Trouble setting up more than 4 network adapters in VirtualBox

I've been trying to setup the 8 network adapters that VirtualBox is supposed to support, through the command line. I need them as bridged networks (because I use them to forward ports from a server installed in the VM).

So, the commands I've used go like this:

VBoxManage modifyvm  --nic5 bridged
VBoxManage modifyvm  --bridgeadapter5 "Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller"
VBoxManage modifyvm  --nicpromisc5 allow-all

And so on for the other 3. I set them up as bridged, set the adapter name to my host network adapter name, and set promiscuous mode to allow all. They use the adapter PCnet-FAST III (Am79C973). Checking with the showvminfo command, I get this:

C:\Program Files>cd Oracle

C:\Program Files\Oracle>cd VirtualBox

C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox>VBoxManage showvminfo XP2
Name:            XP2
Groups:          /
Guest OS:        Windows XP (32 bit)
UUID:            b53a67f9-7fba-43a0-9f2c-a13e9f1249ab
Config file:     C:\Users\MyUserName\VirtualBox VMs\XP2\XP2.vbox
Snapshot folder: C:\Users\MyUserName\VirtualBox VMs\XP2\Snapshots
Log folder:      C:\Users\MyUserName\VirtualBox VMs\XP2\Logs
Hardware UUID:   b53a67f9-7fba-43a0-9f2c-a13e9f1249ab
Memory size:     256MB
Page Fusion:     off
VRAM size:       18MB
CPU exec cap:    40%
HPET:            off
Chipset:         piix3
Firmware:        BIOS
Number of CPUs:  1
PAE:             off
Long Mode:       off
Synthetic CPU:   off
CPUID overrides: None
Boot menu mode:  message and menu
Boot Device (1): Floppy
Boot Device (2): DVD
Boot Device (3): HardDisk
Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
ACPI:            on
IOAPIC:          off
Time offset:     0ms
RTC:             local time
Hardw. virt.ext: on
Nested Paging:   on
Large Pages:     on
VT-x VPID:       on
VT-x unr. exec.: on
State:           running (since 2014-04-30T11:22:59.596000000)
Monitor count:   1
3D Acceleration: off
2D Video Acceleration: off
Teleporter Enabled: off
Teleporter Port: 0
Teleporter Address:
Teleporter Password:
Tracing Enabled: off
Allow Tracing to Access VM: off
Tracing Configuration:
Autostart Enabled: off
Autostart Delay: 0
Default Frontend:
Storage Controller Name (0):            IDE
Storage Controller Type (0):            PIIX4
Storage Controller Instance Number (0): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (0):  2
Storage Controller Port Count (0):      2
Storage Controller Bootable (0):        on
IDE (0, 0): E:\Programas\VirtualBox\Guindous XP.vdi (UUID: 70549b55-f222-4b47-be
78-52ba486e880d)
IDE (1, 0): Empty
NIC 1:           MAC: 08002780847C, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79
C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Bandw
idth group: none
NIC 2:           MAC: 080027B2180A, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79
C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Bandw
idth group: none
NIC 3:           MAC: 080027803511, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79
C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Bandw
idth group: none
NIC 4:           MAC: 080027DE9E9D, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79
C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Bandw
idth group: none
NIC 5:           MAC: 080027918504, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79
C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Bandw
idth group: none
NIC 6:           MAC: 08002719AAFC, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: off, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am7
9C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Band
width group: none
NIC 7:           MAC: 08002739E2E1, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: off, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am7
9C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Band
width group: none
NIC 8:           MAC: 0800277BD34B, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: off, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am7
9C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Band
width group: none
Pointing Device: USB Tablet
Keyboard Device: PS/2 Keyboard
UART 1:          disabled
UART 2:          disabled
LPT 1:           disabled
LPT 2:           disabled
Audio:           enabled (Driver: DSOUND, Controller: AC97)
Clipboard Mode:  Bidirectional
Drag'n'drop Mode: Bidirectional
Session type:    GUI/Qt
Video mode:      1920x1002x16 at 0,0
VRDE:            disabled
USB:             enabled
EHCI:            disabled

USB Device Filters:



Available remote USB devices:



Currently Attached USB Devices:



Bandwidth groups:  

Shared folders:  

VRDE Connection:    not active
Clients so far:     0

Video capturing:    not active
Capture screens:    0
Capture file:       C:\Users\MyUserName\VirtualBox VMs\XP2\XP2.webm
Capture dimensions: 1024x768
Capture rate:       512 kbps
Capture FPS:        25

Guest:

Configured memory balloon size:      0 MB
OS type:                             WindowsXP
Additions run level:                 3
Additions version:                   4.1.10 r76836


Guest Facilities:

Facility "VirtualBox Base Driver": active/running (last update: 2014/04/30 11:23
:09 UTC)
Facility "VirtualBox System Service": active/running (last update: 2014/04/30 11
:23:15 UTC)
Facility "VirtualBox Desktop Integration": active/running (last update: 2014/04/
30 11:23:25 UTC)
Facility "Seamless Mode": active/running (last update: 2014/04/30 11:23:09 UTC)
Facility "Graphics Mode": active/running (last update: 2014/04/30 11:23:09 UTC)

So all of the adapters have the exact same configuration, except for the MAC addresses, which is all right.

But on opening the VM (which uses Windows XP), it seems unable to manage more than four network adapters at once. Whatever four adapters were the last to connect show an error icon and don't work.

So at this point, I don't know what else am I supposed to do. I don't find any info saying I should touch any more settings in VirtualBox, and I'm unsure if this is a VBox error or a Windows XP error.

I failed to find any official reference to a maximum number of nics supported by XP. However, I found this thread, where a user claims:

I've seen as many as eight working as a result of VMWare Workstation being installed (they were virtual NICs). I expect it depends on your selected hardware more than anything.

So technically what I'm trying should be viable.

I played around with the virtual hardware type a little bit, but they just wouldn't work.

Finally it works correctly in a Windows 7 guest, probably because it uses a different virtualized network card (Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop).

Posted in: VirtualBox