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Ok, so I downloaded the 'nano' image. According to the documentation, this still uses the serial console for initial access and configuration. Since this is a "pre-installed" image, I was able to just copy it directly from the PC to the mSata drive and then put the drive into the T70. It boots up in a very similar way to the serial image, but, it doesn't allow log in as user install, only as root. This, of course, makes sense, since in this image, OPNsense is already pre-installed. Connecting with a browser to 192.168.1.1 shows the OPNsense login page and upon login, the configuration wizard.

I still need to carry out the mod on my T70, so will continue the exploration once this has been done, but at least the 'nano' image does seem to provide a way forward and gets around the serial image installation 3Gb memory requirement. I had read that it requires 2GB, but evidently that has increased at some point.

I am curious: is the 3GB RAM requirement for installing the 'serial' image because the OPNsense install image is being unpacked to RAM? Or is it just a co-incidence that the pre-installed 'nano' image is 3.0Gb in size? I am using 32Gb msata drives. Could it not have been unpacked to the drive instead? Also, is it possible to create and make use of a partition on the remaining 29Gb or so of the msata drive, which appears to be unused at present?

The SSD seemed to be unmountable on my Linux machine, but I have never used FreeBSD, so have no idea whether FreeBSD formatted drives would mount on Linux anyway so I assumed that this behaviour was probably to be expected.

That is correct indeed : My USB Stick with OPNsense never gets mounted by Debian or Kubuntu Linux either :)

If you want to check if it has been written correctly then consider using a FreeBSD Live Boot environment for the whole process.

_{(Before you ask :
Yes, there are some ways to have Linux read FreeBSD stuff and also have FreeBSD read Linux stuff, but it's not really recommended so let's skip the whole thing in this case and keep everything native!)}

I haven't used FreeBSD before but having logged in at the console and selected the Shell option, I see that standard Linux commands seem to work, although I expect that there are differences. I might just set FreeBSD up in a virtual machine to have a look at, but that's another project.

BTW, re: your last comment about mounting BSD partitions in Linux, my own research suggested the same thing. There seemed to be varying opinions with one or two results suggesting that a more recent UFS driver should work, while others were saying that it does not, or simply stating that BSD partitions cannot be mounted in Linux. The picture is unclear at best, which suggests that it may still be a work in progress and perhaps should be avoided for now.

My mSata drives arrived the other day so I have assembled the kit required to perform the installation. I have cleared an SSD drive and copied the OPNsense image to it. This created three partitions:

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Disk /dev/sdd: 111.79 GiB, 120034122752 bytes, 234441646 sectors
Disk model: Storage Device 
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: A9D1D6E5-3EE4-11F1-A9A1-88AEDD688C59

Device     Start     End Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sdd1     34   66617   66584 32.5M EFI System
/dev/sdd2  66618   66739     122   61K FreeBSD boot
/dev/sdd3  66740   67763    1024  512K FreeBSD swap
/dev/sdd4  67764 5182387 5114624  2.4G FreeBSD UFS
The SSD seemed to be unmountable on my Linux machine, but I have never used FreeBSD, so have no idea whether FreeBSD formatted drives would mount on Linux anyway so I assumed that this behaviour was probably to be expected.

The SSD drive has been connected to the SATA connector in the T70 and I have a wall wart with a SATA power connector - originally came with a SATA <-> USB adapter and I am using this to power the drive.

The original mSata drive has been removed from the T70. A different mSata drive has been cleared and installed into the provided slot on the T70. I have a console cable connected and am running a terminal at 115200 baud.

The following appears on the terminal at power on:

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T70      V1.2
InsydeH2O Version : 1.15
BIOS Build Date : 09/08/2016
Processor Type : Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU  N3160  @ 1.60GHz
System Memory Speed : 1600 MHz
CPUID : 406C4

Serial ATA Port 0 : LITEONIT LMT-32L3M mSATA 32GB
Serial ATA Port 1 : OCZ-AGILITY3                            /boot/config: -S115200 -h
gptboot: error 1 lba 89284
Invalid format
gptboot: error 1 lba 68084
gptboot: No /boot/kernel/kernel on 0:ad(0p4)

FreeBSD/x86 boot
Default: 0:ad(0p4)/boot/kernel/kernel
boot: gptboot: error 1 lba 94324
gptboot: No /boot/kernel/kernel on 0:ad(0p4)

FreeBSD/x86 boot
Default: 0:ad(0p4)/boot/kernel/kernel
boot: installergptboot: error 1 lba 68084
gptboot: No installer on 0:ad(0p4)

FreeBSD/x86 boot
Default: 0:ad(0p4)installer
boot:

The system seems to have detected both drives but there is no login prompt and it looks like I am at the FreeBSD bootloader. I am not sure what to do from here as the instructions in the other thread say to log in?

The other noteworthy thing seems to be this:

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gptboot: error 1 lba 88972
Invalid format
gptboot: error 1 lba 68084
gptboot: No /boot/kernel/kernel on 0:ad(0p4)
So it does look like something is corrupted?

UPDATE: it looks like a wiggle of the SATA cable and a re-boot it seems that a re-boot was all that was required. I now get an OPNsense menu followed by what looks like a boot up script and eventually a login prompt. I logged in and am not at the point where its asking me the installation mode. Not sure whether to go with ZFS or UFS so just selected the default. Now getting this:

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lqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqZFS Configurationqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqk
x The installer detected only 2048MB of RAM. Since    x
x this is a live image, copying the full file system  x
x to another disk requires at least 3000MB of RAM      x
x and is generally advised for good operation.        x
tqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqu
I proceeded regardless and then got this error:

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lqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqError: sysctlqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqk
 x sysctl: unknown oid 'vfs.zfs.min_auto_ashift' x
 tqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqu
 x                   <  OK  >                    x
 mqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqj

The process was restarted and UFS selected instead. This time it seemed to proceed further:

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OPNsense Installer
lqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqInstallation Errorqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqkq
x /mnt/boot/kernel/mfi_linux.ko    copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/rtw8822c_wow_fw.bin.ko copy-ok                          x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/snd_via8233.ko  copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/hkbd.ko        copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/proto.ko        copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/ataite.ko      copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/ng_source.ko    copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/sbp.ko          copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/if_sis.ko      copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/if_nge.ko      copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/wlan_ccmp.ko    copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/ng_rfc1490.ko  copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/mxge_rss_eth_z8e.ko copy-ok                              x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/if_cas.ko      copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/if_ipheth.ko    copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/tcp_bbr.ko      copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/iwm7260fw.ko    copy-ok                                  x
x /mnt/boot/kernel/uled.ko        copy-ok                                  x
tqqqq↓(+)qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq1%qqqqqqu
x                                < EXIT >                                  x
mqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqj
But on selecting 'EXIT':

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lqqqqqInstallation Abortqqqqqqqqk
x An installation error         x
x occurred. Would you like to   x
x attempt to continue the       x
x installation anyway?          x
tqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqu
x   <Continue>  < Abort  >      x
mqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqj

At this point the installation has been aborted as there seems to be insufficient resources.

I think I will try the embedded serial image and see how that goes.

Thank you for the detailed reply. That's starting to make sense now. I was unaware that it was not possible to boot from USB on the Watchguard. I imagine its not a feature provided in its BIOS. That would explain why the author of the second link used an SSD. Fortunately I do have a couple of spare SSD drives. I have also now dug out the power adapter I have for powering SSD drives so should be good to go once I get the mSata drives.

Ok, so I am a bit hesitant to ask this now, but here goes....

I have reviewed 3 installation guides:

The official OPNsense one:

https://docs.opnsense.org/manual/install.html

The one linked earlier:

https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=29602.0

And this one on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/1sxkq33/i_wanted_an_opnsense_firewall_in_2026_firebox_t70/

The first and official one I least understand, perhaps because it is specifically targeted for OPNsense appliances. The second one is similar but simplified and that one I do get. From my reading of the first two sources, it seems that for some reason it is necessary to create a medium twice. The first one talks about downloading, unpacking and copying the install image onto a USB stick. The second one does something similar but requires an SSD drive to be connected to the T70 instead. The third one seems to take a different approach and suggests installing "OPNsense from another machine onto the mSATA". He doesn't specify what "other machine" he used, but does that mean it possible to use my PC to install OPNsense directly onto to the mSata? I will need to check whether I have a means to separately power an SSD drive, so possibly booting from the USB stick will be the way forward. The next steps seems to be figuring out whether I can get into the BIOS and boot from the USB and download the appropriate image and associate files for verification.

To this end I also need to confirm which image I should download and use - the serial or the nano image? Both use the console port which is necessary here since the T70 has no VGA port.

Also I am curious about the extra verification step using OpenSSL? I have not seen this until now. Usually comparing the SHA256 hash is sufficient enough to confirm whether the file has been corrupted or altered in any way. Is that no longer the case?

Sadly this is the only forum out of the three where I have been made to feel unwelcome.

I thought that being re-directed to a competitor forum due to the omission of the 'e' in the product name might be of interest and concern.

I also thought that some feedback about the "low profile" perception of the forum on the main OPNsense website might also be of some interest to the admins. It can, of course, be found, but not very obvious like on most websites where its usually a link from the top of the page or its menu.

If one cannot ask questions, then what's the point of having a forum?

Still, I do take your point about the videos. I didn't find 'tons' but a handful and will review a couple that look relevant so thanks for that.

1. Why does searching for "OpenSense" get you the netgate form which is for the pfSense product?
I then get an admin telling me that I am "unlikely to find much love for OPNSense here on the pfSense forum". The why are they subverting the search results to exploit what must be a common mis-spelling?

OpenSense != OPNsense

So dunno...

2. Why did I have to look for a link in small print at the bottom of the OPNsense website to find this forum?

https://opnsense.org/ => Be Involved => OPNsense forum => DONE! ;)

The phrase "Get involved" doesn't say to me Forum. I did see that and puzzled over it but didn't click it because I thought it was related to getting involved with supporting projects. Not that I necessarily object, but it wasn't what I was looking for, i.e a discussion forum.

OpenWRT usually has a huge "Android Custom ROM vibe" and by that I mean that if the person maintaining the OpenWRT port for a certain device decides he no longer has the time/will/interest or simply enough spare time to do it, then you are out of luck for future updates/upgrades and thus security patches.

OPNsense however simply has releases for x86-64 hardware that are released on a regular basis and that's all you need most of the time.

That is a really important point. I am not sure whether what came on the T70 that had OpenWRT pre-installed was custom or generic firmware. A number of these boxes have turned up on the market recently due to expired support and they seem more than good enough for home broadband, certainly as an interim solution.

Searching the forum, someone installed OPNsense on it some time ago : https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=29602

,
Thanks. That is helpful.

I have just signed up to this forum and have some questions regarding my T70 box. But first, I have a couple of questions about the OPNsense forum:

1. Why does searching for "OpenSense" get you the netgate form which is for the pfSense product? I then get an admin telling me that I am "unlikely to find much love for OPNSense here on the pfSense forum". The why are they subverting the search results to exploit what must be a common mis-spelling?

2. Why did I have to look for a link in small print at the bottom of the OPNsense website to find this forum?

So now on to the T70. I acquired one a couple of weeks back running OpenWRT and its now my Broadband router. Recently I got another cheaply as a backup and it was suggested to me that I could try running OPNsense on it. I have purchased an additional mSata disk to create the install but need some instructions. I would also like to know how OPNsense and OpenWRT differ from one another and why installing OPNsense might be an advantage? I won't ask any questions about pfSense as I suspect the above feeling might be mutual....

I would also be interested to know whether OPNsense has solved the problem with the 5-port switch, or whether that still requires the resistor mod?
I asked over on OpenWRT and it seems that developers have moved on and there will be no further development there so possibly the same here, but presumably it can't hurt to ask.