Question This device cannot start. (Code 10) Wireless Network Adapter & HD Audio Controller

Jul 5, 2019
2
0
10
Hello,

since Monday my WiFi Adapter is not working anymore.

Make and model:
MSI GS65 8RF-078 Stealth Thin

Operating system:
Edition: Windows 10 Pro
Version: 1903
OS Build: 18362.207

WiFi-Adapter:
Killer(R) Wireless-AC 1550i Wireless Network Adapter (9560NGW) 160MHz

Description of what's going on:
Sunday everything worked fine. Monday I noticed, that I had no Internet and that the WiFi option is missing in the Network & Internet settings. Ethernet worked. Note: At that point my Windows version was 1803.
First thing I did, was rebooting the Laptop. Same result.
Second, I checked the device manager. It told me that the Killer(R) Wireless-AC 1550i Wireless Network Adapter (9560NGW) 160MHz cannot start (Code 10).
Next I tried to uninstall the driver and reboot. Windows reinstalled the driver and showed no error. As soon as I disconnected Ethernet, the same error reappeared.
Next thing I did was following those steps: Link to Killernetworking support. While following those steps, weird things happened. I used the Killer uninstaller to uninstall all Killer software. Next step was rebooting the Laptop. It took a long time to do so and when it finally booted a blue screen appeared (Thread_Handling_Exception or something like that) and it rebooted again and got stuck in a loop of reboots and the same blue screen until it put me to the screen where you have couple options for going to the BIOS or Diagnostic tools etc. I tried the Start up Repair Option. The blue screen kept reappearing.
After many reboots I got into safe mode. There i uninstalled the driver for the adapter again and rebooted. Success. I was in the normal mode.
Next thing I did was update all my other drivers and install all Windows updates (still version 1803). After all the updates I rebooted the Laptop and it started normally. The adapter was still not working though.
While updating Windows, I noticed that there is a new version (1903), so I installed it. Rebooted and the problem persisted. Running out of my known options, I prepared a bootable USB drive. I deleted all files on my laptop and did a clean install of Windows.
As the install finished and the initial setup begun I was prompted to choose an Internet connection and even my modem was shown and available. I connected. I finished the setup and landed on my desktop screen. About 3 minutes after (I did not install anything) WiFi disconnected and the same problem reappeared.
Somewhere along the way I also noticed that my speakers aren't working anymore. A quick look into the device manager revealed the same problem for the High Definition Audio Controller.

I hope I covered all the information you need to understand my problem and also what my specs are. If not, I apologize and will deliver further details immediately.

Best regards
Mal

edit: I also noticed that when I want to shut down my laptop, it instead turns off the screen and keyboard lights. The power LED is still glowing in white.

Note: The drivers from Intel and Microsoft (see screenshots) I cannot install, saying the device cannot be started (Code 10). The other two drivers install successfully. The Error disappears and reappears about 3 seconds later.


Screenshots:
Pic8oXw.png
SB4Y3k2.png

c8jqZFb.png
 
Last edited:
Problem solved!

Unfortunately I was far from home in another town because of work. I finally got home and was able to connect the laptop via Ethernet (cable). I noticed that the WiFi Adapter started working right after. I don't know why that fixed it but it worked.

In my opinion it cannot have been a Windows Update that fixed the problem, because a) I did not manually install anymore updates and b) I used the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc), to prevent Windows Update from installing device drivers.

Anyways thank you Stancestans for all your efforts!