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Bluefield and CX7/CX8 Firmware Update Process#

Prior to installation, copy the binary to the compute tray host or use a shared directory. The binary naming format should look like:

CX7 Example:

fw-ConnectX7-rel-28_42_1270-900-24768-0002_Ax-UEFI-14.35.15-FlexBoot-3.7.500.signed.bin

CX8 Example:

fw-ConnectX8-rel-28_44_2524-900-24768-0002_Ax-UEFI-14.37.14-FlexBoot-3.7.500.signed.bin

The general steps to install NVIDIA Networking firmware are as follows:

Start the MST service
```
mst start
```
Query the devices to find the /dev/mst paths of the devices
```
mst status -v
```
Read the current version of firmware on a given device
```
flint -d /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf0 q full
```
Flash the firmware on the device
1. Change to the directory where the binary is stored
2. Run the flash command:
```
flint -d /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf0 -i fw-ConnectX7-rel-28_42_1270-900-24768-0002_Ax-UEFI-14.35.15-FlexBoot-3.7.500.signed.bin b
```
3. Repeat this for all 4 CX7 or CX8 devices

Reset the device and reboot the host

mlxfwreset -d mlx5_0 reset

Example CX7 Devices:

PCI devices:
------------------
DEVICE_TYPE      MST                      PCI          RDMA   NET NUMA
ConnectX7(rev:0) /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf0 0000:03:00.0 mlx5_0 net-ibp3s0 0
ConnectX7(rev:0) /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf1 0002:03:00.0 mlx5_1 net-ibP2p3s0 0
ConnectX7(rev:0) /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf2 0010:03:00.0 mlx5_4 net-ibP16p3s0 1
ConnectX7(rev:0) /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf3 0012:03:00.0 mlx5_5 net-ibP18p3s0 1

Example CX8 Devices:

PCI devices:
------------------
DEVICE_TYPE      MST                      PCI          RDMA   NET            NUMA
ConnectX8(rev:0) /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf0 0000:03:00.0 mlx5_0 net-ibp3s0     0
ConnectX8(rev:0) /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf1 0002:03:00.0 mlx5_1 net-ibP2p3s0   0
ConnectX8(rev:0) /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf2 0010:03:00.0 mlx5_2 net-ibP16p3s0  1
ConnectX8(rev:0) /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf3 0012:03:00.0 mlx5_3 net-ibP18p3s0  1

Device paths vary by hardware:
- CX7 devices use /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf[0-3]
- CX8 devices use /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf[0-3]
- BlueField 3 devices use /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 and /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0.1

Combined CX-7, CX-8, and Bluefield Update#

Run the update script across all GB200 nodes:

pdsh -g category=dgx-gb200 '/home/nvis/(dir where the firmware update is)/nicupdate.sh > /home/nvis/(dir where the firmware update is)/$(hostname)_fw_upgrade_$(date +'%Y%m%d-%H%M%S').log'

Reference Script: NIC Updates (BF3, CX-7, and CX-8) - nicupdate.sh

# Start MST service
mst start

# Query CX-7 devices (if present)
flint -d /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf0 q full
flint -d /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf1 q full
flint -d /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf2 q full
flint -d /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf3 q full

# Query CX-8 devices (if present)
flint -d /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf0 q full
flint -d /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf1 q full
flint -d /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf2 q full
flint -d /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf3 q full

# Query BlueField 3 devices
flint -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 q full
# Only for GB200 with 2 BlueField 3 devices
flint -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf1 q full

# Only for GB300
flint -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 q full

# Set the base directory and firmware file names
basedir=/cm/shared/nicfw
bf3file=fw-BlueField-3-rel-32_44_1600-900-9D3B6-00CN-P_Ax-NVME-20.4.1-UEFI-21.4.13-UEFI-22.4.14-UEFI-14.37.14-FlexBoot-3.7.500.signed.bin
cx7file=fw-ConnectX7-rel-28_44_2524-900-24768-0002_Ax-UEFI-14.37.14-FlexBoot-3.7.500.signed.bin
cx8file=fw-ConnectX8-rel-28_44_2524-900-24768-0002_Ax-UEFI-14.37.14-FlexBoot-3.7.500.signed.bin

# Flash CX7 devices (if present)
yes | flint -d /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf0 -i $basedir/$cx7file b
yes | flint -d /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf1 -i $basedir/$cx7file b
yes | flint -d /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf2 -i $basedir/$cx7file b
yes | flint -d /dev/mst/mt4129_pciconf3 -i $basedir/$cx7file b

# Flash CX8 devices (if present)
yes | flint -d /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf0 -i $basedir/$cx8file b
yes | flint -d /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf1 -i $basedir/$cx8file b
yes | flint -d /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf2 -i $basedir/$cx8file b
yes | flint -d /dev/mst/mt4131_pciconf3 -i $basedir/$cx8file b

# Flash BlueField 3 devices
yes | flint -d /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0 -i $basedir/$bf3file b

Note

Adjust the basedir variable to match your firmware file location. Common locations include /cm/shared/nicfw or /home/<USERNAME>/fw_releases/mellanox.