Repeatedly Crashing ("Kernel Panic...Lock held too long") - HP T730 & HP NC364T

[gdack]

I have searched the forum for this problem but couldn't find a match for my hardware and the output of the logs.

The machine is an HP T730 (8GB RAM, 128 GB NVME SSD) with a built-in realtek gigabit nic (not used) and an HP NC364T 4 port Gigabit low profile NIC.
My setup is a SOHO with 2 x WAN (each is 1 Gigabit down, 500mb up). I have only got as far as trying to get the first WAN connection up and running and have not gotten as far as trying to setup multi-WAN.

I have port one set to LAN, port 2 set to WAN and I am able to - briefly - access the internet before the system hangs.

The HP T730 is a known good machine and all of the components are working fine when I install windows thin client or Debian 11 on it.

This setup works for a few minutes and then crashes; as in: the entire system completely locks up. When it does this, I cannot access anything: web ui, ssh or serial console.

The system would not stay up long enough for me to read the error logs properly, but I was able to briefly read the logs ad saw the phrase "Kernel Panic...lock held too long..." before the system hung again.

I removed the HP NC364T 4 port Gigabit NIC and reinstalled Opnsense with just the Realtek NIC as the only interface. The system has been running crash-free for 24 hours in this configuration now, so there is definitely a compatibility issue with the NC364T. I have tried installing the NIC in a Debian 11 HP Server I have spare and it works fine: no lockups / hangs.

I obviously cannot use the NC364T in my T730 Opnsense box, so as a newcomer I would like to ask what NIC people would recommend for the HP T730? I need at least 3 x 1 Gigabit ports and I'm more concerned with reputation for working well with both Opnsense and this particular hardware than I am about price (within reason).
Any help would be very much appreciated!

Also, if anyone needs me to do some analysis / diagnosis using this NC364T & HP T730 for the Opnsense knowledgebase then please let me know and I'lll put the NIC back in the T730 and perform whatever steps will be useful / helpful to debug the issue.

Thanks!