X520 NIC only works in third PCIE slot?

[Pstark]

@JorgeB

 

This is a new thread relating to this https://rb.gy/07pff thread. I thought this should be started in a new thread. 

 

I had a pfSense VM running without issue and decided to use some hardware I had laying around to make a dedicated pfSense box. After finally getting the VM to work (explained in linked thread) and pulling the config file, I took out the two port NIC (X520-DA2) and put it into the new setup but it wasn't recognized as an available interface during the pfSense setup. I never got it to work so I decided to take the two port NIC and put back into my Unraid server and take the 1 port (X520-DA1) and put it into the pfSense box and it worked with no problems. So I'm using my onboard (Intel) port for WAN since I only have 1 gig service to my house and the 10G NIC for LAN. 

 

When I put the two port NIC back into my Unraid server, that's when I realized that it only works in certain slots (H12SSL-I) but not others. I started from the bottom slot and if it wasn't recognized, I just rebooted the server with it in the higher slot until it was recognized. It ended up being recognized in the 3rd slot from bottom and I just left it there before I lost more hair trying to make sense of it. 

 

This is baffling to me. What are your thoughts on this?

[MAM59]

take a look at your mobo's docu.

This card only will work in a REAL 8x slot (it does not matter if it "fits", look into the slot if there are contacts too).

 

Usually the 1st slot (counted from inside) is 16x, then usually there may come an 8x or 4x only.

 

8x slots are rare in consumer environments, only server boards usually have them.

 

(the card will work in a 16x slot too, but that is usually needed for the graphics card)

 

 

[JorgeB]

Check the configuration of that slot, pci gen, bifurcation, etc, and compare with the others, if they are the same and it still doesn't work it could be some hardware compatibility issue.