NIC ports fail with problem code 12:
Code 12 This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. If you want to use this device, you will need to disable one of the other devices on this system. (Code 12)
This error can occur if two devices that are installed on your server have been assigned the same I/O ports, the same interrupt, or the same Direct Memory Access channel, either by the BIOS, the operating system, or both. It can also appear if the BIOS did not allocate enough resources to the device.
Workaround
Ensure that all devices on your system are assigned unique I/O ports.
If that does not clear the problem, refer to I/O and Interrupt Resource Allocation in Sun Server X2-8 (formerly Sun Fire X4800 M2) Installation Guide.