Recently we upgraded a remote server to a new Dell PowerEdge T630 with dual CPUs (so all PCIe slots are active).  It had been running for several weeks fine before we added an IBM LTO5 tape drive that is connected via a new ATTO H644 SAS HBA.The system boots fine and is stable until the card is installed.  Once the card is installed, POST is fine and as the linux kernel is booting we get:megasas: INIT adapter done{1}[Hardware Error]: Hardware error from APEI Generic Hardware Error Source: 3{1}[Hardware Error]: APEI generic hardware error status{1}[Hardware Error]: severity: 1, fatal{1}[Hardware Error]: section: 0, severity: 1, fatal{1}[Hardware Error]: flags: 0x01{1}[Hardware Error]: primary{1}[Hardware Error]: section_type: PCIe error{1}[Hardware Error]: port_type: 4, root port{1}[Hardware Error]: version: 1.16{1}[Hardware Error]: command: 0x0547, status: 0x4010{1}[Hardware Error]: device_id: 0000:00:1c.4{1}[Hardware Error]: slot: 2{1}[Hardware Error]: secondary_bus: 0x0b{1}[Hardware Error]: vendor_id: 0x8086, device_id: 0x8d18{1}[Hardware Error]: class_code: 000406{1}[Hardware Error]: bridge: secondary_status: 0x2000, control: 0x0003{1}[Hardware Error]: aer_status: 0x00000000, aer_mask: 0x00000000{1}[Hardware Error]: aer_layer=Transaction Layer, aer_agent=Receiver ID{1}[Hardware Error]: are_uncor_severity: 0x00000000Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal hardware error!Rebooting in 30 seconds..We are running kernel 3.5.4 x86_64I have tried the card in multiple slots on the server with no different reaction.   I also have tried booting Clonezilla latest live CD with the same result.I am trying to diagnose where the problem is....  The vendor ID is for Intel and the device ID seems to be for the PCIe bridge (pcieport kernel module), which makes me think maybe something on the motherboard may not like the card.  But the BIOS post screens are fine and no errors are reported.  The onboard Dell baseboard management controller doesn't report any hardware errors either.The server is remote, so currently I just have the PCIe slot disabled in the BIOS.We have a ATTO H608 card which, according to ATTO support, is identical except in the number of internal and external SAS ports (644 = 6Gbps, 4 external SAS, 4 internal SAS ; 608 = 6Gbps, 0 external SAS, 8 internal SAS).  In one of our older Dell PowerEdge 2850s the H608 works just fine on the same 3.5.4 kernel.I don't have another T630 around to test with, but I hope to get a T620 back in the office and I can try the H608 card on it.I'm grasping at straws now... trying to figure out is it a card problem, a Dell problem, or a kernel problem... any input is appreciated.Thanks.  -Cheers, Peter.
APEI Generic Hardware Error : PCIe error with ATTO SAS HBA
linux kernel
We have a similar issue with RH6 kernel version 2.6.32-504. We've been rolling back to 2.6.32-431, and it seems to resolve the issue on the ATTO H680. That's probably an absurd solution for your 3.5.4 kernel, but I thought it may point you in the right direction.In my research, I found this article (on ATTO's web site), which says,ATTO 6Gb ESAS HBA & Linux kernel 2.6.33In Linux kernel 2.6.33 and higher,  there is now built-in support for the PMC 8001 chip  in a driver called pm8001.ko.  If present, this driver will load automatically for the ATTO 6GB HBA  and must beremoved (rmmod pm8001) before our driver can be loaded.As of May 2010,  the only Linux distribution currently using this kernel is Fedora Core 12.  If you would like to permanently remove the PMC driver,  you can try deleting the built-in driver, which is probably located at:   /lib/modules/2.6.33-default/kernel/drivers/scsi/pm8001/pm8001.koNOTE:  This location may not be valid for all Linux distributions  using this kernel version.Also, you may want to install their driver and config tool to update the firmware on the card (if applicable).