Ethernet causes Windows to freeze

[Charios]

Hello,



So this is a follow-up to a thread I made about a computer freezing for 2-3 minutes once a day, maybe more, maybe less.

After some testing, tinkering, I've accidentally stumbled on this, I was watching some gifs and I've noticed that lag spikes were starting to appear and as I opened task manager, I saw is that Ethernet usage spikes to 150-350 Mbps send and receive BOTH at the same time, and then it freezes. If it unfreezes after a few minutes, Ethernet usage never goes down, stays stable at said amount and then a freeze happens again. If, during a freeze, I unplug my lan cable, pc is immediately unstuck.
Now, I haven't managed to consistently replicate this error, but it always happened in a browser Chrome and Mozilla, I haven't managed to replicate this on Edge or in Safe mode with Networking, but as I said, it's very inconsistent, so I don't know if that's the issue or not.

WHAT TO KNOW:

• 
  This issue started when I've upgraded my motherboard, cpu and ram and haven't reinstalled Windows, just let it reconfigure itself.
  I've tried reinstalling Windows (later on, as I though it would fix the freezing).
  I've tried updating or reinstalling LAN, Chipset or other drivers.
  I've tried resetting winsock.
  I've tried resetting network settings.

MY SYSTEM:

• 
  Motherboard: Asus PRIME z370-a
  CPU: i5-8600K
  RAM: Corsair LPX 2x8GB DDR4 @2133
  GPU: MSI GTX 970 GAMING 4G
  SSD: Samsung EVO 850 250GB
  PSU: Seasonic S12II 620 Bronze

Thank you for your help in advance

 

[R_1]

did you reinstall windows or repair the installation, you say one thing at the top of the post and the opposite at the end please clarify

" This issue started when I've upgraded my motherboard, cpu and ram and haven't reinstalled Windows, just let it reconfigure itself."

never suggested unless backup of drive is the main reason. I have never had stable windows after a motherboard change, unless its the same make, model and revision motherboard.

"I've tried reinstalling Windows."

my first though is driver conflicts and orphaned registry entries are wigging out the NIC.

Ideally backup, format and reinstallation is my suggestion

 

[Charios]

did you reinstall windows or repair the installation, you say one thing at the top of the post and the opposite at the end please clarify

" This issue started when I've upgraded my motherboard, cpu and ram and haven't reinstalled Windows, just let it reconfigure itself."

never suggested unless backup of drive is the main reason. I have never had stable windows after a motherboard change, unless its the same make, model and revision motherboard.

"I've tried reinstalling Windows."

my first though is driver conflicts and orphaned registry entries are wigging out the NIC.

Ideally backup, format and reinstallation is my suggestion

I didn't at first, I know it's not recommended, but I haven't had any issues with other computers before. Anyway, as the freezes started to happen, I though maybe that was the case and did a reinstall, but apparently that hasn't helped.

 

[R_1]

was it a full re-install. delete everything, format the drive and let windows install afresh?
or was it a windows refresh, an install on top of the previous?

 

[Charios]

was it a full re-install. delete everything, format the drive and let windows install afresh?
or was it a windows refresh, an install on top of the previous?

I installed it from a USB, deleted disk partitions and let windows create new ones. So a completely fresh install.

 

[Charios]

I would say driver issue if you reinstalled. Go to your motherboard manufacturer's website and download the proper NIC drivers if you can.

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/PRIME-Z370-A/HelpDesk_Download/

I've already tried those, latest ones and other variatons, also I tried downloading them from Intel's website aswell, as they have newer versions.

 

[R_1]

that removes a ton of variables.
the only other software that could be causing problems is the drivers. does the issue appear when you remove the network drivers and just use the windows base driver? does this behavior exhibit in safe mode?
IDK much about the traffic shaping that chip can do, but burst network blasts may be connected. try to revert to the most basic driver and see what happens.

as a hardware test you can make and boot to linux on a USB, if there is a hardware issue with the networking port it will show up here too.

 

[Charios]

that removes a ton of variables.
the only other software that could be causing problems is the drivers. does the issue appear when you remove the network drivers and just use the windows base driver? does this behavior exhibit in safe mode?
IDK much about the traffic shaping that chip can do, but burst network blasts may be connected. try to revert to the most basic driver and see what happens.

as a hardware test you can make and boot to linux, if there is a hardware issue with the networking port it will show up here too.

Yeah, I've tried using base network driver and the same thing appeared, I haven't managed to replicate the same issue in safe boot with networking, but as I said, it's very inconsistent, so it might be that.

 

[R_1]

canned rant
Boot to a USB drive with linux on it. grab a USB drive, a copy of rufus and a linux distribution.
http://distrowatch.com/ has tons of differing linux distributions and download links. I personally am fond of linux mint with cinnamon.
https://rufus.akeo.ie/ the utility used to extract the ISO file to the USB drive.

use rufus to extract the selected ISO to the tunmb drive. it will make the drive bootable and you can run linux from the drive once done.
Reboot into linux and proceed to test the hardware. connect to internet, watch videos, await problems.
if linux is good and stable the issue is most likely inside windows or otherwise software related.
this is a test of the hardware.
canned rant - prepared remarks

 

[Charios]

canned rant
Boot to a USB drive with linux on it. grab a USB drive, a copy of rufus and a linux distribution.
http://distrowatch.com/ has tons of differing linux distributions and download links. I personally am fond of linux mint with cinnamon.
https://rufus.akeo.ie/ the utility used to extract the ISO file to the USB drive.

use rufus to extract the selected ISO to the tunmb drive. it will make the drive bootable and you can run linux from the drive once done.
Reboot into linux and proceed to test the hardware. connect to internet, watch videos, await problems.
if linux is good and stable the issue is most likely inside windows or otherwise software related.
this is a test of the hardware.
canned rant - prepared remarks

Doesn't seem to happen on Mint, at least I think so, Send data never jumps that high doing the same things as on Windows 10

 

[Charios]

canned rant
Boot to a USB drive with linux on it. grab a USB drive, a copy of rufus and a linux distribution.
http://distrowatch.com/ has tons of differing linux distributions and download links. I personally am fond of linux mint with cinnamon.
https://rufus.akeo.ie/ the utility used to extract the ISO file to the USB drive.

use rufus to extract the selected ISO to the tunmb drive. it will make the drive bootable and you can run linux from the drive once done.
Reboot into linux and proceed to test the hardware. connect to internet, watch videos, await problems.
if linux is good and stable the issue is most likely inside windows or otherwise software related.
this is a test of the hardware.
canned rant - prepared remarks

Here's another update if that helps.

• 
  I've done a full clean reinstall, on a formatted ssd and right after Windows setup has finished, I've launched a browser and shortly after browsing I've encountered this error. I haven't installed anything, no drivers, no updates, no applications for this test.
  
  Then I've updated everything from ASUS page and still encountered the error.
  
  I've also tried using Gigabit LAN to USB adapter, but still, nothing changed.
  
  The issue didn't occur in an hour of Mint from USB use and neither it did when installing and using Ubuntu 18.04 for around 2 hours.

 

[Charios]

canned rant
Boot to a USB drive with linux on it. grab a USB drive, a copy of rufus and a linux distribution.
http://distrowatch.com/ has tons of differing linux distributions and download links. I personally am fond of linux mint with cinnamon.
https://rufus.akeo.ie/ the utility used to extract the ISO file to the USB drive.

use rufus to extract the selected ISO to the tunmb drive. it will make the drive bootable and you can run linux from the drive once done.
Reboot into linux and proceed to test the hardware. connect to internet, watch videos, await problems.
if linux is good and stable the issue is most likely inside windows or otherwise software related.
this is a test of the hardware.
canned rant - prepared remarks

Tried fixing LAN cable in the wall bu that hasn't helped. Switched back to my old router, if the issue persists I'm gonna RMA the board.

 

[R_1]

canned rant
Boot to a USB drive with linux on it. grab a USB drive, a copy of rufus and a linux distribution.
http://distrowatch.com/ has tons of differing linux distributions and download links. I personally am fond of linux mint with cinnamon.
https://rufus.akeo.ie/ the utility used to extract the ISO file to the USB drive.

use rufus to extract the selected ISO to the tunmb drive. it will make the drive bootable and you can run linux from the drive once done.
Reboot into linux and proceed to test the hardware. connect to internet, watch videos, await problems.
if linux is good and stable the issue is most likely inside windows or otherwise software related.
this is a test of the hardware.
canned rant - prepared remarks

Tried fixing LAN cable in the wall bu that hasn't helped. Switched back to my old router, if the issue persists I'm gonna RMA the board.

its unusable as it is.

 

[Charios]

canned rant
Boot to a USB drive with linux on it. grab a USB drive, a copy of rufus and a linux distribution.
http://distrowatch.com/ has tons of differing linux distributions and download links. I personally am fond of linux mint with cinnamon.
https://rufus.akeo.ie/ the utility used to extract the ISO file to the USB drive.

use rufus to extract the selected ISO to the tunmb drive. it will make the drive bootable and you can run linux from the drive once done.
Reboot into linux and proceed to test the hardware. connect to internet, watch videos, await problems.
if linux is good and stable the issue is most likely inside windows or otherwise software related.
this is a test of the hardware.
canned rant - prepared remarks

Tried fixing LAN cable in the wall bu that hasn't helped. Switched back to my old router, if the issue persists I'm gonna RMA the board.

its unusable as it is.

So it seems like router was the cause. With old router for 3 days and no issues so far. Really sad, since I really like my EdgeX. Thank you, very much, for your help !