I just got a v2 unit with the Realtek 8169 NICs, unfortunately they still seem to have a problem.
Pretty simple test, with no load required.
Run Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Live using a USB stick.
OS will load, network will work. Shutdown system, nic will be disabled on power up. No load at all on gpu or cpu or nic while in the live ubuntu 26.04 session.
Next test
Start the Installation process of Proxmox VE 9.1
Start the installation of Proxmox VE 9.1 using a usb stick. At the agreement window, select cancel and reboot. Nics will work.
Start the installation of Proxmox VE 9.1 again, at the agreement window, hit the power button to power off. Nics will be disabled at that point.
Next test
Actually install Proxmox VE 9.1
Complete the installation of Proxmox VE 9.1
Reboot
NICs will work
Once back in, do a shutdown
NICs will not work after that.
In all instances hitting the power button to power on does not fix the issue.
The only way to correct the issue is the pull the power cable out and drain the power.
For me, I pull the power cable, then hit the power button which does a quick led flash (which seems to drain residual power), then plug the power cable back and then hit the power button again. You will then see the NIC port do a quick network activity blink and the NICs will be working again.
Flashing to GTRPRO7 did not fix the issue.
So using Ubuntu 26.04 and Proxmox VE 9.1 and VE 9.1.9 it seems if you power off the system, the NICs are in a state which can not be brought back online without having to physically pull power to reset its state. This sounds similiar to the Intel NIC issue, but without load.
I have not load tested the iGPU to see if that triggers any issues with the NICs, but I have been load testing the CPUs (100% across all cores) for the past 12 hours and the NICs seems to be functioning. So it looks like you just can’t shutdown the system otherwise you will lose the NICs.
