Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    ESXI 6 and intel i211 nic

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Virtualization
    27 Posts 6 Posters 12.2k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • P
      patrtech
      last edited by

      I'm new to hypervisors, so I installed esxi 6 on a shuttle ds57u device and was trying to follow the esxi guide.  The DS57U has two nics, one a i218-LM and the other a i211.  Only the i218 nic is showing up as a available adapter, the i211 isn't available as a physical nic, but it does show up as a pass through device (under advanced settings).  The hardware compatibility guide shows both of these nics as having drivers in esxi 6, so I'm trying to understand what the problem is and if there is a solution for it? Has anyone any experience with the i211 intel nic in esxi?

      I211 compatibility:

      http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=io&productid=37601&deviceCategory=io&details=1&releases=273&keyword=i211&deviceTypes=6&VID=8086&DID=1539&page=1&display_interval=10&sortColumn=Partner&sortOrder=Asc

      I218-LM compatibility:

      http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=io&productid=37653&deviceCategory=io&details=1&keyword=i21&page=1&display_interval=10&sortColumn=Partner&sortOrder=Asc

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • G
        gjaltemba
        last edited by

        Slightly off topic in a pfsense forum but I'll bite.

        Have you checked that the device id is 8036:1539?

        ssh into esxi

        lspci -v

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • P
          patrtech
          last edited by

          I confirmed the device id is correct and you'll see below that it actually says its vmnic1, but yet not accessible.  I booted up ubuntu server and it detects both nics.  pfsense bare metal also detects both nics as fine and working.

          lspci -v | grep Network -A1
          0000:00:19.0 Ethernet controller Network controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection (3) I218-LM [vmnic0]
                  Class 0200: 8086:15a2 (e1000e version 2.5.4-5vmw)
          –
          0000:02:00.0 Ethernet controller Network controller: Intel Corporation I211 Gigabit Network Connection [vmnic1]
                  Class 0200: 8086:1539
          (igb version 5.0.5.1.1-4vmw_
          –
          0000:03:00.0 Network controller Network controller:
                  Class 0280: 10ec:8179

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • G
            gjaltemba
            last edited by

            Passthrough is disabled for vmnic1 in Advanced Settings and it is also not listed in Network Adapters?

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • P
              patrtech
              last edited by

              @gjaltemba:

              Passthrough is disabled for vmnic1 in Advanced Settings and it is also not listed in Network Adapters?

              Yes, passthrough is disabled and it is not listed in network adapters.  I went through these settings numerous times, I reinstalled esxi 6 and even 5.5 several times and the same issue consistently.  I checked the bios, not much in there other than enable and disable network adapters - which i tried disabling just for the sake of it.  I did a restore to defaults also, but no change at all.  Watching esxi load, I see modules for e1000e and igb (which is supposedly the i211) but in network adapters only the i218 is listed.

              I don't know what it is about the i211, hyper-v 2012r2 similarly shows only the i218. I had to manually install the drivers but only i218 shows up.  The i211 nic is not bad because I tested with ubuntu live cd and pfsense bare metal.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • G
                gjaltemba
                last edited by

                What is the output for

                vmkchdev -l | grep vmnic1

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • P
                  patrtech
                  last edited by

                  @gjaltemba:

                  What is the output for

                  vmkchdev -l | grep vmnic1

                  Just ran it:

                  [root@localhost:~] vmkchdev -l | grep vmnic1
                  0000:02:00.0 8086:1539 1297:4028 vmkernel vmnic1

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • G
                    gjaltemba
                    last edited by

                    Yikes!

                    So vmnic1 is not shown with

                    esxcfg-nics -l

                    All I can suggest is a refresh to be sure

                    vim-cmd hostsvc/net/refresh

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • P
                      patrtech
                      last edited by

                      No change even with the refresh command above.  :(

                      Thanks for your efforts, I will keep searching and maybe try a different hypervisor or just eventually put pfsense on bare metal.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • G
                        gjaltemba
                        last edited by

                        The following article seems to describe the same symptoms and a resolution

                        http://atherbeg.com/2014/01/27/missing-vmnics-from-esxi-after-installation/

                        So basically

                        Enter maintenance mode
                        Keep only vmnic0 remove all other vmnics
                        Shutdown computer
                        Disable I211 in bios
                        Boot computer
                        Shutdown computer
                        Enable I211 in bios
                        Boot computer

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • P
                          patrtech
                          last edited by

                          I tried the above and unfortunately no change.  Not sure if the listing order on the esx.conf file is weird? :

                          /device/00000:002:00.0/vmkname = "vmnic1"
                          /device/00000:000:31.2/vmkname = "vmhba0"
                          /device/00000:000:25.0/vmkname = "vmnic0"

                          and then checking to see installed nics, it shows i211 isn't even installed (i blanked out the MAC for the one that is installed)

                          [root@localhost:~] esxcfg-nics -l
                          Name    PCI          Driver      Link Speed    Duplex MAC Address      MTU    Description
                          vmnic0  0000:00:19.0 e1000e      Up  1000Mbps  Full  xx❌xx:xx:xx:xx 1500  Intel Corporation <class>Ethernet controller</class>

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • G
                            gjaltemba
                            last edited by

                            Not so much the order but vmnic0 seems to be at different locations. That cannot be correct.

                            /device/00000:000:25.0/vmkname = "vmnic0"

                            vmnic0  0000:00:19.0

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • P
                              patrtech
                              last edited by

                              Maybe I should reformat and install esxi again but with i211 disabled?  I lost count how many times I installed this now, but I haven't tried in this method.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • G
                                gjaltemba
                                last edited by

                                I am curious which is correct for vmnic0. 00000:000:25.0 or 0000:00:19.0

                                What does lspci show?

                                Before a reinstall I would  try a Restore System Configuration (factory reset) on the Direct Console (DCUI) first.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • P
                                  patrtech
                                  last edited by

                                  I believe I tried a factory reset yesterday in one of the iterations of using 2 drives to troubleshoot, but course I can do it again.  Here's the lspci output:

                                  [root@localhost:~] lspci
                                  0000:00:00.0 Bridge:
                                  0000:00:02.0 Display controller:
                                  0000:00:03.0 Multimedia controller:
                                  0000:00:14.0 Serial bus controller:
                                  0000:00:16.0 Communication controller:
                                  0000:00:19.0 Network controller:  [vmnic0]
                                  0000:00:1b.0 Multimedia controller:
                                  0000:00:1c.0 Bridge:  [PCIe RP[0000:00:1c.0]]
                                  0000:00:1c.2 Bridge:  [PCIe RP[0000:00:1c.2]]
                                  0000:00:1c.3 Bridge:  [PCIe RP[0000:00:1c.3]]
                                  0000:00:1d.0 Serial bus controller:
                                  0000:00:1f.0 Bridge:
                                  0000:00:1f.2 Mass storage controller:  [vmhba0]
                                  0000:00:1f.3 Serial bus controller:
                                  0000:02:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation I211  Gigabit Network Connection [vmnic1]
                                  0000:03:00.0 Network controller:

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • G
                                    gjaltemba
                                    last edited by

                                    Then in esx.conf
                                    /device/00000:000:25.0/vmkname = "vmnic0"
                                    should be
                                    /device/00000:000:19.0/vmkname = "vmnic0"

                                    I wonder what is at 0000:03:00.0 Network controller:

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • P
                                      patrtech
                                      last edited by

                                      Should i edit esx.conf to /device/00000:000:19.0/vmkname = "vmnic0"?

                                      0000:03:00.0 Network controller <–-----that probably is a wireless nic, which I can't disable in the bios. Maybe I should physicall just remove that?

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • G
                                        gjaltemba
                                        last edited by

                                        Yeah. It is the wifi card. You could try and edit esx.conf but it is not supported.

                                        Personally, I would try re-installing with VT-d off in the bios but it is just a shot in the dark.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • P
                                          patrtech
                                          last edited by

                                          So I tried again today, formatted the drive, disabled VT-d, disabled nic and exactly the same results as before. I tried editing the esx.conf file from /device/00000:000:25.0/vmkname = "vmnic0" to /device/00000:000:19.0/vmkname = "vmnic0" but after rebooting it went back to what it was before.  That second nic just won't show up, I wish they hadn't put two different nics into this unit.  I'm going to try installing some igb driver i found igb-5.2.7-1331820-2157967.zip, not sure if this is will do anything but it can't make it worse.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • G
                                            gjaltemba
                                            last edited by

                                            If I211 nic works in passthru why not use it for the wan port in pfsense? You will still have I218 for a vswitch to assign to pfsense lan port and new VMs.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.