Issue: Starting from production BIOS SE5C620.86B.00.01.0014.070920180847, when VROC Wolfpass x16 4-port retimer is connected to Riser 1, PCIe slot 1 (CPU0), the NVMe drives don’t show up in BIOS (UEFI Option ROM Control), Windows or Linux OS.
Reproducibility: 100%
Board: Silver WolfPass system S2600WFT
BIOS settings: Default settings
Processors: verified on both Xeon Gold and Xeon Platinum Purley Skylake processors
Steps to reproduce:
1. Connect VROC Wolfpass x16 4-port retimer to Riser 1, PCIe slot 1 (CPU0).
2. Connect Oculink to Oculink cables from retimer to Oculink connections on backplane.
3. Insert any Intel NVMe SSDs with U.2 form factor to drive slots where Oculink cables are connected to.
4. Notice with BIOS SE5C620.86B.00.01.0013.030920180427, the drives show up in UEFI Option ROM Control in BIOS.
5. Download production BIOS SE5C620.86B.00.01.0014.070920180847 from https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/28001/?product=89015
6. Insert USB that contains above BMC/BIOS/ME/FD/FRU/SDR
7. Boot to BIOS and press F9 to load the defaults, then save and reboot
8. Boot to EFI Shell
9. Update BMC
10. Reboot and boot back into BIOS and notice NVMe drives still show up in UEFI Option ROM Control in BIOS.
11. Boot to EFI Shell
12. Update BIOS
13. Reboot and boot back into BIOS and notice NVMe drives no longer show up in UEFI Option ROM Control in BIOS.
Workarounds:
1. Downgrade to BIOS SE5C620.86B.00.01.0013.030920180427 and keep retimer connected to Riser 1, PCIe slot 1
or
2. Keep BIOS SE5C620.86B.00.01.0014.070920180847, but move retimer from Riser 1, PCIe slot 1 to Riser 2, PCIe slot 1 (CPU1)