Cross-Flash MCX6 AS to MCX6 AN

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thankfly

New Member
Nov 7, 2024
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It seems impossible to cross-flash an MCX6 AS to an MCX6 AN. When attempting to do so, the adapter ends up in "live fish mode."

However, if you flash the AS bin file onto an AN card, it works fine.

When comparing these two card types, you'll find that they are almost identical.

I suspect that the difference might be related to pull-up or pull-down resistors.

Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated.
 
N

NablaSquaredG

Bringing 100G switches to homelabs
Aug 17, 2020
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thankfly said:
It seems impossible to cross-flash an MCX6 AS to an MCX6 AN. When attempting to do so, the adapter ends up in "live fish mode."
Click to expand...
The question is: Why? Seems like a downgrade.

Also: Have you tried to completely disconnect the power (either by taking the card out or by removing the power supply to the machine)?

I had a similar issue when I crossflashed my ConnectX-6 to crypto enabled firmware. They ended up in livefish / recovery mode and I had to disconnect the power. The standby voltage seemed to keep some part of the card running which then caused it to boot in livefish mode.

No matter how many reboots -> same issue
Take out the card, plug it back in -> all good
 
T

thankfly

New Member
Nov 7, 2024
6
1
3
NablaSquaredG said:
The question is: Why? Seems like a downgrade.

Also: Have you tried to completely disconnect the power (either by taking the card out or by removing the power supply to the machine)?

I had a similar issue when I crossflashed my ConnectX-6 to crypto enabled firmware. They ended up in livefish / recovery mode and I had to disconnect the power. The standby voltage seemed to keep some part of the card running which then caused it to boot in livefish mode.

No matter how many reboots -> same issue
Take out the card, plug it back in -> all good
Click to expand...
Sometimes, downgrading is necessary to obtain a version without Secure Boot.

You can cross-flash your ConnectX-T to Crypto, as I mentioned earlier — it's possible to upgrade an AN to an AS (though I'm not sure if Secure Boot will be supported).

So, while upgrading is possible, downgrading is not.
 
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