Intel I211 on Monterey

[Shaneee]

Thanks to donatengit AppleIGB now works correctly on Monterey enabling the Intel I211 chip for LAN. Stability issues and wake from sleep seem to be corrected.

https://github.com/donatengit/AppleIGB

Note though. On 12.3 (21E5196i) beta the chip is detected OOB without any kext injection using Apple's DriverKit. Although this is great news unfortunately it's in the early phase from Apple and while the chip is detected and reported correctly it doesn't function and crashes the whole system requiring a force reboot. We don't know if they will keep working on this and fix the issues.

 

[Tyoma]

Confirmed working

 

[Aledky91]

This is the replacement for the SmallTreeIntel kext? I'm still in big sur... can I go to monterey now?

Thanks a lot
Have a nice day

 

[Edhawk]

@Aledky91 Yes, as long as you are not using an MSI motherboard.

 

[muscledman94]

Is there a generated Kext file available. That would be helpful

 

[Edhawk]

Here - https://github.com/donatengit/AppleIGB/releases/tag/beta

 

[madvinegar]

Is this kext better to use with Big Sur as well?

 

[Bansaku]

Oh goodie, looks like I have a project this weekend!

 

[gmork]

The new AppleIG is not working properly yet on Gigabyte x570 Aorus Pro. After booting everything is fine. Tried a couple of speedtests. All ok.
But after like 5 mins or so all traffic suddenly stops. I'm om Monterey 12.2 with OpenCOre 0.77. All kext is up-to-date.

 

[Carniphage]

The new AppleIG is not working properly yet on Gigabyte x570 Aorus Pro. After booting everything is fine. Tried a couple of speedtests. All ok.
But after like 5 mins or so all traffic suddenly stops. I'm om Monterey 12.2 with OpenCOre 0.77. All kext is up-to-date.

I have an Aorus 570i and I am seeing something similar. It looks like it is working, but randomly cuts out.

 

[Arrakis]

I tested under Monterey 12.2.1 but does not work for my Intel I210.

 

[Aledky91]

Here - https://github.com/donatengit/AppleIGB/releases/tag/beta

Can it be tested in bigsur or is it only valid for monterey? I want to make sure it works fine with my pc. In case it works well... I can now update to monterey.

 

[Edhawk]

No reason why you can't add the AppleIGB kext to your system in Big Sur to test the kext.

Just make sure you disable your current Ethernet kext in the config.plist and then add a new entry in the config for the replacement kext.
EDIT:
I just checked and the kext is set to work in Monterey 12.1 and newer.
AppleIGB.kext/Contents/Info.plist

So this version of the kext won't work in Big Sur.

 

[Cyberdevs]

I know it's off topic but since people were asking for AppleIGB compatibility for Big Sur I just complied it for Big Sur for anyone who's interested so please test it and let me know if it works. I tested the kext on both Monterey and Big Sur and it seems to be working fine.

Spoiler: kextstat on Big Sur

83 0 0 0x64000 0x64000 com.amdosx.driver.AppleIGB (5.7.2) 2CB064D8-B6D5-39D8-9FC0-F08C6E904DCA <47 14 6 5 3 1>

 

[Cyberdevs]

Upon further tests I realized that the connection isn't stable on Big Sur, the connection dropped after few hours and I had to reboot the system.

 

[coucx]

work on Monterey 12.2.1 ?

 

[Edhawk]

Yes it works on Monterey.

 

[Aledky91]

EDIT:
Yesterday the connection worked perfectly. Today I have been less than 1 hour and it has already failed several times. Big mistake on my part to update to monterey... now I don't know what to do since going back to bigsur means installing everything again.

I don't recommend upgrading if you depend on the SmallTree kext.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have installed version 12.2.1 and it works perfectly with this kext. My motherboard is gigabyte aorus ultra gaming x470 V1.0.
I have noticed that now the startup works faster. At the moment everything is perfect.

Thank you so much for everything

 

[Aledky91]

Yesterday the connection worked perfectly. Today I have been less than 1 hour and it has already failed several times. Big mistake on my part to update to monterey... now I don't know what to do since going back to bigsur means installing everything again.
I don't recommend upgrading if you depend on the SmallTree kext.

 

[Edhawk]

The other option is to use a compatible PCIe NIC, while the Ethernet issues are sorted out on Monterey. There are a few Intel PCIe Ethernet cards that work in Monterey, with exiting kexts as shown below:

Intel Kexts and chipsets:
Below are three old ethernet kext with details of the controllers supported in each kext:

• AppleIntelE1000.kext
  
  • Supported chipsets 82540, 82541, 82542, 82543, 82544, 82545, 82546, 82547
• AppleIntelE1000e.kext
  
  • Supported chipsets 82571, 82572, 82573, 82574, 82578, 82579, 82583, ICH8, ICH9, ICH10, 80003ES2, and others.
• AppleIGB.kext
  
  • Supported chipsets 82575, 82576, 82580, i350, dh89xxcc

Just find an Intel NIC with a supported chipset and you will have full 1GB ethernet back on your Monterey setup.

Here is a link to an Intel NIC using the 82574L chipset on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01H6O7X0W/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?pd_rd_i=B01H6O7UZ0&pd_rd_w=mUACb&pf_rd_p=828203ef-618e-4303-a028-460d6b615038&pd_rd_wg=jJeGg&pf_rd_r=BMR8KMETKQJ2PDTS0BMQ&pd_rd_r=4ad7cbec-70af-4bb2-bf40-f7470a5d78ac&s=computers&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEySTEwNEhPNE05QUhaJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTY1MjA2MUw2RTVUMkNJUDJQQSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDU5NTM2MlExRVFOSVVDSkpRTyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbCZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

Intel NIC's cost between £30-£40 on Amazon UK, like the one above.
You may even have an old Realtek card stashed away, which should work in macOS with the correct kext. These tend to be less expensive than the Intel cards costing around £10-£15 if you look to purchase one.

I had a pair of old HP Server PCIe NICs sitting in a box unused, which work in MacOS Monterey with the addition of a third-party kext (AppleIntelE1000e.kext).