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    Pfsense on portwell NAR-5610

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    • ?
      A Former User
      last edited by

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      • K
        KrPacMan
        last edited by

        I have a Portwell NAR-5500 as the main router at home at the moment. Pretty similar hardware but slightly older i would guess. The downside is that it does not have USB at the back and have a PCI-port rather than PCIe. It works great though and have been very stable for around a year. I guess you could pop in a much cooler CPU in that box, i have swiched the original 3.4 GHz P4 NetBurst CPU for a 2.8 GHz which runs alot cooler.

        Does the LCD work for you? Mine had a "MTB134" chipset which currently is not supported by LCDproc.

        Panda GateDefender Performa 8100 (Portwell NR-5500) with Pfsense 2.1 :: blog

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        • ?
          A Former User
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          • K
            KrPacMan
            last edited by

            Please shout if you make the LCD work.

            The name of the display controller is not on the display PCB itself, but a controller-PCB. See my old thread for pictures on how it looks.

            Panda GateDefender Performa 8100 (Portwell NR-5500) with Pfsense 2.1 :: blog

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            • ?
              A Former User
              last edited by

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              • O
                olorinpc
                last edited by

                I picked up a Portwell NAR-5500 (Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.2GHz - 2GB DDR Ram, 80GB SATA HDD, 6x Gigabit Ethernet ports ) pre-configured with pfsense 2.1 and it has the LCD working.  Buttons do not, but the LCD does do scrolling.

                Main issue I have been having with the box is keeping the lan side from dropping ( http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,70471 ), though if you have the same setup, I would guess not a driver issue then.

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                • K
                  KrPacMan
                  last edited by

                  @olorinpc:

                  I picked up a Portwell NAR-5500 (Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.2GHz - 2GB DDR Ram, 80GB SATA HDD, 6x Gigabit Ethernet ports ) pre-configured with pfsense 2.1 and it has the LCD working.  Buttons do not, but the LCD does do scrolling.

                  Main issue I have been having with the box is keeping the lan side from dropping ( http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,70471 ), though if you have the same setup, I would guess not a driver issue then.

                  Hrm, that's strange! Do you use LCDproc? Can you post your settings for LCDproc here please? I would be very thankful to get the LCD on my NAR-5500 working.

                  On your problem, have you tried to add the following to /boot/loader.conf ?

                  hw.msk.msi_disable="1"
                  hw.pci.enable_msi=0
                  hw.pci.enable_msix=0

                  They solved my "watchgod timeout" problem and general instability.

                  Panda GateDefender Performa 8100 (Portwell NR-5500) with Pfsense 2.1 :: blog

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                  • O
                    olorinpc
                    last edited by

                    Haven't tried that setting, though I will have to keep it in mind.  Moved the LAN side cable to a different port on the dell powerconnect switch, and haven't seen a single error in the logs since… leading me to think that port 1 on the switch is either flaky, or it isn't playing nice.

                    yep using "lcdproc-0.5.6 pkg v. 0.9.7"

                    Enable on startup - checked
                    Port: Serial COM Port 2 alternate (/dev/cuau1)
                    Display size: 2 rows 20 colums
                    Driver: mtc_s16209x
                    Connection type: Serial LPT wiring
                    Refresh frequency: 5 seconds

                    The rest of the options are set to default, and the last one is unchecked.

                    Like I said, the buttons don't work, but this does allow you to select on the next tab over what screens are displayed, and then they scroll through on the front of the box.

                    The Portwell nar-5500 I have is a rebranded IBM Proventix EE1500

                    http://olorinpc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/OloNet-pfsense.jpg

                    I don't yet have it mounted in the rack, but you can see it there.  I spose it's possible IBM used a different LCD with the blue case, but hopefully not.

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                    • ?
                      A Former User
                      last edited by

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                      • ?
                        Guest
                        last edited by

                        @olorinpc:

                        The Portwell nar-5500 I have is a rebranded IBM Proventix EE1500

                        http://olorinpc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/OloNet-pfsense.jpg

                        More correctly, the IBM Proventix EE1500 is a branded Portwell NAR-5500.

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                        • K
                          KrPacMan
                          last edited by

                          @olorinpc:

                          Haven't tried that setting, though I will have to keep it in mind.  Moved the LAN side cable to a different port on the dell powerconnect switch, and haven't seen a single error in the logs since… leading me to think that port 1 on the switch is either flaky, or it isn't playing nice.

                          yep using "lcdproc-0.5.6 pkg v. 0.9.7"

                          Enable on startup - checked
                          Port: Serial COM Port 2 alternate (/dev/cuau1)
                          Display size: 2 rows 20 colums
                          Driver: mtc_s16209x
                          Connection type: Serial LPT wiring
                          Refresh frequency: 5 seconds

                          The rest of the options are set to default, and the last one is unchecked.

                          Like I said, the buttons don't work, but this does allow you to select on the next tab over what screens are displayed, and then they scroll through on the front of the box.

                          The Portwell nar-5500 I have is a rebranded IBM Proventix EE1500

                          http://olorinpc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/OloNet-pfsense.jpg

                          I don't yet have it mounted in the rack, but you can see it there.  I spose it's possible IBM used a different LCD with the blue case, but hopefully not.

                          I've tried those settings but the LCD does not show anything. Anything else i've might have missed? Will keep trying!

                          Panda GateDefender Performa 8100 (Portwell NR-5500) with Pfsense 2.1 :: blog

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                          • D
                            docjay
                            last edited by

                            just picked up a portwell NAR-5510 off fleabay.  Anxious to upgrade my alix board with microdrive as I think its on its way out.

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                            • S
                              Sifter
                              last edited by

                              http://drivers.portwell.com/CA_Manual/NAR-5500/NAR-5500%20Manual%20v1.2.pdf

                              Would this link be helpful?  It talks about the LCD screen.

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