Windows 10 failed to initialise Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT :(

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xaster

New Member
Feb 21, 2021
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@MichalPL
in my case the Mellanox X3 is fixed to ETH mode.

2021-03-15_162811.jpg

The card is working well, but sometimes ( 10-15 starts good and 1 fail ) initialization fail at boot up.
Windows show me this errors in eventlogging:

Code:
Native_3_0_0: Execution of FW command failed. op 0xfff, status 0x1, errno -5, token 0xffff, in_modifier 0x100, op_modifier 0, in_param 229ff000.


Native_3_0_0: MAP_FA command failed with error -5.
The adapter card is non-functional.
Most likely a FW problem.
Please burn the last FW and restart the mlx4_bus driver.


Native_3_0_0: Driver startup failed because the hca could not be initialized.
I am using the last FW and driver already. Not sure why is problem occur sporadically.
Maybe there is any FW setting to tweak ......:(
 

MichalPL

Active Member
Feb 10, 2019
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I have one 40GbE card that is working for example 4 days till bluescreen, restart, 17 days later and bluescreen again - what happened? card is broken and few capacitor is missing and PCIE bus is not working properly.

I don't know what is happening here, I can only suggest some solutions:

1. Try it on different PCIE slot
2. Try it on different computer
3. Maybe this is problem with the power supply in the slot ?
4. Switch PCIE speed to 2.0 or 1.0 in BIOS/UEFI (just for testing )
5. Watch the card carefully if there is all components on it, an nothing is missing (ConnectxX3 are super delicate from mechanical perspective, it's not a Geforce RTX that you can drop and everything is fine)
 

xaster

New Member
Feb 21, 2021
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@MichalPL
mmh, my issue is different. Expect an driver/BIOS issue.
I have two Mellanox X3 40Gbe Cards at two Z490 Boards running.
If booted well all running stable. One card is revision v5 (made in China) the second Card revision v6 (made in Israel)
First Z490 Board running at Server 2019 Essentials an second Win10Pro.
Both using latest drivers for OS ( Server 5.50.54000 / Client 5.50.53000 ).

The sporadic boot issue ( driver code 43 ) is the same at both systems!
I flash the lastest Firmware 2.42 from HPE (needed for this cards) with the default values.
The Intel Z490 Boards running the lastest BIOS and Intel chipset drivers as well.

There are not really much options to tweak the cards via Windows at driver level.
In fact the problems occur simply at bootup's i suppose an issue with BIOS PCIe assignment or driver/chipset communication at windows.
I am not so skilled with FW tweaking at the Mellanox cards. But there are several options to adapt the FW before flashing to the card.
May it can help to disable some features which are not supported at the Z490 Boards (for example "SR-IOV").
 

MichalPL

Active Member
Feb 10, 2019
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My experience with Mellanox cards under windows is - they are just working (if the are not damaged), but I am avoiding platforms like z490 so no experience with this one (on x79/x99/x299 or Ryzen and TR they works also with Geforce 970 / 1070 / 2070 / 3070 on other slots).
Still things you can try is:
-temporary change PCIE speed from 3.0 to 2 or 1
-change slot (also temporary) are you able to put x8 card into x1 slot (in other word are they open)
-or swap Graphics card with Mellanox to connect it directly to the CPU
-or install Mellanox instead of graphics card and for a while using GPU from CPU to test the Mellanox

what is also good for testing (only) is ~$5 GPU riser (PCIE x1), that have own power supply from sata or PCIE 12v connector because Mellanox 40GbE is a small electric heater.

I don't expect that there is an issue with Mellanox card itself or Mellanox drivers, maybe more motherboard issue. This is max what I can say here lack of more experience with z490 platform.
 

xaster

New Member
Feb 21, 2021
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indeed. i think it could be a simple compatibility issue between the intel chipset an the Mellanox card.
I have on the boards this slots PCIe3.0 x4 by PCH free only. The other once are blocked with RAID Controller oder Graphics.
No more alternative :confused: will wait for further driver and bios/firmware updates
 

fracas

New Member
Mar 19, 2021
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Does this Mellanox MCX311A-xcat card work with windows 10?
I want to buy 2 of these and run peer to peer betwin 2 win 10 machine, is it possible to do?
 

LodeRunner

Active Member
Apr 27, 2019
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I use these in 2 Windows 10 machines and a server 2016 box:
1616208823648.png
I can't recall if they were detected automatically, but I installed the latest Windows package from Mellanox for them and it worked. I did update the firmware, but I can't recall at what stage I did that.
 
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MichalPL

Active Member
Feb 10, 2019
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If I remember correctly Mellanox ConnectX-2 10GbE don't require drivers (they are build into Win10) Mellanox ConnectX-3 require it.
 
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LodeRunner

Active Member
Apr 27, 2019
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Hit the More+ button, Mellanox is on the list. Click that so the SFP will be coded as Mellanox.
 

xaster

New Member
Feb 21, 2021
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I use FS transcievers ( coded for Mellanox ) at my HP 649281-B21//Mellanox MCX354A-FCBT cards.
A test with generic cables from FS was not successful.
They have a very good customer support and help a lot to get the right transcievers and fiber cables now :)


My sporadic boot issue ( driver code 43 ) card not initialised still occur, this is pain in the ass :mad:
Maybe this is a result of HPE firmware at the cards in combination of the used system hardware ( Intel Z490 ) compatibility issue or something.
I am looking for a way to burn an Mellanox OEM firmware to my cards.. not sure if this is possible
Any hints are welcome...

EDIT:
I am brave today and swap the firmware to Mellanox with flint "-allow_psid_change" option already. No more OEM HPE style :cool:
First card is running now .... and testing

flint -d /dev/mst/mt4099_pci_cr0 q
Image type: FS2
FW Version: 2.42.5000
FW Release Date: 5.9.2017
Product Version: 02.42.50.00
Rom Info: type=PXE version=3.4.752
Device ID: 4099
VSD:
PSID: MT_1090120019 <<<<<<



EDIT: problem re-occur..... the mellanox firmware is not a solution. I have no futher ideas now.... looking for mainboard BIOS and Intel driver updates.....
 
Last edited:

fracas

New Member
Mar 19, 2021
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Hi, can i put 2 Mellanox MCX311A-xcat ConnectX-3 network card in peer to peer mod with windows 10??
 

xaster

New Member
Feb 21, 2021
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In a regular way the interconnection is done by a switch with same port layout.
Check if the cards support MDIX, in many cases you can directly connect the cards.
 

faxxe71

New Member
Jul 14, 2021
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Hello from Austria...
is there any new hint for the sporadic Error 43 issue on Win 10?

Thank you,
faxxe71
 

xaster

New Member
Feb 21, 2021
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@faxxe71
sorry, no further hints.
Mellanox support has no solution with FW or drivers.
Microsoft Win 10 updates are not solve this issue so far.
I still count on MSI bios updates.......

what kind of mainboard you have ?
 

faxxe71

New Member
Jul 14, 2021
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@faxxe71

I still count on MSI bios updates.......

what kind of mainboard you have ?
Thanks... not good to hear .... i use a Asus Prime Z390-A
Seems a problem with the Intel Chipset.
If i power on the PC, Win10 never detect the LAN card. I have to "reset network" and reboot and it work
Annoying. I'll probably throw the card out again