Watchguard Firebox XTM 8 Series
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You shouldn't need to use com1, you can use com2 for everything as far as I know.
Steve
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I have managed to use COM2 port and act like it's COM1
by reassigning the I/O Adress to 0x3F8 / IRQ4 (thanks to Stephenw10 for this tip in a earlier message in this thread.
I then removed the added line comconsole_port="0x2F8" from the /boot/loader.conf.local file.
I also modified the Bios file to set this I/O Adress fixed to 0x3F8 / IRQ4, under the option Super I/O Configuration -> Serial Port2 Adress and changed the default value of 03 to 02 in both colums failsafe and optimal.
I then flashed this modified Bios back to the firewall, did a CMOS reset and placed a blank SSD drive and installed Pfsense memstick serial without any problems.
Finally i made a entire dump of the Bios through SPI with my True-USB PRO GQ-4X Willem Programmer to a 2Mb Rom file.The next challenge is to get this firewall working like a XTM5 series, so that the firewall can be power off instead of rebooting, my modding skill are not that big, but know i can poke arround in the Bios files without bricking the firewall.
Greetz
DeLorean -
@stephenw10 said in Watchguard Firebox XTM 8 Series:
You shouldn't need to use com1, you can use com2 for everything as far as I know.
Steve
Our messages have cross eachother :-)
I assumed that after a CMOS reset, the problem of no serial output by a clean pfSense install would come back.
Correct me if i'm wrong.Greetz
DeLorean -
As far as I know the BIOS I'm using is simply unlocked, no other changes.
Console redirect was already set for com2 so you can access the BIOS setup there. Only that loader line was needed in pfSense to set com2 as the default console.One thing I have noticed is that after making some changes in the BIOS setup and savinh them WGXepc is no longer able to set the fan controllers at boot. The superio chip there was always tricky to work with. I suspect saved some default value that prevents writing the registers.
Steve
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Before i added that loader line, my serial console hangs short after booting up the memstick serial version.
Only after doing a clean install on a XTM5 with only em0 and em3 configured, i could login to the Web Gui and added that loader line, to get the full serial console output visable.
Regarding WGXepec64, it's still possible to set the fan controllers at boot, as long as the CPU / System FAN setting in the Bios is set at "Automatic", on "Full mode on" , WGXepec64 has no effect on lowering the fan speed. With the PWM setting and a value of say 070, WGXepec64 can also work.
I use the PWM setting at 070 in the Bios, and Shellcmd to set the lower F and F2 speed to 40 with WGXepec64 in pfSense.Greetz
DeLorean -
Ah, interesting I'll have to try that. WGXepc should probably allow for that but I guess I never saw the chip in that state when I was testing.
Are you sure you used AMIBCP v4.53? I can't open file from there with any v4 version, I have to use v3.51.
Steve
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@stephenw10 said in Watchguard Firebox XTM 8 Series:
Ah, interesting I'll have to try that. WGXepc should probably allow for that but I guess I never saw the chip in that state when I was testing.
Are you sure you used AMIBCP v4.53? I can't open file from there with any v4 version, I have to use v3.51.
Steve
You're right, it is AMIBCP v3.51 , v4.53 doesn't open the file here either.
I have downloaded many versions the last few days :-)ps: with the CPU / System FAN setting on PWM in the Bios, and WGXepec64 for lowering the Fan speed in pfSense, this work great, but when i experiment with different fan speeds through the command prompt in the Web Gui, at a sudden moment all 3 CPU's Fans and System fan stops completely, and didn respons anymore. Only when i rebooted pfSense they came back to life.
But with the settings of WGXepec64 set with Shellcmd at boot, everything works fine.
Also the Arm / Disarm LED works fine.Greetz
DeLorean -
I am having a bit of an issue upgrading or doing a fresh install to the latest version of PFSense.
I would like to say that I have been using PFSense for quite a few years without issue until now. I am running PFSense 2.4.5-RELEASE-p1 (amd64) perfectly but I am stuck here. I install from CF to an internal SATA drive on a WG XTM 800 Series.
The issue I am having happens whether or not I do an upgrade or a fresh install. I have not seen anyone yet with this issue and I feel it may be hardware related but I can not pin down what the issue is. When I start the installation, everything appears to go well but at a random interval during the installation, the screen starts scrolling hex characters. Even if I manage to install the latest version, the system freezes and fills the error log with hex characters. PFSense 2.4.5 is rock solid on my hardware and I have had zero issues over the years upgrading to this version but anything beyond 2.4.5 causes this strange behavior.
Has anyone else encountered this or have a clue to what could be causing it and how to fix it? Again, it can be a fresh install without even completing the install for this to happen.
Thanks!
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@stephenw10 Thank you, I will give that a shot. I appreciate the feedback.
