ESXi Fling Arm64 Install Error:No network adapter were detected

[Stephen Qin]

I'm trying install ESXi Fling 2.1 on a MegaRAC SP-X Server(Ampere Altra CPU *2):

Now i have tried  Intel 82599ES 10G SPF+ Network adapter& SolarFlare SFC9220 Dual Port 40 Gigabit Ethernet & Intel 82599ES 10G SPF+ Network adapter OCP3.0

All network adapter in install:

So i want to know which network adapter can be detected .

(By:It can working well on Pve-ARM64-Port.)

[Cyprien Laplace]

Hello Stephen,

I have been looking into the Broadcom Compatibility Guide for the IO Devices (https://compatibilityguide.broadcom.com/) and the Intel 82599ES is not supported for ESXi 8.x.

The SolarFlare SFC9220 is listed as supported, inbox (included with ESXi) and loading the driver works:

2025-01-28T19:31:42.662Z cpu52:2363510)Loading module sfvmk ...
2025-01-28T19:31:42.663Z cpu52:2363510)Elf: 2130: module sfvmk has license BSD
2025-01-28T19:31:42.674Z cpu52:2363510)Device: 193: Registered driver 'sfvmk' from 94
2025-01-28T19:31:42.674Z cpu52:2363510)Initialization of SFC  driver successful
2025-01-28T19:31:42.674Z cpu52:2363510)Mod: 4809: Initialization of sfvmk succeeded with module ID 94.
2025-01-28T19:31:42.674Z cpu52:2363510)sfvmk loaded successfully.

If this Network adapter is not recognized, can you use a USB NIC and get the /var/log/boot.gz file? Can you get the output of the lspci command as well?

Thank you!
Cyprien

[Andrea Consalvi]

Hey everyone,

From what's been shared so far, it looks pretty clear that the Intel 82599ES isn't supported on ESXi 8.x, while the SolarFlare SFC9220 is, since the sfvmk driver loads without issues.

If you're having trouble getting the NIC recognized, it might be worth checking with lspci to see if it's at least detected by the system and looking at /var/log/boot.gz for any driver-related errors. If it doesn't show up at all, using a USB NIC as a temporary workaround could help get network access and troubleshoot further.