Pro/1000 XT Server Adapters for pfSense

I'm using an old Core2Duo box to build a pfSense router for a friend. The plan was to install a Pro/1000 PT Dual-Port Server Adapter (4x PCIe card) into the empty 16x PCIe slot but for whatever reason the system won't boot when the card is installed.

The motherboard also has 2 regular PCI slots. I have several Pro/1000 XT Server adapters (PCI-X cards that also work in regular 32-bit PCI slots). The system boots fine when they are installed. They are from ~2001 however. Any issues using cards this old for pfSense? Would there be any noticeable drawbacks compared to if the much newer Dual-Port PT Server Adapter had worked?

Connection is 300Mbps down, 20Mbps up.

I had one of those in Dual core Athlon64 box running pfsense no problem so I don't think it is pfsense that is the problem here. Might just be something finicky hardware wise.

koolaidkitten said:

I had one of those in Dual core Athlon64 box running pfsense no problem so I don't think it is pfsense that is the problem here. Might just be something finicky hardware wise.

Click to expand...

Yeah it could not have been a pfSense issue as the system literally was not booting, not even showing the initial bios boot screen. Either way, the dual-port PT adapter has already been re-purposed at this point, I'm just curious how the much older PCI-based Pro/1000 XT Server adapters would work. From what I've been able to determine, they are still supported in pfSense under the "legacy driver", and that the cards tend to run hotter than newer cards. What running under the "legacy" driver means exactly (compared to newer cards), I'm not sure, and I'm not sure if the cards running hotter might cause reliability issues.

list the hardware

board and all.

Sould be more then enough to handle a 300mbit connection. The pci bus could handle 150mb/s or 133mb/s which is enough to handle gigabit lan traffic let alone the 300mbit internet