Question No ethernet - Intel I226-V - Ethernet adapter not working - Z790 Motherboard

[MachoFantastico]

Hi folks, so I need some help. Basically a week or so ago my ethernet connection suddenly disappeared and I've spent the past week trying to fix the issue without any success. I have an Asus Maximus Z790 Hero motherboard and have had no real issue with it for the past year. However the ethernet connection suddenly dropped and I don't know why. I have tried many fixes that I've come across on the web, here's just a few fixes I've tried:

• Clean windows 11 install on 5 different occasions to see if it was a Windows 11 issue.
• Tried 4 different ethernet cables but nothing.
• Tried a network reset within W11 but nothing.
• Reset my router three times to see if that was an issue.
• Updated the BIOS but that didn't fix anything.
• Tried uninstalling the ethernet adapter via Device Manager but when I do the device itself disappears entirely and when I scan for new hardware changes all I get is Intel Tile Device (which is hidden in the device manager).

I got it working at one point but it switched off after about five minutes. Luckily I have WiFi as backup so I could still use that. Another thing I noticed is usually with a clean install of W11 Armoury Crate will start up and install the LAN drivers, however when I have done one since it doesn't do this and the only way I can get the internet to work is via installing the WiFi drivers via the device manager. One thing I did notice was when I did have the network adapter installed I had an error message informing me (Code 45)

To fix this problem, reconnect this hardware device to the computer..

At this point I want to give up. Nothing seems to fix this issue and it's either a case of drivers not working right or the network adapter on my motherboard is broken. It's so frustrating, I'm desperately looking for anyone who might have some idea on what's happening here. Thing is it just started happening, I don't think I really did anything to causes the issue to start so I have no idea on how to fix it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

when I scan for new hardware changes all I get is Intel Tile Device (which is hidden in the device manager)...Armoury Crate will start up and install the LAN drivers, however when I have done one since it doesn't do this and the only way I can get the internet to work is via installing the WiFi drivers via the device manager

you should always install your system's drivers directly from the manufacturer's product support download pages.
using 3rd party options can often lead to some issue.

go to the ASUS product page for your particular motherboard
under 'Support' > 'Drivers & Tools' download the latest available driver package for all network related options
install with an elevated command(right-click > 'Run as administrator')

if this doesn't produce any working result the motherboard may just be damaged / have malfunctioned.
if so, when was it purchased?

 

[SkyNetRising]

it's either a case of drivers not working right or the network adapter on my motherboard is broken.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Install PCIE ethernet adapter. Costs like $15.
Integrated lan adapter can die. Not the first time something like that happens.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pcie+eth...cie+ethernet+adapter,aps,195&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

 

[MachoFantastico]

you should always install your system's drivers directly from the manufacturer's product support download pages.
using 3rd party options can often lead to some issue.

go to the ASUS product page for your particular motherboard
under 'Support' > 'Drivers & Tools' download the latest available driver package for all network related options
install with an elevated command(right-click > 'Run as administrator')

if this doesn't produce any working result the motherboard may just be damaged / have malfunctioned.
if so, when was it purchased?

I have done that without any success. Device manager doesn't even list my ethernet adapter, so it sounds like it's dead. Some folks have said it's a driver issue, but the fact that Windows can't even recognise the adapter suggest it's not a driver problem.

 

[DaleH]

Install PCIE ethernet adapter. Costs like $15.
Integrated lan adapter can die. Not the first time something like that happens.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pcie+ethernet+adapter&crid=3TIFYJAWNR976&sprefix=pcie+ethernet+adapter,aps,195&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

This is good advice.

 

[MachoFantastico]

This is good advice.

I'm considering it but I'm not sure the only free PCIE slot I have will fit or support it. Unfortunately my GPU is massive and there's one smaller slot at the bottom of the Maximus Z790 hero motherboard available but I need to figure out if I can install a network card in it.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

I'm not sure the only free PCIE slot I have will fit

they are usually very small.

for example, one popular TP-Link model:

https://imgur.com/HYFdsbg

View: https://imgur.com/HYFdsbg

 

[Fuwy]

This problem is typical with i225/226(v) network chipset : synchronisation lost.
This network chip is too sensitive to autonegotiation.
You must have Cat6 ethernet cable or better.
Some guys lock the adapter to 1GB, or 100Mb, but it is too slow, or plug a Gb switch just behind computer.

I found a driver solution on an another website from a dude called HeyAssy.

Go to Device Manager (devmgmt.msc)
Select Network Adapter "Intel(R) Ethernet Controller I226-V" and right click/Properties
Go to 'Advanced' tab
Disable all those following

IPv4 Checksum Offload
Large Send Offload V2 (IPv4)
Large Send Offload V2 (IPv6)
TCP Checksum Offload (IPv4)
TCP Checksum Offload (IPv6)
UDP Checksum Offload (IPv4)
UDP Checksum Offload (IPv6)

Click ok then reboot.

Hope it could be helful.

 

[CmdrShepard]

The main issue this adapter has is related to Energy Efficient Ethernet and leads to connection drops. Disabling it often solves the issue.

However, in your case it seems that either your adapter got damaged or your Windows installation is somehow hosed and it's not installing it correctly or is recognizing it as a wrong device.

So to test whether it is hardware fault or something else, try booting a live Linux distro (Ubuntu for example) or use Rufus to create Windows To Go on a USB stick and boot that to see whether adapter still works. Be sure to power off the PC fully before booting into live Linux or Windows.

If it works there then I would try the following:

1. Perform CMOS clear
2. Load optimized defaults in BIOS
3. Update your mainboard BIOS to the latest version
4. Make sure you have latest Intel ME firmware (important for onboard LAN)

Once you are done with that, you will need to do a complete removal of all network drivers for your LAN you ever installed. You can use command pnputil -e from admin command prompt to enumerate all drivers present on the system. Find all Intel Ethernet drivers and write them down then use pnputil -f -d oemXXXX.inf where XXXX is a matching number to remove all accumulated drivers for the adapter. Once all are deleted do a reboot and then only install drivers from motherboard manufacturer because I have seen reports that newer drivers from Intel can fail to work with those adapters.

If that doesn't recover it then you might have to reinstall Windows.

 

[MachoFantastico]

Update: So I was able to fix the driver issue for a short time, but it was somewhat bizarre. I noticed that the drivers I was downloading from the motherboard's homepage were for version 1.1.4.38 (Armoury Crate were also installing these drivers) so I looked for the more recent drivers which in fact were 2.1.4.3, but I couldn't install these newer drivers due to Windows not accepting them. So I basically had to switch everything off, unplug the power from the mains and the back of the computer and leave it for ten to twenty minutes. I started up and did a clean install of Windows 11, which finally recognised the ethernet adapter and I installed the 2.1.4.3 drivers and I had it working for about half an hour without any issues. Sadly the connection dropped again and I was getting code 45 no matter what I did. Code 45 seem to indicate that the adapter wasn't connected.

In the end I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a TP-Link 2.5 Gigabit Network Adapter off Amazon and fitted it this morning and everything is working perfectly now. It looks like the network adapter on my motherboard was indeed broken, and having read a lot of posts this week it seems to be a common issue. I wouldn't mind if it was a cheap motherboard but it was a £650+ motherboard so I'm somewhat angry about it.

Thanks for the help though.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I wouldn't mind if it was a cheap motherboard but it was a £650+ motherboard so I'm somewhat angry about it.

£650 motherboard? LOL
Did it have any extra features, you absolutely required, over some regular £250 board?
Or you just picked most expensive option available?