MCX353A-QCA_A1-A2 won't accept firmware update???

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glarios02

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Mar 13, 2022
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Hello,

I purchased two MCX353A-QCATs on eBay both showing Rev. A2 on their stickers. They both show FW Version: 2.10.0000 with PSID: MT_1120120018. When I try to update them to the latest FCBT firmware I get "Burning FS2 image failed: Device/Image mismatch: FW image file cannot be programmed to device ConnectX-3 A0, it is intended for: ConnectX-3 A1 only." After getting this message I attempted to burn the latest QCBT firmware as well and received a similar failure. Are the stickers misrepresenting these cards as A2 when they are actually A0, making them unable to be cross flashed? Am I doing something wrong or missing a step? Any help is appreciated.

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glarios02

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Mar 13, 2022
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Device #1:
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Device Type: ConnectX3
Part Number: MCX353A-QCA_A1-A2
Description: ConnectX-3 VPI adapter card; single-port QSFP; QDR IB (40Gb/s) and 10GigE; PCIe3.0 x8 8GT/s; RoHS R6
PSID: MT_1120120018
PCI Device Name: mt4099_pci_cr0
Port1 GUID: -----
Port2 MAC: -----
Versions: Current Available
FW 2.10.0000 N/A

Status: No matching image found

Device #2:
----------

Device Type: ConnectX3
Part Number: MCX353A-QCA_A1-A2
Description: ConnectX-3 VPI adapter card; single-port QSFP; QDR IB (40Gb/s) and 10GigE; PCIe3.0 x8 8GT/s; RoHS R6
PSID: MT_1120120018
PCI Device Name: mt4099_pci_cr1
Port1 GUID: -----
Port2 MAC: -----
Versions: Current Available
FW 2.10.0000 N/A

Status: No matching image found
 
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glarios02

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Mar 13, 2022
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I used "flint -d mt4099_pci_cr0 -i .\fw-ConnectX3-rel-2_42_5000-MCX353A-FCB_A2-A5-FlexBoot-3.4.752.mlx -allow_psid_change burn."

Tried both "fw-ConnectX3-rel-2_42_5000-MCX353A-FCB_A2-A5-FlexBoot-3.4.752" and "fw-ConnectX3-rel-2_42_5000-MCX353A-QCB_Ax-FlexBoot-3.4.752"

Both firmwares gave the same failure on both cards prompting that the cards are A0 and firmware was for A1.
 
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glarios02

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Mar 13, 2022
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fohdeesha

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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glarios02 said:
I followed the steps in this post:


Downloaded bin from Mellanox site, changed the ext to mlx per the instructions and then verified the firmware and got OK's down the board. Only errors I received was when it came to actually burning. Should I have left the file as bin when running the burn cmd, or is there something else I am supposed to do to the bin file?
Click to expand...
no clue why he tells people to arbitrarily rename the firmware bin (flint does not even check the file extension), but then again that's about the quality of most guides on the internet
 
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glarios02

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That is a fair assessment. Since I'm using the correct file regardless of .bin or .mlx do you know why I am not able to flash this card?
 
fohdeesha

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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glarios02 said:
That is a fair assessment. Since I'm using the correct file regardless of .bin or .mlx do you know why I am not able to flash this card?
Click to expand...
on the off chance the .mlx extension is confusing it, try an unmodified bin from the URL I pasted, but beyond that no idea, the error message seems pretty specific - it's not the first time I've seen the rev reporting by MFT differ from what's on the label
 
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glarios02

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Mar 13, 2022
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Just tried it with the bin you linked and same result.

Burning FS2 image failed: Device/Image mismatch: FW image file cannot be programmed to device ConnectX-3 A0, it is intended for: ConnectX-3 A1 only
 
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Zombielinux

Member
Jun 14, 2019
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I've got literally the same issue. I got 6, probably from the same seller. Black nonstandard pcie bracket?
 
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Zombielinux

Member
Jun 14, 2019
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Now that I’m thinking about it. @fohdeesha mentioned a recovery method using the flash-present jumper on a different model.

Since the tools don’t complain about backing up the firmware, perhaps we try following the recovery methods using the known good firmware.

I might try doing a byte comparison of the backup firmware and the known good byte stream and see where the major differences are.
 
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Zombielinux

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Jun 14, 2019
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Last edited:
Z

Zombielinux

Member
Jun 14, 2019
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Alright, hopefully last post.

First the good news.

You can crossflash this card to FW 2.33.5100/FlexBoot 3.4.460 as an MCX353A-FCAT and get 1/10/40/56Gbe out of it. N.B. 56GbE is only available with a compatible Mellanox switch, because proprietary.

Use the usual instructions and this download link:

http://www.mellanox.com/downloads/firmware/fw-ConnectX3-rel-2_33_5100-MCX353A-FCA_A2-A4-FlexBoot-3.4.460.bin.zip
Don't forget to set the port to ethernet mode: `mstconfig -d $DEVICE set LINK_TYPE_P1=2`

Now the Bad News.

That's not the latest firmware, and support for the "A" series seems to have been dropped for some reason. Its not listed in bugfixes or improvements. Firmware development seems to have ceased for all cards after the latest version (terminating in 2017) so we're just two years behind that.

That means we're subjected to every bug that hasn't been fixed since then. See this list: https://network.nvidia.com/pdf/firmware/ConnectX3-Firmware_Archived_Bug_Fixes.pdf

As of today (23APR2022) That is every bug <=#34.

Bugs that stand out to me that might bite people:

RM#563136: Fixed a default hardware configuration issue which caused RDP over IPv4 traffic to be dropped

RM#516446 Fixed an issue where the port raised as SDR vs. InfiniScale IV QDR Switch

RM#510935 Fixed an issue with cable reading, which caused the link not to raise
 
Last edited:
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glarios02

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Mar 13, 2022
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Your awesome. I was able to update to 2.33.5100 using the link you provided, however card is still referencing QCA and not FCA. Is there something else I need to do?


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

Device Type: ConnectX3
Part Number: MCX353A-QCA_A2-A4
Description: ConnectX-3 VPI adapter card; single-port QSFP; QDR IB (40Gb/s) and 10GigE; PCIe3.0 x8 8GT/s; RoHS R6
PSID: MT_1120120018
PCI Device Name: mt4099_pci_cr0
Port1 MAC: -----
Port2 MAC: -----
Versions: Current Available
FW 2.33.5100 N/A
PXE 3.4.0460 N/A

Status: No matching image found
 
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