How to resolve not detecting issue of AOC cards in Supermicro servers

KB 720088 - How to resolve not detecting issue of AOC cards in Supermicro servers

Info
AIOM cards in Supermicro systems usually fail to detect because of power state, seating or mechanical fit, slot–CPU mapping, BIOS options, or card support/firmware.

Add on cards used in Supermicro servers AS-4125GS-TNRT/TNRT1/TNRT2

  1. AOC-A25G-B2SM-O

  2. AOC-S25G-I2S-O



Methods of Resolving AOC card Detection Issue

  1. Hardware and Installation Checks

    1. Completely power off the system, remove AC power, and wait for 30–60 seconds before inserting or reseating the AIOM.
    2. Remove the AIOM, inspect the gold fingers and connector for damage or debris.
    3. Reinstall making sure the module slides are properly fixed into the AIOM connector before locking the blue latch/knob or bracket.

  1. Bios and Firmware Setting:

    1. Update the system BIOS and BMC/IPMI firmware to the latest versions from Supermicro.
    2. Check in BIOS, under Advanced → Chipset/PCIe settings, verify the AIOM slot’s PCIe port is enabled.
      1. Do not use BIOS and BMC to detect NIC presence before boot. 
    3. To avoid booting Production OS after AOC installation use F11 Boot Menu to boot EFI shell, BMC should then display NIC status.
    4. Type “exit” at EFI shell to return to BIOS setup, NIC should be present at this point because EFI was initialized. 
    5. Wait for BMC to refresh after boot, Once Sensors come online, the card should be detected

  1. OS-level Detection and Card Health:

    1.  After boot, check in the OS whether anything is detected behind that PCIe root port.
    2. Commands to be used for Checking in Linux & Windows.
      1. Linux: "lspci"
      2. Windows: Device Manager.
    3. This can distinguish slot dead or NIC card present, but showing missing the drivers.
    4. Test the AIOM card in another known‑good Supermicro system that supports  AIOM card.
    5. If it still does not enumerate there, we can suspect a faulty AIOM card.
    6. For NIC AIOMs, make sure the OS driver and card firmware are current version from Supermicro or the NIC vendor, the card can still show in PCIe slots even without a driver, but outdated firmware can cause link or initialization issues.