Wasn't sure where to respond as it never was made clear appart from "the forum" (I looked around for an existing thread but coulkd not find one)
In regards to your LACP problem.
I've always been told that LACP MUST be setup through a switch that supports it, it CANNOT be a dumb switch. I'm very scepticle about anyone that has said this works with a dumb switch as it cannot and usually results in ports being inactive. Smart switches are not very expensive especially 8 ports, they go for about $100, I've used a entry level D-Link DGS-1100-08 and it was pretty easy to setup once you find the setting. But like i said, I've always been told both the SWITCH and the NIC need to support the protocol. (not meaning to sound like a 'douche' but i've been told by multiple CCIE + CCNP's that this is the case).
Your position plus my past problems have pointed to this being correct too.