Full Specs

AMD Phenom II X4 955
Asus M4A87TD/USB3
8GB DDR3 Generic ( 4x2 )
WD Caviar Black Sata 6Gb/s 1Tb
Asus EAH3450 512MB

I got this procedure from another site but now I can't find it to give credit.

Needed.

1. ESX4i Install Iso. This one "VMware-VMvisor-Installer-4.1.0.update1-348481.x86_64.iso"
2. Attached oem.tgz copied onto USB drive.
3. Slax Linux 6.2.1 ( 200mb download from Slax website )

Steps.

1. Install ESXi. Once installed it will tell you it cannot find supported NIC.
2. Shutdown.
3. Insert USB drive and boot Slax CD.
4. Once booted into Slax ( I had to select VESA 1024X768 ) copy the oem.tgz from flash drive to Hypervisor 2 partition ( from memory ). Rename old one first.
5. Remove Slax cd and reboot into ESXi.
6. Nic will be recognised and configurable.

At the moment I have Server 2008R2 Virtual machine running fine.

Now how to get the Realtek 8111E working in full blown ESX. Anybody Know.