Known Issues

3600716

Description: BFB install from Host fails on BlueField-2 DPU or Converged card. The reason for this failure is that DPU contains BFB version 1.5.0 or lower.

Failure appears as follows:

Mellanox BlueField-2 A1 BL1 V1.1

ERROR: Failed to load BL2R firmware.

Workaround: Reset EFI variables according to the following steps:

1. Open the UEFI menu of the DPU.

2. Select Device Manager.

3. Select System Configuration.

4. Select Redfish Configuration (if exits).

5. Select Reset EFI Variables.

6. Continue with the BFB installation as described in Section "Installing Full DOCA Image on DPU" under Linux Installation Guide of DOCA SDK.

Keyword: BlueField-2; Converged card; BFB; Installation

Reported in version: 4.2.0

3568341

Description: Downgrading BSP software from 4.2.0 fails if UEFI secure boot is enabled.

Workaround: Disable UEFI secure boot before downgrading.

Keyword: Software; downgrade

Reported in version: 4.2.0

3566042

Description: Virtio hotplug is not supported in GPU-HOST mode on the NVIDIA Converged Accelerator.

Workaround: N/A

Keyword: Virtio; Converged Accelerator

Reported in version: 4.2.0

3546474

Description: PXE boot over ConnectX interface might not work due to an invalid MAC address in the UEFI boot entry.

Workaround: On the DPU, create /etc/bf.cfg file with the relevant PXE boot entries, then run the command bfcfg.

Keyword: PXE; boot; MAC

Reported in version: 4.2.0

3393316

Description: When LSO is enabled, if the header and data appear in the same fragment, the following warning is given from tcpdump:

            

            
truncated-ip - 9 bytes missing
        

Workaround: N/A

Keyword: Virtio-net; large send offload

Reported in version: 4.2.0

3549785

Description: NVMe and mlx5_core drivers fail during BFB installation. As a result, Anolis OS cannot be installed on the SSD and the mlxfwreset command does not work during Anolis BFB installation.

Workaround: N/A

Keyword: Linux; NVMe; BFB installation

Reported in version: 4.2.0

3306489

Description: After rebooting a BlueField-3 DPU running Rocky Linux 8.6 BFB, the kernel log shows the following error:

            

            
[    3.787135] mlxbf_gige MLNXBF17:00: Error getting PHY irq. Use polling instead
        

This message indicates that the Ethernet driver will function normally in all aspects, except that PHY polling is enabled.

Workaround: N/A

Keyword: Linux; PHY; kernel

Reported in version: 4.2.0

3529297

Description: Enhanced NIC mode is not supported on BlueField-2 DPUs.

Workaround: N/A

Keyword: Operation; mode

Reported in version: 4.2.0

3306489

Description: When performing longevity tests (e.g., mlxfwreset, DPU reboot, burning of new BFBs), a host running an Intel CPU may observer errors related to "CPU 0: Machine Check Exception".

Workaround: Add intel_idle.max_cstate=1 entry to the kernel command line.

Keyword: Longevity; mlxfwreset; DPU reboot

Reported in version: 4.2.0

3538486

Description: When removing LAG configuration from the DPU, a kernel warning for uverbs_destroy_ufile_hw is observed if virtio-net-controller is still running.

Workaround: Stop virtio-net-controller service before cleaning up bond configuration.

Keyword: Virtio-net; LAG

Reported in version: 4.2.0

3444073

Description: mlxfwreset is not supported in this release.

Workaround: Power cycle the host.

Keyword: mlxfwreset; support

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3462630

Description: When trying to perform a PXE installation when UEFI Secure Boot is enabled, the following error messages may be observed:

            

            
error: shim_lock protocol not found.
error: you need to load the kernel first.
        

Workaround: Download a Grub EFI binary from the Ubuntu website. For further information on Ubuntu UEFI Secure Boot PXE Boot, please visit Ubuntu's official website.

Keyword: PXE; UEFI Secure Boot

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3412847

Description: Socket-Direct is currently not supported on BlueField-3 devices.

Workaround: N/A

Keyword: Socket-Direct; support

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3448841

Description: While running CentOS 8.2, switchdev Ethernet DPU runs in "shared" RDMA net namespace mode instead of "exclusive".

Workaround: Use ib_core module parameter netns_mode=0. For example:

            

            
echo "options ib_core netns_mode=0" >> /etc/modprobe.d/mlnx-bf.conf
        

Keywords: RDMA; isolation; Net NS

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3365363

Description: On BlueField-3, when booting virtio-net emulation device using a GRUB2 bootloader, the bootloader may attempt to close and re-open the virtio-net device. This can result in unexpected behavior and possible system failure to boot.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: BlueField-3; virtio-net; UEFI

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3413938

Description: Using mlnx-sf script, creating and deleting an SF with same ID number in a stressful manner may cause the setup to hang due to a race between create and delete commands.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Hang; mlnx-sf

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3452740

Description: Ovs-pki is not working due to two versions of OpenSSL being installed, causing the PKA engine to not load properly.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: PKA; OpenSSL

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3232444

Description: After live migration of virtio-net devices using the VFE driver, the max_queues_size output from the virtnet list may be wrong. This does not affect the actual value.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Virtio-net; live migration

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3441287

Description: Failure occurs when attempting to raise static LAG with ifenslave_2.10ubuntu3 package.

Workaround: Use ifenslave_2.9ubuntu1.

Keywords: ifenslave; bonding

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3341481

Description: RShim console may hang after pushing BFB or running reboot command from the DPU Arm Linux.

Workaround: Restart the RShim driver on the host side using systemctl restart rshim.

Keywords: RShim console; hang; BFB push

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3373849

Description: Different OVS-based packages can include their own systemd services which prevents /sbin/mlnx_bf_configure from identifying the right one.

Workaround: Use a specific service name in /sbin/mlnx_bf_configure.

Keywords: OVS; systemd

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3273435

Description: Changing the mode of operation between NIC and DPU modes results in different capabilities for the host driver which might cause unexpected behavior.

Workaround: Reload the host driver or reboot the host.

Keywords: Modes of operation; driver

Reported in version: 4.0.2

2706803

Description: When an NVMe controller, SoC management controller, and DMA controller are configured, the maximum number of VFs is limited to 124.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: VF; limitation

Reported in version: 4.0.2

3264224

Description: When trying to change boot order using efibootmgr, BlueField fails to attempt PXE boot from p0 even though efibootmgr returns a successful result.

Workaround: Drop into the UEFI menu and regenerate all the EFI entries.

Keywords: PXE; efibootmgr

Reported in version: 3.9.3.1

3188415

Description: An Arm firmware update to the same version that is installed will fail and is not supported.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Arm; firmware; update

Reported in version: 3.9.2

N/A

Description: The BootOptionEnabled attribute changes back to true after DPU-force reset.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Redfish; BootOptionEnabled

Reported in version: 3.9.2

3012182

Description: The command ethtool -I --show-fec is not supported by the DPU with kernel 5.4.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Kernel; show-fec

Reported in version: 3.9.0

2855986

Description: After disabling SR-IOV VF on a virtio device, removing virtio-net/PCIe driver from guest OS may render the virtio controller unusable .

Workaround: Restart the virtio-net controller to recover it. To avoid this issue, m onitor the log from controller and make sure VF resources are destroyed before unloading virtio-net/PCIe drivers.

Keywords: Virtio-net; VF

Reported in version: 3.9.0

2863456

Description: SA limit by packet count (hard and soft) are supported only on traffic originated from the ECPF. Trying to configure them on VF traffic removes the SA when hard limit is hit. However, traffic could still pass as plain text due to the tunnel offload used in such configuration.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: ASAP2; IPsec Full Offload

Reported in version: 3.9.0

2982184

Description: When multiple BlueField resets are issued within 10 seconds of each other, EEPROM error messages are displayed on the console and, as a result, the BlueField may not boot from the eMMC and may halt at the UEFI menu.

Workaround: Power-cycle the BlueField to fix the EEPROM issue. Manual recovery of the boot options and/or SW installation may be needed.

Keywords: Reset; EEPROM

Reported in version: 3.9.0

2853408

Description: Some pre-OS environments may fail when sensing a hot plug operation during their boot stage.

Workaround: Run "mlxconfig -d <mst dev> set PF_LOG_BAR_SIZE=0".

Keywords: BIOS; hot-plug; Virtio-net

Reported in version: 3.9.0

2934833

Description: Running I/O traffic and toggling both physical ports status in a stressful manner on the receiving-end machine may cause traffic loss.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: MLNX_OFED; RDMA; port toggle

Reported in version: 3.8.5

2911425

Description: ProLiant DL385 Gen10 Plus server with BIOS version 1.3 hangs when large number of SFs (PF_TOTAL_SF=252) are configured.

Workaround: Update the BIOS version to 2.4 which should correctly detect the PCIe device with the bigger BAR size.

Keywords: Scalable functions; BIOS

Reported in version: 3.8.5

2801780

Description: When running virtio-net-controller with host kernel older than 3.10.0-1160.el7, host virtio driver may get error (Unexpected TXQ (13) queue failure: -28) from dmesg in traffic stress test.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Virtio-net; error

Reported in version: 3.8.0

2870213

Description: Servers do not recover after configuring PCI_SWITCH_EMULATION_NUM_PORT to 32 followed by power cycle.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: VirtIO-net; power cycle

Reported in version: 3.8.0

–

Description: Only QP queues are supported for GGA accelerators from this version onward.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Firmware; SQ; QP

Reported in version: 3.8.0

2846108

Description: Setting VHCA_TRUST_LEVEL does not work when there are active SFs or VFs.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Firmware; SF; VF

Reported in version: 3.8.0

2750499

Description: Some devlink commands are only supported by mlnx devlink (/opt/mellanox/iproute2/sbin/devlink). The default devlink from the OS may produce failure (e.g., devlink port show -j).

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Devlink

Reported in version: 3.7.1

2730157

Description: Kernel upgrade is not currently supported on BlueField as there are out of tree kernel modules (e.g., ConnectX drivers that will stop working after kernel upgrade).

Workaround: Kernel can be upgraded if there is a matching DOCA repository that includes all the drivers compiled with the new kernel or as a part of the new BFB package.

Keywords: Kernel; upgrade

Reported in version: 3.7.0

2706710

Description: Call traces are seen on the host when recreating VFs before the controller side finishes the deletion procedure.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Virtio-net controller

Reported in version: 3.7.0

2685478

Description: 3rd party (netkvm.sys) Virtio-net drivers for Windows do not support SR-IOV.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Virtio-net; SR-IOV; WinOF-2

Reported in version: 3.7.0

2685191

Description: Once Virtio-net is enabled, the mlx5 Windows VF becomes unavailable.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Virtio-net; virtual function; WinOF-2

Reported in version: 3.7.0

2702395

Description: When a device is hot-plugged from the virtio-net controller, the host OS may hang when warm reboot is performed on the host and Arm at the same time.

Workaround: Reboot the host OS first and only then reboot DPU.

Keywords: Virtio-net controller; hot-plug; reboot

Reported in version: 3.7.0

2684501

Description: Once the contiguous memory pool, a limited resource, is exhausted, fallback allocation to other methods occurs. This process triggers cma_alloc failures in the dmesg log.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Log; cma_alloc; memory

Reported in version: 3.7.0

2590016

Description: ibdev2netdev tool is not supported for PCIe PF operating in switchdev mode or on SFs.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: ibdev2netdev

Reported in version: 3.6.0.11699

2590016

Description: A "double free" error is seen when using the "curl" utility. This error is from libcrypto.so library which is part of the OpenSSL package. This happens only when OpenSSL is configured to use a dynamic engine (e.g. Bluefield PKA engine).

Workaround: Set OPENSSL_CONF=/etc/ssl/openssl.cnf.orig before using the curl utility.

For example:

            

            
# OPENSSL_CONF=/etc/ssl/openssl.cnf.orig curl -O https://tpo.pe/pathogen.vim
        

Keywords: OpenSSL; curl

Reported in version: 3.6.0.11699

2407897

Description: The host may crash when the number of PCIe devices overflows the PCIe device address. According to the PCIe spec, the device address space is 8 bits in total—device (5 bits) and function (3 bits)—which means that the total number of devices cannot be more than 256.

The second PF maximum number of VFs is limited by the total number of additional PCIe devices that precedes it. By default, the preceding PCIe devices are 2 PFs + RShim DMA + 127 VFs of the first PF. This means that the maximum valid number of VFs for the second port will be 126.

Workaround: Use the maximum allowed VFs on the 2nd PCIe PF of BlueField instead of the maximum of 127 VFs.

Keywords: Emulated devices; VirtIO-net; VirtIO-blk; VFs; RShim

Reported in version: 3.6.0.11699

2445289

Description: If secure boot is enabled, MFT cannot be installed on the BlueField DPU independently from BlueField drivers (MLNX_OFED).

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: MFT; secure boot

Reported in version: 3.5.1.11601

2377021

Description: Executing "sudo poweroff" on the Arm side causes the system to hang.

Workaround: Reboot your BlueField device or power cycle the server.

Keywords: Hang; reboot

Reported in version: 3.5.0.11563

2350132

Description: Boot process hangs at BIOS (version 1.2.11) stage when power cycling a server (model Dell PowerEdge R7525) after configuring "PCI_SWITCH_EMULATION_NUM_PORT" > 27​​​​​​​.

Workaround: N/A

Keywords: Server; hang; power cycle

Reported in version: 3.5.0.11563

2581408

Description: On a BlueField device operating in Embedded CPU mode, PXE driver will fail to boot if the Arm side is not fully loaded and the OVS bridge is not configured.

Workaround: Run warm reboot on the host side and boot again via the device when Arm is up and the OVS bridge is configured.

Keywords: Embedded CPU; PXE; UEFI; Arm

Reported in version: 2.5.0.11176

1859322

Description: On some setups, DPU does not power on following server cold boot when UART cable is attached to the same server.

Workaround: As long as the RShim driver is loaded on the server and the RShim interface is visible, the RShim driver will detect this and auto-reset the card into normal state.

Keywords: DPU; Arm; Cold Boot

Reported in version: 2.4.0.11082

1899921

Description: Driver restart fails when SNAP service is running.

Workaround: Stop the SNAP services nvme_sf and nvme_snap@nvme0, then restart the driver. After the driver loads restart the services.

Keywords: SNAP

Reported in version: 2.2.0.11000

1911618

Description: Defining namespaces with certain Micron disks (Micron_9300_MTFDHAL3T8TDP) using consecutive attach-ns commands can cause errors.

Workaround: Add delay between attach-ns commands.

Keywords: Micron; disk; namespace; attach-ns

Reported in version: 2.2.0.11000