Hey guys,

 

It seems that several of us, myself included, have been having issues getting NICs to pass through correctly into a KVM VM...

 

I was wondering if it would be helpful to start a listing of known working NICs maybe with the following info

 

Brand      Model        Interface (PCI, PCIe (speed))      your entry in your VM XML cfg (this might help noobs like myself)    and the OS you are running in your VM

 

I know that there is a WIKI that has some of this info, but it doesn't seem to be updated

As a rule of thumb, Intel make great NIC's. I personally always try and get motherbaords, PCIe NIC's, and Wifi Mini PCIe cards that are Intel. They cost more but they work the best and have less issues. Anyways I am currently passing through this NIC to my pfSense VM:

 

Intel EXPI9402PTBLK PRO/1000 PT Dual Port

 

I went with the cheapest PCIe Intel NIC I could find on eBay, and it works flawlessly (seriously all the time, reboots, powerdown, etc...).

It's a U3867 Intel Pro/1000 PT Single port, picked it up for ~$10.

 

It's listed here, this is the actual one I purchased.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131529959407?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

 

And I am currently trying to pass through an older PCI Intel 10/100 NIC (Jonp has been trying to help ) and it is failing. I am just trying to get a list of known good NICs before I go spend more money on another NIC just to have it fail too

 

But due to other limitations I am stuck on a PCI NIC. At least for right now until I upgrade to a bigger/better SATA card and can free up a PCIe slot.

It seems like I read a lot of people having issues passing through just PCI cards to VMs. Not saying that it can or cannot be done but I would recommend PCIe cards for passthrough if it all possible. Again I have no experience with with passing through just PCI cards but just my thoughts of the number on support forums I have read. They say the advice is usually worth what you paid for it 

Thats kinda of what I was afraid of

 

OK time to start shopping for a bigger better PCIe SATA card to combine the 2 s port cards into 2 4 port+ card  so I can do a PCIe NIC vs a PCI NIC, unless someone pipes up on this thread with a known working PCI NIC