Question Wifi adapter appears to be causing system instability after resuming from sleep/hibernation since Windows update

[Celarious]

Since installing the cumulative Windows updates on 19/02, I've been experiencing severe system instability after using the sleep or hibernation functionality. Mainly, extremely frequent stuttering that completely freezes the system and "brrrrs" the last playing audio, along with BSODs.

The reason I believe this to be related to my Wifi adapter is because of the many event viewer errors it's been producing, and the BSOD minidumps always leading to a network driver as being the culprit. I don't currently have any other leads on what else could be the issue.

Steps I've already tried:

• Updating Intel Wireless drivers
• Uninstalling and re-installing Intel Wireless drivers
• Removing one of the three installed updates from 19/02 (the other two cannot be uninstalled)
• Memory test
• DISM file check
• SFC file check
• Reseating RAM
• Physically removing and re-installing network card
• DDU clean installing GPU drivers (I updated my nvidia drivers on the same day, tried this just in case)
• Checked BIOS and XMP settings, no changes there
• Uninstalling and re-installing motherboard OEM ethernet LAN drivers

There are no event viewer entries immediately following the stutters, but there are a lot at seemingly random times, some close to the stutters, others not:

(x430 today) 6666 - Firmware dbgc dump trigger (\Device\NDMP3 Intel(R) Wireless-AC 9260 160MHz)
Intel(R) Wireless-AC 9260 160MHz : Has determined that the network adapter is not functioning properly.
Intel(R) Wireless-AC 9260 160MHz : Has encountered an internal error and has failed.
5032 - Driver Miniport reset watchdog
The network interface "Intel(R) Wireless-AC 9260 160MHz" has begun resetting.  There will be a momentary disruption in network connectivity while the hardware resets. Reason: The network driver requested that it be reset. This network interface has reset 4 time(s) since it was last initialized.

Please note that these entries seem to occur regardless of whether or not the system is in a post-sleep state, resuming from sleep is just when I experience the stuttering and BSODs.
The event viewer is also filled with hundreds of DeviceSetupManager errors, all being "Metadata staging failed" and then some result and container data.

I should add that reliability monitor has also reported random LiveKernelEvent errors, but these occurred long before the problematic updates were installed and have since subsided.

I can attach the BSOD minidump files if necessary. Any help is appreciated.

Specs:

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Education
Version: 22H2 Build 19045.5487
Processor: Intel i7-6700k
BIOS Mode: UEFI
Motherboard: Asus Z170 Pro Gaming
Wireless adapter: Intel(R) Wireless-AC 9260 160MHz

 

[Ralston18]

Noted that you checked Event Viewer. That is good.

Also take a look in Reliability History/Monitor. Much more end user friendly and the timeline format (Days/Weeks) may help reveal a pattern.

And check update history for any failed or problem updates.

Reinstall drivers manually - no third party tools or installers.

 

[bill001g]

I guess you hope it is just the idiots at microsoft installing bad drivers and not it just coincidentally had a hardware failure when you did the windows update.

You should be able to find the best drivers on intels site. They are one of the best when it comes to easy access to drivers.

I would dig around and find the option that tell windows to not update the drivers. I still have fear every time I update after they updated a video driver and it would boot to a black screen. Almost reinstalled windows to fix that one.

 

[Celarious]

Noted that you checked Event Viewer. That is good.

Also take a look in Reliability History/Monitor. Much more end user friendly and the timeline format (Days/Weeks) may help reveal a pattern.

And check update history for any failed or problem updates.

Reinstall drivers manually - no third party tools or installers.

Had a BSOD while investigating this, can't catch a break...

No update problems in the history.

As mentioned reliability monitor showed various LiveKernelEvents in the week leading up to and (mainly) right after the Windows updates, but has since subsided, so I don't believe it's related. Absolutely no mention of the mountain of network device errors from Event Viewer there either, but it does give basic info about the BSODs I've been getting

I'm fairly certain I installed the wifi and LAN drivers manually - I don't usually use third party installers or driver tools, the only exception being the Nvidia App for GPU driver updates. If it matters, I obtained the wifi drivers from Intel's site directly (not using the Driver and Support Assistant), and I obtained the LAN drivers from Asus' support site.

I guess you hope it is just the idiots at microsoft installing bad drivers and not it just coincidentally had a hardware failure when you did the windows update.

You should be able to find the best drivers on intels site. They are one of the best when it comes to easy access to drivers.

I would dig around and find the option that tell windows to not update the drivers. I still have fear every time I update after they updated a video driver and it would boot to a black screen. Almost reinstalled windows to fix that one.

I don't believe it's a hardware failure because it only happens after resuming from sleep/hibernation, haven't once had a stutter or issue after a normal boot

Yeah I already acquired the Wireless 9000 series drivers from Intel's site, specifically here, but as mentioned uninstalling and then re-installing those hasn't helped the issue... have a feeling it's some other part of Windows that isn't playing nice with the drivers

 

[bill001g]

If it is a sleep/hibernate thing I would check the power options. Microsoft is a pain in the butt when it comes to this stuff. There is also garbage like wake on wireless lan but I don't think that card supports it..the motherboard must also. That chipset is a strange one. It has support for 160mhz radio bands but it is done slightly differently than wifi6 and pretty much nobody else supported 160mhz radio bands in wifi5. That is just a random observation it is not likely related to your issue.