Install R81.20 and Adding Quad Card before

[Maysam]

Hello,

I am trying to perform a clean installation of R80.30 on a Dell PowerEdge R730, restore the backup, and then upgrade the system to R81.20.

I installed an additional quad-port NIC, and it works perfectly with R80.30. All interfaces are detected and function correctly.

However, after upgrading to R81.20, the server fails to boot and displays the following error: Fatal error on Bus 9, Device 0, Function 1: Power Cycle System

If I remove the quad-port NIC, R81.20 boots successfully, but only the four onboard interfaces are available.

To rule out a migration issue, I also performed a clean installation of R81.20 with the quad-port NIC installed but I encountered the same error. This suggests the issue is not related to restoring the backup.

I have already updated the BIOS and iDRAC to the latest available version BIOS 2.19 but the problem persists.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue or found a solution?

Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Best regards,

[Maysam]

In addition, during the installation R81.20, I can see 8 ports0-7 and tried to configure an interface from new quad card but it didn't work.

[jorgeluiznim]

Hi @Maysam,

That message is a Dell PCIe bus fatal error (PCI13xx family in the iDRAC Lifecycle Log), not a Check Point-specific failure.

The reason it works on R80.30 and crashes on R81.20 is almost certainly the Gaia kernel change. R80.30 ships with kernel 2.6.18 by default (there is a separate 3.10-kernel build for specific hardware), while R81.20 is based on RHEL 7.9 with kernel 3.10.0-1160. That jump brought updated NIC drivers (igb/ ixgbe/ i40e / mlx_core) and different PCIe AER, MSI-X and ASPM behaviour, which can expose a bus fault the older driver never triggered.

First question: which quad-port NIC is it exactly (Intel I350-T4, X520, X710, Broadcom 5719, 57414, QLogic)? The chipset determines the driver and whether it is certified. Please cross-check it against the Open Servers tab of the Hardware Compatibility List and sk168335 (Known Limitations for Open Servers and Virtual Machines). If the card is not listed for R81.20, that is likely your answer.

Steps I would take:

1. Update the NIC firmware itself

BIOS 2.19 and iDRAC are not enough; the NIC has its own firmware payload. Flash it via Lifecycle Controller or the Dell bootable repository ISO for the R730.

2. Identify the device behind Bus 9

Export the iDRAC Lifecycle Log to confirm which physical slot maps to bus 9, and if you can reach Expert mode, run:

lspci -nn | grep -i ethernet
dmesg | grep -i -e aer -e mps -e "bus 09"

The vendor device ID from lspci -nn is what really matters here.

3. BIOS power settings

F2 → System BIOS → System Profile Settings → System Profile = Performance. This disables C-States, C1E and aggressive PCIe power management.

4. Disable the Slot Option ROM

System BIOS → Integrated Devices (or Slot Disablement) → set Option ROM = Disabled for the slot holding the quad card, assuming you are not booting via PXE/iSCSI from it.

5. Move the card to a different slot/riser

A different riser means a different root port and different lane negotiation. On the R730, the riser 2/3 slots require CPU2 to be populated.

6. Kernel boot parameters

Edit the kernel line in GRUB and test:

pci=pcie_bus_safe
pcie_aspm=off pci=noaer

pci=pcie_bus_safe is worth trying first a Max Payload Size mismatch across the PCIe fabric is a well-known cause of exactly this "Bus Fatal Error / power cycle system" symptom on PowerEdge hardware. If any of these let it boot, you have confirmed it is a driver / PCIe negotiation issue rather than faulty hardware.

You mentioned seeing ports 0-7 during the R81.20 install but not being able to configure the new ones that fits a driver that loads and then faults.

If the card is on the HCL and none of the above helps, I would open a TAC case with the iDRAC Lifecycle Log export, the lspci -nn output and a cpinfo.

Hope this helps!

[Maysam]

Hi @jorgeluiznim ,

Thank you so much for your help.

First question: which quad-port NIC is it exactly? Answer: it is HP NC364T Model Number: HSTNS-BN26. attached.

Thank you.

Best Regards

Maysam

[Maysam]

Number 4: If I disable the Slot Option ROM, I don't see the new quad-port card. The system boots correctly on R81.20, but only four ports are available.

I also can't find the correct NIC driver for the card. When I try to update the firmware, I receive the following error, even after trying multiple drivers: Unable to complete the firmware update operation because the specified firmware image is for a component that is not in the target system inventory.

Please also see the attached output.