i210AT NIC not recognized on Dell Wyse Zx0

[mickeymug]

I've been trying to get OPNSense running on my Dell Wyse Zx0 (7010) and I have been completely unable to get the Mini PCI-e i210AT NIC working in the setup. Not sure if the NIC is a dud, if it's just incompatible with the Zx0, if the Mini PCI-e slot is broken on the Zx0 or some other reason.

I've tried taping off pins 30 and 32 as per another STH forum post but that didn't end up working either. The BIOS doesn't show any evidence of the NIC either. I don't have another computer with a Mini PCI-e port to test if the ethernet card works and also don't have another Mini PCI-e device to check if the Zx0 is working properly.

Any ideas what the problem could be or any other troubleshooting strategies?

NIC: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006048721169.html

 

[cageek]

Any ideas what the problem could be or any other troubleshooting strategies?

If its like some other Dells did you enable wireless lan in the BIOS?

Also, double check to see if the chip is actually Intel and not realtek. If it's realtek then you may have to load the manufacturer driver (realtek plugin on opnsense).

Finally boot at Linux live distro. and check lspci to see if it shows up.

 

[mickeymug]

I think i have wireless lan disabled so will enable that and see if that makes a difference. Failing that i'll check that it's actually an intel chip and have a go at booting into a linux live distro, hadn't thought of that, good idea. Cheers for the advice @cageek, will report back with results

 

[mickeymug]

Interestingly when I enable wireless lan and install the NIC there seems to be some sort of issue that messes with the startup in some way,

Normally when i plug in the power cord the front light turns on for a few seconds and switches off, at this point i can power on the machine no issues. When i have the NIC installed and wireless lan enabled, the light never turns off once I insert the power plug and I can't power on the machine.

Definitely feels like an issue that could be solved with some tape on some pins but haven't worked out which ones (assuming that is the issue). I've taped 30 and 32 to no avail and also tried pin 20 based on another forum post about wifi cards.
Either way it seems as if enabling wireless lan has enabled that PCI slot so definitely closer to a solution!

 

[cageek]

Might be that there's an option for PXE boot or boot ROM or something - it might need to be disabled. Or change the boot order. Maybe poke around the BIOS some more.

The wyse onboard NICs all seem to be realtek. I've seen people adding realtek mini pcie to some of those older machines - haven't seen intel. Shouldn't matter, but you never know.

 

[mickeymug]

No luck in the bios for changing boot options beyond AHCI and IDE unfortunately. Will have to keep digging