No LAN light

[raykcards]

I have intermittent problems getting an LAN light at bootup.
Sometimes the light appears first time and I am online immediately. Once online I am never cut off...connnections are all solid. Often no LAN light appears and I have to run my AOL setup disc which usually does the trick, followed by a reboot.
For some reason the computer doesn't seem to be recognising the ehternet port.
Can anyone help please ?
Ray

 

[RealBeast]

Does the LAN show up in the device manager as working? Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling with the latest driver?

More information will help you get more answers -- like what OS, what model NIC (and built in or add on card)?

 

[raykcards]

Hi
Thanks for your reply.

No...the Ethernet Port doesn't appear in Device manager at all. If I run a network troubleshoot I get the message ' Your network adapter driver is missing'
I know that it isn't because I have found it. I also have a Driver Updater programme that checks that all drivers are up to date.
I am running a Dell Vostro 460 with Windows 7 and Trend Micro Antivirus.I have run Dell checkup and the Network Adapter doesn't appear in that either though when I have managed to get online it does.It is a wired connection by the way.
I have 2 routers and tried both and have exactly the same problem with either. One is a Huawei Echolife HG532 and the other a Dlink DSL-2640R.
This morning I switched on, booted up and was online straight away. Next time there will most likely be no LAN light and the only thing that seems to work is to put in old AOL start-up disc (for the HG532 router) and run it. After some time the LAN light will appear, then it still needs a reboot after which I am online
If I try the start up disc for the Dlink router it tells me that my computer does not have an ethernet port. Weird ....!
Any advice gratefully received ..........

Ray

 

[RealBeast]

Go to http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19 and download the Broadcom driver R282234.exe if you have 32 bit Windows 7 or R282233.exe if you have 64 bit Windows 7 and unpack/run the driver. That should properly install it -- without the driver the Ethernet won't work.

Don't rely on some generic driver updater, use the specific driver for your model and OS.

 

[raykcards]

Thanks very much for that....will let you know how it goes

 

[raykcards]

A false dawn I'm afraid. I downloaded the Broadcom R282233.exe as you suggested and got the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3 box complete with all the bells and whistles OK

Came offline and shut down. At the next start up.......No LAN light.

I clicked on the Broadcom and got 'No Active Broadcom Network Adapter detected'...would I like to uninstall.
I checked Control Panel>Device manager> and there was No Network Adapter present

Inserted the AOL Broadband set-up disc and two-thirds of the way through setup the LAN light appears as if by magic. Perform a reboot and I am online again
The Network Adapter has now reappeared in Device Manager and The Broadcom Box is back fully functional again.

For some reason the computer is just not recognising the Network Adapter ?

 

[tha_vice]

Try this - check the power management settings in the device manager - is it set to turn off to save power?

Also you might try resetting your bios settings to optimized defaults - I had an issue with the integrated NIC not being detected before and this seemed to fix it.

Also are you using any sort of power management software ?

 

[raykcards]

Many thanks for that....it's appreciated

I don't have any power management software. The power management settings are set to 'balanced'. I will try them on other settings and report back.
If that makes no difference I'll try the BIOS

 

[raykcards]

Further to my last reply I have tried the different power settings without luck and also reset the BIOS defaults.
What I don't understand is why this problem seems so fickle. I might get online with the LAN light first time maybe 3 times in a row and the next time there is no LAN light.
I can then run the AOL set-up disc and the first time it doesn't work. Re-run the set-up disc a second time and the LAN light appears as if by magic. It can't be a dodgy connection because once I have the LAN light it never disappears until shutdown.
Any other ideas please ?

 

[mfa_ucs]

I have the same issue. I found on another chat suggesting to clear the NVRAM or CMOS settings via the 3-pin connector near the battery. This works randomly, but this has been going on for about a week. tried to clear it again today a couple times, no luck, no lan light, no device.

Did you ever get your system straightened out???