UnRaid OS is blocking my Mellanox ConnectX-3 connection

[slipstream]

Hi All,

I am struggling to get my peer to peer Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT ConnectX-3 connection to work as it is covered in SpaceInvader's YouTube video in the link below:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMMopEiwiEo

 

I have two identical cards. One in setup on my Windows RAID6 PC and the other is on my new UnRAID PC. My goal is to migrate the data from my Windows PC to my UnRAID PC.  The Windows PC has the latest MLNX_VPI_WinOF-5_50_53000 driver installed.  And I used TCP-IP in my Windows network setup window to configure the card. The IP I am using on both PCs is 169.254.71.166 because Mellanox says it is an autoconfigured IP.  And the cable connecting both PCs is made by CISCO.

 

Below is the report I got from my Windows PC after I ran a Troubleshooting wizard.  It seems my Windows PC detects the Mellanox card but in cannot communicate. Also below is a screenshot of my UnRaid Network setup for my Mellanox card.

 

Can some kind person in the community please help me configure my UnRAID PC so it works correctly with the Mellanox card?  What parameters do I need to change in my UnRAID system so it communicates with my Windows PC?   Any advice will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

 

 

 

[Vr2Io]

21 minutes ago, slipstream said:

The IP I am using on both PCs is 169.254.71.166

IP must unique in a subnet, can't be same, change in Unraid to other IP.

[tjb_altf4]

I probably wouldn't pick an address range typically used by APIPA either

[slipstream]

Vr2lo and tjb_altf4,

Thank you for your help. I went back and took a closer look at the YouTube video I linked above. At time marker 10:33 minutes he uses a 192.168.11.199 IP for the Unraid PC. And at time marker 16:55 minutes he uses a 192.168.11.197 IP for the Windows PC.  But the confusing part is how SpaceInvader says he is using the same IP he used in the UnRaid PC when he is typing in the IP for the Windows PC.  In short, thanks for letting me know both IPs need to be different because I was thinking something else. Also, I don't know what an APIPA address is but I plan to use the same IPs SpaceInvader uses shown below:

 

UnRaid PC IP = 192.168.11.199

Windows PC IP = 192.168.11.197

 

Will such an approach create a potential problem?  Again, thanks for your help.

 

 

 

[Vr2Io]

6 hours ago, slipstream said:

UnRaid PC IP = 192.168.11.199

Windows PC IP = 192.168.11.197

 

Will such an approach create a potential problem?

No problem in general.

 

APIPA means Automatic Private IP Addressing, thats correct usually won't use those IP range when setting IP.

https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/apipa

 

6 hours ago, slipstream said:

But the confusing part is how SpaceInvader says he is using the same IP he used in the UnRaid PC when he is typing in the IP for the Windows PC.

May be means same IP range (subnet).... @SpaceInvaderOne

Edited January 27, 2021 by Vr2Io

[slipstream]

Thank you to everybody in the community for your help. Here is an update. I used the same SpaceInvaderOne IP numbers he uses in his video and I was still getting the same Windows Network Diagnostics report I posted above. The only difference being this new report was showing the new SpaceInvaderOne IP numbers I changed to.  That was disappointing because I thought having unique Mellanox IPs for each machine was going to fix the problem, but it did not. 

 

Fortunately, I stumbled across a couple Youtube videos that filled the missing information from SpaceInvaderOne's video.  They suggested I change the last six digits for both IPs to ".200.1  and .200.2" as opposed to ".11.199  and .11.197". They also suggested  I open my Windows10 HOST file and add to this file the Mellanox IP I'm using on my UnRaid PC and the Mellanox IP I'm using on my Windows10 PC. For good measure, I also added the IP number for my UnRaid TOWER inside this HOST file. I figured it will probably help if I take this extra step. 

 

One other change I made that was my own idea was to change my share drive from PRIVATE to PUBLIC on my UnRaid NAS.  After rebooting both machines  I was able to successfully map a network drive on my Windows10 PC pointing to the MOVIES share on my UnRaid NAS. That made me one happy camper because this problem has consumed more hours I care to remember.

 

In closing, I have no idea what change I made actually fixed the problem because I did several things.  However, I am curious about one thing.  I prefer to keep my share as PRIVATE. If I change my MOVIE share from PUBLIC back to PRIVATE is this going to mess up my Mellanox peer to peer connection?  Any opinions welcome.  Thank you again.

 

 

Link to new YouTube videos which helped me fix my Mellanox connection problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f5cuzcNrLo

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHiucyRYX_w

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by slipstream

[Vr2Io]

Problem not relate IP is ".200.1  and .200.2" nor ".11.199  and .11.197". You just need use "ping" to check does both end can communicate each other.

 

The issue is you use host name to access SMB share "\\hostmane", so this add extra factor on top. People always mess up by Windows "odd" behavior i.e. credentials / workgroup ... etc, I never use hostname for access share, just direct use "\\ip.adress" to make things simple. Pls ignore Windows network diagnostic, it almost useless.

 

Pls spend more time on learning Networking / SMB stuff, this is my best advice.

Edited January 28, 2021 by Vr2Io