Updating firmware on Dell OEM (71C1T) Mellanox ConnectX-5 516A NIC

[hmw]

Snagged a Dell 71C1T / Mellanox ConnectX-5 from eBay. It came with a real old FW version (16.26.6000) dating back from 2019. Tried to update it and could only find version 16.35.3006 from the Dell site. The Nvidia/Mellanox site doesn't even list it on their portal for OEM firmware. Apparently 16.35.3006 is dated 06/07/2023 so better than some 2019 firmware.

The adapter seems to be a CX516A but don't know if this is a CX516A-CCAT or CX516A-CDAT (seems the only difference between the cards is that -CCAT is PCIe 3.0 and -CDAT is PCIe 4.0). The card is a CX516A-CDAT which one can determine by running mlxlink

./mlxlink -d mt4121_pciconf0 --port_type PCIE
PCIe Operational (Enabled) Info
-------------------------------
Depth, pcie index, node            : 0, 0, 0
Link Speed Active (Enabled)        : 16G-Gen 4 (16G-Gen 4)
Link Width Active (Enabled)        : 16X (16X)

The card PSID is DEL0000000004. Ideally would be good to flash this with stock firmware for the CX516A-CDAT but the firmware page lists different firmware for the few CX516A variants.

This is what I get from mlx fw manager

./mlxfwmanager
Querying Mellanox devices firmware ...

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

  Device Type:      ConnectX5
  Part Number:      09FTMY_071C1T_Ax
  Description:      Mellanox ConnectX-5 Ex Dual Port 100 GbE QSFP Network Adapter
  PSID:             DEL0000000004
  PCI Device Name:  mt4121_pciconf0
  Base GUID:      
  Base MAC:        
  Versions:         Current        Available    
     FW             16.35.3006     N/A          
     PXE            3.6.0902       N/A          
     UEFI           14.29.0015     N/A          

  Status:           No matching image found

[root@karaportti:/opt/mellanox/bin]

Has anyone successfully flashed a Dell 71C1T ConnectX card with stock firmware? Do I need to preserve the PSID? Do I need to backup the configuration?

 

[jpmomo]

Let me check my notes. The only cx5 nic that I remember having an issue with was an hpe version. I didn't think I had any issues cross flashing a dell but not 100% sure

 

[pakcikkayo]

Let me check my notes. The only cx5 nic that I remember having an issue with was an hpe version. I didn't think I had any issues cross flashing a dell but not 100% sure

Hi @jpmomo, any luck with flashing Dell 71C1T with stock firmware?

 

[Civiloid]

any luck with flashing Dell 71C1T with stock firmware?

I had multiple CX5s and I haven't seen any problems cross-flashing them (as far as I understand, they've implemented firmware signing only on later stage of CX5 life and it wasn't really used, but even if I'm wrong, flint_oem can cross-flash such cards)

In worst case, you can follow the procedure on cross-flashing CX6 (search for flint_oem in this post: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...nectx-4-or-newer-bluefield-tips-tricks.47779/) as that way it works with all vendor cards up to CX6 and Bluefield-2 including.