Realtek on-board Ethernet Controller driver not found

[pvc]

I installed some windows updates including an OPTIONAL update to my Realtek Ethernet Controller. After the updates a driver cannot be found for my Ethernet Controller. Even worse, I can no longer connect to the Internet.

I tried an image restore to a previous version of Windows. I tried re-installing a new version of Windows. In all cases the Device Manager shows no driver for:
-Other Devices
--Ethernet Controller

I went to Gigabyte.com and downloaded (motherboard_driver_lan_realtek_8111_vista.exe - 3.89 MB). I can't get Windows to accept the extracted .INF driver file. I also tried running the extracted setup.exe file as Administrator. It says that the driver was installed but still no driver for my Ethernet Controller!


Antec P182 || GA-P35C-DS3R V2.1 || QX9650 3.0Ghz || 2x2GB Mushkin 4-4-4-12 DDR2-800 || ECS 8800GT || WD180GB + WD500GB Sata 3.0GB/s || SeaSonic M12 SS-500HM psu || Vista 64-Bit Home Premium || Lite-On 20x DVD

 

[pvc]

Time for the sledge-hammer approach. I am trying a reformat of the partition and then I will re-install Vista-64.

 

[Dwarf]

Hi pvc,

Have you started to wield the sledge-hammer yet? Try the rolling back the driver by following the tutorial below.
Dwarf

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/165382-device-manager-roll-back-driver.html

 

[WildEagle]

No no, don't do the reformat just yet. First try the suggestion to Rollback the driver

Second, if the driver rollback doesn't work go in to Device Manager, and select Network Adapters, right click on the listing for your onboard RealTek Network Connection and select Uninstall. If given the option to uninstall the drivers, don't right now and reboot. On reboot, Windows will attempt to reinstall the device and drivers.

If this fails, uninstall the device again, but don't reboot. This time click on the Start Button and go to Settings, followed by Control Panel, and open Add Hardware. Then click the next button and choose the second option on the screen that comes up. This will allow you to scroll down through a list of devices until you come to Network Adapters, highlight that and click the next button. Then on the manufactuer list, if RealTek is listed, select the correct Network Adapter and select the option to have Windows Vista attempt the driver installation automatically, or select the Have Disk Option and point it to the directory that the extracted drivers are in. This will usually work.

If it doesn't do another reboot, and then after Windows Vista attempts to install the driver for your onboard RealTek Lan, go in to device manager, uninstall the device, and if given the option to uninstall the drivers for the device, do so, and reboot regardless. Then on booting back in to Windows attempt to install the latest drivers for the onboard lan, which can be downloaded from RealTek or the drivers you downloaded from Gigabyte.

If none of this works, then try the reformat and reinstall of Windows Vista.

 

[pvc]

I already formatted the partition. However, I can restore the partition image using the Gigabyte backup/restore utility. I will likely restore and try your suggestions. But first let me see if I get around this with the fresh copy of Vista. Be back in a few hours.

 

[pvc]

Looks like the format mucked up my partitions so I will be starting over from scratch. I don't have much patience with computers that can't connect to the Internet/Network. Thanks anyway for your suggestions.

 

[pvc]

It may be possible for me to recover with Gigabyte's Express Recovery after all. The image backup file (which resides in the unformatted portion of my C: drive) re-appeared after I put an OS on the primary partition. So I am trying the restore now.

If it restores okay then I will try the suggestions. I have an appointment soon so it may not be until this afternoon.

 

[pvc]

Hi pvc,

Have you started to wield the sledge-hammer yet? Try the rolling back the driver by following the tutorial below.
Dwarf

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/165382-device-manager-roll-back-driver.html

I was able to restore my Vista-64 OS from image backup.

The Rollback Driver button is grayed-out so I cannot roll-back the driver.

Also note that this device (Ethernet Controller) is listed under Other Devices? and not under Network Adapters.

 

[WildEagle]

Hmm, now this is a new one for me, as I've never heard of an onboard ethernet device being listed under Other Devices.

 

[pvc]

If this fails, uninstall the device again, but don't reboot. This time click on the Start Button and go to Settings, followed by Control Panel, and open Add Hardware. Then click the next button and choose the second option on the screen that comes up. This will allow you to scroll down through a list of devices until you come to Network Adapters, highlight that and click the next button. Then on the manufactuer list, if RealTek is listed, select the correct Network Adapter and select the option to have Windows Vista attempt the driver installation automatically, or select the Have Disk Option and point it to the directory that the extracted drivers are in. This will usually work.

[FONT=&quot]I un-installed the device (Ethernet Controller) from Other Devices? then I went to Control Panel /Add Hardware to get the list of Common Hardware types. I don’t have any Network Adapter listed so I can’t use this solution.[/FONT]

 

[pvc]

I’m thinking of going back to formatting my primary partition and re-installing Vista-64 from scratch. I want to see if the newly installed Vista will get around this device problem.

If not then maybe I have a hardware problem that (by coincidence) just happened to occur at the same time that windows update installed the optional update for my Ethernet Controller???

At least now I know that I can recover to the image backup of the original Vista-64 that is stored on the unformatted portion of my C: drive.

 

[WildEagle]

If this fails, uninstall the device again, but don't reboot. This time click on the Start Button and go to Settings, followed by Control Panel, and open Add Hardware. Then click the next button and choose the second option on the screen that comes up. This will allow you to scroll down through a list of devices until you come to Network Adapters, highlight that and click the next button. Then on the manufactuer list, if RealTek is listed, select the correct Network Adapter and select the option to have Windows Vista attempt the driver installation automatically, or select the Have Disk Option and point it to the directory that the extracted drivers are in. This will usually work.

[FONT=&quot]I un-installed the device (Ethernet Controller) from Other Devices? then I went to Control Panel /Add Hardware to get the list of Common Hardware types. I don’t have any Network Adapter listed so I can’t use this solution.[/FONT]

That sucks. I can't think of anything else to try at the moment.

 

[pvc]

I reloaded Vista-64. I didn't reformat the partition. Just reloaded Vista on top of the previous Vista. For some reason vista would not load unto the primary partition which was reformatted in NTFS.

I still get the same problem. Vista will not replace the driver for Other Devices? Ethernet Controller.

I have been reading about other driver problems corrected by changing them in Safe Mode. So I will try a few more things.

 

[pvc]

Hmmmmm...
If I boot (Safe Mode with Networking) I get Other Devices? Ethernet Controller and >no< Network Adapter.

If I boot (Safe Mode) I get Network Adapter >and< Other Devices? Ethernet Controller. In this case the Network adapter devices WAN Miniport IP, IPv6, L2TP, PPPOE, and PPTP have Microsoft drivers.

Though I still have this Other Devices? Ethernet Controller that I can't replace the driver.

 

[pvc]

I was able to reload a fresh copy of Vista by deleting the primary partition, then recreate the partition with formatting it.

Still the same problem even with a fresh copy of Vista.

I'm going to Flash my BIOS to a current version to see if that helps.

 

[pvc]

I flashed BIOS to a current version (Gigabyte GA-PS35C-DS3R F11). I also jumped the CLR CMOS jumper to get back to the BIOS factory defaults.

Still the same problem (Other Devices? Ethernet Controller that will not take a driver).

For good measure I formatted the primary partition to NTFS and loaded Windows 2000. Still the same problem with Win 2000. At least I know it's not Vista's fault.

I suspect that I have a problem with the on-board Realtek Ethernet Controller on my motherboard!!

Before I try to RMA my (6 months old) motherboard does anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[Spoony]

I was having the exact same problem with my ethernet on my new gigabyte mobo as well.

I got it to work by doing this with the disk maybe it will help you.

I put the gigabyte disk in and after it loaded up i put it on manual selection and went to install the driver for the ethernet. If the ethernet installation window brings up the dialog to repair or uninstall the driver choose uninstall and when it's done do nothing except reboot the computer. When the computer reloads do the same thing as before however this time it should install the drivers and not pop up any dialog boxes (or at least nothing talking about repairing/uninstalling) after it fully installed the computer found the network after a minute for me.

The key thing i found was to make sure you uninstalled from the gigabyte disk as simply uninstalling any other way didn't work.

Hopefully this helps you.

 

[pvc]

I was having the exact same problem with my ethernet on my new gigabyte mobo as well.

I got it to work by doing this with the disk maybe it will help you.

I put the gigabyte disk in and after it loaded up i put it on manual selection and went to install the driver for the ethernet. If the ethernet installation window brings up the dialog to repair or uninstall the driver choose uninstall and when it's done do nothing except reboot the computer. When the computer reloads do the same thing as before however this time it should install the drivers and not pop up any dialog boxes (or at least nothing talking about repairing/uninstalling) after it fully installed the computer found the network after a minute for me.

The key thing i found was to make sure you uninstalled from the gigabyte disk as simply uninstalling any other way didn't work.

Hopefully this helps you.

Thanks Spoony;
I don't think I can apply your solution to my problem.

My Gigabyte disk has "Express Install" which installs three sets of Drivers (INF Update Utility, Realtek HD Audio, and Gigabyte SATA & RAID). Instead of using "Express Install" you can select any one of three to install individually. I have tried both ways Express and individually (both are fully automated with no feedback except for a success message at the end).

My disk has no manual-install-feature unless you are talking about using Windows Device Manager and simply pointing to the Gigabyte disk as the location of the driver.

Also, my drivers worked fine for about six months before this problem arose.

 

[Dwarf]

Hi pvc,

Sorry to hear that you are still having problems. I think that what Spoony meant was that when you inserted the disk and the auto-run screen appeared, you should CLOSE it and instead open the disk to EXPLORE the contents manually. There should be one or more ReadMe files and possibly links to the motherboard manufacturers website where you can (or should) be able to obtain updated drivers. Check your BIOS to see if the interface hasn't been disabled there. It is possible that the Ethernet controller circuity on your m/b has died, in which case there is nothing you can do about it. If the rest of the board is working normally, have you considered an Ethernet network card that plugs into a spare expansion slot? That would be cheaper than a new m/b, and you shouldn't have to reinstall Vista. You can get these cards from your nearest computer retailer.
Dwarf

 

[pvc]

Hi pvc,

Sorry to hear that you are still having problems. I think that what Spoony meant was that when you inserted the disk and the auto-run screen appeared, you should CLOSE it and instead open the disk to EXPLORE the contents manually. There should be one or more ReadMe files and possibly links to the motherboard manufacturers website where you can (or should) be able to obtain updated drivers. Check your BIOS to see if the interface hasn't been disabled there. It is possible that the Ethernet controller circuity on your m/b has died, in which case there is nothing you can do about it. If the rest of the board is working normally, have you considered an Ethernet network card that plugs into a spare expansion slot? That would be cheaper than a new m/b, and you shouldn't have to reinstall Vista. You can get these cards from your nearest computer retailer.
Dwarf

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have explored the Gigabyte disk, located the Ethernet Controller driver on that disk, downloaded the Ethernet Controller driver from Gigabyte (see first post), and downloaded the Ethernet Controller driver from Realtek. None of these drivers are accepted by device manager of Vista-64 and Win-2K.

Yes I have a spare NIC PCI card. I installed it. It installed fine with Microsoft Drivers. I can't seem to get networking setup through my router for that card (even when I went into BIOS and disabled the on-board Ethernet Controller). Maybe I can try this again and post the problems I'm having with the PCI card.