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Date:      Mon, 15 Jan 2018 12:44:33 +0300
From:      Mehmet Erol Sanliturk <m.e.sanliturk@gmail.com>
To:        Grzegorz Junka <list1@gjunka.com>
Cc:        Warner Losh <imp@bsdimp.com>,  FreeBSD Questions Mailing List <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>, freebsd-drivers@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Server doesn't boot when 3 PCIe slots are populated
Message-ID:  <CAOgwaMvusKzt%2BYvmKeuyox0c=wgqEv9UP475Eacm2B0OkF7OrQ@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <0e582bdb-e1f9-438c-3da2-2bcdc950aab5@gjunka.com>
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>

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On Mon, Jan 15, 2018 at 9:44 AM, Grzegorz Junka <list1@gjunka.com> wrote:

>
> On 15/01/2018 06:18, Warner Losh wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Jan 14, 2018 11:05 PM, "Grzegorz Junka" <list1@gjunka.com <mailto:
>> list1@gjunka.com>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>     On 14/01/2018 16:18, Mehmet Erol Sanliturk wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>         On Sun, Jan 14, 2018 at 5:46 PM, Grzegorz Junka
>>         <list1@gjunka.com <mailto:list1@gjunka.com>
>>         <mailto:list1@gjunka.com <mailto:list1@gjunka.com>>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>             On 13/01/2018 17:56, Mehmet Erol Sanliturk wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>                 On Sat, Jan 13, 2018 at 7:21 PM, Grzegorz Junka
>>                 <list1@gjunka.com <mailto:list1@gjunka.com>
>>         <mailto:list1@gjunka.com <mailto:list1@gjunka.com>>
>>                 <mailto:list1@gjunka.com <mailto:list1@gjunka.com>
>>         <mailto:list1@gjunka.com <mailto:list1@gjunka.com>>>> wrote:
>>
>>                     Hello,
>>
>>                     I am installing a FreeBSD server based on
>>         Supermicro H8SML-iF.
>>                     There are three PCIe slots to which I installed 2 NVMe
>>                 drives and
>>                     one network card Intel I350-T4 (with 4 Ethernet
>>         slots).
>>
>>                     I am observing a strange behavior where the system
>>         doesn't
>>                 boot if
>>                     all three PCIe slots are populated. It shows this
>>         message:
>>
>>                     nvme0: <Generic NVMe Device> mem
>>         0xfd8fc000-0xfd8fffff irq
>>                 24 at
>>                     device 0.0 on pci1
>>                     nvme0: controller ready did not become 1 within
>>         30000 ms
>>                     nvme0: did not complete shutdown within 5 seconds of
>>                 notification
>>
>>                     The I see a kernel panic/dump and the system
>>         reboots after
>>                 15 seconds.
>>
>>                     If I remove one card, either one of the NVMe
>>         drives or the
>>                 network
>>                     card, the system boots fine. Also, if in BIOS I
>>         set PnP OS
>>                 to YES
>>                     then sometimes it boots (but not always). If I set
>>         PnP OS
>>                 to NO,
>>                     and all three cards are installed, the system
>>         never boots.
>>
>>                     When the system boots OK I can see that the
>>         network card is
>>                     reported as 4 separate devices on one of the PCIe
>>         slots. I
>>                 tried
>>                     different NVMe drives as well as changing which
>>         device is
>>                     installed to which slot but the result seems to be the
>>                 same in any
>>                     case.
>>
>>                     What may be the issue? Amount of power drawn by the
>>                 hardware? Too
>>                     many devices not supported by the motherboard? Too
>>         many
>>                 interrupts
>>                     for the FreeBSD kernel to handle?
>>
>>                     Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>>                     GregJ
>>
>>                     _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>                 From my experience from other trade marked main boards
>>         , an
>>                 action may be to check manual of your server board to see
>>                 whether there are rules about use of these slots :
>>         Sometimes
>>                 differently shaped slots are supplied with same ports
>>         : If one
>>                 slot is occupied , the other slot should be left open , or
>>                 rules about not to insert such a kind of device into a
>>         slot ,
>>                 for example , graphic cards .
>>
>>
>>                 Mehmet Erol Sanliturk
>>
>>
>>             I checked the manual but couldn't find any restrictions
>>         regarding
>>             PCIe ports. It only says how many lanes are available in each
>>             slot. Would there be any obvious BIOS setting that could cause
>>             this issue? I tried after resetting BIOS to default
>>         settings but
>>             maybe something is set incorrectly by default?
>>
>>             GregJ
>>             _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>         http://www.supermicro.com/Aplus/motherboard/Opteron3000/SR56
>> x0/H8SML-iF.cfm
>>         <http://www.supermicro.com/Aplus/motherboard/Opteron3000/SR5
>> 6x0/H8SML-iF.cfm>
>>         H8SML-iF
>>
>>
>>         On the above page , click "OS Compatibility"
>>
>>
>>         On the following page , click "SR5650"
>>
>>         http://www.supermicro.com/Aplus/support/resources/OS/OS_Comp
>> _SR5650.cfm
>>         <http://www.supermicro.com/Aplus/support/resources/OS/OS_Com
>> p_SR5650.cfm>
>>         OS Compatibility Chart
>>
>>
>>         On the column ( third )
>>
>>         H8SML-7F
>>         H8SML-7
>>         H8SML-iF
>>         H8SML-i
>>
>>
>>         there listed only *
>>         *
>>         **
>>         *
>>         *
>>         *
>>         *
>>
>>         FreeBSD 8.0
>>         FreeBSD 9.1
>>
>>         From this list , it may be said that , this mother board date
>>         is old , means , it seems that the new OS versions are not
>>         tested after currently tested OS versions .
>>
>>
>>         To check interaction between operating system and your
>>         Supermicro H8SML-iF , select one of the suitable operating
>>         system ( Unix class OSes are more suitable ) for you and
>>         tested on this card , and try to install it as you like your
>>         installed components . If it boots successfully , it means
>>         that there is an incompatibility between your FreeBSD and the
>>         main board . If no one of them boots , then you may conclude
>>         that , there is a problem in your settings .
>>
>>
>>         BIOS settings are important , because , OS communicates with
>>         the main board through these settings .
>>
>>
>>         In manual ( downloaded from the above page :
>>         Manual Revision 1.0c
>>         Release Date: March 12, 2014 ) , page 4-9  , "PCI/PnP
>>         Configuration" is defined .
>>         If PnP is selected YES. OS adjusts some device settings  . If
>>         NO is selected , BIOS adjusts some device settings . When BIOS
>>         adjusted device settings are not conforming to OS parameters ,
>>         the result will be "FAIL" .
>>
>>         Therefore , more suitable selection is YES .
>>
>>
>>         Another point is that , there are many more BIOS selectable
>>         parameters and jumpers about PCI slots and others  .
>>         There are some BIOS settings for PCI slots :
>>
>>         PCI X4 Slot 6 ( page 4-9 )
>>         PCI x8 Slot 7 ( page 4-10 )
>>
>>
>>
>>         Please review these BIOS settings in your manual and set them
>>         with respect to your requirements .
>>
>>
>>     Thanks Mehmet for looking into this. It's an old motherboard but
>>     my point is that it boots fine when either: one NVMe and the
>>     network card, or both NVMe are installed, but not when all three
>>     are installed. How would that be related to FreeBSD compatibility?
>>     The chipset and all devices that I am trying to install are
>>     supported by FreeBSD 11.x.
>>
>>     I just tried booting into a Debian live system and it also didn't
>>     enumerate NVMe drives properly. This means that it's not FreeBSD
>>     related and is no longer relevant for this list. I will try to
>>     play with BIOS settings to see if I can make it work that way.
>>     Thanks for all the help.
>>
>>
>>
>> Nvme drives are weird about power. I distrust the power estimate of 5-9w
>> earlier in the thread... given the oddity with debian, it's not too crazy
>> to think that. How far does FreeBSD boot though?
>>
>>
> I tried with a different power supply but the outcome was exactly the
> same. Sometimes FreeBSD boots fine but one of the NVMe drives is not
> visible (i.e. dmesg grep shows only one NVMe). When it doesn't work it
> boots up to the point of enumerating drives (SATA, USB, NVMe). Then it
> stops at the first NVMe and reboots.
>
> The funny thing is that very often it's enough to pull out one of the
> cards and put it back in. Then the system boots fine with all three cards.
> I had that a few times. Once it's booted it works, I can restart the system
> and it boots every time. As soon as I power off, unplug from the power
> main, wait a few minutes and power it on again, the issue comes back -
> can't boot as NVMe can't be enumerated.
>
> I though it might be caused by the hardware being too cold. I left the
> server once overnight but it didn't boot up, it was trying and restarting
> the whole night.
>
> GregJ
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>



The above explanation brings mind to the "impedance mismatch  in
electronics" problem .

( Please search


impedance mismatch  in electronics
impedance matching  in electronics


in Internet if you want explanations about them . )


When all of these cards are inserted into slots simultaneously , their
accumulated electronic effect may distort behaviour of your mother board
circuits or attached card circuit(s) .


Therefore , if you can find another NVMe and/or network card , please test
their effect .
Such tests may be inconclusive because mother board circuits may be
affected negatively from "properly" operating add on cards when they are
inserted together .


If it is feasible for you , you may use USB attached network card(s) to
eliminate network card attachment .
Or you may use a more capable one NVMe card instead of two smaller NVMe
cards , or you may use only one of them , or/and select an SATA SSD .
Such a choice would save your investment and produces a working server with
a "little" loss when compared to "all" .




Mehmet Erol Sanliturk



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