Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT - EEPROM access / Transceiver compatibility

[GoofyHSK]

Ahoy,

I have been battling to get my Aliexpress connect-x3 EN card to work at 10G

Can I get any confirmation from other users whether EEPROM reading (ethtool -m, ethtool -e) is available on this specific card (MT_1170110023)?

Also if people have recommended transceivers to use...

I have Intel FTLX8571D3BCV-1T - can get a 1G link only, attempting 10G in debian says cable unplugged
Finisar FTLX8571D3BCL - can't seem to get any links

My switch is a QSW-2104-2S

-- This is my first fibre foray, so I have little idea of what is going on

 

[DavidWJohnston]

I can't confirm your specific question - But if you're open to trying a different card, I can vouch for the QLogic 8142-IBMX cards. I bought a wholesale lot of these and a pile of DAC cables on eBay a few years back. I've never had any SFP+ or switch compatibility or speed handshake problems. I've used them with ESXi, Windows, and Linux. Here's one for $17: QLogic QLE8142-IBMX Dual Port 10Gbps Enhanced Ethernet to PCIe Network Adapter | eBay.

Some PCs do need the PCI slot Option ROM setting in the BIOS to be toggled from off/legacy/uefi for those cards to work properly or even for the system to POST. (Just try all 3 until you get a proper POST)

Mine came with transceivers installed already in many of the cards, and they are: QLogic FTLX8571D3BCL-QL (850nm MM 2xLC) and work perfectly. Here's one for $7: QLOGIC FTLX8571D3BCL 10GB SFP+ Optic Transceiver FTLX8571D3BCL-QL Stock Above 3k | eBay

I believe I've also tried the following SFPs in those QLogic cards at least once:

- A mix of DAC cables - Most of them in the lot are: Brocade 10G Active 3m FCoE 58-10000027-1
- HUAWEI LTF1303BH+1 (1310nm SM 2xLC)
- SFP+ 10G BX20-D/U 20km LC DDM (1xLC BiDi)

The switches I have used with them are:

- Cisco Nexus 5020
- Quanta LB4M
- Celestica Seastone (w/ QSFP28 adapters - Some of these adapters are picky)
- 1G speed in TP-LINK Managed switch, not sure the model.

I hope this helps, good luck!

Dave