Best Network Adapter (NIC)to buy (PCI/PCIe/USB)

[snobaakp1]

Hello guys, I am very new to this forum and to hackintoshing as well. I just want to say thank you to this forum that helped me install Lion 10.7.5 on my friend's computer. The computer itself is very solid, everything works except for the ethernet. The mobo is AsRock H61m-HVS, though I know there isn't much support out there. The ethernet adapter is Realtek PCIE x1 LAN RTL8105E and is currently working using the official kext from the realtek website. But the problem is that the speed can only go as high as 10 mb, which in most cases, is very slow. When he tries choosing 100baseTX or 1000baseT from the speed in network settings, he gets kernel panic.

Now, I want to ask, Can I buy a separate NIC for my friend's PC? If so, what are the most compatible ones? Also, will it support fast internet speeds because he got a pretty fast internet? It's fine if it is not going to work Out-Of-The-Box, as long as it will be supported after some tweaking or installing some kexts.

Thank you very much in advance. You guys are awesome!

 

[nobodynose]

Hello guys, I am very new to this forum and to hackintoshing as well. I just want to say thank you to this forum that helped me install Lion 10.7.5 on my friend's computer. The computer itself is very solid, everything works except for the ethernet. The mobo is AsRock H61m-HVS, though I know there isn't much support out there. The ethernet adapter is Realtek PCIE x1 LAN RTL8105E and is currently working using the official kext from the realtek website. But the problem is that the speed can only go as high as 10 mb, which in most cases, is very slow. When he tries choosing 100baseTX or 1000baseT from the speed in network settings, he gets kernel panic.

First thing you might want to try is a different driver. Remove the Realtek driver, then run MultiBeast and install the Lnx2Mac Realtek driver. I'm not 100% sure it supports the RTL8105E, but it's worth a try.

Now, I want to ask, Can I buy a separate NIC for my friend's PC? If so, what are the most compatible ones? Also, will it support fast internet speeds because he got a pretty fast internet? It's fine if it is not going to work Out-Of-The-Box, as long as it will be supported after some tweaking or installing some kexts.

Thank you very much in advance. You guys are awesome!

Here is a short list of a few that are known to work:

Sonnet Presto Gigabit Ethernet Pro (Marvell Yukon chipset): http://www.amazon.com/Presto-Gigabit-Ethernet-PCIe-Card/dp/B0017K6BR8 - Supported OOB, no additional driver needed

Rosewill RC-401-EX (Marvell Yukon chipset): http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-RC-401-EX-Network-1000Mbps-PCI-Express/dp/B004BV6RIS - Supported OOB, no additional driver needed

Syba SD-PEX24009 (Realtek RTL8111E chipset): http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-PEX24009-PCI-Express-Gigabit-Network/dp/B004M18EEC - Needs Lnx2Mac RealTek kext from MultiBeast

Startech ST1000SPEX (Realtek RTL8111B chipset): http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Express-Gigabit-Ethernet-ST1000SPEX/dp/B001VBU0NY - Needs Lnx2Mac RealTek kext from MultiBeast

 

[Dil83]

This is the Ethernet Card that I've been using for several months now without a problem: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106033

It's the Intel® Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter that uses the Intel® 82574L Chipset. You can use the original OS X driver with a slight modification. It's the Intel82574L.kext located in the PlugIns folder of IONetworkingFamily.kext in /System/Library/Extensions.

You just have to change the Intel82574L.kext Info.plist here:

<key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key>
<string>0x104b8086 0x10f68086</string>
<key>IOPCISecondaryMatch</key>
<string>0x00008086 0x00000000</string>

Change to only this:

<key>IOPCIMatch</key>
<string>0x10d38086 0x104b8086 0x10f68086</string>

Hope this helps,

Dil83

 

[snobaakp1]

Thank You so much about those replies, but he was so impatient and installed windows. Sorry about that, but still, thank you. I have a problem too from my audio ALC892 not working, but I use USB to Audio adapter, but I want to use my front panel audio too. But I am on an AMD Machine, which I know, is not allowed to talk about. But anyways, I still thank people from tonymac



Close this thread please.

 

[khe91]

This is the Ethernet Card that I've been using for several months now without a problem: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106033

It's the Intel® Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter that uses the Intel® 82574L Chipset. You can use the original OS X driver with a slight modification. It's the Intel82574L.kext located in the PlugIns folder of IONetworkingFamily.kext in /System/Library/Extensions.

You just have to change the Intel82574L.kext Info.plist here:

<key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key>
<string>0x104b8086 0x10f68086</string>
<key>IOPCISecondaryMatch</key>
<string>0x00008086 0x00000000</string>

Change to only this:

<key>IOPCIMatch</key>
<string>0x10d38086 0x104b8086 0x10f68086</string>

Hope this helps,

Dil83

Didn't work for me after I changed the plist and repaired permissions on 10.8.3.
My Intel® Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter has the PCI id 0x10d38086, 82574L chipset, but the kext don't loads and no Ethernet found.
Did you change also something else to make it work ?

Thanks,

Karsten

 

[Dil83]

Didn't work for me after I changed the plist and repaired permissions on 10.8.3.
My Intel® Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter has the PCI id 0x10d38086, 82574L chipset, but the kext don't loads and no Ethernet found.
Did you change also something else to make it work ?

Thanks,

Karsten

I didn't have to change anything else, but I may not have been clear about how to edit the plist.

Make sure to completely remove these two lines from the plist:

<key>IOPCISecondaryMatch</key>
<string>0x00008086 0x00000000</string>

And also change:

<key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key>

To this:

<key>IOPCIMatch</key>

Then just add your device/vendor id 0x10d38086 to finish:

<key>IOPCIMatch</key>
<string>0x10d38086 0x104b8086 0x10f68086</string>

Save the plist and make sure to repair permissions AND rebuild kernel cache. I personally use Kext Wizard to repair permissions and rebuild kernel cache. Google it and you will find it.

After you restart, you may also have to go System Preferences/Network and click the "+" button to add the new interface.

Dil83

 

[khe91]

I didn't have to change anything else, but I may not have been clear about how to edit the plist.

Make sure to completely remove these two lines from the plist:

<key>IOPCISecondaryMatch</key>
<string>0x00008086 0x00000000</string>

And also change:

<key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key>

To this:

<key>IOPCIMatch</key>

Then just add your device/vendor id 0x10d38086 to finish:

<key>IOPCIMatch</key>
<string>0x10d38086 0x104b8086 0x10f68086</string>

Save the plist and make sure to repair permissions AND rebuild kernel cache.

After you restart, you may also have to go System Preferences/Network and click the "+" button to add the new interface.

Dil83

That is exactly what I did, still is kext is not loaded and no interface available to add ...

 

[Dil83]

That is exactly what I did, still is kext is not loaded and no interface available to add ...

Look at the Original thread here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/network/3748-intel-gigabit-ct-desktop-adapter.html

These are the instructions I followed. I'm also on 10.8.3 working perfectly. The EXPI9301CT and EXPI9301CTBLK are both the exact same card.

If you've done the edits correctly, then try booting using UseKernelCache=No to force all the kexts to load.

Dil83

 

[khe91]

Look at the Original thread here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/network/3748-intel-gigabit-ct-desktop-adapter.html
Dil83

Seams its a problem with my mainboard. Also the Sonnet PCIe Ethernetcard and the HP NC360T don't works with it.
And in the original thread other users wrote that the card don't works with newer chipsets and the original Apple driver ...

 

[Dil83]

Seams its a problem with my mainboard. Also the Sonnet PCIe Ethernetcard and the HP NC360T don't works with it.
And in the original thread other users wrote that the card don't works with newer chipsets and the original Apple driver ...

I just changed my NIC to an Intel Pro 1000 PT Dual Port Server Adapter: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106014

It works out of the box with the original OS X kext with zero modifications.

I've read that WOL doesn't work properly with the original OS X kext, but I don't need that functionality.

You can find it on amazon or ebay for half that price or less.

Dil83

EDIT: Nevermind, the HP NC360T is the exact same adapter........