Firebox X700 Firmware

B

BadNoddy

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Feb 29, 2012
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I've recently acquired up a Firebox X700 firewall, however it appears to have a knackered image on it and consequently won't boot.

On powering on all I get is the top row of segmentation all black and that is it. I've tried the factory reset to no avail. I need to get either another copy of the factory image to copy to the CF card or work out which of the M0n0wall or pfSense images I need to download.

Currently the firewall has a 64MB CF card in it and the SCSI bay is empty.

Naturally with it not booting I cannot connect via console so the only option that I can see is copying the new image to whatever storage medium via physdiskwrite.

As anyone got any recommendations to the best route to go down to get it up and running once more?
 
Does the LCD BIOS menu work? (Hold the left LCD button as you turn the system on)

Black bar usually mean hardware issues, but maybe your CF/image is that issue.

I've worked on 30-40 Fireboxes, I'm sure yours is fixable. pfSense on it is the way to go tho.
 
Have you tried to connect a serial cable, you might get some bootloader messages...
 
I've not tried a serial connection as of yet as I cannot find my serial cable >_<. I've tried pressing the left LCD button whilst powering but no joy (tried all of the directional arrows)

I've been looking into pfsense and m0n0wall as i've heard that they offer a great 3rd party solution to the standard images.

I've got a 4Gb CF card knocking around somewhere that I'll try pfsense with - on that note, exactly which version do I need for the x700?
 
Hello BadNoddy,

I have an x700 and it does the EXACT same thing. I get the black bars but nothing else.
Mine was working fine until one evening it started making a noise which I thought was the cpu fan had failed.
But when I opened it, the cpu fan seems to work fine and I dont hear the noise anymore.

But no matter what, I cant get past the Bars along the top.

I did notice a few of the capacitors were bulging a bit at the top and usually thats a sign of capacitor failure.

Maybe you can look at yours and see if yours seem to be bulging.
Near the center of the board, there are 5 small capacitors in a straight line.
On my board, the two closest to the power supply side are bulging at the top.
It's not a lot, but if you look at the others you can tell a slight difference.

I don't really think it's the image file. I think that's still there.

But when I turn the unit on, the cpu never gets warm. To me, that's a sign of power failure.

I think the noise was an alert buzzer. Over in the back right corner is a small black piezo
buzzer.

Randy
 
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If you have black bars, replace the CPU and RAM. 90% of the "dead" Fireboxes I fix have those as the problem.

Since you said the CPU fan failed, the CPU probably burned up. They don't have a thermal shutdown.
 
Brak710 said:
If you have black bars, replace the CPU and RAM. 90% of the "dead" Fireboxes I fix have those as the problem.

Since you said the CPU fan failed, the CPU probably burned up. They don't have a thermal shutdown.
Click to expand...

I replaced the RAM in mine...no change. Not RAM.
Did anyone in this thread say their cpu fan quit ? Because I cant find where anyone said that.

Also, where would you get a cpu for one of these? Watchguard doesn't have them.
 
Barometer said:
I replaced the RAM in mine...no change. Not RAM.
Did anyone in this thread say their cpu fan quit ? Because I cant find where anyone said that.

Also, where would you get a cpu for one of these? Watchguard doesn't have them.
Click to expand...

But when I opened it, the cpu fan seems to work fine and I dont hear the noise anymore.
Click to expand...

^ I read that wrong, lol.

If you want a 1:1 replacement, pick up an SL6C8 on ebay. You can buy them for like $9-10 usually.
 
Does it have to be the same proc? If you've got any older Socket 370 procs, I'd try one and see if it boots then.
 
Nate7311 said:
Does it have to be the same proc? If you've got any older Socket 370 procs, I'd try one and see if it boots then.
Click to expand...

I have one down stairs im about to toss, ill pull the cpu if some one needs it..


Just pulled it, its a PIII 866
 
Nate7311 said:
Does it have to be the same proc? If you've got any older Socket 370 procs, I'd try one and see if it boots then.
Click to expand...

I believe almost any 370 PIII will work, but I have no personal experience with many of them. I just have a model number list that I know are good. The SL6C8s are Watchguard's official choice tho.
 
On mine, there is an Orange Heat sink super glued (lol) to the CPU.

That thing DOES NOT want to come off :mad:

How did you guys get the heat sink off to see what kind of CPU it is ?

It looks an awful lot like an old early series AMD Athlon or P3 cpu.


GREAT information here. Nice Forum for this kind of stuff :cool:
 
Barometer said:
On mine, there is an Orange Heat sink super glued (lol) to the CPU.

That thing DOES NOT want to come off :mad:

How did you guys get the heat sink off to see what kind of CPU it is ?

It looks an awful lot like an old early series AMD Athlon cpu.
Click to expand...

I'm probably the refurbing firebox expert of the world. I'll let you in on a super secret trick for CPU unsticking...

...flat heat screw driver and twist around the edges. I'm sure Intel would throw a fit, but... It works. Just don't twist too hard, just do lots of twists.

You could try a razor blade, too.
 
Brak710 said:
I'm probably the refurbing firebox expert of the world.
Click to expand...

:D

I better be nice to you then. I have an office full of older Fireboxes.

Have you ever seen a power supply go bad on one of these?
Mine will turn on, but all I get is black bars across the top of the LCD.
The CPU doesn't even get warm. But the CPU fan does work.

Can I be sure mine has an SL6C8 cpu ?

Who has an SL6C8 they can sell me and how much with shipping to 33321 ?

Cheers!
 
Barometer said:
:D

I better be nice to you then. I have an office full of older Fireboxes.

Have you ever seen a power supply go bad on one of these?
Mine will turn on, but all I get is black bars across the top of the LCD.
The CPU doesn't even get warm. But the CPU fan does work.

Can I be sure mine has an SL6C8 cpu ?

Who has an SL6C8 they can sell me and how much with shipping to 33321 ?

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Haha, but yeah, I've seen dead PSUs. Usually it's just like the 5v or something that fails, and then nothing works.

The PSUs are SNP-z101, the problem is that the ones I see on eBay cost more than a used working firebox. :rolleyes:

The CPUs are indeed only SL6C8s, I just sold about 40 of them that we're all pulled from Fireboxes that I replaced.
 
Good Nooze.

I had an old (REALLY old) Dell L566cx laying around that I meant to throw out about 100 times (but never got around to it.

Well, it had a socket 370 566mhz cpu in it and I plugged it into the Firebox and it worked !

Booted right up (albeit slowly).

So my problem was a wasted CPU.


Easy fix on this one.

Thanks EVERYONE and especially you great master re-furber of old Fireboxes :p
 
Barometer said:
Good Nooze.

I had an old (REALLY old) Dell L566cx laying around that I meant to throw out about 100 times (but never got around to it.

Well, it had a socket 370 566mhz cpu in it and I plugged it into the Firebox and it worked !

Booted right up (albeit slowly).

So my problem was a wasted CPU.


Easy fix on this one.

Thanks EVERYONE and especially you great master re-furber of old Fireboxes :p
Click to expand...

haha, glad to help. I would recommend getting a better CPU then tho, these units are really nice, but the CPU slowing it down is no fun.
 
Barometer said:
Good Nooze.

I had an old (REALLY old) Dell L566cx laying around that I meant to throw out about 100 times (but never got around to it.

Well, it had a socket 370 566mhz cpu in it and I plugged it into the Firebox and it worked !

Booted right up (albeit slowly).

So my problem was a wasted CPU.


Easy fix on this one.

Thanks EVERYONE and especially you great master re-furber of old Fireboxes :p
Click to expand...

If you throw me 5$ for shipping i will ship this 866 cpu to you :)
 
Barometer said:
I replaced the RAM in mine...no change. Not RAM.
Did anyone in this thread say their cpu fan quit ? Because I cant find where anyone said that.

Also, where would you get a cpu for one of these? Watchguard doesn't have them.
Click to expand...

Ive gone through 2 cpu fans on my box they just keep failing. The firebox keeps right on going though
 
dashpuppy said:
If you throw me 5$ for shipping i will ship this 866 cpu to you :)
Click to expand...

Sounds goo to me !

What's an 866 cpu? Direct replacement for the 1.2 Ghz one that came in it ?
Or do you mean 866mhz ?

Does anyone know what the mhz/ghz is on the x500 vs x700 vs x1000 ?

I think it's been said the x700 runs a 1.2 ghz ?
 
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Veeb0rg said:
Ive gone through 2 cpu fans on my box they just keep failing. The firebox keeps right on going though
Click to expand...

The fan on these bad boys is pretty good design compared to most computer cpu fans. (or at least the one on THIS one)

It seems shielded from lint, cat hair etc unlike normal cpu fans...or is the one on my Firebox different?

This thing has a very unique cpu fan. It would be really hard for lint, dust or fine hair to get inside it. I wish ALL cpu fans were like the one I have on the x700.
 
Barometer said:
Sounds goo to me !

What's an 866 cpu? Direct replacement for the 1.2 Ghz one that came in it ?
Or do you mean 866mhz ?

Does anyone know what the mhz/ghz is on the x500 vs x700 vs x1000 ?

I think it's been said the x700 runs a 1.2 ghz ?
Click to expand...

It's a 866mhz if want it..
 
Barometer said:
I did notice a few of the capacitors were bulging a bit at the top and usually thats a sign of capacitor failure.
Click to expand...

Bulging/distended capacitors are dead capacitors. Hence your issue. Remove the damaged caps, then solder on some new ones and your problems will stop.
 
Barometer said:
The fan on these bad boys is pretty good design compared to most computer cpu fans. (or at least the one on THIS one)

It seems shielded from lint, cat hair etc unlike normal cpu fans...or is the one on my Firebox different?

This thing has a very unique cpu fan. It would be really hard for lint, dust or fine hair to get inside it. I wish ALL cpu fans were like the one I have on the x700.
Click to expand...

yeah, one the bearings exploded on, and the other just seized up. stupid blower design.
 
Exacta, Portwell, and all them stopped putting blowers in network appliances. That should tell you something.

1 in 5 Fireboxes I get have a failed fan or seizing bearings.
 
Dead CPU then eh? Right I'll have to source one then (unless any of you guys are in the uk with one to chuck my way ;) )

That will answer why i'm not getting any repsonse over the serial connection as well
 
Are the x700's limited to any particular PIII's or what ever i can throw at it? the 1.2Ghz chips are dirt cheap so i may as well go for that if its compatible
 
Update...

I tested another cpu from an old dell and it boots fully and works fine...so it's definitely the cpu.

Then I Ordered a SL6C8 cpu from ebay and it partially boots then stalls with a blank LCD with the ebay cpu.

Bad cpu ?

It still boots and works fine on the old Dell cpu but it's only 566mhz.

Really pissed this idiot would waste my time and money like this by sending a foo-barred cpu :mad:

Now I have to look for another cpu.
 
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Barometer said:
Update...

I tested another cpu from an old dell and it boots fully and works fine...so it's definitely the cpu.

Then I Ordered a SL6C8 cpu from ebay (tonypcmaster) and it partially boots then stalls with a blank LCD with the ebay cpu.

Bad cpu ?

It still boots and works fine on the old Dell cpu but it's only 566mhz.

Really pissed this idiot would waste my time and money like this by sending a foo-barred cpu :mad:

Now I have to look for another cpu.
Click to expand...


Ive posted this 3 times but i have a 866mhz cpu here pulled it out for you last week.
 
dashpuppy said:
Ive posted this 3 times but i have a 866mhz cpu here pulled it out for you last week.
Click to expand...

Def appreciate the offer. :)

The x700 came with a 1.2 ghz processor. So I really wanted to go UP in performance from that, not really down. I have a backup firebox with the same config, but now I have no backup until I get the x700 working.

Is it possible to replace the 1.2 with a 1.6ghz processor ?
 
Any reason THIS wouldn't work in a Firebox x700 ?

INTEL CELERON 1300/256/100 SOCKET 370 CPU SL5VR
 
Should work fine, it fits the usual specs unless there is something strange.
 
This is getting old.

This is the 2nd socket 370 cpu I have purchased off ebay that doesn't work (wtf?)

The Firebox boots and works FINE if I install the 566mhz cpu from the Dell computer I have.

But it won't finish booting with EITHER ebay cpu I bought :mad:


Is it possible I got two bad socket 370 cpu's in a row or is something else at play here?

I'm also beginning to wonder if this could be a power supply issue since it works with the 566mhz cpu which probably uses a little less power than the 1.2 or 1.3 ghz processor.
What do you think?
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Barometer said:
This is getting old.

This is the 2nd socket 370 cpu I have purchased off ebay that doesn't work (wtf?)

The Firebox boots and works FINE if I install the 566mhz cpu from the Dell computer I have.

But it won't finish booting with EITHER ebay cpu I bought :mad:


Is it possible I got two bad socket 370 cpu's in a row or is something else at play here?

I'm also beginning to wonder if this could be a power supply issue since it works with the 566mhz cpu which probably uses a little less power than the 1.2 or 1.3 ghz processor.
What do you think?
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.
.
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Click to expand...


I can't see it being a psu issue. why do you need a bigger cpu ? have you tried running the box with the working cpu, then monitor it's activity ?
 
Well,

As far as I know, the x700 comes with a 1.2 ghz cpu.

Going with a slower cpu might affect it's ability to keep up with a lot of traffic and processing rules.


I wonder if anyone here actually knows the OEM cpu speed for the x500, x700 and x1000 ?

A WAG....

x500 = 800mhz
x700 = 1.2 ghz
x1000 = 1.6 ghz
 
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