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September 3rd, 2024Fleetwood Mac: What’s the Difference Between These Two Compact Discs?
August 26th, 2026
The Two CDs
The 1994 West German Target CD
The first CD is the West German Target pressing.
The most immediately noticeable feature is the black spine, along with the distinctive Target-style disc design associated with these early CD releases.
The disc contains the original 11-track album:
-
- Monday Morning
- Warm Ways
- Blue Letter
- Rhiannon
- Over My Head
- Crystal
- Say You Love Me
- Landslide
- World Turning
- Sugar Daddy
- I’m So Afraid
The disc was manufactured in West Germany and is one of the early Target-style compact discs associated with the original CD era.
There is something rather special about these early Target CDs. They belong to the first generation of commercially produced CDs and have become collectible in their own right.
But I wasn’t interested in the Target CD simply because it looks good.
I wanted to know how it sounds.
The 2004 Edition
The second disc is the 2004 remastered and expanded edition.
And immediately there is another obvious physical difference.
The spine is clear rather than black.
But the differences go much further than that.
The 2004 edition contains 16 tracks, rather than the original 11.
The five additional recordings are:
- Jam, No. 2
- Say You Love Me
- Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)
- Over My Head
- Blue Letter
So before we even listen to the two CDs, we already know that the 2004 edition is more than a simple reissue.
It is an expanded and remastered edition.
But what happened to the original 11 tracks?
Let’s Rip the CDs
Rather than relying on my ears alone, I wanted to make this as objective as possible.
Both CDs were ripped using Exact Audio Copy (EAC), using secure extraction, and saved as lossless FLAC files.
The EAC results were then checked against AccurateRip and the CUETools Database.
The results were excellent.
1994 West German Target
All 11 tracks were reported as accurately ripped.
No errors occurred.
2004 Edition
All 16 tracks were also reported as accurately ripped.
No errors occurred.
The 2004 tracks had an AccurateRip confidence of 200, providing extremely strong confirmation of the extraction.
This means we weren’t comparing two recordings made from a CD player.
We were comparing the actual digital audio data extracted from the CDs.
The First Track: Monday Morning
I started with the opening track, Monday Morning.
And this is where things immediately became interesting.
The 1994 CD has a peak level of approximately:
-2.47 dBFS
The 2004 version reaches:
-0.10 dBFS
So the 2004 version is getting extremely close to digital full scale.
But peak level alone doesn’t tell the whole story.
The average level is even more revealing.
The 1994 version measures approximately –20.6 dBFS RMS.
The 2004 version measures approximately –13.2 dBFS RMS.
That’s roughly a 7.3 dB increase in average level.
In simple terms, the 2004 version is substantially louder.
But I wanted to know whether that was the whole story.
Is the 2004 Version Simply Louder?
This was the obvious question.
If the 2004 CD was simply the 1994 mastering with the volume turned up, reducing the 2004 version by the appropriate amount should make the two recordings essentially identical.
It doesn’t.
I level-matched the two versions, removing the large difference in overall volume, and then compared them again.
There were still measurable differences.
That means the 2004 version isn’t simply the 1994 master with the volume increased.
The mastering has changed.
The Dynamic Range Difference
One of the measurements we can use to examine this is crest factor — the difference between the average level of a recording and its peaks.
A higher crest factor generally means greater separation between the average level and the peaks.
For Monday Morning:
1994: approximately 17.6 dB
2004: approximately 13.1 dB
That’s a difference of approximately 4.5 dB.
And this wasn’t unique to Monday Morning.
When all 11 tracks appearing on both CDs were analysed, 10 of the 11 tracks showed a reduction in crest factor on the 2004 version.
That is a significant pattern.
It tells us that the 2004 mastering has generally been made louder and denser.
It does not, by itself, mean that the CD is clipped. High peak levels and clipping are two different things.
The Whole Album Tells the Story
This is where the comparison becomes much more convincing.
Rather than looking at one song, I analysed all 11 tracks that appear on both CDs.
The average RMS difference across the album is approximately:
5.3 dB louder on the 2004 edition
Every single one of the 11 common tracks is louder on the 2004 CD.
The graph makes the pattern very easy to see.
The 2004 version is consistently louder across the original album.
But What About the EQ?
This was the next question.
Perhaps the 2004 mastering was simply compressed and made louder.
To test that, I removed the volume difference by level-matching the two versions.
Then I compared their frequency spectra.
And again, the results showed that the two CDs aren’t identical.
The broad album-wide differences were approximately:
| Frequency range | 2004 compared with 1994 |
|---|---|
| 20–60 Hz | -1.6 dB |
| 60–120 Hz | -0.8 dB |
| 120–250 Hz | +0.7 dB |
| 250–500 Hz | +0.7 dB |
| 500 Hz–1 kHz | +1.2 dB |
| 1–2 kHz | +0.7 dB |
| 2–4 kHz | +1.2 dB |
| 4–8 kHz | +1.7 dB |
| 8–16 kHz | +1.6 dB |
| 16–20 kHz | +0.9 dB |
The important point isn’t each individual number.
It’s the overall shape.
After the overall volume difference was removed, the 2004 mastering still showed less energy in the very lowest frequencies and more energy through much of the midrange and upper frequencies.
So the tonal balance has changed too.
A Picture Tells a Thousand Words
Put the two discs next to each other and the physical differences are immediately obvious.
The black spine and clear spine are only the beginning.
The artwork, disc design, catalogue information, packaging and track content all provide clues that these aren’t simply two identical CDs from different production runs.
But the really interesting difference is something you can’t see by looking at the discs.
It’s in the audio data.
Eleven Tracks, Same Conclusion
The strongest evidence comes from looking at all 11 tracks common to both editions.
Every track is louder on the 2004 CD.
Ten out of eleven have a lower crest factor.
The frequency analysis also shows a different tonal balance after level matching.
This means we can confidently say that the 2004 edition is not simply the 1994 mastering with the volume turned up.
There has been a change in the mastering.
And Then There Are the Five Bonus Tracks
The 2004 edition adds five additional recordings.
These aren’t relevant when comparing the mastering of the original 11 tracks, because there is no corresponding recording on the 1994 disc.
But they are still an important part of the comparison.
The 2004 CD therefore offers something the 1994 Target doesn’t:
additional material.
So Which One Is Better?
Now we get to the difficult question.
Which CD sounds better?
The measurements can tell us what changed.
They can’t tell us what you will personally prefer.
The 1994 West German Target
- Lower overall mastering levels
- Greater peak-to-average separation
- More headroom
- A different tonal balance
- The original 11-track album
The 2004 Edition
- A substantially higher average level
- Peaks much closer to digital full scale
- Reduced peak-to-average dynamics on most tracks
- A different tonal balance
- Five additional recordings
If you prefer a mastering with greater dynamic headroom and less aggressive level management, the 1994 Target is likely to be the more interesting choice.
If you prefer a louder, more forward presentation and want the bonus material, the 2004 edition has obvious advantages.
The Conclusion
So, what’s the difference between these two compact discs?
Quite a lot.
It started with something as simple as noticing that one had a black spine and the other had a clear spine.
But once the discs were ripped and analysed, the differences became much more substantial.
The 2004 edition isn’t simply the 1994 CD with the volume turned up.
Across all 11 tracks common to both editions, the 2004 version is approximately 5.3 dB louder on average.
Ten of the 11 tracks show reduced crest factor.
And after level-matching the recordings, there are still measurable differences in frequency balance.
In other words, these are different masterings.
The 1994 West German Target represents a much more conservatively mastered presentation, with greater peak-to-average separation.
The 2004 edition offers a louder, more forward mastering, a different tonal balance and five additional recordings.
So the answer to the question I started with is:
The difference isn’t just the spine.
The two CDs may contain the same Fleetwood Mac album, but they don’t contain exactly the same sound.
And now that we’ve got the measurements, the question becomes a much more interesting one:
Which one do you prefer?
Sri Lanka 2025 – The Photos Are Finally Ready!
August 18th, 2026It has only taken us 18 months…
Yes, you read that correctly.
We travelled to Sri Lanka in January and February 2025, and I can finally say:
The photographs are done!
Don’t want to read all the technical waffle? No problem. You can jump straight to the Andysworld! Holiday Photograph Album and select Qatar & Sri Lanka, and/or visit YouTube to watch lots of clips, I rendered into a 32 minute video, just in case your tempted to visit Sri Lanka!
Youtube video is here –
After more than a year of sitting on the original collection, sorting through photographs, removing the rubbish, organising everything, converting file formats, writing scripts and re-coding the website album, the Sri Lanka 2025 photographs are finally ready and published on Andysworld!
And it turns out that getting a holiday photo album published is considerably more complicated than simply clicking the “Upload” button.
1,500+ Photographs and Videos
When we came home from Sri Lanka, we had managed to accumulate more than 1,500 photographs and videos.
And all of them were taken using just two phones:
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
No SLR.
No DSLR.
No expensive lenses.
No professional photography equipment.
Just two iPhones.
And between them, they managed to capture more than 1,500 photographs and videos during our Sri Lankan adventure.
Looking back through them, I’m genuinely impressed by just how good some of the photographs are.
Of course, not all of them made the final cut.
In fact, the original collection of more than 1,500 eventually became a much more manageable collection of around 1,000 photographs to work through.
First Stop – iCloud
The first challenge was simply getting everything together.
The photographs had been taken on two different iPhones and stored in iCloud, so the first job was to download the complete collection.
From there, everything was moved onto our Synology NAS, giving us a proper local copy of the photographs and videos.
That gave us somewhere sensible to work from and, importantly, somewhere to keep the original collection safely stored.
Synology Photos
Once everything was on the NAS, the photographs were loaded into Synology Photos.
This is where the serious sorting began.
Lindsey worked through the collection and organised the photographs by location, while at the same time identifying the photographs that simply weren’t worth keeping.
And there were plenty of those.
- Duplicates
- Blurry photographs
- Accidental photographs
- People blinking
- People looking the wrong way
- Photographs that were almost identical
- Photographs where we still don’t know why we took them
And then there was the wildlife.
If an elephant moves its trunk slightly, that’s obviously a completely different photograph.
Apparently.
At one point we had an impressive collection of photographs of essentially the same elephant.
Eventually, the great Sri Lankan photograph cull was complete.
What remained was our definitive collection.
Then I Had To Download Them Again!
With the final collection selected, the photographs were downloaded from the Synology onto a PC for the final preparation.
And this is where things got a little more technical.
The iPhones had produced photographs in HEIC format.
For Andysworld, I wanted standard JPG files.
So the next step was:
HEIC -> JPG
But that wasn’t enough.
I also wanted a consistent file naming convention.
That meant dealing with the various possible file extensions:
.HEIC
.JPEG
.jpeg
.JPG
.jpgEverything needed to end up as:
.jpg
And the filenames themselves needed to be lowercase.
So something like:
SriLanka-IMG_1234.JPEGbecame:
srilanka-img_1234.jpgPowerShell and Python To The Rescue
There was absolutely no way I was going to manually rename hundreds of photographs.
That’s what scripting is for.
I used a combination of PowerShell and Python to automate the repetitive parts of the process.
The scripts handled the file preparation, including:
- Converting HEIC photographs to JPG
- Renaming JPEG files
- Standardising file extensions
- Converting filenames to lowercase
- Applying a consistent naming convention
- Preparing the final collection for the website
It’s a simple rule:
If you have to do something hundreds of times, write a script.
And Finally – Andysworld
With the photographs finally sorted, culled, converted and renamed, there was one final job.
Build the album.
These photographs aren’t simply being dumped into a generic photo-sharing service.
They’re being added to the custom album system on Andysworld.
That meant going back into the code and creating the Sri Lanka 2025 album.
The photographs had to be incorporated into the various locations, the album structure had to be created, and the website code had to be updated.
Then came the testing.
- Check the thumbnails
- Check the full-size photographs
- Check the navigation
- Check the location structure
- Check the album layout
- Check everything works on different devices
And finally…
Upload everything to Andysworld.
Why Go To All This Trouble?
Why not just upload the photographs to Facebook, Google Photos or one of the many other photo-sharing services?
Because that’s not really what I wanted.
These are our memories of a fantastic trip, and I wanted to create a proper photographic record that we could come back to in the future.
The Synology gives us the local archive.
Synology Photos gives us the organisation and sorting.
Lindsey helped turn more than 1,500 photographs into a definitive collection.
PowerShell and Python dealt with the repetitive technical work.
And Andysworld gives me complete control over the final album.
It was considerably more work than simply uploading a few photographs.
But it’s also considerably more satisfying.
18 Months Later…
The trip itself lasted a few weeks.
The photographs took seconds to capture.
Getting them ready for publication took considerably longer.
But finally, 18 months later, the job is done.
More than 1,500 photographs and videos have been downloaded, sorted, culled, organised, converted and processed.
The rubbish has gone.
The good photographs have survived.
The filenames are lowercase.
The HEIC files have become JPGs.
The custom album has been coded.
And the finished collection is now sitting on Andysworld.
So, after all this time…
Welcome Back To Sri Lanka!
The Sri Lanka 2025 photographs are finally ready.
And yes, somewhere in that collection there are still probably more photographs of elephants than anyone really needs.
But that’s what holidays are all about.
Memories, photographs, stories…
…and occasionally taking the same photograph twenty times because the elephant moved its trunk.
Sri Lanka 2025 – finally finished, finally published, and finally ready to enjoy.
Welcome to our Sri Lanka 2025 photo album on Andysworld!
Fortnite Sprites — Got to Catch Them All!
August 14th, 2026
Wow… five months since my last blog post! ?!
I know, I know. Five months is a long time between posts, but I’ve been keeping myself rather busy behind the scenes. So, when I finally sat down to write something, I thought I’d pick a topic that’s a little more… topical.
And what could possibly be more topical than Fortnite Sprites?
Yep — those little things.
Got to catch them all!
If you’ve played Fortnite recently, you’ll know that Sprites have become another little part of the Fortnite experience. They’re small, they’re cute, they’re useful… and, inevitably, you start wanting to catch them all.
It reminds me of Pokémon.
You’ve got to catch them all!
Only this time, rather than wandering around the Pokémon world throwing Poké Balls at everything that moves, you’re running around Fortnite looking for Sprites.
And, of course, once you find one, you can’t just leave it there.
You have to catch it.
Why am I talking about Fortnite?
Well, partly because it’s something completely different from my usual posts.
Those who know me will know that most of my blog posts tend to involve VMware, Proxmox, OpenNebula, Linux, networking, storage, scripting or some other form of infrastructure that inevitably involves staring at a terminal window.
Sometimes it’s nice to write about something that doesn’t involve a command prompt.
And let’s be honest — Fortnite is fun.
There’s something strangely satisfying about exploring the map, finding things you weren’t necessarily looking for and discovering another Sprite along the way.
Five months later…
It’s actually made me realise just how quickly time disappears.
Five months ago I was writing my previous blog post, and since then there’s been a whole load of projects, changes, experiments and general IT madness going on.
I’ve still got plenty of technical subjects I’d like to write about, particularly some of the work I’ve been doing around infrastructure automation and self-service.
But for now…
I’m going hunting.
Sprites, here I come.
? Got to catch them all!
And perhaps, after another five-month gap, I’ll even write another blog post before Christmas. ?
#Fortnite #Sprites #Gaming #GotToCatchThemAll
OOONO Co-Driver NO2 – I purchased it ! – It’s Rubbish! – Refunded
August 14th, 2026
This should be called OOONO I purchased it !!!!
So lets just start by stating Amazon UK
WOULD NOT PUBLISH MY REVIEW OF THIS PRODUCT which I returned for a REFUND! – but I can review it here!
Because it’s crap and a “scam” in my opinion! They state
“We could not post your review because it does not meet our community guidelines” – odd when so many other fake reviews, telling you how good it is!
it’s called the
OOONO Co-Driver NO2 (2024 model)
Social Media Hyped – Rubbish – Don’t Waste Your Money
So here’s the thing…
Amazon UK refused to publish this review — the exact one below — after I returned the product for a refund.
Apparently it “does not meet community guidelines.”
You can make your own mind up…
My rejected Amazon review:
So I was intrigued — so many TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube reviews — which I assume are clickbait and monetised.
It’s called Ooo No — because that’s what you say when you’ve wasted your money.
All these reviews on Amazon must be bots — because I genuinely don’t understand how this gets rated so highly.
Value for money? Waste of money.
Why is this even needed? You still have to pair it with your phone via Bluetooth and run the app! So why not just use Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps, or even an old-school TomTom with the PocketGPS database — far cheaper and far more accurate.
In use, it warns far too early about cameras, isn’t accurate, and even warns about cameras on the wrong side of the road.
Yes, it’s community-driven — but there’s clearly very little verification of camera positions.
I’ve used it over ~700 miles across villages, towns and cities:
- False warnings
- Cameras flagged where none exist
- Misses common mobile camera locations (compared to PocketGPS)
- Incorrect speed limits
I would give this zero stars if I could.
Final comment: £50 paid — complete waste of money.
Just use your phone. If it’s in a hands-free dock, run Waze — don’t waste your cash.
I’m returning this for a refund.
It’s a social media–driven scam in my opinion.
Product: OOONO Co-Driver NO2 (2024 model)
So there you go — that’s the review Amazon didn’t want you to read.
Take those 5? reviews with a pinch of salt…
Minisforum MS-A2 HOW TO: Fix the Failed to Update CPU#0 Microcode PSOD with ESXi 8.0.3i ESXi 8.0u3i
March 11th, 2026Minisforum MS-A2 HOW TO: Fix the Failed to Update CPU#0 Microcode PSOD with ESXi 8.0.3i ESXi 8.0u3i
HOW TO: Fix “Failed to update CPU#0 microcode” PSOD on ESXi 8.0.3i (Minisforum MS-A2)
In this guide from Hancock’s VMware Half Hour, I demonstrate how to fix the
Purple Screen of Death (PSOD) error:
“Failed to update CPU#0 microcode”
This issue occurs when installing or booting VMware ESXi 8.0 Update 3i (ESXi 8.0.3i)
on the Minisforum MS-A2 mini workstation.
ESXi 8.0.3i, released on 2 March 2026, includes security fixes for
CVE-2025-15467, an OpenSSL vulnerability. If you are running ESXi and have not
patched yet, you should update as soon as possible.
However, this update also includes new AMD CPU microcode updates, which currently
appear to trigger a PSOD during boot on the Minisforum MS-A2 platform.
The Problem
When booting the ESXi 8.0.3i installer (for example from Ventoy) on the
Minisforum MS-A2, the system may fail during boot with the following PSOD message:
The system has found a problem on your machine and cannot continue. Failed to update CPU#0 microcode
This prevents ESXi from completing the boot process or installer launch.
Why This Happens
The ESXi 8.0.3i update includes newer AMD microcode updates intended to improve
security and stability. Unfortunately, these updates currently appear to be
incompatible with the MS-A2 platform, which results in the microcode update failing
during boot.
When the microcode update fails, ESXi halts the boot process and displays the PSOD.
The Workaround
Until VMware releases a permanent fix, the issue can be worked around by using a
kernel boot option during ESXi startup.
Steps to Fix
- Boot the ESXi 8.0.3i installer.
- When the ESXi boot screen appears, press Shift + O.
- This opens the ESXi boot options.
- Add the required kernel option shown in the video.
- Press Enter to continue booting.
With the boot option applied, ESXi should boot successfully on the Minisforum MS-A2.
Video Walkthrough
Watch the full walkthrough below where I demonstrate the issue and apply the workaround.
What You Will Learn
- What changed in ESXi 8.0.3i
- Why AMD microcode updates trigger a PSOD
- How to reproduce the issue during boot
- The Shift + O ESXi boot workaround
- How to confirm the fix works successfully
Credits
Huge thanks to members of the VMware community who investigated and documented this issue:
- Stephen Wagner
- Patrick Kernstock
- vAndu
- Martin Gustafsson
Their research and testing helped identify the workaround shown in this video.
Resources:
Support My Work
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Follow Hancock’s VMware Half Hour
- YouTube – YouTube Channel
- Twitter – Twitter
- LinkedIn – LinkedIn
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HOW TO: Create a Custom ESXi 9.0 ISO with the Realtek Driver Fling
March 1st, 2026
HOW TO: Create a Custom VCF 9.0 VMware ESXi 9.0 ISO with Realtek Driver (PowerCLI)
Author: Andy – Andysworld.org.uk
Good news for homelab enthusiasts! We finally have a working Realtek network driver for ESXi 9.0. In this guide, I’ll show you step-by-step how to create a customised VMware ESXi 9.0 ISO for VCF 9.0 with the Realtek driver injected (slipstreamed) using PowerShell 7 and VMware PowerCLI.
Why This Matters
If you’re running ESXi in a homelab environment using consumer hardware, Mini PCs, or whitebox builds, Realtek NIC support has historically been a challenge. With the latest Realtek driver available, we can now build a custom ESXi 9.0 ISO that works perfectly in lab environments.
This process allows you to:
- Inject the Realtek driver into the ESXi 9.0 image profile
- Create a bootable ISO installer
- Export an offline ZIP bundle
Important Disclaimer
ESXi 9.0 depot files require a valid Broadcom contract. I do not distribute depot files, customised ISOs, or any Broadcom software. Please obtain required files through official channels.
Prerequisites
- PowerShell 7
- VMware PowerCLI (latest version)
- Python 3.12
- VMware ESXi 9.0 Depot ZIP
- VMware Realtek Driver ZIP
Method 1 – Manual Image Build (PowerCLI)
Step 1 – Load the ESXi Depot
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot .\VMware-ESXi-9.0.0.0.24755229-depot.zipStep 2 – Load the Realtek Driver Depot
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot .\VMware-Re-Driver_1.101.01-5vmw.800.1.0.20613240.zipStep 3 – List Available Image Profiles
Get-EsxImageProfile | Select NameStep 4 – Clone the Standard Profile
$newProfile = New-EsxImageProfile `
-CloneProfile 'ESXi-9.0.0-14755229-standard' `
-Name 'ESXi-9.0.0-14755229-standard-Realtek-nic' `
-Vendor "Andysworld.org.uk"
Step 5 – Inject the Realtek Driver
Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile $newProfile -SoftwarePackage "if-re"Step 6 – Export the Custom ISO
Export-ESXImageProfile -ImageProfile $newProfile -ExportToIso -FilePath "$($newProfile.Name).iso"Step 7 – Export the Offline Bundle
Export-ESXImageProfile -ImageProfile $newProfile -ExportToBundle -FilePath "$($newProfile.Name).zip"Step 8 – Verify Output
dirYou should now have both a customised ISO and ZIP bundle ready for deployment in your homelab.
Method 2 – Scripted Approach
If you prefer automation, you can use a PowerShell script to perform the entire process in one go. The script automates:
- Loading depot files
- Cloning image profiles
- Injecting the Realtek driver
- Exporting ISO and ZIP bundles
This method is ideal for repeat builds or lab rebuilds.
Who Is This For?
- Homelab enthusiasts
- VMware learners
- Mini PC / Whitebox ESXi users
- VCF 9.0 lab deployments
This guide is intended for lab and educational use only, not production environments.
Final Thoughts
Creating a custom ESXi image is a valuable skill for anyone running a VMware homelab. With the Realtek driver now available for ESXi 9.0, lab builders can continue using affordable hardware while staying current with VMware releases.
If you found this guide helpful, check out more VMware content here at Andysworld.org.uk.
HOW TO: Create a Custom ESXi 8.0 ISO with the Realtek Driver Fling
January 28th, 2026
In this post, we’re going to walk through how to create a customised VMware ESXi 8.0 ISO with the Realtek network driver injected. This is particularly useful for homelab users running ESXi on consumer or whitebox hardware where Realtek NICs are common.
With the release of the ESXi 8.0 Realtek Driver Fling, Realtek-based systems can once again be used for lab and learning environments without unsupported hacks.
What You Will Learn
- What ESXi depot files and image profiles are
- How to inject (slipstream) the Realtek driver into ESXi 8.0
- How to build a custom ESXi ISO and ZIP bundle
- Manual and scripted methods using PowerShell
Prerequisites
Before starting, ensure you have the following:
- PowerShell 7 (required)
- VMware PowerCLI (or VMware Cloud Foundation PowerCLI)
- Python 3.12
- ESXi 8.0 depot ZIP file
- Realtek Driver Fling ZIP file
Note: ESXi 8.0.3e and 8.0.3f depot files are publicly available. Later versions such as 8.0.3g and 8.0.3h require a valid Broadcom support contract. I do not distribute depot files or customised ISOs.
Method 1: Manual ISO Creation
Add the ESXi Depot
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot .\VMware-ESXi-8.0U3h-25067014-depot.zipAdd the Realtek Driver Depot
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot .\VMware-Re-Driver_1.101.01-5vmw.800.1.0.20613240.zipList Image Profiles
Get-EsxImageProfile | Select NameClone the Standard Profile
$newProfile = New-EsxImageProfile `
-CloneProfile 'ESXi-8.0U3h-25067014-standard' `
-Name 'ESXi-8.0U3h-25067014-standard-Realtek-nic' `
-Vendor "Hancock's VMware Half Hour"Inject the Realtek Driver
Add-EsxSoftwarePackage `
-ImageProfile $newProfile `
-SoftwarePackage "if-re"Export the Custom ISO
Export-ESXImageProfile `
-ImageProfile $newProfile `
-ExportToIso `
-FilePath "$($newProfile.Name).iso"Export the ZIP Bundle (Optional)
Export-ESXImageProfile `
-ImageProfile $newProfile `
-ExportToBundle `
-FilePath "$($newProfile.Name).zip"Method 2: Scripted Approach
If you prefer automation, a PowerShell script called Hancocks-VMware-Half-Hour-ESXi-Customizer1.ps1 is available from GitHub and automates the entire process.
As shown in the video, even scripts can break — troubleshooting is part of the learning process.
Installation and Verification
- Boot your ESXi host using the custom ISO
- Complete the ESXi installation
- Verify that the Realtek NIC is detected during install
If the driver has been injected correctly, the Realtek network adapter will be visible and usable within ESXi.
Important Notes
- I do not provide ESXi depot files
- I do not provide customised ESXi ISOs
- I have no rights to distribute Broadcom software
- This guide is intended for lab and homelab use only
Final Thoughts
This is a major step forward for the homelab community. With the Realtek Driver Fling, ESXi 8.0 is once again a viable option on affordable hardware.
Thanks for reading, and as always — happy virtualising!
Andy
Andysworld.org.uk
Minisforum MS-A2 HOW TO: Install the NEW Realtek driver on ESXi 9.0
January 14th, 2026
Minisforum MS-A2: How to Install the New Realtek Driver on VMware ESXi 9.0
Running VMware ESXi 9.0 on the Minisforum MS-A2 is a fantastic option for homelabs and edge deployments, but out of the box you may notice that not all Realtek network interfaces are detected.
In this guide, based on my latest episode of Hancock’s VMware Half Hour, I walk through installing the new Broadcom-compiled Realtek driver (available as an official Broadcom Fling) to unlock additional NIC support.
What This Guide Covers
- Why Realtek NICs are limited by default on ESXi 9.0
- Where to download the official Broadcom Fling driver
- Installing the driver using
esxcli - Rebooting safely and verifying NIC availability
Supported Realtek Network Adapters
The driver demonstrated in this guide supports the following Realtek PCIe devices:
- RTL8111 – 1GbE
- RTL8125 – 2.5GbE
- RTL8126 – 5GbE
- RTL8127 – 10GbE
Driver Installation Command
Once the driver ZIP has been copied to your ESXi datastore and the host is in maintenance mode, install it using:
esxcli software component apply -d path VMware-Re-Driver_1.101.00-5vmw.800.1.0.20613240.zipAfter installation, a reboot is required for the new network interfaces to become available.
Video Chapters
00:00 - Start 00:03 - Welcome to Hancock's VMware Half Hour 00:37 - Todays video - HOW TO Install Realtek driver on ESXi 9.0 00:55 - Broadcom Released the Realtek Driver fling in November 2025 01:55 - Minisforum MS-A2 - VCF 9.0 Homelab of the Year 2025 ! 02:26 - Available as a Broadcom Fling - Tech Preview - not for production 02:55 - I'm not a fan of Realtek let it be known! 03:11 - Go to Broadcom Fling Portal site to download - https://support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/productdownloads?subfamily=Flings&freeDownloads=true 03:22 - Download the driver don't forget to Accept the Agreement! 03:51 - Enable SSH on Host, and use WinSCP to copy to local datastore 04:31 - Whoops Zoom is broke again! 05:07 - Connect to host using SSH 05:22 - Use lspci to show PCI devices in the host 06:05 - Use grep - lspci | grep Realtek 07:01 - Install the driver using esxcli software component apply -d /VMware-Re-Driver_1.101.00-5vmw.800.1.0.20613240.zip 07:59 - A reboot is required, reboot the server 08:36 - Reboot server 09:20 - The reason for the 10th Outake ! 10:01 - Login to ESXi 9.0 using HTML Client 10:51 - Realtek driver is installed and network interfaces are available for use 11:07 - HenryChan1973 this video is for you! 12:23 - Thanks for Watching
Final Thoughts
This Broadcom Fling makes ESXi 8.0 far more usable on modern mini PCs like the Minisforum MS-A2, especially for homelabbers who rely on multi-gig Realtek networking.
Huge thanks to Henrychan1973 for their contribution and support.
If this guide helped you, consider subscribing on YouTube and checking out more VMware content on the blog.
– Andrew Hancock
Hancock’s VMware Half Hour
Minisforum MS-A2 HOW TO: Install the NEW Realtek driver on ESXi 8.0
January 11th, 2026
Minisforum MS-A2: How to Install the New Realtek Driver on VMware ESXi 8.0
Running VMware ESXi 8.0 on the Minisforum MS-A2 is a fantastic option for homelabs and edge deployments, but out of the box you may notice that not all Realtek network interfaces are detected.
In this guide, based on my latest episode of Hancock’s VMware Half Hour, I walk through installing the new Broadcom-compiled Realtek driver (available as an official Broadcom Fling) to unlock additional NIC support.
What This Guide Covers
- Why Realtek NICs are limited by default on ESXi 8.0
- Where to download the official Broadcom Fling driver
- Installing the driver using
esxcli - Rebooting safely and verifying NIC availability
Supported Realtek Network Adapters
The driver demonstrated in this guide supports the following Realtek PCIe devices:
- RTL8111 – 1GbE
- RTL8125 – 2.5GbE
- RTL8126 – 5GbE
- RTL8127 – 10GbE
Driver Installation Command
Once the driver ZIP has been copied to your ESXi datastore and the host is in maintenance mode, install it using:
esxcli software component apply -d path VMware-Re-Driver_1.101.00-5vmw.800.1.0.20613240.zipAfter installation, a reboot is required for the new network interfaces to become available.
Video Chapters
00:00 - Intro 00:06 - Welcome to Hancock's VMware Half Hour 00:31 - Today’s Video – Minisforum MS-A2 01:01 - Installing the ESXi Realtek Driver for ESXi 8.0 01:16 - Shoutout to member Henrychan1973! 02:03 - HTML Client view of network interfaces 03:00 - Broadcom engineering compiled a driver for ESXi 8.0 04:00 - Driver is available as a Broadcom Fling 05:00 - Download the driver from Broadcom Fling portal 05:44 - WinSCP – Copy driver ZIP to ESXi datastore 06:14 - Put host into maintenance mode 07:11 - Only three interfaces supported out of the box on MS-A2 07:16 - Start an SSH session using PuTTY 07:34 - Using lspci | grep Realtek 08:22 - Supported Realtek PCIe devices 08:35 - Installing the driver using esxcli 09:59 - Whoops! Typo! 10:37 - Can you spot it? 11:08 - Driver installed – reboot required 11:27 - Nano KVM issue accepting root password? 11:41 - Reboot via the GUI 12:30 - MS-A2 restarting 13:42 - Driver installed and Realtek interfaces available 14:54 - Thanks to Henrychan1973! 15:15 - Thanks for watching
Final Thoughts
This Broadcom Fling makes ESXi 8.0 far more usable on modern mini PCs like the Minisforum MS-A2, especially for homelabbers who rely on multi-gig Realtek networking.
Huge thanks to Henrychan1973 !!!
If this guide helped you, consider subscribing on YouTube and checking out more VMware content on the blog.
– Andrew Hancock
Hancock’s VMware Half Hour
Part 9: DIY UNRAID NAS – Dual 4TB NVMe Cache Upgrade with Live Btrfs RAID1 Rebalance Firmware Flash
January 7th, 2026
DIY UnRAID NAS – Part 9: NVMe Upgrades
In Part 9 of the DIY UnRAID NAS series, we finally tackle one of the most requested upgrades —
NVMe cache expansion.
This episode covers upgrading the UnRAID cache pool using Samsung 990 PRO 4TB NVMe SSDs,
walking through the hardware changes, UnRAID configuration, and the impact on performance.
What’s covered in Part 9
- Removing NVMe devices from PCI passthrough
- Rebooting and validating UnRAID hardware changes
- Why UnRAID is used instead of vSAN in the homelab
- Upgrading and rebalancing the NVMe cache pool
- Btrfs RAID1 behaviour and live rebalance
- Firmware considerations for Samsung 990 PRO NVMe drives
Why NVMe Matters in UnRAID
NVMe cache drives dramatically improve Docker, VM, and application performance in UnRAID.
With fast PCIe 4.0 NVMe devices, write amplification is reduced, cache flushes are faster,
and overall system responsiveness improves — especially under mixed workloads.
Unlike enterprise storage platforms, UnRAID allows flexible cache pool configurations,
making it ideal for homelab experimentation without vendor lock-in.
Hardware Used
- Samsung 990 PRO 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
- PCIe NVMe adapter cards
- DIY UnRAID NAS platform
Watch Part 9 on YouTube
? DIY UnRAID NAS – Part 9: NVMe Upgrades
Watch now on YouTube
Series Playlist
If you’re following the full build from the start, you can find the complete
DIY UnRAID NAS playlist here:
As always, thanks for watching, and if you’ve got questions about NVMe cache pools,
Btrfs behaviour, or UnRAID design decisions, drop them in the comments.
– Andy, Hancock’s VMware Half Hour
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