Chelsio T540-CR 60$ no bracket

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RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
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The title is pretty self explanatory, but for those of you who are not familiar with Chelsio's products it's a 4x10gbe sfp+ NIC (though the auction title states gigabit).

Chelsio T540-CR 110-1178-50 MSIP-REM-CC2-T540-CR Gigabit Network Adapter | eBay

I know there is generally a lot of love for the cheap Mellanox cards, but this looks awesome enough for me to post, even if it doesn't have a bracket - quad 10g NICs are rare. The T540 should be current tech or close to it, but it may be a bit on the hot side (there are posts on various forums, including STH, that suggest that a newer revision may have improved that).

I ordered one plus a few brackets (FH Chelsio T520 and a Intel quad sfp one) hoping they may work.
 

lhibou

Member
Jun 12, 2019
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Wowee those went fast! Saw 5pcs remaining, then blam-o, gone! Nice deal, thanks for sharing.
 

AngryLatinChanting

New Member
Jul 14, 2019
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First post on STH. Great timing for me, since I'm putting together parts for my new Dell R710. Got the server and ram, HDDs are in the mail. Was shopping for NICs and HBAs when I ran across this.

FYI - Same seller has a bunch more available at $100. I also see 5x units (w/ no bracket) re-listed by ocean-tech for $140 which I assume is the same source due to no bracket and same ship location, but at higher price. My guess is the original seller bumped his price when he realized they sold fast.

Edit: Bought 2, since the price is cheaper than the T520. Hopefully I don't regret not buying a third later. Anyone got a link to some cheap brackets with mounting screws in the correct place? I know I won't find anything specific for this unit, so I don't mind using a dremel to cut a single wide window.
 
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Samir

Post Liker and Deal Hunter Extraordinaire!
Jul 21, 2017
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HSV and SFO
If it would come to this I found that a hand nibbler works even better than dremel for the solf metal the brackets are made of.
I know I'm showing my age here, but anytime I hear the word 'nibbler' the first thing that comes to mind is the disk copier routing for the Commodore 64. It still hits me today. :eek:
 
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zack$

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Aug 16, 2018
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Got one this yesterday and installed in a SM X9SRL-F and for the life of me I can't see it. Tried on ESXI 6.5 and 6.7, FreeNAS (baremetal) and Linux.

Lspci does not bring up the T540-CR. I do get a constant red light on the card but not a heart-beat red and green.

Switched around in pcie slots....still nothing.

Before I put in for a refund, was wondering if anyone might have some thoughts on what might be going wrong (besides the inevitable :D).
 

RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
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This thread on the gentoo forum suggests two things you could try, for one adding some airflow over the card may be a good thing, the other to try the flash utility in DOS mode.
 
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zack$

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Aug 16, 2018
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Tried the ESXI fix first...nada..Then Chelsio's flash utility....no T5/T6 detected..

Interestingly, I got this little note from the seller in the nic box (had to foray in the trash to get it): "...DO NOT OPEN A RETURN REQUEST OR CASE. Instead contact us directly..."

Seems like I'm in for a refund.
 

RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
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I just got my T540-CR, the good news is that it works, the bad news is that none of the brackets I have ordered fit at all (the holes for screws do not align and the opening for the SFP's is slightly too small on the "intel" bracket) and the print appears to have suffered some damage on the "finger".

Is there a way to source official brackets at all?
I tried contacting store@chelsio.com, apparently they can provide full height brackets for 25$, the downside to that, is that they want slightly more than 75$ to send it to Denmark, so that is a no go for me. If you are in the US, maybe they have a cheaper means of delivery?

Since I just got a 3D printer, I think I will try printing something (but I am in no big rush, so no promises).
 

mmo

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Sep 17, 2016
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Just got time to test out mine and have the same issue as @zack$'s. Asking for refund as well.
 

AngryLatinChanting

New Member
Jul 14, 2019
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Got one last week, next one will arrive Wednesday. Won't be able to test until next weekend but the commentary from @zack$ and @mmo doesn't bode well. Not a huge loss if they don't work, since I'm already eyeing some 40g nics.
 

zack$

Well-Known Member
Aug 16, 2018
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Man, if there are more bad cards then this seller should be blacklisted.

Interestingly, I did ask for a exchange in lieu of a refund and was denied, reason being it was out of stock...yet there were t540's listed, albeit at the higher price, when I made my request.

When I also pressed them for a refund, I got this message "We already talk about it Dear we are no scammers we have integrity and ethics". Seems pretty scammy, if you ask me.
 

frogtech

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Jan 4, 2016
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Anyone tried these in Windows? Just plugged one into my workstation and it doesn't show up in device manager at all, not as a NIC or even an unknown device. Same thing as the rest, just a solid red LED.
 

mmo

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Sep 17, 2016
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Anyone tried these in Windows? Just plugged one into my workstation and it doesn't show up in device manager at all, not as a NIC or even an unknown device. Same thing as the rest, just a solid red LED.
I did try on Windows 10, no device found neither. I also messaged the seller and no response at all today. I will give him another day and I will open a case to get refund if i don't hear anything by tomorrow.
 

frogtech

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Jan 4, 2016
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I got a refund very easily, I didn't even test the other 2 cards and I may not depending on if I can get around to them.
 

mmo

Well-Known Member
Sep 17, 2016
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ya, refund instantly, but the customer service to response messages are awful.