Beware of EMC switches sold as Mellanox SX6XXX on eBay

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
R

RageBone

Active Member
Jul 11, 2017
638
165
43
worked on it again. This time with my own jffs2 base "littleOS" to not need to add the tty error workaround each time, and with the 3.6.1002 this time.
i think i left the loglevel at 2 so there aren't any ecc errors but something is still not quiet right.

Code: 
=> run mlxlinux
INIT: version 2.86 booting

Starting: PPC_M460EX 3.6.1002 2016-06-09 20:24:26 ppc
Starting udev: error initializing udevd socket
Wait timeout. Will continue in the background.[FAILED]
Setting hostname localhost:  [  OK  ]
Checking filesystems
/dev/mtdblock7: nonexistent device ("nofail" fstab option may be used to skip this device)
/dev/mtdblock8: nonexistent device ("nofail" fstab option may be used to skip this device)
/dev/mtdblock9: nonexistent device ("nofail" fstab option may be used to skip this device)
Checking all file systems.
[  OK  ]
Remounting root filesystem in read-write mode:  [  OK  ]
Mounting local filesystems:  mount: special device /dev/mtdblock8 does not exist
mount: special device /dev/mtdblock9 does not exist
[FAILED]
Running vpart script:  [  OK  ]
Applying file system skeletons: base_var base_config .
Enabling /etc/fstab swaps:  [  OK  ]
Remounting root
Restarting system.
thought that my fstab is wrong and borked for what ever reason but i have reedited twice and made shure not to **** it up by copy pasting weird characters into it.

so i'm a bit lost right now

Edit0: i forgot to downgrade the Kernel and FDT.

Edit1: Pretty sure that THAT was the cause of the problems mentioned above.
With the Kernel and fdt from the same version, it now manages to do the "fstab" and spit out tons of ecc errors after that. First Boot behavior.

Edit2: Thank you all very much the help, it is now happily up and running
 
Last edited:
F

Freebsd1976

Active Member
Feb 23, 2018
404
73
28
Another strange issue, convert two emc version sx6012 ,buy from same seller ,one can run fdr in ib ,another only can run fdr10 in ib , anyone can help me?
Edit
Both only can run eth 56gb, ib only fdr10 , run ibportstate lid port espeed 1 , ibportstate lid port reset , still no change.
Card is 354a-fcbt firmware is newest 2.42.5000
 
Last edited:
F

Freebsd1976

Active Member
Feb 23, 2018
404
73
28
Same pn and read switch log , it states support fdr and 56gbe in log file,but when connect it only fdr10 ,and execute “speed fdr force “ in cli said speed not supported, the dac and nic test on other switch both worked in fdr mode
 
D

davascript

New Member
Dec 27, 2015
1
0
1
42
Denver
Hello. I am looking for the destruction's and files to do this. Does anyone out there have them? I tried the link from post 8 and its dead.
 
S

ServerWhisperer

New Member
Mar 21, 2018
1
1
1
56
Denver, CO
Same here. Just tried to DL using JSL's link on page 8 but it no longer works. And mpogr seems to have left the building long ago. :(

Any help with getting the SX6012 conversion files/info would be greatly appreciated.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ehorn
L

levi danzer

New Member
Sep 29, 2019
4
1
3
So I picked up a SX6036 and was looking to update the firmware etc...

However when the switch showed up... its a SXX0 with REV A1

Will this work with the firmware /update guide in this thread? Is there anyway I can check/test before i go past a point of no return?

I'd hate to brick this just trying to update firmware.

Thanks!

-Levi
 
E

ehorn

Active Member
Jun 21, 2012
342
52
28
Any guys still around on this thread that have the assets for this conversion. Thanks for any assist.
 
I

int0x2e

Member
Dec 9, 2015
94
71
18
45
levi danzer said:
So I picked up a SX6036 and was looking to update the firmware etc...

However when the switch showed up... its a SXX0 with REV A1

Will this work with the firmware /update guide in this thread? Is there anyway I can check/test before i go past a point of no return?

I'd hate to brick this just trying to update firmware.

Thanks!

-Levi
Click to expand...
Finding an EMC branded 6036 is supposed to be extremely rare. If what you have is actually a regular 6036 (mlx/hp/dell/Lenovo, running plain old mlnx-os) - don't try following the guide.
There is a different set of steps for those. PM me for hints.
 
BeTeP

BeTeP

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2019
661
440
63
There are 2 separate steps to making these EMC IB switches useful. The first step is actually replacing EMC software with a generic MLNX-OS build. The copy of the conversion guide I have seen was probably just a draft - somewhat convoluted and redundant. Yet it pointed me in the right direction and saved me a lot of time. So mad props to @mpogr for making it available. I did not keep a copy - because I did not think I would need it once I used the information to build my own custom image for flashing.

The second step is enabling the ethernet gateway feature (without it you would still have an IB only switch). I tried the solution from the guide for the version 3.6.1002 and it worked. But in the end I decided to upgrade to the latest version so I got my proper license key elsewhere.

So if you have a switch which is already running MLNX-OS - you can skip the first step.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Mohsin and Freebsd1976
F

Freebsd1976

Active Member
Feb 23, 2018
404
73
28
BeTeP said:
For no other reason than having too much time on my hands I finally decided to get with the program and upgrade my home network to 40GbE.
So I picked up one of those cheap EMC MSX6012 IB only switches and tried to convert it to VPI.

The conversion guide (many thanks to everyone who contributed) was pretty straight forward for the most part. The only part which took me some time to wrap my head around was the licensing issue. I am guessing that it was intentional.

I have already upgraded the MT51000 ASIC firmware to the latest version I found (9.4.5080) and my last question is whether there is any benefit of upgrading the management board software past 3.6.1002?
Click to expand...
I upgrade asic firmware 9.4.5070 but found subnet manager can not running, did you subnet manager running ok after upgrade asic firmware?
 
F

Freebsd1976

Active Member
Feb 23, 2018
404
73
28
BeTeP said:
There are 2 separate steps to making these EMC IB switches useful. The first step is actually replacing EMC software with a generic MLNX-OS build. The copy of the conversion guide I have seen was probably just a draft - somewhat convoluted and redundant. Yet it pointed me in the right direction and saved me a lot of time. So mad props to @mpogr for making it available. I did not keep a copy - because I did not think I would need it once I used the information to build my own custom image for flashing.

The second step is enabling the ethernet gateway feature (without it you would still have an IB only switch). I tried the solution from the guide for the version 3.6.1002 and it worked. But in the end I decided to upgrade to the latest version so I got my proper license key elsewhere.

So if you have a switch which is already running MLNX-OS - you can skip the first step.
Click to expand...
Would you mind share your method upgrade os to newest version ? Or your method do conversion?
Already pm you
 
BeTeP

BeTeP

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2019
661
440
63
"My" method of conversion does the same thing as @mpogr's. So all the credit is still his. I just streamlined it a bit - integrated some of the manual steps into the OS image.

Also I do not really use IB in my network - so I did not check if sm was working after ASIC but before my final OS upgrade. It is working now. I still have no use for it.
 
F

Freebsd1976

Active Member
Feb 23, 2018
404
73
28
BeTeP said:
"My" method of conversion does the same thing as @mpogr's. So all the credit is still his. I just streamlined it a bit - integrated some of the manual steps into the OS image.

Also I do not really use IB in my network - so I did not check if sm was working after ASIC but before my final OS upgrade. It is working now. I still have no use for it.
Click to expand...
Thank a lot , I thought you upgrade os beyond 3.6.1002
 
A

Al Corda

New Member
Mar 24, 2017
4
0
1
64
I'm also having problems finding a working link to the .zip file that contains the conversion instructions and associated files mentioned above... can anyone provide a working link to the file?
-Thanks!-
 
P

Psycho_Robotico

Active Member
Nov 23, 2014
114
40
28
Hi, I'd be very greatful if someone could help me out with the guide and software required for converting from EMC to Ethernet. Thanks! :D

God I love this community:D
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: RageBone
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom