I too had a bit of a hard time getting pfSense installed on a net6501. I couldn't get the PXE methods to work using Parallels on my Mac, so then proceeded to try running the installer on a bootable USB . it worked well, but required that I use a more modern USB stick. With that, the installation went well.
let me share with you the thread on the PfSense forum as well as the URL to my collection of 6501 & Pfsense notes. http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,46718.0.html http://dl.dropbox.com/u/48937776/soekris6501-notes.pdf Hope it helps Robert -- R. Guerra Phone/Cell: +1 202-905-2081 Twitter: twitter.com/netfreedom Email: [email protected] On 2012-02-29, at 5:37 PM, Ovidiu Predescu wrote: > Hi there, > > I just got two net6501 boxes and I'd like to install pfSense on them. > I'm new to both pfSense and Soekris hardware, so please bear with me. > I tried at least three methods, with various degrees of success. > > Method 1: PXE install > > I first tried to use PXE to do the install. I have a small machine > that runs dnsmasq as DHCP and TFTP server. I downloaded the > pfSense-2.0.1-RELEASE-i386.iso.gz and installed the contents of the > file in a directory accessible to the TFTP server. I'm serving the > boot/pxeboot file from the tftp server. The net6501 box finds the > pxeboot file, but it gets stuck shortly after: > > Building the boot loader arguments > Relocating the loader and the BTX > Starting the BTX loader > > It looks like the next load phase never happens. > > Method 2: nanobsd install > > On a Mac machine I put the contents of > pfSense-2.0.1-RELEASE-2g-i386-nanobsd.img.gz on a 2GB memory stick. I > placed the stick in the internal USB slot where it's recognized just > fine: > > Controller Bus#02, Device#06, Function#00: 02 Ports, 01 Devices > Port-00: Hard Disk, INTEL SSDSA2CT040G3 > Port-01: No device detected > > Soekris USB Expansion ROM ver. 1.01 20111203 > > 81: USB 01 Single Flash Reader Xlt 997-64-63 2011 Mbyte > > When I type 'boot 81' I get 'Missing operating system' > > Method 3: Install pfSense on hard drive on a different machine > > I installed pfSense on a machine with screen and keyboard and selected > the embedded kernel. When I plug the hard drive back in, I do get past > the initial loader stage, but then the screen is garbled. I do set the > serial to 9600 8N1 as pfSense is supposed to use that once it boots. > > ---- > > What am I doing wrong in my attempts? I'd prefer to install over PXE, > but I'd love to install through other means as well. > > Thanks, > Ovidiu > _______________________________________________ > Soekris-tech mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech _______________________________________________ Soekris-tech mailing list [email protected] http://lists.soekris.com/mailman/listinfo/soekris-tech
