Mellanox ConnectX-2 not working

[Lyphiard]

I'm extremely new to fiber, and looking to get a 10 Gbe link between two computers.

Currently, I have bought a Mellanox MNPA19-XTR card along with a Avago AFBR-703ASDZ-E2 10GbE SFP+ module. However, I just can't seem to get the two to work.

I'm currently running Windows 10.

 

[Keljian]

Ok - first of all, does windows 10 see the NIC?

I had a dead ConnectX-2 - the firmware was fried and windows saw the card as a "pci memory controller"

 

[Lyphiard]

Yeah, windows sees the NIC, but in Adapters, it just shows as disconnected.

When running vstat or ibstat, the only port shows the state as being down and physical state as being disabled.

Using ibportstate just returns an error

 

[Keljian]

Try updating the firmware on the card

 

[Lyphiard]

It's currently 2.9.1200, which I think is the latest version.

 

[jfeldt]

I bought two of them based on that $19 great deal thread and both were dead. FYI, in case you have the same issues and are beating yourself up on what else to troubleshoot

 

[RyC]

I bought two of them based on that $19 great deal thread and both were dead. FYI, in case you have the same issues and are beating yourself up on what else to troubleshoot

Yikes, which seller did you buy from?

 

[poto]

Yeah, windows sees the NIC, but in Adapters, it just shows as disconnected.

When running vstat or ibstat, the only port shows the state as being down and physical state as being disabled.

Using ibportstate just returns an error

I had similar problem with ConnectX-2 in Srv2012, Mellanox driver v5.10.11345.0 9/10/15. Rolling back driver to previous version fixed it for me. Oddly enough, same driver version worked fine in Srv2012R2 with same model nic purchased from same batch. Might be worth a try.

Newer firmware will enable RDMA on ConnectX-2. See http://www.servethehome.com/custom-firmware-mellanox-oem-infiniband-rdma-windows-server-2012/ and updated links in more recent threads.

 

[jfeldt]

Yikes, which seller did you buy from?

met-parts-sales

I got my money back after I returned them, but it was annoying.

 

[Keljian]

FYI, my faulty one was from the same seller

 

[Pete L.]

I had something strange happen with 2 ConnectX-2 Cards I got off e-bay. They were HP Branded though, I put them in HP DL380 G6's and Server 2k12 detected them but They always showed "Disabled" and Would not start. That was without any driver and with the 2.9.1200 firmware. I loaded several different drivers and it said the same thing. Thankfully these were test servers and I reloaded one of them and they detected no problem. I picked up a couple of cheap SPF+ off e-bay and got a link and was able to use them directly connected to each other for a private network.

It is also worth mentioning that I tried to update the firmware using the method mentioned in the link above which worked but I ended up bricking both cards, I've been told the firmware can be recovered but haven't gotten there yet.

I was able to get about 4gb/sec throughput between the two server according to PassMark.

If anyone has any updated information on what firmware does work with the ConnectX-2 Cards I would love the information.

 

[Keljian]

The 2.9.1200 firmware should work fine (does with my card). To install I just used the firmware management tool in Windows at the command prompt, it detected the card, downloaded the firmware then installed it.

Believe the tool is mftmanager or something similar