Hello NVIDIA Support,
I am reporting a connectivity failure on my DGX Spark Minis involving the ConnectX‑7 NIC and the QSFP cable that was shipped to me by NVIDIA.
Summary of the issue
The ConnectX‑7 NIC initializes correctly at the PCIe and driver level, but the QSFP port never powers up. As a result, the NIC continuously reports “Cable unplugged,” and the NVIDIA Spark Mellanox Firmware Manager refuses to proceed with firmware installation, stating that the cable is not connected.
Key technical findings
NIC is fully enumerated and operational at PCIe level
PCIe link trains successfully at 32.0 GT/s x4
Firmware loads correctly (version 28.45.4028)
mlx5_core driver binds without errors
NIC reports the module as unplugged even when the cable is insertedRepeated dmesg entries show:
Port module 0: Cable unplugged
Port module 1: Cable unplugged
NIC reports insufficient power when attempting to power the moduleMultiple occurrences of:
mlx5_core: Detected insufficient power on the PCIe slot (27W)
Firmware Manager refuses to install firmware due to missing cable detection
Cable is not connected for ConnectX7. Please connect the cable for firmware installation.
Cable details (shipped by NVIDIA)
Manufacturer: Amphenol
Part number: NJAAKK‑N911
Type: Passive DAC, 0.4m
Assessment
Based on the NIC logs, the ConnectX‑7 is rejecting the module because it does not detect a valid QSFP112‑class cable. The “insufficient power” and “cable unplugged” messages are consistent with the NIC refusing to power an unsupported or unqualified module.
Since this cable was provided directly by NVIDIA, I need confirmation on whether the NJAAKK‑N911 DAC is qualified for ConnectX‑7 on DGX Spark Mini. If it is not, please advise on the correct NVIDIA‑qualified QSFP112 cable (e.g., MCP7H00 or MCP7H50 series) for Spark‑to‑Spark connectivity.
Request
Please confirm:
Whether the Amphenol NJAAKK‑N911 cable is officially supported for ConnectX‑7 on DGX Spark Mini.
If not supported, please provide the correct NVIDIA‑qualified QSFP112 cable part number.
Whether the “27W insufficient power” condition indicates a module‑qualification failure or a hardware issue.
Here is the system output:
dgxspark@spark-dc77:~$ sudo dmesg | grep -Ei ‘mlx|mellanox|connectx|mlx5’
[ 1.475098] integrity: Loaded X.509 cert ‘DGX_Mellanox_Driver: ff019ca15cf6d937483324223e343e4d858aa7c2’
[ 2.253009] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: enabling device (0000 → 0002)
[ 2.253150] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: firmware version: 28.45.4028
[ 2.253172] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: 126.028 Gb/s available PCIe bandwidth (32.0 GT/s PCIe x4 link)
[ 2.612464] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: Rate limit: 127 rates are supported, range: 0Mbps to 195312Mbps
[ 2.612856] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: E-Switch: Total vports 10, per vport: max uc(128) max mc(2048)
[ 2.618206] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: Flow counters bulk query buffer size increased, bulk_query_len(8)
[ 2.624838] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: Port module event: module 0, Cable unplugged
[ 2.625741] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: mlx5_pcie_event:326:(pid 11): Detected insufficient power on the PCIe slot (27W).
[ 2.638862] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: mlx5e: IPSec ESP acceleration enabled
[ 2.814846] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: MLX5E: StrdRq(1) RqSz(8) StrdSz(2048) RxCqeCmprss(0 enhanced)
[ 2.822625] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: enabling device (0000 → 0002)
[ 2.822787] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: firmware version: 28.45.4028
[ 2.822809] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: 126.028 Gb/s available PCIe bandwidth (32.0 GT/s PCIe x4 link)
[ 3.194074] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: Rate limit: 127 rates are supported, range: 0Mbps to 195312Mbps
[ 3.194634] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: E-Switch: Total vports 10, per vport: max uc(128) max mc(2048)
[ 3.204484] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: Flow counters bulk query buffer size increased, bulk_query_len(8)
[ 3.212097] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: Port module event: module 1, Cable unplugged
[ 3.213168] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: mlx5_pcie_event:326:(pid 369): Detected insufficient power on the PCIe slot (27W).
[ 3.223788] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: mlx5e: IPSec ESP acceleration enabled
[ 3.365281] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: MLX5E: StrdRq(1) RqSz(8) StrdSz(2048) RxCqeCmprss(0 enhanced)
[ 3.372141] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: enabling device (0000 → 0002)
[ 3.372296] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: firmware version: 28.45.4028
[ 3.372319] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: 126.028 Gb/s available PCIe bandwidth (32.0 GT/s PCIe x4 link)
[ 3.734243] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: Rate limit: 127 rates are supported, range: 0Mbps to 195312Mbps
[ 3.734788] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: E-Switch: Total vports 10, per vport: max uc(128) max mc(2048)
[ 3.739392] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: Flow counters bulk query buffer size increased, bulk_query_len(8)
[ 3.754158] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: Port module event: module 0, Cable unplugged
[ 3.754861] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: mlx5_pcie_event:326:(pid 369): Detected insufficient power on the PCIe slot (27W).
[ 3.758546] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: mlx5e: IPSec ESP acceleration enabled
[ 3.887558] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: MLX5E: StrdRq(1) RqSz(8) StrdSz(2048) RxCqeCmprss(0 enhanced)
[ 3.895416] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: enabling device (0000 → 0002)
[ 3.895568] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: firmware version: 28.45.4028
[ 3.895595] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: 126.028 Gb/s available PCIe bandwidth (32.0 GT/s PCIe x4 link)
[ 4.264956] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: Rate limit: 127 rates are supported, range: 0Mbps to 195312Mbps
[ 4.266448] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: E-Switch: Total vports 10, per vport: max uc(128) max mc(2048)
[ 4.272668] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: Flow counters bulk query buffer size increased, bulk_query_len(8)
[ 4.280907] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: Port module event: module 1, Cable unplugged
[ 4.281472] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: mlx5_pcie_event:326:(pid 390): Detected insufficient power on the PCIe slot (27W).
[ 4.296750] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: mlx5e: IPSec ESP acceleration enabled
[ 4.461172] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: MLX5E: StrdRq(1) RqSz(8) StrdSz(2048) RxCqeCmprss(0 enhanced)
[ 4.467125] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1 enP2p1s0f1np1: renamed from eth3
[ 4.467712] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0 enp1s0f0np0: renamed from eth0
[ 4.468259] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1 enp1s0f1np1: renamed from eth1
[ 4.468834] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0 enP2p1s0f0np0: renamed from eth2
[ 6.816664] MST:: : mst_init 1715: Mellanox Technologies Software Tools Driver - version 2.0.0
[ 7.344844] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: E-Switch: Unload vfs: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 7.351515] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: E-Switch: Disable: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 8.817303] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0 enP2p1s0f0np0: Link down
[ 9.138583] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1 enP2p1s0f1np1: Link down
[ 10.708604] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: E-Switch: Disable: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 10.945772] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.0: E-Switch: cleanup
[ 11.277203] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: E-Switch: Unload vfs: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 11.289505] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: E-Switch: Disable: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 11.633149] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1 enp1s0f1np1: Link down
[ 13.964592] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: E-Switch: Disable: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 14.616989] mlx5_core 0000:01:00.1: E-Switch: cleanup
[ 14.943180] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: E-Switch: Unload vfs: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 14.965502] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: E-Switch: Disable: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 19.536583] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: E-Switch: Disable: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 20.182841] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.0: E-Switch: cleanup
[ 20.498895] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: E-Switch: Unload vfs: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 20.517502] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: E-Switch: Disable: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 24.217592] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: E-Switch: Disable: mode(LEGACY), nvfs(0), necvfs(0), active vports(0)
[ 24.852664] mlx5_core 0002:01:00.1: E-Switch: cleanup