Motherboard LAN port not showing up in Windows 7.

[dezork]

I have a Gigabyte z68xp-UD3 motherboard. For some reason, my LAN controller/port is not detected by Windows 7, or Windows 8. I seem to remember it working in the past. I'm currently using a Rosewill wireless card to connect to the internet.

I have installed the latest Realtek driver, which I downloaded from Gigabyte's site. It fails at the end of the install, with an error:

The Realtek Network Controller was not found.
If Deep Sleep mode is enabled Please Plug the Cable.

I suspect this is a hardware issue, because exactly the same thing happens in Windows 8. Haven't tried it in Linux yet.

Is there any way to diagnose this as a hardware issue? I want to be absolutely sure before I send it for replacement/repair.

Ideas? Please help, along with this other issue;

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/38648-43-wireless-router-rejects-password-machine#t129559

I'm finding it very hard to connect to the internet!

 

[GhislainG]

Is it enabled in the BIOS? Do you see it under Network adapters in Device Manager?

 

[dezork]

Is it enabled in the BIOS? Do you see it under Network adapters in Device Manager?

Yes, it is enabled in BIOS. I do not see it in network adapters, that is the whole point. It's like Windows doesn't know it exists.

I tried turning off my PC and unplugging it for 10 minutes as per another thread, did not help.

 

[GhislainG]

If it's enabled in the BIOS and Windows doesn't see it, then the controller is defective or the BIOS failed to enable it properly. Disable it, save the configuration, then enable it and save the configuration again. If that doesn't work, then you may have to RMA the motherboard.