No LAN connection w GA-Z68XP-UD3

[NCsleeves]

Thanks again for the feedback, DM and Allan.

DM, I updated my sig w system info - let me know if there is anything else that would be useful to know.  I won't be able to do the teardown diagnostic until this evening, or possibly this weekend - busy couple of days ahead.  I've never heard any beeps or buzzes from either of the UD3 boards - will have to check whether there is a buzzer on the board.

Allan, I've swapped the LAN cable from my laptop to the deskside PC twice - either cable works fine on laptop, but not at all on PC (except for brief intervals).  At the moment, the Realtek Ethernet Diagnostic Utility says all is well - but Windows diagnostic says that there is no LAN cable installed.  That's with latest Realtek Ethernet LAN driver installed.  I'll think about trying a downlevel BIOS - F7 is installed now.

Off to earn a bit of a living for a while.  Thanks again.  ...   Steve

[Dark Mantis]

No problem, I am here and ready to help whenever you have the time to spare. Just shout and we can make a start.

[NCsleeves]

Curiouser and curiouser...  it got so that there was a "system" that seemed to work.  Uninstall LAN driver w Revo as thoroughly as the freeware version allows, reboot, install LAN driver (either current version or the one on the Gigabyte CD) -- network connection works normally until the next reboot. Rinse, repeat.  And then that procedure stopped working.  After 2-3 fruitless iterations, shutdown the PC and went to bed.  Come back to the PC a day later, power up - LAN works.  Quickly grab all possible OS updates, start the update installation process, PC reboots - lo, the LAN still works!  Several reboots in succession.  Then, reboot - no LAN.  *sigh*  Decide to uninstall the item that triggered the reboot - but while fussing with that, LAN comes up.  Since then, LAN has come up normally most every reboot, and the few times it didn't come up immediately it did come up within a couple of minutes.

So I'm inclined to let that one be for a bit and see if a pattern develops.

But.. the audio is still not driving the L and R speakers;  center, surround and subwoofer all work normally.  Both the LAN and the audio are Realtek, which seems an odd coincidence too.

I think I need to reinstall the CPU fan too..  temps running up to as much as 80C under load.

DM, wouldn't disconnecting all of the hard drives and other connections while leaving the motherboard in the case accomplish the same thing as putting it out on the kitchen table? Except for a possible ground loop, perhaps - those are sure capable of causing flaky, mysterious problems.  So..  nevermind. 

[Aussie Allan]

   NCsleeves.....AL here!

  One step forward.....three steps back......you seem to be running into every problem that has been running in the last six months on the forum

  Generally you seem to be heading north, so that's a good thing......one thing I can add.....

  As you're running a 5xx Gpu card .... there has been some report of instability with 280.xx Nvidia Driver......it really can't hurt to try dropping back to 275.xx Nvidia driver package ..... you certainly have one of the stranger set of problems running presently

   Hope this helps in some way

[Dark Mantis]

DM, wouldn't disconnecting all of the hard drives and other connections while leaving the motherboard in the case accomplish the same thing as putting it out on the kitchen table? Except for a possible ground loop, perhaps - those are sure capable of causing flaky, mysterious problems.  So..  nevermind. 

As you have realised , you have answered your own question there. Not only that but it is easier to add components and see what is happening better.

I can't remember if you have already tried it but in case we haven't try disabling the ESATA and USB3 in the BIOS.

[NCsleeves]

Well, this morning, no LAN no matter what I try.

I can't remember if you have already tried it but in case we haven't try disabling the ESATA and USB3 in the BIOS.

DM, I hadn't tried that previously - no effect on the LAN function, unfortunately.  I had disconnected all of the front panel USB, audio and 1394 connections earlier - again, no functional effect. 

With no buzzer on the motherboard, what sort of feedback would be of interest from a power-up on the table?

  As you're running a 5xx Gpu card .... there has been some report of instability with 280.xx Nvidia Driver......it really can't hurt to try dropping back to 275.xx Nvidia driver package ..... you certainly have one of the stranger set of problems running presently

Allan, I'll try that but not with a lot of hope.  The video card itself seems to be running great.

To be honest, guys, I'm about ready to throw in the towel on this one.  It really should not be this hard.

[Aussie Allan]

   NCsleeves

  Chemotherapy......it'll be a first on the forum

  Worth a shot re 275 drive package.......but it could be down to "Intermittent onboard LAN failure" resulting in an RMA......make sure you DOC the problem if it comes to that and even point to the forum thread if need be.

  Little trick I use so the same board doesn't come back like a Boomerang......(Whisper) put two or three little marks on the board with a non-erasable marker......little tiny one only you know about.. ....and good luck when it's sorted.......you're right they shouldn't be this hard......Sorry we could not get to the end with a win.

  Aussie Allan ..... Have fun in OZ!

[teknology9]

Hi Allan,

Cheers for that chap, good talking to you. 

Check your karma.


teknology9

[Dark Mantis]

I would still suggest investing in a buzzer. For a few cents it can save you a lot of frustration and time and they are swappable from board to board so it's never wasted.

[Aussie Allan]

  Wow thanks everybody.....might try and be nice to everybody now!

  Aussie Allan

[teknology9]

Steady on there......anyway.....haven't you got some tiling to do?!!!

[NCsleeves]

Breakthrough (on the sound)!  I had unplugged the leads to the speaker system at one point.  Thought I'd try disabling the sound in BIOS, see if any effect on the LAN.  Nope.  Tried disabling the onboard LAN and enabling the sound.  No effect, but then realized it would likely have a better chance if I reconnected the speaker leads.  Boot the PC, and a Gigabyte utility that I had not seen before came up and asked me to confirm the function assigned to each lead.  Reassigned the lead that defaulted to "rear speaker" to "front" (since I only have a 5.1 system) and viola!  Glorious sound!  Well, it sounded glorious to me at any rate. 

Still no LAN function though.  Looking for stealthy LAN utilities...   and will buy an inexpensive PCI LAN card if the LAN isn't working reliably by bedtime, I think.  And a buzzer too, DM. 

[NCsleeves]

Allan, I did downgrade the Nvidia drivers to 275.50 - no effect on the LAN operation.

[Aussie Allan]

   BUM! ..... I'm out except my RMA recommendations.....if think of anything I'll bump it over!

  Aussie Allan

[Dark Mantis]

I know that it is a bit of a broadsword but it might be worth formatting the drive and doing a complete start over. You could take everything slowly and methodically and try to make sure that everything was done correctly as you went. Often this approach will pay dividends when all else fails.