{"id":168,"date":"2025-08-20T00:09:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T04:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.varchitected.com\/?p=168"},"modified":"2025-08-25T12:02:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T16:02:50","slug":"how-to-update-%e2%86%92-intel-x710-10g-sfp-firmware-v9-54-on-the-minisforum-ms-a2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/?p=168","title":{"rendered":"\ud83c\udf10 How to Update \u2192 Intel X710 10G SFP+ Firmware (v9.54) on the Minisforum MS-A2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Minisforum MS-A2 ships with the Intel X710 10G SFP network card (retail version), but getting the most out of it requires a proper firmware update. In this guide, I\u2019ll walk you through the steps to update to firmware version 9.54 on ESXi 9.0. While there&#8217;s a few ways you can install the Firmware I wanted to purely do it from ESXi. Here&#8217;s what to expect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Latest Intel Firmware for 700 Series NICs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Install the Intel nvmupdaten64e VIB<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>PuTTy \/ WinSCP<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do it all on ESXi 9.0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Have time for 2 reboots<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"967\" height=\"92\" src=\"https:\/\/www.varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-20.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-20.png 967w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-20-300x29.png 300w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-20-768x73.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 967px) 100vw, 967px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Running the following command gives you information about your NIC, we&#8217;re looking for the VID\/DID\/SVID\/SSID values so we can verify grabbing the correct Firmware:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>esxcli hardware pci list<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"678\" height=\"855\" src=\"https:\/\/www.varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-21.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-21.png 678w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-21-238x300.png 238w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you dive into a firmware update, make sure you check the Broadcom Compatibility Guide. It\u2019s an easy step to skip, but downloading the wrong firmware can quickly turn into a very expensive mistake, sometimes even bricking your card. I always use it for cross referencing in these scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Intel tends to safeguard against that by building in protections by changing the SSID uniquely for OEMs, but things can still go sideways if you get creative in ways you shouldn\u2019t. For example, some folks try to tweak configuration files to force a device mapping that isn\u2019t supported, swapping an OEM firmware for a retail firmware when it should absolutely stay OEM. That\u2019s a recipe for trouble. (Boom Bricked NIC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The takeaway? Stick with the compatibility guide, follow the proper firmware path for your hardware, and save yourself from a potential headache (and a dead card).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s what we were able to gather:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vendor ID (VID) = 8086<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Device ID (DID) = 1572<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SubVendor ID (SVID) = 8086<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SubDevice ID (SSID) = 0000<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Head on over to the IO Devices section of the <a href=\"https:\/\/compatibilityguide.broadcom.com\/search?program=io&amp;persona=live&amp;column=brandName&amp;order=asc&amp;maxSsid=%5B0000%5D&amp;svid=%5B8086%5D&amp;did=%5B1572%5D&amp;vid=%5B8086%5D&amp;activePage=1&amp;activeDelta=20\">Broadcom Compatibility Guide<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"884\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-22.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-171\" srcset=\"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-22.png 884w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-22-300x244.png 300w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-22-768x626.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 884px) 100vw, 884px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The results show Intel Corporation in the Brand Name which indicates that this is an Intel Retail NIC. If it showed any other name it would belong to that respective OEM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"108\" src=\"https:\/\/www.varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-23-1024x108.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-172\" srcset=\"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-23-1024x108.png 1024w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-23-300x32.png 300w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-23-768x81.png 768w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-23-1536x163.png 1536w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-23-2048x217.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can now head over to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intel.com\/content\/www\/us\/en\/products\/details\/ethernet\/700-controllers\/x710-controllers\/resource.html?q=VMware&amp;s=Relevancy\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.intel.com\/content\/www\/us\/en\/products\/details\/ethernet\/700-controllers\/x710-controllers\/resource.html?q=VMware&amp;s=Relevancy\">Intel <\/a>Website to grab the Firmware Package (search by VMware or ID # 18638) and grab the Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Update Utility for Intel Ethernet Adapters 700 Series &#8211; VMware ESX (ID # <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intel.com\/content\/www\/us\/en\/download\/18638\/non-volatile-memory-nvm-update-utility-for-intel-ethernet-adapters-700-series-vmware-esx.html\">18638<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"108\" src=\"https:\/\/www.varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-24-1024x108.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-24-1024x108.png 1024w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-24-300x32.png 300w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-24-768x81.png 768w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-24-1536x162.png 1536w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-24.png 1562w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">You can change the version that you want in the drop down, I went with 9.54.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The tar ball contains a VIB that allows you to run <strong>nvmupdaten64e <\/strong>from inside of an ESXi host. Upload it to a repository (with WinSCP\/SCP\/Datastore Upload) on your host and run the following command to extract the tar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>tar -xzvf 700Series_NVMUpdatePackage_v9_54_ESX.tar.gz<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll find the following file among the archive &#8211; <strong>Intel-esx-nvmupdaten64e_1.43.8.0-800.20613240_24669197.zip<\/strong>. Run the following command to install the vib.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>esxcli software vib install -d Intel-esx-nvmupdaten64e_1.43.8.0-800.20613240_24669197.zip<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a <strong>VMwareAccepted <\/strong>VIB, which indicates that it is tested and verified by us to work as expected. More on Acceptance Levels for VIBs <a href=\"https:\/\/techdocs.broadcom.com\/us\/en\/vmware-cis\/vsphere\/vsphere\/9-0\/esx-installation-and-setup\/customizing-installations-with-esxi-image-builder-cli\/image-builder-overview\/working-with-acceptance-levels.html\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Put your host in maintenance mode and reboot the host, once you&#8217;re back up and running with the VIB installed you&#8217;ll need to find where <strong>nvmupdaten64e <\/strong>is located. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"101\" src=\"https:\/\/www.varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/intel-vib-1024x101.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/intel-vib-1024x101.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/intel-vib-300x30.jpg 300w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/intel-vib-768x76.jpg 768w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/intel-vib-1536x151.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/intel-vib.jpg 1806w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>nvmupdaten64e<\/strong> will be located here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>\/opt\/nvmupdaten64e\/bin\/<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>You won&#8217;t be able to add any files to this directory so you have to use the command line option (-a) to provide a working directory that has your Firmware Binaries and Config Files. You can issue the following command to get it going:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>.\/nvmupdaten64e -a \/the\/directory\/where\/you\/extracted\/your\/tar\/ESXi_x64<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll be able to indicate here if you want to update (A) All Firmware or select a number, in my case the Intel X710 was (01). So I went with(01) and installed the Firmware successfully. Once it completes you&#8217;ll have to reboot again. Roll the dice on whether you want to backup your NVM images or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4346-1024x352.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4346-1024x352.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4346-300x103.jpg 300w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4346-768x264.jpg 768w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4346-1536x528.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4346.jpg 1880w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll notice that my Intel Ethernet XXV710-DA2 25G NIC shows &#8220;Update not available&#8221; which means that it&#8217;s not supported by this Intel Retail Firmware. I found out that it&#8217;s actually a Dell OEM version of the Intel Ethernet XXV710 25G by using the <a href=\"https:\/\/compatibilityguide.broadcom.com\/search?program=io&amp;persona=live&amp;column=brandName&amp;order=asc\">BCG<\/a> to cross reference its DID\/VID\/SVID\/SSID, I&#8217;ll write up how I got through that Firmware update soon without an iDRAC or Lifecycle Manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"278\" src=\"https:\/\/www.varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4345-1024x278.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4345-1024x278.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4345-300x81.jpg 300w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4345-768x208.jpg 768w, https:\/\/varchitected.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4345.jpg 1276w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Edit: This process can be used for any retail Intel 700 Series NIC inside of an ESXi 8.0 or 9.0 host, here&#8217;s a list of adapters that are compatible:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Converged Network Adapter XL710-QDA1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Network Adapter XXV710-DA2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710-DA4<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710-T4<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710-DA2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Network Adapter XXV710-DA1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Network Adapter XXV710-DA1 for OCP<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Network Adapter XXV710-DA2 for OCP<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Controller X710-AT2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Network Adapter X710-DA2 for OCP 3.0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Network Adapter X710-T2L<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Network Adapter X710-T2L for OCP 3.0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Network Adapter X710-T4L<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Controller X710-TM4<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Server Adapter XL710-QDA1 for Open Compute Project<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Server Adapter XL710-QDA2 for Open Compute Project<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Converged Network Adapter XL710-QDA2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Controller XL710-BM1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Controller XL710-BM2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Controller X710-BM2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Network Adapter X710-DA4 for OCP 3.0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Network Adapter X710-T4L for OCP 3.0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Server Adapter X710-DA2 for OCP<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Controller XXV710-AM1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Controller XL710-AM2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Controller X710-AM2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Controller XXV710-AM2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u00ae Ethernet Controller XL710-AM1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Minisforum MS-A2 ships with the Intel X710 10G SFP network card (retail version), but getting the most out of it requires a proper firmware update. In this guide, I\u2019ll walk you through the steps to update to firmware version 9.54 on ESXi 9.0. While there&#8217;s a few ways you can install the Firmware I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,12,7,14,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-esxi","category-firmware","category-homelab","category-minisforum","category-ms-a2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=168"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions\/192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varchitected.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}