pfsense not detecting my built in NIC

IT-ADMIN

hi all

i just bought 2 computers DELL optiplex 3020, i try to install pfsense on them, but pfsense cannot detect my built in NIC, he can detect only my additional NIC
any suggestion

both pfsense version amd64 and i386 have the same problem

alexntg

Is the NIC on the pfSense HCL?
https://www.pfsense.org/hardware/

scottalanmiller

Likely there is no driver available for FreeBSD.

JaredBusch

I had that problem with Dell boxes before. I had to install the drivers separately.

IT-ADMIN

thank you all for your input
jaredBusch : how can i install drivers before installing pfSense, and even if they are installed they will be erased by the format (during pfsense installation)

best regard

JaredBusch

Well before going through hoops, what version of pfSense are you using? 2.1 was just released and should contain drivers for the newer chipsets.

I never had to install the drivers prior to the pfSense install itself. My boxes had extra NICs added and those were detected. I simply had to wget the drivers for the built in NIC after the fact before I could fully setup those systems.

IT-ADMIN

i use the latest version 2.1.1, but unfortunately still not recognize by pfSense
sorry Mr jaredBusch, what do you mean by "wget "

thanks Sir

scottalanmiller

wget is a command line tool for downloading files from the web.

IT-ADMIN

ohh great, hhhhh the friendly GUI make us not interesting in command line,
but the command line method remain the most strong way of configuration
ok, so i can for example load the driver by using command line mode in pfsense ??

scottalanmiller

If you can find the driver, yes.

IT-ADMIN

ah, i see, this need some research on how to write the right script for doing so
is pfsense use the same syntax as linux ??? or it has specific syntax

scottalanmiller

No. It's not related to Linux. BSD is its own OS family.

IT-ADMIN

ok, i see, i will get around

thank you all

see you with another topic

scottalanmiller

Might be easier to test out something else. Have you looked at SmoothWall?

JaredBusch

Easiest thing to do would be to buy an add on card that is compatible and forget about the built in NIC.

IT-ADMIN

hhh, both of your suggestion are great and worth a try
thank you a lot

scottalanmiller

You bet. Hope that they help.

IT-ADMIN

oooooooooooooh, very very gooooood idea, i make another additional NIC and pfsense recognize them both
thank you very much Mr jaredBusch and Mr scott too
we learn from you too much, i hope one day i can help others

scottalanmiller

Let us know if it works.

IT-ADMIN

everything work like a champ

thank you very much