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HCI 3rd party drivers for I226-LM and Realtek RTL8127 100

Szymon Domanski Lv1  Posted 2026-Oct-09 17:32

Last edited by Szymon Domanski 2026-Oct-09 17:51.

Hello, my HCI 6.12 doesnt see the I226-LM (8086:125b) and Realtek RTL8127 (10ec:8127) NIC.

Is there a way to install drivers?
EDIT: the lspci command sees the physical devices, but Sangfor doesnt seem to have drivers for those

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Newbie380273 Lv1  Posted 2026-Oct-09 17:46
  

Hello,

HCI 6.12 doesn't see I226-LM (8086:125b) and Realtek RTL8127 (10ec:8127) because both NICs are not in Sangfor HCI HCL (Hardware Compatibility List).

**Reason:**
1. Intel I226-LM is a 2.5G client-grade NIC, driver is igc. HCI 6.12 kernel includes igc but only for older IDs (125a, 125c). ID 125b is very new and not yet added.
2. Realtek RTL8127 is a 5G NIC, driver is r8127 / r8169. Sangfor HCI does not include Realtek 5G drivers by default because HCI is designed for enterprise Intel X710, X550, I350, E810 NICs.

**Solution:**

**Option 1 - Recommended (Use Supported Hardware):**
For production, please use NICs from Sangfor HCL: Intel I350, X550-T2, X710, E810, or Mellanox ConnectX-4/5. Client NICs like I226 / Realtek will cause stability issues even if you force install.

**Option 2 - Workaround to install driver (For Lab/POC only):**
You can try to install driver manually in HCI underlying system:
1. Go to HCI console > Enter Troubleshooting Mode (Ctrl+Shift+T)
2. Check lspci -nn | grep -i ethernet to confirm IDs 8086:125b and 10ec:8127
3. For I226-LM, you can try: modprobe igc and check dmesg. If not detected, you need to compile newer igc driver from Intel source.
4. For Realtek, you need to compile r8127 driver: download driver from Realtek website, then insmod.

But note: Even after manual install, after HCI upgrade/reboot driver will be lost, and Sangfor TAC will not support this hardware.

**Best Action:**
If this is for lab, use a USB to add an Intel I350 or X550 card, HCI will detect it instantly. Or you can try HCI 6.10.0 which has slightly newer driver base.

Share your server model, I can suggest compatible NIC.

Thanks.
Muhammad Abid Lv3  Posted 2026-Oct-09 19:26
  
In Sangfor HCI 6.12, if lspci detects the Intel I226-LM (8086:125b) and Realtek RTL8127 (10ec:8127) but Sangfor does not show them as usable network interfaces, the likely issue is that the installed HCI kernel does not have a compatible driver loaded for one or both NICs.

Important: Detecting a device with lspci only confirms that the PCI device is visible. It does not mean that a compatible kernel driver is installed or working.

1. Check whether a driver is available

Log in to the HCI host shell and run:

lspci -nnk | grep -A 4 -Ei 'Ethernet|Network'

Look for these lines under each NIC:

Kernel driver in use

Kernel modules

If Kernel driver in use is missing, the device may not have a working driver bound to it.

Then run:

ip link show
lsmod | grep -E 'igc|r8127|r8169'
dmesg | grep -Ei 'igc|r8127|r8169|firmware'

These commands help identify whether a driver is loaded, whether an interface exists, and whether the kernel reports driver or firmware errors.

2. Can you install the drivers manually?

Potentially, yes, but it depends on the HCI kernel version and whether Sangfor permits the required driver modules.

Intel I226-LM: Uses the Linux igc driver. Intel documents support for this controller, but the driver must support the device ID and kernel version.

Realtek RTL8127: Realtek provides an r8127 Linux driver. However, you must verify that it builds and works with the exact HCI kernel.

Sangfor community guidance for this specific issue recommends using compatible, supported NIC hardware for production rather than relying on manually installed drivers.

3. Recommended next step

Before attempting any installation, run these commands and share the output:

uname -r
lspci -nnk | grep -A 4 -Ei 'Ethernet|Network'
ip link show

This will help establish the kernel version, current driver bindings, and available network interfaces.

My recommendation: For a production HCI cluster, ask Sangfor TAC to confirm driver compatibility and supportability first. A manually installed driver may not survive an HCI upgrade and could affect host networking.

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