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Hi ZimaOS team,I’m trying to run ZimaOS on new hardware and I’m hitting a repeatable network issue, even though the onboard network adapter is on your published compatibility list. I’ve also paid for the lifetime upgrade, so I’m keen to get this resolved and keep ZimaOS as an option on this machine instead of giving up on it.
Hardware:
Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming B850M-PLUS WIFI7 (AMD B650 chipset, micro-ATX)
Onboard NIC: Realtek 2.5Gb Ethernet (single RJ45 LAN port on the rear I/O)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 8700G (using the integrated GPU only, no discrete GPU in this box)
RAM: 64 GB DDR5
System drive: 512 GB NVMe
According to your “ZimaCube & ZimaOS Compatible Network Adapters” information, the Realtek 2.5GbE controller on this board is listed as supported / OK to use with ZimaOS. That compatibility was one of the main reasons I chose this motherboard, and because I have paid for the lifetime licence I would like to actually be able to use ZimaOS on this hardware.
ZimaOS install behaviour:
This is important: the failure is in the second stage of the installation, when the system continues from disk without the USB.
The process I follow is:
1. Download the latest ZimaOS installer image from your official site.
2. Write it to a USB stick using Balena Etcher.
3. Boot the machine from the USB and start the ZimaOS installer.
4. The first stage of the installer appears to run correctly. It copies whatever it needs to the NVMe and then prompts to remove the USB drive and continue.
5. I remove the USB drive as instructed and let the machine boot from the NVMe so that the installation can continue / complete from the installed system.
At this point, the second stage of the install (the part that runs after the USB has been removed and the system continues from the NVMe) does not complete properly because there is no network. It clearly expects to bring up the network interface, get an IP, and then continue the installation or provisioning, but the network interface never comes up, never gets an address, and the process cannot finish. As a result, ZimaOS never reaches a point where it is available on the network with a working web UI.
Because of this, I have currently put Unraid back on the NVMe so I can use the machine day to day, but I am willing to repeat the ZimaOS install again to gather whatever logs and outputs you need from that second-stage failure.
What happens on the network side:
Whenever I run through this process with ZimaOS:
• The router never shows a DHCP lease for the ZimaOS installation.
• I cannot access ZimaOS from any other device on the LAN (no web UI, no ping, nothing found on a subnet scan).
• On the local console during the second stage (after booting from NVMe with the USB removed), running “ip a” shows either only the loopback interface, or an Ethernet-style interface with no carrier and no IP address assigned.
• There is no indication that the Realtek 2.5GbE interface has successfully come up, sent a DHCP request, or obtained an IP address, which means the installer cannot complete whatever online steps it needs to finish.
What I have tried so far:
• Multiple known-good Ethernet cables.
• Multiple switch/router ports.
• BIOS/UEFI checked to confirm onboard LAN is enabled.
• Disabled any unusual network-related options in BIOS (no MAC filtering, no odd PXE/boot ROM settings).
• Several completely fresh ZimaOS install attempts from newly written USB sticks (same behaviour every time at the second stage of the install).
• Booted several other operating systems on exactly the same hardware and drive:
• Proxmox
• Unraid (which is what the system is currently running)
• Kubuntu
In all of those other operating systems the onboard Realtek 2.5GbE NIC works immediately: link/activity LEDs behave as expected, the router assigns an IP via DHCP, and the machine is reachable on the network without any special driver work. So the physical NIC, the cabling and the switch/router ports are all confirmed good. The only environment where the NIC fails to come up and obtain an address is ZimaOS, and because of that the second stage of your install cannot complete.
Checks inside ZimaOS:
When I am in the second stage (booted from NVMe, USB removed) I have done some basic checks from the console:
• “ip a” to see what interfaces ZimaOS detects and whether any enp*/eth* interface ever shows carrier or an IP address.
• Looked at boot messages (dmesg) for obvious errors or warnings related to Ethernet, Realtek, or the r8169 driver.
So far I haven’t seen anything that clearly explains why the interface is not being brought up or why no IP is being assigned, but I may not be looking in the right log files or with the right filters for ZimaOS specifically.
What I’m asking:
Because this Realtek 2.5GbE NIC is on your approved / compatible list and I have paid for the ZimaOS lifetime licence, I am trying to understand whether:
1. There is a regression or missing driver/module in the current ZimaOS image that affects this particular Realtek 2.5GbE implementation on the ASUS TUF Gaming B850M-PLUS WIFI7, especially during the second-stage install that depends on network, or
2. There is a known workaround (for example a specific kernel parameter, module option, or manual configuration step for this NIC under ZimaOS) that I should apply before or during installation so that the network comes up and the second stage can complete.
I am happy to reinstall ZimaOS again and provide detailed logs and command outputs from that second stage to help diagnose this. For example, I can supply:
• lspci -nn output showing the exact PCI ID for the Realtek controller.
• Full “ip a” output under ZimaOS at the point the installer is stuck.
• Relevant dmesg output filtered for Ethernet / Realtek / r8169.
• Any other specific commands or log files you would like from the ZimaOS console at that stage.
If you can let me know exactly what information would be most useful, I will run the installer again, capture that data, and post it here.
I would really like to get ZimaOS working reliably on this machine and continue using my lifetime licence on this hardware, especially as the onboard Realtek 2.5GbE on this ASUS board is explicitly listed as supported. Any guidance on how to get the NIC fully working under ZimaOS, or confirmation that this is a known issue/regression you are already tracking, would be very much appreciated.