unRAID does not detect the NVMe drive installed in a new Glotrends PA20 card.

unRAID does detect the card, but not the drive.

The BIOS sees the card but not the drive.

I am starting troubleshooting. (i.e., switching drives, slots, PCIe slots, BIOS settings, contacting MB manufacturer, card manufacturer)

My system

Supermicro C7H170-M

Card: Glotrends PA20 that utilizes ASM2812 chipset.

Unraid 7.3.2

Diagnostics attached

tower-diagnostics-20260923-1417.zip

Edited Thursday at 04:54 PM4 days by OriginalFlavor
Solved

The diagnostics show that Unraid detects the NVMe controller behind the PA20, but it fails during initialization. This warning appears first:

pci 0000:06:00.0: can't set Max Payload Size to 256; if necessary, use "pci=pcie_bus_safe" and report a bug

Fatal PCIe errors follow, then the NVMe driver times out.

Before changing hardware, try one boot with pci=pcie_bus_safe:

1. Add pci=pcie_bus_safe to the existing append line for your normal boot entry. Keep the other parameters unchanged.

2. Reboot, then attach fresh diagnostics and report whether the SSD appears.

If it does not help, remove the parameter before further tests.

Please also provide the SSD’s exact make/model and which motherboard slot holds the PA20. The next useful comparison is that same SSD connected directly through a motherboard M.2 slot or a simple single-drive adapter. Shut down and disconnect power before moving hardware. No formatting or pool changes are needed for these detection tests.

8 hours ago, JorgeB said:

The diagnostics show that Unraid detects the NVMe controller behind the PA20, but it fails during initialization. This warning appears first:

pci 0000:06:00.0: can't set Max Payload Size to 256; if necessary, use "pci=pcie_bus_safe" and report a bug

Fatal PCIe errors follow, then the NVMe driver times out.

Before changing hardware, try one boot with pci=pcie_bus_safe:

1. Add pci=pcie_bus_safe to the existing append line for your normal boot entry. Keep the other parameters unchanged.

2. Reboot, then attach fresh diagnostics and report whether the SSD appears.

If it does not help, remove the parameter before further tests.

the

Please also provide the SSD’s exact make/model and which motherboard slot holds the PA20. The next useful comparison is that same SSD connected directly through a motherboard M.2 slot or a simple single-drive adapter. Shut down and disconnect power before moving hardware. No formatting or pool changes are needed for these detection tests.

Experiment 1

try one boot with pci=pcie_bus_safe

Fresh diagnostics are attached.

Did not detect drive.

Removed parameter.

Rebooted

Answers to questions

• NVMe info. I have two identical NVMe drives. I do not know the exact make and model. I do know that the NVMe drives use Silicon Motion SM2263XT controllers. I have been using one of the discs ("NVMe_old") as my Cache drive by using the M.2 slot on the motherboard. The other disc is identical make/model/size ("NVME_new").

• smps63x86-ab

• The motherboard x4 slot (PCH SLOT2 PCI-E 3.0 X4) holds the PA20 card.

• The PA20 has two slots labeled "1" and "2"

Experiment 2

1. Powered down

2. Removed PA20 card

3. Removed NVMe_old from M.2 slot

4. Inserted NVMe_new in M.2 slot

5. Rebooted

6. unRAID Found unformated NVME_New

7. Attached diagnostics file.

8. Conclusion. NVME_new is okay.

Experiment 3

1. Tried different board. StarTech PEX2M2

2. NVME_old in card slot 1

3. NVME_new in card slot 2

4. motherboard m.2 empty

5. Did not detect drives.

6. attached diagnostics file

Experiment 4

1. Motherboard M.2 slot empty

2. NVME_new in PA20 slot 1

3. NVME_old in PA20 slot 2.

4. It worked. Both drives detected! 🫨 (I am shocked. Would have bet the house that this was going to be a failure.)

5. Any idea why this worked?

tower-diagnostics-20260923-2149.zip tower-diagnostics-20260923-2250_Experiment2.zip tower-diagnostics-20260923-2323_experiment3.zip tower-diagnostics-20260924-0002_Experiment4.zip

2 hours ago, OriginalFlavor said:

Any idea why this worked?

Not really, but I would just take it.