Got mine today. Thankfully, it booted. Why thankfully?
Well:
Somewhere along the way, a huge amount of a plastic yellow paint doused the package. The paint is non-conductive, and didn’t get on any of the exterior inputs. Not a word from UPS on it either. My attempts to file a “soiled” claim have been foiled by their web server, but I’ll persevere.
I look forward to getting pfsense running on this machine though!
Mine seems to have arrived in ok shape physically, has anyone had issues running pfsense on the unit ? Whenever I shutdown via pfsense the unit boots right back up instead of staying shutdown
Mine just came in and the packaging was bad, but it seems to be in good shape as far as I can tell. Luckily I didn’t get a custom paint job on mine.
It came preloaded with pfsense and I can verify that it reboots when you pick 6) Halt System from the terminal menu.
EDIT: I found a workaround for the reboot on halt/power off in pfsense that works for me. If I boot up with a USB keyboard plugged in it will always reboot when I do a halt from within pfsense. If I power off completely and remove the usb keyboard the next boot it will allow me to successfully power off (and stay off) on the halt command.
It’s interesting because a halt does make it power off when a USB keyboard is plugged in (red led on power button and the monitor loses connection), but the system boots back up after a second. It may appear to be a reboot, but it is really a power off then power on. I played around with some of the settings in the BIOS, but couldn’t find one that would resolve the issue without removing the keyboard. I don’t know if this is a FreeBSD ACPI issue or if it’s the way this Nexcom box was designed. I also attempted the disable ACPI on next boot from the Netgae documentation, but that didn’t work either.
Got mine the other day and loaded up OPNsense also noticed the usb keyboard auto reboot on halt. Everything seems solid, great packaging. Didn’t get the limited edtion yellow colorway tho.
Is it worth popping it open and repasting the cpu maybe adding anything to this box before I deploy it?
Probably just using it as a OPNsense box for now potential going to cop another to use for a roon server.
This machine is 7 or 8 years old and it’s likely the original paste, so I suggest you do replace it (CPU & GPU) if you want to optimize heat transfer.
The old paste was hard to get off and I ended up using a plastic scraper to get it off then followed up with rubbing alcohol. There was way too much paste on the CPU before which is probably why it was hard to get off. I used some Arctic MX-4 I already had, so it should work nicely.
I got my pfSense config migrated over to this new box and everything works. It has been running for a day now and normally takes about 13-14w of power under normal load. Intel Speedstep has it dropped down to 800MHz most of the time with 3% CPU usage. My room temperature is in the 70s currently and the box sits at ~91F which isn’t bad.
But what are the temps in degrees C? Because that’s what matters when dealing with computer hardware 
It’s 306K (Kelvin) if that helps 
This is a common bios feature for this type of machine that is enabled here by default. Because it’s an industrial / enterprise machine, it is designed with the intention of having it “always on.” There may be a setting relating to power behavior or power failure behavior, or auto reboot in the bios. I don’t recall the exact wording, but it relates to what the pc does when plugged in and power is available.
The slot ended up being fine. After I installed the new cpu both sticks were detected. So the memory controller of the cpu it shipped with must have had something happen to it between when it was tested by the seller and arriving at my door.
Has anyone managed to find a UEFI bios for this?
I was hoping to try some other projects that require it.
I noticed one reseller that mentioned UEFI bios in the ad.
PS> Best Buy is selling these refurbished with 120gb hdd and 8gb memory.
Link to Best Buy?
Here’s the Best Buy Canada Marketplace link (seller Techdealz) - Nexcom NDiS B533 Intel Core i5 Processor (4th Gen)/ 8GB RAM/ 120GB SSD Fanless PC - Refurbished | Best Buy Canada
My 2nd unit came in yesterday from the seller I linked previously and it was heavily covered in bubble wrap and packaged correctly. Added a spare SSD I had and it seems work fine. I managed to find an OEM power supply on ebay for $18, so my 2nd unit was a much better deal.
A US company is selling them for $891 barebones.
The barebone unit (for up to 35W) will cost $891.00 per unit in the quantity 1-9 unit range and the lead-time is 3-4 weeks after receipt of prepayment and order.
I had inquired because the link said UEFI BIOS
Yet their response was:
“As for your question about the UEFI Bios, the factory does not recommend UEFI mode for Haswell platforms since it’s very unstable and buggy, thus why it’s disabled in the BIOS setting. If you prefer otherwise, we can make special accommodations, to provide what you want but a clause will have to be included with your purchase agreement as to understanding the unrecommended circumstances.”
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NCG1P8X?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share I bought this power supply and it seems to work. I got my box yesterday wrapped in a mile of bubble wrap and got the power supply and a 120gb ssd. Was able to boot it up with an unbuntu stick. Probably going to start a thread on mine tomorrow as I try to figure out pfsense.
And this is exactly why I list the PSU details in the review - nice find!
Bought 2 if these for $100 CAD w/o power supplies. Standard 12V 4pin mini DIN power supplies work with them.
These have AMT as well so you can remote KVM to them. Press Cntrl-P at the POST screen to enter the config page for it and the use mesh commander on a Windows PC to access it.
Some more popped up on ebay. This first one (US Seller) is pretty cheap although it doesn’t appear to have a power supply. The seller only has 4 feedback as well.
Nexcom NDiS B533 Powerful Digital Signage Player | eBay
Here’s another Canadian seller with 8 available, but they are priced on the high side compared to others here. There is a best offer, so maybe you can get a decent deal.
ENTERPRISE FANLESS pfsense firewall router computer i5 intel 64GB SSD | eBay
Usually I avoid the nifty things from ebay due to my location being in Canada and stuff not shipping here.
You got me with this one. Will use it to replace the Lenovo in use currently but with slightly less specs (though dedicated to just opnsense when it gets here so should be still good) and smaller footprint leading to girlfriend being happier lol
