Cannot detect Dell quad port NIC card in ESXi 5.1

[mchan49]

I recently installed VMware ESXi 5.1 on an HP Proliant server with a Dell NIC (DELL - PRO/1000 VT QUAD PORT SERVER ADAPTER LP). After installation, I was not able to see the NIC card in VMware. I downgraded to VMware 4.0 and I was able to see it. Is there some drivers that I need to install for the NIC?

[a_p_]

Not sure, but you may want to take a look at https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=DT-ESXI50-Intel-I350&productId=285

André

[mchan49]

Tried using the latest igb driver, but still no luck.

[mchan49]

I realized that the dell card that I'm using uses Intel 1 Gigabit 82576 chip, but I can't find a driver that supports that chip in ESXi 5.x. I can only find 82580. Is there a driver that supports Intel's 82576 that works on ESXi5.1?

[a_p_]

Unfortunately a quick search did not return any results. Maybe placing the NIC in another slot can help (see Re: Intel 82576 (E1G42ET) Not Working on ESXi 5?)!? If this doesn't help either and you are using the host for production, it may be worth purchasing a supported NIC. Using an unsupported NIC - even if you find any currently working drivers - is like playing Russian Roulette, because each update/patch could cause outage.

André

[mchan49]

Looks like VMware don't support Intel 82576 chip anymore. I looked around and installed all the possible drivers, but none of them worked.

[kbulgrien4freed]

The igb driver is prone to experience an issue related to NVM checksum.  Check /var/log/vmkernel.log for messages containing:

   igb 0000:0a:00.0: The NVM Checksum Is Not Valid

If the NVM issue exists, you might look here for information on using a manufacturer utility to fix the NVM issue:

  Re: Intel I350 NIC not working on ESXi 6.0 build-2715440

Not saying this is relevant, but it might be as it could make you think a driver isn't working when it would if an underlying issue was corrected.