Installing pfSense on the T8Pro

[dragonpoo]

As I mentioned in other posts, I wanted to try pfSense on the T8Pro, since it comes with dual NICs, and is so small that it seems to be a perfect fit for the OS. I'm posting this for my own reference (in case I ever want to do this again) and as help for anyone else who might want to try.

I noticed on an Amazon review that somebody complained about the T8Pro coming with Realtek NICs, which are known for stability issues with FreeBSD's default drivers in pfsense. I went into this project having some warning that I would want to research that, and I found a few sites that talk about how to update the drivers: https://www.ismoothblog.com/2021/02/off ... sense.html and https://forum.netgate.com/topic/169896/ ... se-2-6-0/7 were the main ones, although I had to do some other manual steps to get it working.

So, download the pfsense ISO from here: https://www.pfsense.org/download/ - I grabbed the AMD64 DVD ISO for 2.6.0 (latest of of today), and used Rufus to copy it to a USB drive. Boot the T8pro into BIOS (spam that DEL key) and choose to boot from the USB drive.

Install was pretty easy, just accept most of the defaults and overwrite the drive. That's why I purchased a secondary 2242 NVMe drive, so I could go back to the default Windows install when I want.

Boot pfsense, make sure it has a valid network connection. I used a single NIC on the LAN, and had to configure the gateway to direct traffic out, so I could download packages and updates (Interfaces > LAN - IPv4 Upstream gateway). I also had to manually set up SSH (System > Advanced - Secure Shell). That's necessary to access the shell to edit config files and download packages.

The ismoothblog post didn't mention having to enable FreeBSD repos, so I found those steps (https://forum.netgate.com/topic/98082/2 ... sitories/8):

1. Make sure "enabled" key is set to "yes" in /etc/pkg/FreeBSD.conf
2. Change "enabled: no" to "enabled: yes" in /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/FreeBSD.conf
3. Change "enabled: no" to "enabled: yes" in /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/pfSense.conf for FreeBSD repo

ismoothblog says to run a "pkg install realtek-re-kmod" which downloaded version 197.00. Then you need to configure /boot/loader.conf.local, adding two lines at the bottom, which steps are mentioned after installing the package:

Code: Select all

if_re_load="YES"
if_re_name="/boot/modules/if_re.ko"

I did a reboot to verify it was working, and the "kldstat" command to show me that it's using the correct drivers, and things seem pretty happy right now.

Additional note, running "pciconf -lv" lets you see what hardware is in the system, but it doesn't tell you which drivers are in use.

Although pciconf can see the Reaktek RTL8821CE wireless adapter, so far I haven't found a driver that lets me use it. Not too surprising, as pfsense is normally used in wired environments, but I'll keep checking.

[admin]

Good post！

[dragonpoo]

I'm running FreeNAS on an old tower computer, which also runs FreeBSD. I've referenced some of these commands to troubleshoot network stuff there, too. It's funny what you use once you know it's there.

[Z3ros]

Thanks for you post, I have also a T8Pro with pfSense installed but my crash doesn't stop... I followed your instruction, installed the last Realtek-re-kmod (198.00), added the 2 lines at the bottom of /boot/loader.conf (loader.conf.local doesn't exist) but... in the kldstat the drivers doesn't show up!!!
I'm a little frustrated here...
task for any help

[dragonpoo]

Thanks for you post, I have also a T8Pro with pfSense installed but my crash doesn't stop... I followed your instruction, installed the last Realtek-re-kmod (198.00), added the 2 lines at the bottom of /boot/loader.conf (loader.conf.local doesn't exist) but... in the kldstat the drivers doesn't show up!!!
I'm a little frustrated here...
task for any help

Z3ros, can you explain what crash you get? I'll need to dig into this more to see if I can find something to help. However, if kldstat doesn't show it, there's probably an issue with it being installed properly, or loading correctly. Logs are always your friend with computer issues, especially with Linux and FreeBSD, so I suggest checking them (or checking the pfsense website for troubleshooting tips)