US MELLANOX SX6036 - $200

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int0x2e

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I'd buy at that price if I hadn't already bought one a year back...
The 6012 is still cheaper and lower-power if you only need 12 ports, but 36x 40/56 gbps ports (or more 10gbps ports if you use a breakout) would be more than most home-labs would ever really need.
 
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Rand__

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yibo

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Dec 10, 2020
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I bought this switch from this seller last month and it works great. But you need upgrade the firmware from very old version and it only works when you download firmware from hp site. The firmware on IBM site is little new so you will receive error message when you try it. I spent two days on upgrading the firmware.
 
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abq

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May 23, 2015
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Are these particular IBM/MELLANOX SX6036 switches pretty easy to upgrade with HP site firmware, to get Ethernet working? I assume these are IBM from the pictures, and lack of ''MT...' type part number. .

I don't really need 36 ports, but my understanding is that the EMC SX6012 switches are VERY difficult to update and get Ethernet working. Is there a cheap & easy way to get both IB & Ethernet switch for 40/56, or even 10?
 
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Rand__

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The EMC 6012/6018 need to be converted, that will activate ETH. Conversion guide is for an older release, there are updates available, not sure if that covers update to the latest or if the procedure is clear/simple. Original guide's version works ok.

Buying a HP/MLX/Lenovo '36 means you need to install a license to run ETH. You can buy one from MLX, from Ebay or you can try to generate your own by following the obfuscated guides in some of the threads. There is no clear guide as this is not necessarily a strictly legal path and nobody want to get in or cause trouble.
Its not particularly difficult with the hints if you are okish on a linux cli.
 
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abq

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@Rand_ , thank you for your guidance & hints on these switches. ...I really just want something simple & easy for my home lab use, nothing production or anything like commercial enterprise applications. I wish these were more like the brocade ICX license approach;).
 
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Rand__

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well that only works because those licenses are not sold any more, but for the MLX...

1611486263033.png
(1012/1036 upgrades, but similar pricing to be expected for 6012/36...)

But in the end as mentioned its not that difficult and there are ppl here who can help figuring it out.

Or you support ppl who want to make a quick buck with the knowledge on how to do it and shell out $160 on Ebay... which I totally discourage since that guy is selling illegally generated licenses for profit and that should not be endorsed.
 
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RedX1

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yibo said:
I bought this switch from this seller last month and it works great. But you need upgrade the firmware from very old version and it only works when you download firmware from hp site. The firmware on IBM site is little new so you will receive error message when you try it. I spent two days on upgrading the firmware.
Click to expand...

Hi


I hope you can help, I am somewhat new to these Mellanox switches.


I have just received a MSX6036F-1BRR Mellanox - Short version switch

It has very old firmware.

Installed Images

Partition 1 - Active Image (partition of next boot)

SX_PPC_M460EX SX_3.3.4100 2013-09-16 18:27:29 ppc

Partition 2

SX_PPC_M460EX SX_3.2.0330-62 2012-11-12 16:50:29 ppc

Set Default Firmware

Current Default Firmware version: 9.2.4340.



I too found that the MLNX-OS Upgrade Tool on the switch webpage will not work to upgrade the firmware.

It gets stuck at “Loading” - Even the serial consol becomes un-responsive. The only way to recover the switch, is to physically pull the power and re-boot the switch.

If it is not too much trouble, could I ask what tools or method (USB-SCP-SFTP- etc) should be used to upgrade this switch from this early firmware?

Which image upgrade-path did you use from the HP Firmware website? Drivers & Software - HPE Support Center.

Thanks again for your hint at the upgrade path needed to up-date this switch.


Any guidance will be really appreciated, don't want to brick this switch.



Take Care.



RedX1
 
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Rand__

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There should be a list of recomended patches in the readme's.
So just take a couple of them and check.

You also can update via webinterface with some feedback on checks
 
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yibo

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Dec 10, 2020
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RedX1 said:
Hi


I hope you can help, I am somewhat new to these Mellanox switches.


I have just received a MSX6036F-1BRR Mellanox - Short version switch

It has very old firmware.

Installed Images

Partition 1 - Active Image (partition of next boot)

SX_PPC_M460EX SX_3.3.4100 2013-09-16 18:27:29 ppc

Partition 2

SX_PPC_M460EX SX_3.2.0330-62 2012-11-12 16:50:29 ppc

Set Default Firmware

Current Default Firmware version: 9.2.4340.



I too found that the MLNX-OS Upgrade Tool on the switch webpage will not work to upgrade the firmware.

It gets stuck at “Loading” - Even the serial consol becomes un-responsive. The only way to recover the switch, is to physically pull the power and re-boot the switch.

If it is not too much trouble, could I ask what tools or method (USB-SCP-SFTP- etc) should be used to upgrade this switch from this early firmware?

Which image upgrade-path did you use from the HP Firmware website? Drivers & Software - HPE Support Center.

Thanks again for your hint at the upgrade path needed to up-date this switch.


Any guidance will be really appreciated, don't want to brick this switch.



Take Care.



RedX1
Click to expand...
I just updated through the web GUI of this switch. So you just give one ip to the management interface. then use any browser like chrome to log in. then download the firmware from HPE site. The version next to 3.3.4100 should be 3.3.43.4. If you updated with other version may be failed as in my case.
 
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yibo

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Dec 10, 2020
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fossxplorer said:
These are noisy right? Looking for for a low noise homelab, although don't need more than 8 ports
Click to expand...
It is little noisy and maybe above 50db. So I just put it in garage and bought one QSA Adapter with fiber transceiver. I using fiber cable to the living room then convert it to RJ45 cable to the router. So there is no sound for me at all.
 
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RedX1

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Aug 11, 2017
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yibo said:
I just updated through the web GUI of this switch. So you just give one ip to the management interface. then use any browser like chrome to log in. then download the firmware from HPE site. The version next to 3.3.4100 should be 3.3.43.4. If you updated with other version may be failed as in my case.
Click to expand...
Hi



I just wanted to say thanks to all who have contributed to this great body of knowledge and guidance.

I have just completed the Firmware upgrade of this old Mellanox MSX6036F-1BRR switch.

This switch had SX_PPC_M460EX SX_3.3.4100 2013-09-16 18:27:29 ppc firmware and after following your guidance it now is running with PPC_M460EX 3.6.8012 2019-02-22 07:53:42 ppc

I used the Web GUI and followed the Firmware update path-train from Drivers & Software - HPE Support Center.

If you use this method and you try to install several updates, you may find that the Web GUI fails during update and you need to clear old Webimages from the – “Images available to be installed” section of -

switch-00021 [standalone: master] (config) # show images

Installed images:
Partition 1:
PPC_M460EX 3.6.3004 2017-02-05 17:31:50 ppc

Partition 2:
PPC_M460EX 3.6.4006 2017-07-03 16:17:35 ppc


Image files are available to be installed:

webimage.tbz
PPC_M460EX 3.6.4006 2017-07-03 16:17:35 ppc



The way to achieve this is undocumented (as far as I can see) and it can be achieved by issuing.

switch-00021 [standalone: master] (config) # image delete webimage.tbz



That will return.

switch-00021 [standalone: master] (config) # show images


Installed images:
Partition 1:
PPC_M460EX 3.6.3004 2017-02-05 17:31:50 ppc

Partition 2:
PPC_M460EX 3.6.4006 2017-07-03 16:17:35 ppc

Last boot partition: 2
Next boot partition: 2


No image files are available to be installed.

Serve image files via HTTP/HTTPS: no

No image install currently in progress.

Boot manager password is set.

Image signing: trusted signature always required
Admin require signed images: yes

Settings for next boot only:

After I discovered this method, I searched for others who had experienced this issue and found this Blog entry that further describes the issue. Mellanox SwitchX-2 MLNX-OS Upgrade Stall via WebGUI and MLNX-OS to Onyx Upgrade?



I now have a fully functioning VPI switch with the latest firmware.



I would like to thank @Rand__ @yibo and @cw823 for all their encouragement a guidance with this process.





I hope this helps.



Take Care




RedX1

 
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