7.4.1. Hardware Troubleshooting
7.4.1.1. Retrieving Vital Product Data for the SuperNIC
Vital Product Data (VPD) is a standardized set of read-only fields stored in the SuperNIC's non-volatile SPI EEPROM and exposed through the PCIe configuration space. VPD contains hardware identification information that is useful for inventory management, RMA processing, support case submission, and verifying that a replacement card matches the expected configuration.
You can retrieve VPD using the lspci utility, which is included in the pciutils package on most Linux distributions. The -vvs options instruct lspci to display verbose output for a specific device, identified by its PCIe Bus:Device.Function (BDF) address.
Refer to the PCI Express Base Specification, Revision 5.0 for details on VPD.
7.4.1.1.1. Prerequisites
The
pciutilspackage must be installed on the host.Root or
sudoprivileges are required to read VPD fields.
7.4.1.1.2. Identifying the SuperNIC BDF Address
Before retrieving VPD, identify the BDF address of the SuperNIC. Run the following command to list all Cornelis Networks devices detected by the system:
lspci | grep -i cornelis
The output lists each detected device with its BDF address.
17:00.0 Fabric controller: Cornelis Networks CN5000 HFI Silicon, Dual Port, BGA [discrete]
In this example, 17:00.0 is the BDF address, where 17 is the PCIe bus number (hexadecimal), 00 is the device number, and .0 is the function number. Use this address in the next step.
7.4.1.1.3. Retrieving VPD
Run lspci with the -vvs option and the BDF address of the SuperNIC:
sudo lspci -vvs <BDF>
Example:
sudo lspci -vvs 17:00.0
The command produces detailed output for the device. The VPD fields appear in the Capabilities: [d0] Vital Product Data section of the output.
Capabilities: [d0] Vital Product Data Product Name: CN5000 SuperNIC 2P QSFP-DD AC x16 G5 Read-only fields: [PN] Part number: A00480-006 [SN] Serial number: MYFM4125111CE [MN] Manufacture ID: Cornelis Networks [EC] Engineering changes: 01 [TR] Unknown: 74 70 03 00 [V1] Vendor specific: CN5HFA2Q5ALS [V2] Vendor specific: 2025-10-10 [V3] Vendor specific: A0 [V4] Vendor specific: D0066A0101002F7B [V5] Vendor specific: 59877 [V6] Vendor specific: A0094502 [RV] Reserved: checksum good, 0 byte(s) reserved End
7.4.1.1.4. VPD Field Descriptions
The following table describes each field in the VPD output.
Field | Tag | Description |
|---|---|---|
Product Name | – | Human-readable product name. Identifies the SuperNIC model, port count, connector type, cooling type, PCIe width, and generation. |
[PN] | Part Number | The Cornelis Networks board part number. Use this number when ordering a replacement card or opening a support case. Note that this part number matches the part number on the PN/SN label on the board. |
[SN] | Serial Number | The unique board serial number. Required for RMA processing and support case submission. |
[MN] | Manufacture ID | The name of the card manufacturer. For standard Cornelis Networks SKUs, this field reads Cornelis Networks. |
[EC] | Engineering Changes | Reserved for SuperNIC board revisions. |
[TR] | Thermal Reporting | This keyword provides a standard interface for reporting four fields: AFI Level, MaxTherm, DTherm, and MaxAmbient, encoded as a 4-byte binary value. Because the value is binary rather than ASCII text, |
[V1] | SKU / Product Part Number | The Cornelis Networks SKU identifier for the board type (for example, CN5HFA2Q5ALS). This value is unique per board type and corresponds to the product model. |
[V2] | Manufacturing Date | The date the board was manufactured, in YYYY-MM-DD format. |
[V3] | ASIC Version | The silicon revision of the Cornelis ASIC on the board (for example, A0). |
[V4] | ASIC GUID | The globally-unique identifier (GUID) of the Cornelis ASIC. This value is unique per board and is used by the fabric for device identification. |
[V5] | Vendor IANA | The IANA Private Enterprise Number (PEN) assigned to Cornelis Networks (59877). This value is fixed for all Cornelis Networks products. |
[V6] | FRU File ID | The internal Cornelis Networks FRU (Field Replaceable Unit) data file identifier for this board type. |
[V7] | OEM Part Number | Reserved for OEM Part Number |
[V8] | OEM Serial Number | Reserved for OEM Serial Number |
[RV] | Reserved / Checksum | A checksum byte that validates the integrity of the VPD data. A checksum good result confirms that the VPD contents are uncorrupted. |
7.4.1.2. Capturing Diagnostic Data from Switches
You can initiate a full system capture using the Switch capture all command to collect the following data:
journalctl logs
ASIC statedump
Currently running firmware
Additional system data
The system will poll until completion and package all data into a single compressed *.tar.xz archive for easy transport. Capture files are stored under /tmp/dumps/.
Note
If you want the capture output printed directly to the console, use:
capture all --stdout
To generate and transfer the capture file:
Run the following command
capture all
Once complete, the system will output an entry ID (for example,
1).Using the entry ID from the previous step, copy the capture to your target destination:
capture copy system <ID> <user@host:/path/to/destination>
Note
Alternatively, you can use
scpto copy the files. For example:scp <BMC_IP>:/tmp/dumps/1/<hostname>_dump_<ID>_.tar.xz .
For additional details on the capture command, refer to capture.
7.4.1.3. Identifying Issues from LEDs
LEDs offer quick visual diagnostics, using color and flashing patterns to indicate power, network, drive activity, and hardware errors, enabling rapid troubleshooting and reducing downtime.
Refer to the following sections for the location and meaning of each product/component LED.