13G PowerEdge Servers boots with a Shadow Memory Error

The following BIOS POST message can be displayed :

Unable to load one of more option ROMs because of insufficient shadow memory.

In a system with multiple NIC interfaces and with all (or most) of the PCIe devices with Option ROMs enabled, the system may POST with the error message similar to this

 

This is not an hardware failure.

Typically only one or two devices should have the option rom enabled.

 

Solution

Reboot the server and enter the PCIe card configuration menu (CTRL+S during P.O.S.T.), in the menu, disable the devices' option ROMs that are not needed to be bootable. 

There is also an option to disable the Boot Driver Support for PCIe slots in the BIOS Integrated Devices menu.

Possibly the Memory Mapped I/O above 4GB must be disabled, too. (Enter BIOS via F2 -> Sytem BIOS -> Integrated Devices). This is recommended for ESXi OS.

If the BIOS is in UEFI mode this problem does not exist.