No network adapters were detected.

[finsfree]

I am creating a lab environment to run VSphere 6.5. The very first issue I ran into while installing esxi 6.5 is "No network adapter were detected. etc......"

I'm trying to install this on a Dell Alienware Aurora R4 (service tag: 3KY9J02). It has an integrated Realtek RTL8111E Ethernet Controller Driver 

I know this is not your typical install but I have nothing else to work with and I don't want to run esxi 6.5 in a virtual. I want a physical host.

I have been reading about injecting drivers into an esxi 6.5 iso, I can not find a .vib version of the driver. All I find is .exe file.

How can I get this drive issue resolved?

Thank you so much,

[finsfree]

Well that is interesting...

Ya, but who's to know if I'm actually going to get that one in the picture? I'm surprised that Yottamark.com doesn't just come right out and say if it is legit or counterfeit, "is a suspect code". That kind of puts you in a gray around as to what the card is.

Never knew so much went into a NIC card.

I guess we'll wait and see if it works.

[bluefirestorm]

The Yottamark to check is the one that you finally receive in the delivery as it is unlikely you will be getting the one that is shown in the picture. It is unclear from the Intel webpage whether they would cover the consumer line of NICs with the Yottamark verification.

I just pointed it out that since the first vendor picture didn't have any Yottamark (maybe they removed it for security reasons???) while the second one did. I assume the Yottamark sticker would somehow be associated to the unique MAC address(es) and/or serial number of the NIC and an inventory list of actual NICs that were shipped out by Intel legitimately; hence the need to check online. So a counterfeit NIC manufacturer which relies on rejected and/or stolen chips (yes, I read numerous stories over the years of truck delivery of Intel chips being stolen in Malaysia) would not be able to pass the Yottamark test.

But of course, there could also be counterfeit Yottamarks just like in the 1990s there were counterfeit Certificate of Authencity hologram slapped onto counterfeit MS-DOS and MS Windows shrink-wrapped boxes with diskettes that also looked like the real thing; and the pirate copies were sold at full retail price.

[finsfree]

So, the first NIC came in the mail yesterday and it worked.

It was the first NIC I ordered. INTEL 82574 CT Chipset Gigabit 1000Mbps Desktop PCI-Express Network Adapter Card - Newegg.com

I did get ESXI 6.5 to install with no issues.

P.S. I am running into other issues but I'll open another tread. For now the original issue is solved. Now on to the next step.

Thanks,