What is a manifest file?
http://blogs.vmware.com/vapp/2009/08/inside-the-ovf-package.html

But you do not need to go start generating SHA hashes quite yet. The drivers will load just fine, although you will get errors in your vmkernel logs about loading unsigned drivers.

In this situation, the manifest file simply makes the logical connection between the location of the driver.o file and the vmkernel driver loading process. Without it, the boot process has no idea where to go to get your “r8168″ driver, for example.

simple.map does NOT refer directly to the filename. It *might* work if you do not have the driver XML file created, but assume it won’t.

1: The /etc/vmware/pciid directory contains xml formatted files that contain information on the installed drivers. It’s a good idea to make a .xml file in here – just copy the format of a driver for a similar device (network to network, storage to storage, etc). Remember: the tag in this file refers to the driver name, not the driver filename. For example, the tg3 driver is called “tg3″, not “tg3.o”, even though the file is named “tg3.o”. This will cause the “invalid module name” error listed above. Simple.map, however should refer directly to the filename (i.e. r8168.o).
2: There is a pci.xml file in /etc/vmware that can be ignored. It’s used to simply provide human-readable descriptions of various PCI vendor/device codes.
3: There are other pci-related files in /etc/vmware, but they are autogenerated – you don’t really need to touch them. However, the pci.ids file does contain a list of PCI vendors and devices that could potentially be required by the OS, so you may add your device here if you wish. The format is pretty simple to follow.
4: After you add your driver and pci pointer, look in /var/log/boot-logs for helpful information. “sysboot-vmkernel-boot.log” contains information on devices being identified by the BIOS and referred to the OS. If you see your pci device code here, then you know it’s available to the OS. You can also use “lspci -vv” and “lspci -nn” to get this information. “sysboot.log” will tell you about the driver loading process itself. If the kernel has a problem loading your driver, you’ll see the error messages here.
5: Use “vmkload_mod ” to see if you can manually load your driver. If it works here, then it’s just typo/permission/path problems that are preventing your driver from being loaded. There are VMware article on manually configuring driver options:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1038247

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=1017588

I use the “esxcfg-module” command to set my options. There is a driver option config stanza that can be created in /etc/vmware/esx.conf, occasionally bad option entries will cause your driver to fail to load. The sysboot log should tell you this.

6: Personally, I’m testing all of this with the Realtek 8168 gig driver. There are many versions of this driver out there – I’ve found five, all compiled differently. YMMV. However, a note for those who just want the NIC to work: many of the pre-made “oem.tgz” files you will find contain an AHCI driver as well. You likely do not want this if you’re making a whitebox- most current manufacturers are using the Intel IDE chipsets, not the Realtek one that requires this driver. Remove it if you don’t specifically need it. It shouldn’t interfere if the PCI ID for the Realtek IDE chip is not found, but it just makes things easier to debug.

7: The process above applies equally to ESX 4.0, 4.1 (all updates), and ESXi of these versions as well. The difference with ESXi, of course, is that you must prepackage your driver and simple.map file into an oem.tgz that you will copy onto your *already installed* ESXi box. Of course, ESXi won’t install without a NIC and Storage, but I’m sure you’ll figure a way around that

For all you lazy kids who are looking for a premade install .ISO with the drivers installed….you’re wasting your time. Just make your own oem.tgz. It’s easy enough to figure out how oem.tgz is put together by just pulling it apart on your Windows box with 7-zip and Notepad++. Just find a pre-made oem.tgz for whatever and copy the format. You should find all the files I’ve discussed above in various subdirectories and archives.

I am using “VMware-VMvisor-Installer-4.1.0.update1-348481.x86_64.iso” and there is no file called “image.tgz”

Am I missing something here?

Then
I’ve did everything as it says with the ready oem.tgz (skipped step 5-12), And I got pink screen of death.
Then I did as Sacx from RandomBugs says about the moving of pci.ids file, installation went normal, but after reboot, still no interface loaded.

During installation, cat /var/log/messages | grep 8169 or grep 8168, and no output. Grep for vmnic1 (I have vmnic0 as intel onboard and it is running normal), still no results.
After installation, same search of /var/log/messages and still nothing. How do I find out why the kernel module doesn’t load?

Thank you!