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icoming
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how to change the type of network adaptor in VM

Hello,

I'm testing network drivers in the virtual machine. My current VM has an AMD 79c970 Ethernet controller but I want to test different drivers. so is it possible for me to use another type of Ethernet controller in VM? For example any Realtek cards?

I currently use VMware Workstation 7.

Thanks,

Zheng Da

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marcelo_soares
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You don't have many choices:

- WIthout VMware tools, you will be using the vlance network adapter

- With VMware tools, by default, you will be using the VMware AMD Pcnet network adapter

- You can change inside the VMX configuration file and insert the following line:

ethernetX.virtualDev = "e1000"

Where X is the number of your network card (0 for the first, 1 for secod, etc...). This will transform the adapter in a Intel PRO 1000.

Marcelo Soares

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Virtualization Tech Master

Globant Argentina

Consider awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers.

Marcelo Soares

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a_p_
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Zheng Da,

there's no need to test NIC drivers. The virtual NIC is provided by VMware as virtual hardware. There are only a few different NICs which are used (see http://www.sanbarrow.com/vmx/vmx-network-advanced.html) depending on the VMware software you are using (Workstation, ESX, ...) and the OS you select during creation of a new VM.

The virtual hardware provided is a standard hardware to make sure most OS installations run without adding additional drivers. After you installed a OS the drivers are usually replaced/optimized by the installation of VMware tools.

André

marcelo_soares
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You don't have many choices:

- WIthout VMware tools, you will be using the vlance network adapter

- With VMware tools, by default, you will be using the VMware AMD Pcnet network adapter

- You can change inside the VMX configuration file and insert the following line:

ethernetX.virtualDev = "e1000"

Where X is the number of your network card (0 for the first, 1 for secod, etc...). This will transform the adapter in a Intel PRO 1000.

Marcelo Soares

VMWare Certified Professional 310/410

Virtualization Tech Master

Globant Argentina

Consider awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers.

Marcelo Soares
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continuum
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last time I looked at VirtualBox it offered an emulated Realtek card as a choice among other types ...




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ftspampi
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I want to say thank your for this info, as my linux virtual machine can now connect and run at Gigabit full duplex. This has been a long standing problem for me and the solution was made so simple with your suggestion. :smileygrin:

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RDPetruska
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my linux virtual machine can now connect and run at Gigabit full duplex

While there are some throughput differences between the different virtual network adapters, mostly due to the way the guest OS 'sees' the virtual NIC, what you see is basically a label - just that.  ALL network traffic to the guest is still performed by the host's CPU.  So while your label may say 1GB, you may never actually see 1GB throughput.

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mkubecek
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For linux guests, "vmxnet3" type is usually the best option.

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