PassThrough devices showing 'Not capable' in ESXi 6.5. How to correct?

[syedmahtab]

May you all live in peace!

I have recently setup a Dell Optiplex 2950 server using ESXi 6.5. I have added Creative Labs SB1040 PCI Express Sound card to server. Now, I want to run this card from either Ubuntu or Windows Virtual machine. I googled and found that I need to setup Passthrough to achieve the same but when I go to vSphere Web Client -> Host -> Manage -> Hardware, it does show my card over there but says 'Not capable'. For all the 36 devices listed, it says 'Not capable'.

Can someone guide how can I make my sound card work on at least one of my virtual machines? (A screenshot of my Hardware tab is attached).

Please note I have already tried post on internet suggesting to modify .vmx file for sound card but that does not work. I assume, unless passthrough is not configured, the same will not work.

Looking to hear from experts.

Warm regards,

Mahtab Hussain

[bluefirestorm]

Is it PowerEdge 2950 or Optiplex 2950? There does not seem to be an Optiplex 2950.

But if it is PowerEdge 2950, it looks like the CPU family (Xeon 5300/5100/5000) that it uses does not have VT-d.

https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/2950_specs.pdf

https://ark.intel.com/Search/FeatureFilter?productType=processors&VTD=false&FamilyText=Intel%C2%AE%2...

For PCIe passthrough to work, the Intel CPU needs to have VT-d feature and the motherboard able to support it.

So if the CPU does not have VT-d, PCIe passthrough will not be available in ESXi.

[syedmahtab]

May you live in peace!

Thanks for your response and sorry for confusing between optiplex and poweredge. Yes, it is a PowerEdge 2950 with X5470 Inel Xeon processor.

It does have Virtualization technology enabled in BIOS. There is another option for vitualization technology 'Extended Page' something which is currently disabled.

Can I still not use DirectPath I/O?

In Case, answer to above question is No, can I not use my Creative sound blaster for a single VM after some type of configuration?

In case, No is still the answer, What is the minimum upgrade in servers which can make it work.

Thanks for once again for your help.

Warm regards,

Mahtab Hussain

[syedmahtab]

Below is the data sheet of chipset used in poweredge 2950:

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-briefs/5000x-chipset-brief.pdf

[bluefirestorm]

VT-x and VT-d are two different things. I tend to look at VT-d as sub-feature of VT-x. In some motherboards, VT-d has to be enabled separately in the BIOS/UEFI.

You can look at this sample comparision between an Ivy Bridge Xeon and the X5470 that you have. You can see that it is blank for the X5470 in the item "Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)" which means it does not have VT-d.

https://ark.intel.com/compare/75787,35430

Here is the list of CPUs with VT-d

https://ark.intel.com/Search/FeatureFilter?productType=processors&VTD=true

Usually, DirectPath I/O is used for passthrough of more sophisticated devices that require high bandwidth such as 10GB Ethernet cards or dedicated GPUs or storage controllers for VMs.

You cannot use DirectPath I/O with the PowerEdge 2950 as the X5470 does not have VT-d.

If I am not mistaken, if you use RDP client to access a Windows VM, you can still have audio playback capability provided the client PC where RDP client is running also has audio playback capability. You need to add an audio device to the VM with hdaudio. You can do this in the ESXi host client.