Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2018 08:28:20 +0000 From: Grzegorz Junka <list1@gjunka.com> Cc: FreeBSD Questions Mailing List <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Server doesn't boot when 3 PCIe slots are populated Message-ID: <be5bc6c9-1d6c-89d0-fa6d-699baf1d8216@gjunka.com> In-Reply-To: <20180116062709.a6c75fa4.freebsd@edvax.de> References: <ecce3fa6-3909-0947-685c-8a412684e99c@gjunka.com> <CAOgwaMsf9zByJYhL3KqpUMW5qKAzQEHpDWcwejY-uK=9swWbUQ@mail.gmail.com> <3d0ad00c-5214-71b0-017b-c2d5ba608e37@gjunka.com> <CAOgwaMsOKrGfGNmRt-C9Skjssj8JPAtFpk8bwG9v55LmaWdoVw@mail.gmail.com> <8df1e967-01e0-d3c2-e14c-64c7fc8c66b0@gjunka.com> <CANCZdfqZ-dogHXBdoyMPLOPs_R-vD%2BwLM-r6sm6ypesd0Nvp4A@mail.gmail.com> <0e582bdb-e1f9-438c-3da2-2bcdc950aab5@gjunka.com> <CAOgwaMvusKzt%2BYvmKeuyox0c=wgqEv9UP475Eacm2B0OkF7OrQ@mail.gmail.com> <57715.108.68.169.115.1516033864.squirrel@cosmo.uchicago.edu> <CAOgwaMuah3D46qu9efp_nNA7EDoFRyO-7KS9%2BxwJ5xkGBHxi%2Bg@mail.gmail.com> <8fee9df3-c40b-addb-b3c9-bedd90683d62@gjunka.com> <20180116062709.a6c75fa4.freebsd@edvax.de>
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On 16/01/2018 05:27, Polytropon wrote: > On Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:30:18 +0000, Grzegorz Junka wrote: >> I tried a different pair of NVMe cards (different adapters with >> different SSD disks) and the result was exactly the same. Note, that the >> pair that I tried was previously working in this motherboard without >> problems for many months, so it's safe to assume that the addition of >> the network card is causing this problem. But then again, the network >> card with one of the NVMe drives works fine too. >> >> Could be that all three cause some sort of impedance mismatch but that's >> kind of hard to believe - these are simple cards, there is almost no >> circuits on the NVMe adapter and the network card is just a chipset with >> 4 slots. > No idea if it still applies, but: > > I don't know if this idea has come uo yet, but many _many_ years > ago, I was in a comparable situation. This was of course "traditional > PCI times" where a common system board had 4 - 6 PCI slots. In that > particular system, 2 NICs, an ATA "controller", a TV card, and a > sound card (5 PCI cards total + 1 AGP graphics card) were installed. > The problem was that the system wouldn't start booting after BIOS POST. > The solution was to re-arrange cards, followed by a PCI configuration > reset in the CMOS setup, followed by another boot attempt. In one > specific card configuration, the system worked as expected, and > FreeBSD (at that time, probably v4 or v5) would detect all the cards > without any problems and attach the appropriate drivers. Removing > one of the cards, or exchanging card positions (for "more convenient > cabling") would render the system non-booting again. Back to the one > configuration that worked - system booted. Let me emphasize that it > was required to reset the PCI configuration in the CMOS setup every > time such a card change was made, as returning to the "verified > locations" without doing so would _not_ let the system boot properly. > > I'm not sure if it's still that "easy" with modern hardware, though. > But maybe you can try... :-) I did try different cards in different slots kind of thing but I didn't think about resetting CMOS after changing each configuration. Thanks for the suggestion, will try that. GregJ
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