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VMWARETOOLS2011
Contributor
Contributor

esxi 5.0 is not recognise lan card driver during installation

hello Experts..

                      pls tell me. what is the problem in the.. when i install esxi 5.0 on my machine it was not pikup lan driver.and has reboot..

my hardware:-

AMD Athlon 2.0 64bit

2 gb ram

Nvidia lancard

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UmeshAhuja
Commander
Commander

Hi ,

To troubleshoot this issue:

Determine if the ESX/ESXi host is seeing the new NIC devices. Run this command:

lspci -v |less

Search the output for /Ethernet.

Look for the network card that has been added to the system. Note the PCI slot and bus number (xx:xx) being returned.


Obtain the Vendor ID (VID) and the Device ID (DID) of the new NIC. Run the command:

lspci -n |grep xx:xx

This returns the VID and DID of the card in the format: nnnn:nnnn. The first set of numbers is the VID; the second set is the DID.

Make sure the card is supported for the version of ESX/ESXI you are running.

To see if your card is supported:

Go to the Hardware Compatibility List. Click the IO Devicestab.
Enter the VID and DID values only, and click Search.
Find the model of the card, and select the version of ESX/ESXi you are running in the right column. A window opens with a list of drivers available.
Make note of the device driver name, the recommended version, and the type of driver (inbox or async).

Note: Inbox drivers are included when you perform the initial installation. Async drivers are drivers that have to be installed after installation.

Note: If you do not see your version of ESX/ESXi listed in the right column, the card has not been certified. Your vendor may provide a driver that you can use until they are able to complete the certification process.


To Confirm that you have the appropriate driver loaded on your system.

For ESXi hosts, run this command:

vmkload_mod -l |grep <drivername>

For ESX hosts, run the command above or run this command:

rpm -qa | grep <drivername>

Note: If a line is returned then the driver is installed and the card should be recognized. If this is the case, proceed to step 6 for information on how to check the logs. Otherwise, proceed to step 5 to load the driver on the system.


If the driver is not loaded, obtain and install the appropriate driver:


Navigate to the appropriate download link specified through the Hardware Compatibility Guide's Model/Release Details tab.
Find the appropriate footnote on the right of the corresponding ESX/ESXi version and navigate to the link it specifies.
Search for the version of the driver you need to install and download the ISO.
Mount or open the ISO and find the offline-bundle folder.
In the offline bundle folder, locate the zip file that needs to be installed on the host.
Upload this file to the host by uploading the file to a datastore on the host or using a program like WinSCP to copy the file.
Navigate to the directory you uploaded the file to and run this command:

esxupdate --bundle=<bundlename>.zip update


Reboot the host when prompted.


Note: The host needs to be in maintenance mode to run the update. If nothing is running on the host, run this command:

esxupdate --bundle=<bundlename>.zip update --maintenancemode


If the network card is still not detected, check the log files to troubleshoot the issue further.

Note: You are looking to see if the devices are being claimed and loaded or if there is some other error being reported about the driver or the network card.

For ESXi check:

/var/log/messages and /var/log/vmware/hostd-0.log and search for /vmnic or /<drivername>

For ESX check:

/var/log/vmkernel and search for /vmnic or /<drivername>

Thanks n Regards
Umesh Ahuja

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golddiggie
Champion
Champion

Are you using one of the two nVidia network cards that are on the VMware HCL?? Talking about the Pro 2200 or Pro 3600 cards. If not, then I would simply install a NIC that IS on the VMware HCL, and is also listed as 'inbox'... That means the drivers are included in the install media.

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ranjitcool
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Looks like the nvidia card might not be on the HCL. Check the hcl.

Please award points if you find my answers helpful Thanks RJ Visit www.rjapproves.com
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VMWARETOOLS2011
Contributor
Contributor

i have AMD Athlon machine and it have onbord lan card (nVidia)

and the ESXi can't find the network card at installation and it will give a message for reboot

i have the ESXi 5.0 iso(293 mb) is it Correct iso... pls tell me..

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

A couple of options:

1) Drop in another NIC like an Intel Pro 1000.

2) If you want to see if the on board NIC will work, we'll need the PCI id for it.  See here for the process to get that - http://vm-help.com/esx/esx3i/find_PCI_ID.php.

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golddiggie
Champion
Champion

Damn, Dave beat me to the posting... :smileygrin:

I completely agree with using Intel Pro 1000/server class NIC's in ESX/ESXi host machines/servers. One that's on the HCL and is listed as 'inbox' for the release you're installing. This means you won't need to worry about drivers during the install of ESX/ESXi.

Personally, I go with either dual or quad port NIC's (all Intel) in the hosts I run/use either at home or at work. We use quad port in all the hosts at work so that we have the port density we need in the 2U servers (two quad port Intel Pro 1000 NIC's, two 4Gb fiber cards to connect to the EMC storage). In my home lab, I have a dual and a quad port Intel Pro 1000 NIC in my host server. And yes, I am using all six connections on the home lab host.

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