XXV710 Firmware Downgrade 8.40 to 7.10 - EtrackID Missing

[Charlie_Young]

I have a XXV710-DA2 NIC that came with 8.40 firmware:

ethtool -i ens35f0

driver: i40e

version: 2.20.12

firmware-version: 8.40 0x8000b1fb 20.5.16

expansion-rom-version:

bus-info: 0000:51:00.0

supports-statistics: yes

supports-test: yes

supports-eeprom-access: yes

supports-register-dump: yes

supports-priv-flags: yes

lspci -nn | grep -i 'Ethernet Controller'

01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation I210 Gigabit Backplane Connection [8086:1537] (rev 03)

51:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller XXV710 for 25GbE SFP28 [8086:158b] (rev 02)

51:00.1 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller XXV710 for 25GbE SFP28 [8086:158b] (rev 02)

I need to downgrade this firmware to 7.10 and found the following files:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19833/nvm-downgrade-package-for-intel-ethernet-adapters-700-series-8-40-to-7-10-only.html 

The problem is this isn't seeing my NIC as being upgradable:

./nvmupdate64e

Intel(R) Ethernet NVM Update Tool

NVMUpdate version 1.37.13.5

Copyright(C) 2013 - 2021 Intel Corporation.

WARNING: To avoid damage to your device, do not stop the update or reboot or power off the system during this update.

Inventory in progress. Please wait [|.........]

Num Description                          Ver.(hex)  DevId S:B    Status

=== ================================== ============ ===== ====== ==============

01) Intel(R) I210 Gigabit Backplane     3.37(3.25)   1537 00:001 Update not    

    Connection                                                   available

02) Intel(R) Ethernet 25G 2P XXV710     8.64(8.40)   158B 00:081 Update not    

    Adapter                                                      available

I suspect this is because the Etrack ID of 8000B1FB isn't in the listed the "REPLACES" section of this supported 158B device. 

My question is which entry would I add it to in nvmupdate.cfg?

grep -B4 -A8 XXV710DA2 nvmupdate.cfg

BEGIN DEVICE

DEVICENAME: XXV710

VENDOR: 8086

DEVICE: 158B

NVM IMAGE: XXV710DA2_7p10_CFGID12p0_OEMGEN.bin

IMAGE DOWNGRADE: TRUE

OROM IMAGE: BootIMG.FLB

OROM DOWNGRADE: TRUE

EEPID: 80006469

REPLACES: 80007949 80008387 80008C1A 80009424 800095E3 80009BD4 8000A485 8000ABEC

EEPROM MAP: 25G_HC_MAP.txt

RESET TYPE: REBOOT

END DEVICE

--

BEGIN DEVICE

DEVICENAME: XXV710

VENDOR: 8086

DEVICE: 158B

NVM IMAGE: XXV710DA2_OCP_7p10_CFGID12p0_OEMGEN.bin

IMAGE DOWNGRADE: TRUE

OROM IMAGE: BootIMG.FLB

OROM DOWNGRADE: TRUE

EEPID: 80006443

REPLACES: 800079DE 80008385 80008C19 80009421 8000A3E1 800095F5 8000A276 80009BD1 8000A482 8000ABFA

EEPROM MAP: 25G_HC_MAP.txt

RESET TYPE: REBOOT

END DEVICE

--

BEGIN DEVICE

DEVICENAME: XXV710

VENDOR: 8086

DEVICE: 158B

NVM IMAGE: XXV710DA2_7p10_CFGID12p0_OEMGEN_J65979.bin

IMAGE DOWNGRADE: TRUE

OROM IMAGE: BootIMG.FLB

OROM DOWNGRADE: TRUE

EEPID: 80007CE2

REPLACES: 80007FDF 8000A2DE 80008388 80008C15 80009425 800095DA 80009BD5 8000A4D9 8000AB95 8000ABCD

EEPROM MAP: FVL_25G_Adapter_VPD_MAP.txt

RESET TYPE: REBOOT

END DEVICE

--

BEGIN DEVICE

DEVICENAME: XXV710

VENDOR: 8086

DEVICE: 158B

NVM IMAGE: XXV710DA2_7p10_CFGID12p0_OEMGEN_CTLE_Fix.bin

IMAGE DOWNGRADE: TRUE

OROM IMAGE: BootIMG.FLB

OROM DOWNGRADE: TRUE

EEPID: 8000648F

REPLACES: 800079E4 80008386 80008B71 80009423 800095F0 80009BD3 8000A484 8000ABDB

EEPROM MAP: 25G_HC_MAP.txt

RESET TYPE: REBOOT

END DEVICE

--

BEGIN DEVICE

DEVICENAME: XXV710

VENDOR: 8086

DEVICE: 158B

NVM IMAGE: XXV710DA2_OCP_7p10_CFGID12p0_OEMGEN_CTLE_Fix.bin

IMAGE DOWNGRADE: TRUE

OROM IMAGE: BootIMG.FLB

OROM DOWNGRADE: TRUE

EEPID: 80006494

REPLACES: 800079E5 80008384 80008BAE 80009420 8000A3E6 800095F4 8000A274 80009BD0 8000A481 8000ABF4

EEPROM MAP: 25G_HC_MAP.txt

RESET TYPE: REBOOT

END DEVICE

[Hayat]

Hello Charlie_Young,

Thank you for posting in Intel Communities.

We are still checking on this and will provide you with an update soon.

Can you please confirm the Operating System you are using and the kernel version.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Regards,

Hayat_Intel

[Charlie_Young]

Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS

5.15.0-107-generic

[Azeem_Intel]

Hello Charlie_Young,

Greeting for the day!

Thank you for sharing the details. Could you please confirm whether this product was shipped with the system or if you purchased it separately?

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

Azeem_Intel

[Charlie_Young]

It was purchased separately.

[Azeem_Intel]

Hello Charlie_Young,

Greeting for the day!

We would like to recommend that you try downgrading the NVM from 8.40 to 7.10, and then check if it will fix the issue. Afterward, re-update it back to version 8.40. Please make sure to download the correct file from our link below.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/683939/nvm-downgrade-packages-for-intel-ethernet-adapters-700-series-8-50-to-previous-versions.html

If you have questions or other clarifications please let us know so we can help you further.

Best Regards,

Azeem_Intel

[Charlie_Young]

So even though my NVM is 8.40, you want me to attempt to use the 8.50 to 7.10 file instead?

[Azeem_Intel]

Hello Charlie_Young,

Greetings for the day!

As we can see, the correct version is 8.40. However, this version has been removed from our Intel site. Therefore, I request that you attempt to update from the minimum available version, which is 8.50 on the Intel site. After downgrading and verifying if the issue is resolved, please proceed to update to the latest version."

Best regards,

Azeem_Intel

[Charlie_Young]

I was able to answer my own question. There are two ways to do this:

1. Add the Etrack ID to this entry:

BEGIN DEVICE

DEVICENAME: XXV710

VENDOR: 8086

DEVICE: 158B

NVM IMAGE: XXV710DA2_7p10_CFGID12p0_OEMGEN.bin

IMAGE DOWNGRADE: TRUE

OROM IMAGE: BootIMG.FLB

OROM DOWNGRADE: TRUE

EEPID: 80006469

REPLACES: 80007949 80008387 80008C1A 80009424 800095E3 80009BD4 8000A485 8000ABEC 8000B1FB

EEPROM MAP: 25G_HC_MAP.txt

RESET TYPE: REBOOT

END DEVICE

2. Upgrade to a supported release like 9.0 and then downgrade to the previous version as Azeem suggested.

The benefit of doing #1 is you only have to downgrade and reboot once vs step #2 requires an upgrade, reboot, downgrade, reboot.

[Hayat]

Hello Charlie_Young,

We are glad that you are able to solve the issue by adding the Etrack ID. Though both options worked but the first option seems much faster and we appreciate it.

Kindly let us know if you need further assistance. We will be more than happy to assist you.

Else if no response - we will proceed to close the thread in 3 business days.

Regards,

Hayat_Intel