pcitures: https://picasaweb.google.com/108726448953608241540
What do you think i should do with flashing etc.?
//BR
Patrik -
LOL I think I've may have been a little confused reading all these threads.
The x5500e and the x6000e is not the same hardware (which i thought)
Will i be able to use the other four interfaces or should i wait for pfsense 2.1? (I think you told me earlier that people had some problems with them because of a bug in freebsd).
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Looks exactly the same as the X5500e I have here. It's an early model (I think) as it has all the headers populated which is nice. :)
The X6000 (no e) is an X-Peak model which is different.
Write the bios flashing CF card and get the bios info. It will almost certainly be the same as mine (all have been so far).
The bug for the further 4 interfaces exists in 2.0.1 as it's still built on FreeBSD 8.1. That said I have run it with no problems, it only ever showed up for me when I was testing the throughput. I've never had a problem with it when connected to 100TX device.
There are some early builds of 2.1 (now based on FreeBSD 8.3) available if you do have problems. Though these are snapshots for testing only, here: http://iserv.nl/files/pfsense/releng83/
Steve
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Looks exactly the same as the X5500e I have here. It's an early model (I think) as it has all the headers populated which is nice. :)
The X6000 (no e) is an X-Peak model which is different.
Write the bios flashing CF card and get the bios info. It will almost certainly be the same as mine (all have been so far).
The bug for the further 4 interfaces exists in 2.0.1 as it's still built on FreeBSD 8.1. That said I have run it with no problems, it only ever showed up for me when I was testing the throughput. I've never had a problem with it when connected to 100TX device.
There are some early builds of 2.1 (now based on FreeBSD 8.3) available if you do have problems. Though these are snapshots for testing only, here: http://iserv.nl/files/pfsense/releng83/
Steve
Now i've flashed the bios and everything just the intall left.
I cant get it to boot my Kingston 4gb cf card (elite pro 133x)
Which image should i use?
And can you check my uploaded file if my settings are correct.
//BR
Patrik
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Try the 2.0.1 image first. I use:
pfSense-2.0.1-RELEASE-1g-i386-nanobsd.img.gz
This works fine on a 4GB card (and takes a lot less time to write!)Remember that the bios appears at 115200 baud but the serial output from pfSense is at 9600 so you have to change your serial terminal settings.
I have no idea what the settings for your card should be, the card geometry is defined by the manufacturer. However if you first auto detected it and then set it to manual changing only the heads to 2 it should work.
Steve
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Lol My bad :) i had it connected at 115200 :) then that was the problem since I saw the LEDs goinging crazy :) will try it tomorrow! Your help is very much appreciated.
Nite!
BR
Patrik -
They are socket 479, pretty much any Celeron-M or Pentium-M will fit. The standard CPU is a 1.3GHz Celeron. Everything I have fitted has worked but I've had best results with the 400MHz FSB Pentium-M chips. These are fully supported by the version of powerd that ships with pfSense 2.0.X so you get full advantage of Speedstep with it's reduced heat and power consumption.
Hi,
can both be used: sl8ba or sl6n5. Bothe are Pentium M 1,7 GHz…. with 400 MHZ FSB and 479 socket.
Matthias
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Yes.
If you have the choice go for the SL8BA, it's a Dothan core which runs cooler and twice the amount of on board cache.In case you didn't realise you have to set the jumpers (both sets) on the motherboard to select between Banias or Dothan.
Steve
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Yes.
If you have the choice go for the SL8BA, it's a Dothan core which runs cooler and twice the amount of on board cache.In case you didn't realise you have to set the jumpers (both sets) on the motherboard to select between Banias or Dothan.
Steve
I assume that this is discribed here in the forum, isn't it? You mean the jumpers an the side of the cpu socket?
OK, found the trhead. But what do you mean with "both sets"?
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There are two sets of (actually DIP switches) on the board. Both have to be set if you put a Dothan CPU in the box. One set is next to the CPU socket and the other is in the centre of the motherboard.
Steve
