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Mellanox Spectrum SN2000 Series

The Mellanox Spectrum SN2000 Series Switches are Managed Ethernet Switches with a maximum speed of 100Gb/s and up to 56 ports.
They use the switchdev API to offload the kernel's forwarding plane to its ASICs, allowing for more network throughput.
More info: https://github.com/Mellanox/mlxsw/wiki

Generic Router

ModelSoCCPU MHzCPU CoresRAM MBSSD100M portsGbit portsQSFP portsUSB
Spectrum SN2100Intel Atom C255824004more than 4GBmore than 8GB NAND16x 100GBit QSFP28 ports1x 2.0mini USB
Spectrum SN2700Intel Celeron 1047UE14002more than 4GBmore than 8GB NAND32x 100GBit QSFP28 ports1x 2.0

Unfortunately, there is currently no pre-built OpenWrt image for this target in the Firmware Selector. You must build the image manually by following the steps provided on this page: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-developer/toolchain/use-buildsystem.

When you are inside the build system configuration interface (make menuconfig), select the following target configuration:

  • Target System: x86
  • Subtarget: x86_64
  • Target Profile: Generic x86/64

It isn't mandatory, but you should also unselect Use Console Terminal (in addition to Serial) under the Target Images section to avoid possible problems while using the serial console.


For the QSFP ports and the LEDs to work, you have to select the following packages:

  • Firmware: mlxsw_spectrum-firmware
  • Kernel modules → Network Devices: kmod-mlxfw, kmod-mlxsw-core, kmod-mlxsw-i2c, kmod-mlxsw-minimal, kmod-mlxsw-pci, kmod-mlxsw-spectrum
  • Kernel modules → LED modules: kmod-leds-mlxcpld


If you also want to monitor the temperature of the CPU, RAM, and SSD drive, you can select the following kernel modules:

  • Kernel modules → Hardware Monitoring Support: kmod-hwmon-coretemp, kmod-hwmon-drivetemp, kmod-hwmon-jc42
  • Kernel modules → I2C support: kmod-i2c-i801


After the build process (make) has finished, you can find the compiled image at bin/targets/x86/64/openwrt-x86-64-generic-ext4-combined.img.gz.

This will erase the complete disk and flash OpenWrt, removing existing operating systems, including the commonly pre-installed ONIE or Onyx.

Flashing the image is done as you do it with any other x86 target: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/installation/openwrt_x86#installation

The instructions on this page will show you how to install OpenWrt on the switch by flashing it from a USB device. You have to connect the host PC to the serial port of the network switch to navigate through the BIOS and the installation steps. The parameters of the serial connection can be found here.

The USB device will serve as a kind of Live USB. If you already have a Live USB from another Linux distribution, you can also use that and skip this step.

First, plug the USB device into your PC, identify your USB device (e.g., by running fdisk -l; the instructions here will use /dev/sdx), and flash the image to it. :!: This will erase all your data on the USB device.

gunzip openwrt-x86-64-generic-ext4-combined.img.gz

# Replace sdx with your device
sudo dd if=openwrt-x86-64-generic-ext4-combined.img of=/dev/sdx


Since the OpenWrt root partition size is only 104MB by default, we must enlarge it and its filesystem. :!: Some Linux distributions automatically mount the root partition, so you may have to unmount it before.

sudo parted -s /dev/sdx resizepart 2 100%
sudo resize2fs -f /dev/sdx2


After that, you can mount the root partition and copy the OpenWrt to the home directory of the user root.

sudo mkdir /mnt/usb
sudo mount /dev/sdx2 /mnt/usb/
cp openwrt-x86-64-generic-ext4-combined.img /mnt/usb/root/
sudo umount /dev/sdx2
sudo rmdir /mnt/usb


Next, (safely) unplug the USB device, plug it into the Mellanox switch, and connect your PC to its serial port. To enter the BIOS, reboot the switch and press CTRL+B while you see the BIOS information text (American Megatrends …).
The default password to enter the BIOS is admin.
To boot from the USB device, switch to the Save & Exit tab and select your USB device from the Boot Override options.
When booted, you can press Enter on your keyboard to activate the console and start flashing the image.

cd ~
dd if=openwrt-x86-64-mellanox_spectrum-sn2100-ext4-combined.img of=/dev/sda


Finally, if the flashing process was successful, reboot, and the switch should boot into the newly installed OpenWrt system.

As mentioned before, the root partition size is only 104 MB. To increase it and the filesystem, please follow the steps of the following link: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/installation/openwrt_x86#expanding_root_partition_and_filesystem.

  • Browse to http://192.168.1.1/cgi-bin/luci/mini/system/upgrade/ LuCI Upgrade URL
  • Upload image file for sysupgrade to LuCI
  • Wait for reboot

Note: It is important that you put the firmware image into the ramdisk (/tmp) before you start flashing.

sysupgrade

  • Login as root via SSH on 192.168.1.1, then enter the following commands:
sysupgrade /tmp/openwrt-x86-64-generic-ext4-combined.img.gz

The default network configuration is:

Interface Name Description Default configuration
br-lan Management Port 192.168.1.1/24
lo Loopback 127.0.0.1

The Mellanox Spectrum SN2000 Series has the following buttons:

BUTTON Event
Reset reset

---- datatemplatelist dttpllist ---- template: meta:template_datatemplatelist cols : Brand, Model, Versions, Device Type, Availability, Supported Since Commit_git, Supported since Rel, Supported current Rel, Unsupported, Bootloader, CPU, Target, CPU MHz, Flash MBs, RAM MB, Switch, Ethernet 100M ports_, Ethernet Gbit ports_, Comments network ports_, Modem, VLAN, WLAN 2.4GHz, WLAN 5.0GHz, WLAN Hardwares, WLAN Comments_, Detachable Antennas_, USB ports_, SATA ports_, Comments USB SATA ports_, Serial, JTAG, LED count, Button count, Power supply, Device Techdata_pageid, Forum topic URL_url, wikidevi URL_url, OEM Device Homepage URL_url, Firmware OEM Stock URL_url, Firmware OpenWrt Install URL_url, Firmware OpenWrt Upgrade URL_url, Comments_ filter : Brand=Mellanox filter : Model~Spectrum SN2*


Front:
Insert photo of front of the casing

Back:
Insert photo of back of the casing

Backside label:
Insert photo of backside label

Note: This will void your warranty!

FIXME Describe what needs to be done to open the device, e.g. remove rubber feet, adhesive labels, screws, ...

  • To remove the cover and open the device, do a/b/c

Main PCB:
Insert photo of PCB

How to connect to the Serial Port of this specific device:
Insert photo of PCB with markings for serial port

Serial connection parameters for Mellanox Spectrum SN2000 Series:

Parameter Setting
Baud rate 115200
Data bits 8
Stop bits 1
Parity None
Flow control None

COPY HERE THE BOOTLOG WITH THE ORIGINAL FIRMWARE


COPY HERE THE BOOTLOG ONCE OPENWRT IS INSTALLED AND RUNNING


Space for additional notes, links to forum threads or other resources.

  • ...
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  • Last modified: 2024/01/02 10:53
  • by tk154