Watchguard x550e / x750e UDMA CF-Card
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Hello,
i modded my Watchguard to support UDMA on CF-Slot.
Quite easy … Cf-Pin 44 -> IDE-Pin 29, Cf-Pin 43 -> Ide-Pin 21
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Nice mod! :)
Are those pins just not connected in the CF slot.?
Does it make any difference?Steve
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The generic problem is that if you use this device with a udma-capable cf-card pfsense wont boot correctly because it cannot read the cf once it has switched to kernel-controller i/o.
This is the case for many older CF-IDE-converters. I just used the information on how to mod them to mod my watchguard.
I must say that i had no time to test it yet as i had not found a suitable cf-card in my lab, i'll test it tomorrow. But i'm quite sure this is doing the trick as its a standard issue with many cf->ide converter pcbs.
(for example: http://www.fccps.cz/download/adv/frr/cf.html)
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Hello.
I now had time to test my mod because i need the box for a fair.
It works as expected. Really huge improvement!
The cf-troughput is much higher, the box itself acts much smoother.So i can only recommend it to everyone who is able to use a soldering iron.
Kind regards, Stephan
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Hmm, that's interesting. What sort of pfSense install are you running?
I had assumed you would running a NanoBSD image on the CF card in which case I would expect little or no improvement in the box performance. Maybe there is some other side effect I haven't thought of. Perhaps the switch to DMA mode off loads the CPU significantly?Time to get soldering! :)
Steve
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I'm running the normal stock 2.0.3 nanobsd vga image.
The kind of cf-card is important, many are a bit slow. -
nice one sub205.
Have to remember this for the next Firebox i will convert ;D
