ConnectX-3 UEFI ROM

Labs · May 31, 2021

Hello,

I need the UEFI ROM for CX3 and CX3 Pro. I see that they were removed from Mellanox site. I can only find the source packages for download and not the binaries in mrom format.
I tried to export the UEFI part from an HP CX3 Pro card but it seems it exported also the CLP, PXE and UEFI in one file. Trying to flash it on a Mellanox CX3 Pro I saw that it is adding the CLP and overwriting the PXE. PXE can be updated but I don't know what is the CLP and why only HP cards have it.

I am trying to find the following versions and if possible in individual "mrom" files: PXE: 3.4.754 and UEFI: 14.11.49.

Thanks!

622oc12 · Sep 28, 2021

Labs said:
Hello,

I need the UEFI ROM for CX3 and CX3 Pro. I see that they were removed from Mellanox site. I can only find the source packages for download and not the binaries in mrom format.
I tried to export the UEFI part from an HP CX3 Pro card but it seems it exported also the CLP, PXE and UEFI in one file. Trying to flash it on a Mellanox CX3 Pro I saw that it is adding the CLP and overwriting the PXE. PXE can be updated but I don't know what is the CLP and why only HP cards have it.

I am trying to find the following versions and if possible in individual "mrom" files: PXE: 3.4.754 and UEFI: 14.11.49.

Thanks!

You still in need of this? If so, I can help.

fohdeesha · Sep 29, 2021

anyone know why they were removed from the site in the first place? is the uefi bootrom just embedded in the main firmware rom now or what? I know the regular flexboot rom is

i386 · Sep 29, 2021

Probably becuase cx-3 is "eol"?

For cx-4 and newer there are still download links: Mellanox UEFI

Labs · Sep 30, 2021

622oc12 said:
You still in need of this? If so, I can help.

Yes, I still need them and I couldn't find any versions that would work on CX3 or CX3 Pro.
If you have any UEFI mrom files for CX3 and CX3 Pro please upload them somewhere. I am sure other forum members will also need them.

Labs · Sep 30, 2021

i386 said:
Probably becuase cx-3 is "eol"?

For cx-4 and newer there are still download links: Mellanox UEFI

From what I saw for CX3 they never existed in the binary form only the sources where available.

fohdeesha · Sep 30, 2021

Labs said:
From what I saw for CX3 they never existed in the binary form only the sources where available.

yeah that's what I was wondering, the sources are still available from their website (at least, the flexboot sources, not sure if these include UEFI): Mellanox FlexBoot
(download > archive versions> 3.4.521)

in fact the latest CX3 firmware release notes, the official instructions for UEFI boot is to compile them from sources or contact support if you need an image with them:

also just noticed the xcgn and xccn variant images have UEFI burned already, wonder if I extract that rom from those images if they're compatible/would work on the other variants

Labs · Sep 30, 2021

fohdeesha said:
also just noticed the xcgn and xccn variant images have UEFI burned already, wonder if I extract that rom from those images if they're compatible/would work on the other variants

Yes, it was always like this that the "ethernet" only cards got the UEFI mrom already that's why you see it there but I am interested to port it to the VPI cards.

It seems that the HP version of the CX3 Pro VPI cards have the Flexboot/UEFI and also another mrom which I don't know what is it. When I extract it from the image it exports all 3 of them and I don't see any possibility to only extract the UEFI mrom.

More exactly I am talking about HP 544+QSFP model of CX3 Pro. It seems to have the latest firmware/flexboot/uefi. In fact from what I found in some release notes would be nice to get only the Flexboot and UEFI mroms and flash them to CX3 and CX3 Pro since there are also many bug fixes for Flexboot also.

If you know a way to only extract the UEFI part of the image I can try it but I didn't see how to do it until now that's why I started the thread here.

sophware · Feb 24, 2022

622oc12 said:
You still in need of this? If so, I can help.

Would you be able to assist me, as well?

Labs · Feb 24, 2022

sophware said:
Would you be able to assist me, as well?

I also need it. 622oc12 didn't reply.

sophware · Feb 25, 2022

Labs said:
I also need it. 622oc12 didn't reply.

I read roms from a couple cards. That may not help you, if it's the same thing you did before starting this thread. Also, the versions I have are a little off what you want.

What do you have for Part Number and PSID?

I have this Dell version:

[xxxx@xxxx:/opt/mellanox/bin] ./mlxfwmanager --query
Querying Mellanox devices firmware ...

Device #1:
----------

Device Type: ConnectX3Pro
Part Number: 019RNV_0YHTD6
Description: ConnectX-3 Pro Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Adapter card for Dell
PSID: DEL2310000023
PCI Device Name: mt4103_pci_cr0
Port1 MAC: 506b4b51d4e0
Port2 MAC: 506b4b51d4e1
Versions: Current Available
FW 2.42.5000 N/A
PXE 3.4.0752 N/A
UEFI 15.11.0045 N/A

Status: No matching image found

And this Dell version:

Querying Mellanox devices firmware ...

Device #1:
----------

Device Type: ConnectX3
Part Number: 0W0RM9_0Y3KKR
Description: ConnectX-3 Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Adapter card for Dell
PSID: DEL0A80000023
PCI Device Name: mt4099_pci_cr0
Port1 MAC: f452146bf650
Port2 MAC: f452146bf651
Versions: Current Available
FW 2.42.5000 N/A
FW (Running) 2.33.5050 N/A
PXE 3.4.0752 N/A
UEFI 15.11.0045 N/A

Status: No matching image found

A cx311a, and this:

Querying Mellanox devices firmware ...

Device #1:
----------

Device Type: ConnectX3
Part Number: MCX312A-XCB_A2-A6
Description: ConnectX-3 EN network interface card; 10GigE; dual-port SFP+; PCIe3.0 x8 8GT/s; RoHS R6
PSID: MT_1080120023
PCI Device Name: mt4099_pci_cr0
Port1 MAC: 0002c9f03e80
Port2 MAC: 0002c9f03e81
Versions: Current Available
FW 2.42.5000 N/A
PXE 3.4.0752 N/A

Status: No matching image found

prdtabim · Feb 25, 2022

I have the HP 544+FLR-QSFP with the last firmware from HP website ( 2020-05-13 ).

Code:

Querying Mellanox devices firmware ...

Device #1:
----------

  Device Type:      ConnectX3Pro
  Part Number:      764285-B21_Ax
  Description:      HP InfiniBand FDR/Ethernet 10Gb/40Gb 2-port 544+FLR-QSFP Adapter
  PSID:             HP_1380110017
  PCI Device Name:  /dev/mst/mt4103_pci_cr0
  Port1 MAC:        9cdc71xxxxxx
  Port2 MAC:        9cdc71xxxxxx
  Versions:         Current        Available     
     FW             2.42.5700      N/A           
     CLP            8025           N/A           
     PXE            3.4.0754       N/A           
     UEFI           14.11.0049     N/A           

  Status:           No matching image found

janisbit · Oct 16, 2023

Hello,

I have a ConnectX-3 from HP
PN Part Number 649281-B21
EC Revision A5

which I flashed with Mellanox Firmware:
Device Type: ConnectX3
Part Number: MCX354A-FCB_A2-A5
Description: ConnectX-3 VPI adapter card; dual-port QSFP; FDR IB (56Gb/s) and 40GigE; PCIe3.0 x8 8GT/s; RoHS R6
PSID: MT_1090120019
PCI Device Name: 0000:04:00.0
Port1 MAC: 24be05......
Port2 MAC: 24be05......
Versions: Current Available
FW 2.42.5000 N/A
PXE 3.4.0752 N/A

Everything works fine but I does not have the UEFI ROM.

I would like to use the card in a diskless PC which boots Windows 10 from an iSCSI target, and when booting with Flexboot (in BIOS mode), Windows 10 only sees a boot disk (on the iSCSI target) up to 2TB.

Since I would like to have a larger than 2TB iSCSI target for the Windows 10 PC I would need to boot it in UEFI mode.

Does anyone have a ROM for the MCX354A-FCB_A2-A5? I don't care if I have to reflash a ROM for a branded card (HP, IBM etc), as long as it works.

Any hints?
Is it possible to compile the UEFI ROM from source in some way as described by previous posts on this thread?
If yes, can you point me please on the right source file and how I could compile it, either on Linux (which distro would be ideal?) or Windows.

Is it still worth to write to support@mellanox.com to try geting the firmware with UEFI support? Or will they ignore the request due to the fact that the ConnectX-3 is EOL?

My Mainboard is an ASUS B450 H with Ryzen CPU.

I tried to compile ipxe.efi and put it on an USB stick and boot from there in UEFI mode to see if it sees the ConnectX3 card and then if it would be possible to connect to the iSCSI target and the boot Windows 10 in UEFI mode.
But currently it hangs in initializing devices ...
I am not sure if this boot method with ipxe.efi booting form USB is supposed to work.
(Perhaps ipxe.efi wants to use the EFI API (SNP?) to initialize the ConnectX-3 card and since it it is missing it does not work)

Many thanks in advance.
best regards,
Janis

janisbit · Oct 18, 2023

Hello again,

since it seems hard to find a expansion ROM for Flexboot with UEFI support for the MCX354A-FCB_A2-A5, would it possible to compile it from source?

Is this the correct repository ?
GitHub - ipxe/vendor-mellanox-flexboot: Mellanox FlexBoot public repository

It seems updated last 7 years, it says Flexboot 3.4.812, so the major.minor version (3.4) is the same that is on my card, which in theory should work.
By using a Linux Debian 10, I managed to compile the ROM for the ConnectX-3 (see the README in the src directory how to build the ROM).

But this ROM file is not signed so I cannot burn it to the card.
Any idea how to sign it? I tried to search how do do it but I did not find the relevant information yet.

Any hints how to proceed?

Many thanks in advance,
Janis

janisbit · Oct 26, 2023

Hello again,
I made further tests.
Thanks to STH member Stephan, I found a firmware that should provide UEFI support, but it does not seem to work.

Here are my findings:

This is the firmware:

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/borked-flash-of-a-mellanox-cx354a-connectx-3-missing-second-port.37878/#post-352220

After burning it I get:
mlxfwmanager --query
Querying Mellanox devices firmware ...

Device #1:
----------

Device Type: ConnectX3
Part Number: MCX354A-FCB_A2-A5
Description: ConnectX-3 VPI adapter card; dual-port QSFP; FDR IB (56Gb/s) and 40GigE; PCIe3.0 x8 8GT/s; RoHS R6
PSID: MT_1090120019
PCI Device Name: /dev/mst/mt4099_pci_cr0
Port1 MAC: 24be......c1
Port2 MAC: 24be......c2
Versions: Current Available
FW 2.42.5032 N/A
PXE 3.4.0754 N/A
UEFI 14.11.0047 N/A

I tried the card with the updated firmware in two different PCs: Ryzen 5700x with Gigabyte B450M H, and a HP Z420.
I made sure that EFI boot ROM is set on both PC BIOS setting.

When booting both PCs, I don't see the ConnectX as UEFI boot source, only legacy.

I tried to boot Linux in EFI mode from a disk and then
using mlxconfig, tried to set EXP_ROM_UEFI_x86_ENABLE=1 and EXP_ROM_PXE_ENABLE=1

see here:

Enable UEFI / PXE boot on Mellanox ConnectX NIC | panticz.de

www.panticz.de

But mlxconfig reports that the these 2 setting variables do not exist.
in Flexboot using CTRL-B during boot the settings menu do not have any UEFI related items.
Only Legacy Boot where you can set None, PXE, iSCSI, Both

Any idea how to activate UEFI Boot in this firmware?

Below is an excerpt of the .ini file I dumped with: flint -d /dev/mst/mt4099_pci_cr0 dc firmware.ini

no EFI related vriables ecept the comment start .. and end ...
The .ini dump is identical both before and after flashing the firmware with UEFI support:

----
[ROMINI]
; start of '#include "uefi_hii_no_iscsi_w_aim.h"'
undi_en = 1
hii_en = 1
fmp_en = 1
flash_en = 1

port_enum = 0
mac_enum = 1
dev_path_enum = 1
dev_path_fqdd = 0

hii_read_only = 0
hii_bdf_decimal = 1
hii_platform_setup = 1
hii_ibm_aim = 1
hii_iscsi_configuration = 0

static_component_name_string = 0

platform_to_driver_en = 0

hii_vpi_configuration = 1
; end of '#include "uefi_hii_no_iscsi_w_aim.h"'
----

blonkel · Dec 26, 2023

Exactly the same for me, followed as well the how to enable tutorial and the both variables are not available in my firmware..

Went not down the way like others to try to compile the firmware, but this seems to fail anways?

So whats the solution here to get those running?

Sadly i have uefi only systems now..

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ConnectX-3 UEFI ROM

Labs

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622oc12

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fohdeesha

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i386

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Labs

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Labs

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fohdeesha

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Labs

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sophware

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Labs

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sophware

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prdtabim

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janisbit

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janisbit

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Enable UEFI / PXE boot on Mellanox ConnectX NIC | panticz.de

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