Realtek on-board Ethernet Controller driver not found

[Spoony]

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.

Hmm, weird on my express install list i had a 4th option for my Realtek Ethernet Card driver.if i had the driver installed clicking install on that brought up the repair or uninstall option if i didn't it installed.

 

[pvc]

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

Spoony;
When you say exact same problem do you recall if your Ethernet Controller with a driver problem was listed in Device Manager as "Other devices?" (like mine) or listed under "Network adapters"?

 

[Dwarf]

Hi pvc,

Are you writing your posts on a different machine but still connected to your router either by cable or wirelessly? If so, then your router is working. Temporarily try swapping network cables to see if a faulty cable is causing the communication problem between this machine and the router. Note that if you connect wirelessly with your other machine you will not be able to try another cable with this one (unless you have a spare one), but at least you should be able to check the cable on your other machine.
Dwarf

 

[pvc]

Hi pvc,

Are you writing your posts on a different machine but still connected to your router either by cable or wirelessly? If so, then your router is working. Temporarily try swapping network cables to see if a faulty cable is causing the communication problem between this machine and the router. Note that if you connect wirelessly with your other machine you will not be able to try another cable with this one (unless you have a spare one), but at least you should be able to check the cable on your other machine.
Dwarf

My D-Link DIR-655 wireless-n router has 3 wired Ethernet connections all right here in my office (1=VOIP phone working, 2=The problem Vista PC, and 3=A File-server PC that I am typing from). Both PCs share a monitor that can be switched between Input1-2. I also have a wireless-n connection to computer in another part of the house (also working fine).

I thought about the Internet cable also and replaced it about an hour ago.

Some progress. I disabled the on-board Ethernet Controller in Bios, and added the PCI Ethernet NIC. It loaded the drivers okay using Microsoft Drivers. But it would not connect to the Internet.

This time when I used my Gigabyte disk to Install the Chipset Drivers I saw a fourth driver section like Spoony did. It said "REALTEK LAN Driver (Vista)". So I loaded this REALTEK driver from the Gigabyte disk. It replaced the driver okay but would not connect to the Internet.

I use Device Manager to replace the driver with a freshly downloaded driver from REALTEK. Loads okay can't connect to the Internet.

My connection shows IP4 connectivity Local, IP6 connectivity Limited, 236 packets sent, nothing received. I cannot see other computers on the network. Other computers on the network cannot see me. I have this Vista connection set to a private/home network.

Keep in mind that even if I get this PCI NIC working I believe that I am still going to RMA this 6 months old motherboard because it has a 3 year manufacturer's warranty.

 

[pvc]

I believe that the Gigabyte Chipset Driver install software (by its actions) points to a hardware problem. XPress install examines my PC to determine which drivers to install.

Without the PCI NIC it listed:
1. INF Update Utility
2. Realtek HD Audio
3. Gigabyte SATA & RAID

With the PCI NIC it listed:
1. INF Update Utility
2. Realtek HD Audio
3. Realtek LAN driver (Vista)
4. Gigabyte SATA & RAID

So it obviously never recognized the on-board Ethernet controller. And I assume that Vista doesn't recognize the on-board Ethernet controller either, and perhaps that is why it is listed under Other Devices? instead of Network Adapters.

 

[Spoony]

Yea it was listing it as other devices just like yours was.

curious when you go and look at the drivers you installed does it say anything like it was installed incorrectly? Mine was which is what had me trying different ways of uninstalling.

and now that you have installed the drivers from the disk have you tried uninstalling them through the express installer rebooting and reinstalling from the express installer again without using updated drivers?

cause i litterally had to install them uninstall them and then reinstall them to get it to work so maybe it will work this time that way.

 

[pvc]

Yea it was listing it as other devices just like yours was.

curious when you go and look at the drivers you installed does it say anything like it was installed incorrectly? Mine was which is what had me trying different ways of uninstalling.

and now that you have installed the drivers from the disk have you tried uninstalling them through the express installer rebooting and reinstalling from the express installer again without using updated drivers?

cause i literally had to install them uninstall them and then reinstall them to get it to work so maybe it will work this time that way.

I can install drivers (correctly) for the PCI NIC card. Though, I still can't get the PCI NIC to work.

I cannot install any driver (none, nada, zip) for the on-board Ethernet Controller.

I can use the Gigabyte disk XPress Install software to uninstall and install drivers for the PCI NIC card. Though, I still can't get the PCI NIC to work.

I cannot use the Gigabyte disk XPress Install software to uninstall or install drivers for the on-board Ethernet Controller because the XPress Install software doesn't seem to know that the on-board Ethernet Controller exists.

 

[pvc]

Attempting to leave no stone unturned, I tried to get the PCI NIC working by switching to a different port on my router. I also tried to setup a PPPoE connection directly to my modem without using the router. These didn't work either.

I have a big long question posted on Gigabyte's technical support email to see if they have any suggestions before I disassemble my PC and RMA the motherboard.

Thanks for your help in this forum.

 

[03hdfatboy]

When I downloaded the update for my Realtek ethernet controller I got the BSOD
I had to boot into safe mode, uninstall it, shutdown and restart explorer and install the original driver that came with the motherboard.

 

[cdee99]

faced the same problem and found the solution.
even though we install the latest drivers ; for some reason vista does not recognise it .it keeps the new ones in cold storage..and takes a default driver that does not work in this case.
what u do ...unistall the old driver...from device manager ..click on update driver software > browse my computer for driver software>let me pick from list of drivers>..choose your card..eg: Realtek...then..click on have disk... then browse to the driver location ..in my case..LAN>winvista>64>.. It will find the inf. here...but it will not install: saying windows cannot verify ..some crap... click on install anyway.. it works beautifully.. Hope it helps u.

 

[pvc]

Success!!! I am connected to the Internet. Thanks cdee99!!

Using cdee99's suggestion, I am able to uninstall Ethernet controller under Other devices. Then my Ethernet controller disappeared so I had to click another device and click "Scan for hardware change" to get it back again. I canceled the "Found new hardware" wizard and then replaced the driver for my Ethernet controller:
-"Browse my computer for driver software"
-"Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
-Chose "Realtek" under the manufacturer
-"Have disk" and then browsed to chose a driver from my original Gigabyte disk Network/RT8111/Vista/WINVISTA/64/netrtx64.

MS WU is on my s??? list now (and I don't mean short).

 

[Dwarf]

Hi pvc,

Glad to hear that you have managed to solve your problem. If the problem has arisen due to Windows Update then you need to check and if necessary set the offending update as 'Hidden' to prevent it from reinstalling itself. As has been pointed out in various places across these forums (and others), you should NEVER obtain updates for hardware devices from Microsoft unless the manufacturer is Microsoft. For all other updates of this nature, you need to acquire them from the relevant manufacturer.
Dwarf

 

[johngalt]

What's more, IIRC, almost *always* WU will label HW driver updates as *optional* - so don't allow optional software to automatically install and that should save you from most unwanted drivers.