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Onboard LAN not recognized

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by coreyx64

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Ok im running Windows 7 RC x64 and my computer is a microATX mini tower. The card i bought had a full bracket for ATX, so it didnt fit. i modified it yesterday, but all that time before the card was just plugged into the PCI slot just laying there doing its job with the antenna out the back.

yesterday after modding the bracket i put the card in like it is supposed to be, mounted to the case with the bracket. when i booted up, my onboard LAN didnt work. drivers are fine, it wasnt even loaded in dev mgr. i think this might be an IRQ issue, as ive had this happen b4, but with a PCI video card.

so my question is, if all this time (several months) i had wifi and lan both working, and now it doesnt because of the bracket, what could be causing it? could it possibly be that before, the card may have not been plugged in the slot all the way?

PLZ help me i need my gigabit lan back. FYI my board is a gigabyte eg45m-ds2h. the lan chip is onboard, MFG realtek. the wifi card is a ralink RT61 turbo wireless lan card. Here are pictures if it helps, but i doubt it:
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=yixy0ddwoji&thumb=4

Thnaks in advance for all tips/help suggested.

75 replies

by thumbsup2

You modified a slot to 'make a card fit' that wasn't designed for that type of slot, and now you're wondering why things don't work? Gee! Let me think for a bit! ***sigh***

OK, what happens when you pull the card out? Does your onboard LAN start working? If not, perhaps you now need a new motherboard because you've just DESTROYED the one you've got! :-&

by coreyx64

i modified the bracket, the PCI slot is the same. It was a standard PCI wireless LAN card, but the bracket was designed for an ATX tower (full width). my system is a minitower and it therefore uses low profile brackets. i just cut the BRACKET down to a low profile size so that way the card would fit securely instead of just laying there without a bracket.

Bracket, NOT slot.

by oh smeg

You have now modified a Bracket for a ATX Case to fit something like a BTX Case and now the On board LAN has stopped working.

Did you refit the WiFi LAN Card tot he same Slot here?

Is it a PCI Type Card or one of the new type?

If it is a PCI Type I would hazard a guess that you have refitted it to a different PCI Socket and you now have a Resource Conflict occurring which is what the problem is try refitting it to the original PCI Socket and see if it still works.

Failing that remove it completely and see if the on Board LAN now works. If it doesn't there are other issues here that sound far more serious that something simple like a incorrectly fitted card.

Col

by coreyx64

the MFG only made an ATX bracket, not a low profile one to swap it with. so i took that bracket, ground it down to size, drilled the holes in it, etc. so that it would fit in my microATX low profile case.

Yes, i plugged it in the SAME PCI SLOT as it was all the time before i put the bracket on. It was just a card/antenna not mounted to anything---dangling from the slot.

I'm not sure what type of PCI it is, but it is in the same slot. That's why im so confused if it has been in this slot from day one, what would a bracket have anything to do with it?

I'm on the system right now, so i will shut it down and try what you have stated. would having the card not all the way plugged in matter? thats how it was before this, and the bracket, obviously is going to force it all the way in... *stumped*

Ill try what you suggested above and repost....Thanks.

by oh smeg

But if the WiFi Card wasn't correctly seated in the Socket it shouldn't have worked.

If you have a different slot try plugging it into that and see if it helps and if the M'Board is fully populated you will need to swap a couple of these plug in Cards but first I would remove any others that are fitted except any Video Card/s and then test. If it works now try refitting one Card at a time till it is either working or it stops working.

At least then you will know what is causing the problem and if there is an easy solution. But quite often just plugging the Card into a different socket will make a major difference.

Col

by coreyx64

im pretty sure its fried. i went as far as to unplug all peripherals and it still doesnt work. also swapped cards in different slots to no avail. but the realtek chip is right under the wifi card on the board. it serves the audio and lan. but i still have audio working. there are no other chips with the realtek "crab" logo on it and the PCB traces lead from that chip to the audio jacks and the lan port.

something else that doesnt add up is the lights on the lan port are still lit and blinking as per normal. (i plugged it into lan to test) but only the green one is doing the blinking, etc. the orange one is out. if it truly is bad no biggie since im getting a new board in a couple of weeks anyway. im going to put this one into a DVR machine that will only use the PCIe x1 slot for the video recorder...no lan needed. Gigabyte released a follow up to this model which ratings tout as much better. looking at that board i see many revisions to some of the problems ive been having (aside from the lan issue).

if a chip is dead, shouldnt the lights also not work?

by rob miners

to see that it isn't disabled.

To check that the PC's network card is OK.

Click Start, Run and type cmd and press Enter.

At the prompt type ping 127.0.0.1 and press Enter.

You should get a display like this do you.

C:\>ping 127.0.0.1

Pinging 127.0.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

by coreyx64

in the bios it says ONBOARD LAN --- ENABLED

i tried the cmd window pinger. it pings regardless of a cable connected to the lan or not. i have disabled my wifi card so it doesnt interfere with any of the tests im doing on the lan card. so then what your saying is my mobo chipset isnt dead if those are the ping results i get? YAY :D

by coreyx64

bwilmot,

the ethernet controller does not show up in dev. manager, not in net conns, absolutely nowhere. In fact, the BIOS has a built-in LAN cable tester that determines the length of the cable. Used to work, now it wont. anybody else think its fried? i do. ive got an extra gigabit lan card (PCI) if i have to plug it in so be it, i just would like to troubleshoot it so i can learn more on how to deal with issues like this. im only 14.5 had experience with computers, building, modifing, etc. since 05 so it would be nice if i could fix it without the addon card just for the purpose of my own knowledge.

Thanks again to everyone for the great help. its much appreciated.

by oh smeg

But in reality anything can and does happen as these things are incredibly complicated.

But the Orange light should be for the Link to the LAN and the Green Light is for Data so when it's flashing it's sending/receiving Data but without the Orange LED light there is no link. That of course is if the thing is actually working correctly. Have you checked for any crap on the M'Board that could be creating a Short Circuit?

I have a Gigabyte P35 Chip Set Board here that needs to be cleaned very regularly or it fails to boot so that could be worth a try here. ;)

Col

by coreyx64

its not very dirty or dusty, but ill blow it out with my air compressor anyway. wouldnt hurt. this system generally stays very clean since, unlike standard towers, this is 3" wide so the airflow is excellent--the air just goes in an out and theres no extra space inside the case to suffocate airflow. but i think the airflow also causes the dirt and dust so that may be to my disadvantage but it doesnt matter im happy with it...

ill try cleaning it and repost and see what happens. if its alredy "being" shorted, wouldnt there be no chance of reviving the chip?

also my LAN and audio are both made from realtek and are part of the same physical silicon module on the board. wouldnt the audio not work either, im still hearing things...

thanks

by coreyx64

if i need to reinstall W7, i can, dont really want to, but as a last resort option.

PnP OS is enabled in BIOS. so is the LAN card itself.

by rob miners

depends on how much time you want to spend mucking around trying to repair a beta install.

Edit: It really doesn't take that long to reinstall.

by oh smeg

Instead of trying reinstalling Windows try a Live Linux, you can one as a Cover Disc on almost any Linux Mag at your Local Newsagent or you can download one from here.

http://www.livecdlist.com/

If the On Board LAN Card doesn't work under Linux then I would expect that the IC has been adversely affected somehow. Maybe a Static Discharge as that seems about the only thing left.

While any [b]Live Linux[/b] should do I would recommend Knoppix, Mandriva or Ubuntu others may not support that LAN Card but the above should with Mandriva and Ubuntu having a reputation of just working. You don't have to worry about damaging the 7 Installation as these run off the CD so all you need do is make a CD insert it into the Optical Drive and boot off it. The OS will just open they are all a little bit different and I use Knoppix all of the time but Mandriva is very easy and doesn't do anything without first asking you can it. Unfortunately I haven't used any form of Ubuntu for a while so I'm not sure just how well the [b]Live[/b] Version that they make works. But a while ago it worked a treat and would initialize LAN Cards both wired and wireless when ti loaded unlike many others.

Col

by ic-it

Open network connections.
Right-click on the connection and verify it hasn't been disabled.

Next open it's properties and verify that it has drivers.

by oh smeg

I have noticed previously that the Signal Lines of these IC's can get shorted and this stops the units working correctly.

When there is a buildup of Dust and other crud it can cause signals to go to the wrong places or just disappear to earth as they are effectively just a Positive Charge and if they get rerouted to a different destination that part of the Board just doesn't work.

The reason that you get dust build up inside a case is entirely down to airflow, the more that there is the more likely you are to get Air Borne dust sucked into the inside of the case and then the I's cause the dust to get caught and this is where the problems start. As not many Computer Cases are Filtered these Days this is something that needs to be watched.

Also when you blow out the insides remember to prevent the Fans from spinning when you hit them with the Air as they will generate Electricity and this can damage the M'Board.

As I said previously I have a P31 M'Board here which needs to be regularly cleaned or it will not boot. While if left running it will not show any signs of trouble the moment that you need to restart you hit problems. I'm assuming that if it was left long enough the system would give problems but as it's running Windows that just isn't an issue as Windows can not be left running long enough to allow the issues to surface.

Col

by rob miners

Plug and Play in the BIOS if it isn't already enabled. You also have to remember that W7 is still in Beta. If worse comes to worse I would remove any cards that have been added and try a fresh install of W7.

by coreyx64

when the RC came out. i didnt repair anything, infact that causes more problems in windows. clean installs usually are the only thing that work for me...

by rob miners

when I was Beta testing Vista I was installing a couple of times a week. At the moment I'm only running Vista in a Virtual PC. I don't trust it well enough to run it on my main System even with SP1.

by coreyx64

Well I have but I don't have it installed on any of my other systems. Used it repairing other machines and on friends computers. And by the way they released vista sp2 so you may want to try that and see if it helps the overall stability and performance. But yes I agree I'm not trusting vista with any of my files. W7 is the vista we never knew. Vista was a 100% mistake and shouldn't have been released. And now they're rushing w7 to correct vista. It's funny how (I think I read it somewhere) that vista support/updates ends earlier than xp does...if that doesn't say anything about vista I don't know what does!

by rob miners

before I try Vista SP2. Who knows what M$ will do in regards for support of Vista, I think that it's still up in the air.

by coreyx64

It's a realtek LAN card wich seems pretty common in oem boards today. Not sure the exact number but I'm sure a Linux distro would work fine.

I'll try that and report my findings back to you guys. Thanks.

- corey -

by coreyx64

okay whatever is going on i think it is also affecting the entire motherboard chipset because earlier today i was listening to my itunes while browsing the net on firefox. Then it blue screens and shuts off within a half second. (no, i didnt see what BSOD said, otherwise id tell you)

and now, ill turn the power on, POST, BIOS screen, verify DMI pool data, BOOTMGR is missing Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart. so i do and it will not get anywhere into booting windows. the last time this happened it was a loose sata cable because the cable had locks on them but the HDD didnt, so the locks didnt hold the cable in place. but ive tried that alredy, even slaving the HDD into another PC, verifying it is still working. Is it time for me to forget this mess and get a new board?

OH WAIT
-------------
would it have anything to do with me marking the main partition as active from WITHIN WINDOWS ITSELF?

thanks.

by coreyx64

and work on other stuff in the mean time. i assume its an ISO that i can burn to disc so i will do that and let you know of any further findings. thanks.

by coreyx64

but never with this issue. last time it was very helpful. ill give it another shot. however the BIOS ITSELF says theres no LAN.

soooooooooooooooo... if i am correct

bios determines what devices OS's see (like if there disabled, etc.)

LAN isnt even an option anywhere

it says onboard LAN enabled but the LAN check utility within the BIOS says "NO LAN CARD INSTALLED. INSTALL LAN CARD AND REBOOT."

its quite obvious its toast but i still want to twiddle with UBCD for fun. just so i know how to use it to diagnose crap like this in the future.

thanks,
- Corey -

by coreyx64

what i did was insert the install disc into another computer and copy bootmgr right from there onto the root of the source HDD. im going to boot it from the original system and see if that fixed it...

by rob miners

and if your anything like me you will probably spend a couple of days playing with it.

by coreyx64

is what i do best. like to get experience with different stuff. well regardless of the live linux disc my problem was solved (well, not solved, but determined) by my laptop.

lan chip is fried, but i dont get why the audio isnt since there siliconned together. so thats taken care of. got a extra PCI lan to keep me going. smooth sailing.

the other issue is Windows. BOOTMGR really is gone since slaving it into another system doesnt work (same HW config) it still comes up with the same message "BOOTMGR missing".

damn that sux now cuz i got my entire system configged to my liking. ima install it to a extra HDD and just copy bootmgr from the root drive to the slave and get it back to working. if it worked on WinXP with NTDLR, it should work here. why would windows just, in the middle of my tasks, STOP, bluescreen, power kill, and not come back on?

what does bootmgr have anything to do with my work? its supposed to "manage" the boot system, i guess...

so just while working on typical net surfing the file poofs. never seen that b4.

Thanks again for the help.

by tstreich

This is an incredible utility. Boot it up and it will bring up a menu (which has some pretty dang funny items on it) and choose which OS you want to boot which I believe will show up as "X: Windows-why would you want to do this??". You should be good to go after that...

by coreyx64

ive worked on a few vista machines lately, installing SP2 via WUPD without a problem. havent tried it standalone yet. however when ive been scrolling thru some pages around yahoo answers, here, and a few other places i see people having WUPD errors and a failed SP2 install. Yes, i can tell you from what ive dealt with it DOES BENEFIT your system to have it installed. What i CANT tell you is a guaranteed installation success rate. too early to tell. then again i work with Std. workstations, not VMs. so it may have a different outcome. Microsoft hasnt been on track at all with Vista. like you said it never hurts to wait...

by rob miners

and you need a lot of it working in IT. If you wait for awhile you can normally get the workarounds from the troops in the front line. I just thought that I would hang off for a bit longer.

I have a VM collection with several OS's. I'm actually running Vista under W7 in a VM. I only use the VM's for referencing these days. They only take a minute to bootup and you can get your facts straight if your answering a question and you can't remember how to do something. I must have CRAFT disease.

by coreyx64

its a 300W PSU, never had ANY problems since i built this system. just randomly stopped working after wifi card install.

anyway i did fix the bootmgr issue by inserting the W7 disc in and it said boot problms detected CLICK REPAIR TO FIX THEM. :D

coundnt be easier.

it boots, but it only worked when i disconnected my slave HDD, which is there only for TV recording storage --- its not involved in booting at all.

ill try reconnecting and seeing if it still works.

The reason i started this question chain is because

a) wanted to fix the problem
b) wanted to know how the problem was caused

weve gotten thru a. but what i need to understand is how/why did this happen out of NOWHERE? if its unexplainable, just say so. i understand how iffy windows can be, considering the millions of HW configs it has to run on. and also this is not an Official release so that is also a factor.

thanks for the tips.

by rob miners

I think that the PSU could be at fault here as it is only 300W and it's not booting with the second drive attached. As I said in my last post I have seen Onboard devices malfunction due to the PSU failing.

I would purchase a more adequate Power Supply if you are replacing the Motherboard. Get one in the 600W-700W range. Do a Google for Antec brand PSU's as they are by far the best quality.

You can test your PSU using the instructions below:

testing your psu with a multimeter

http://www.driverheaven.net/guides/testingPSU/

http://www.ochardware.com/articles/psuvolt/psuvolt.html

http://www.journeysystems.com/?powercalc

This is also an interesting Article

Getting to know your power supply by Faithe Wempen

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-6349-1046822.html

Someone else may chip in with their thoughts but that's where I would start.

by coreyx64

I can't use any other psu other that re one that came with it. I can always get the same one though. The board and case (when I purchased it) but the case has an extremly rare psu only made by the case mfr. By looking at it, it looks just like a server psu, but the dimensions are theholdback here. I've seen other server psus that look like they fit, but they are longer than this one, and it would not clear the case fan. Rite now the psu is TOUCHING up against the case fan. Ill test with the regular high watt psu and see what happens. If it always worked with this 300w, does thatmean the psu is weaker than it originally was at time of purchase?

Also, is it weakened if USB devices stay connected to charge while the system is off? It still outputs to the USB when it's off so I thoguht that waswat it was for.

I'll try that and see what happens.
Thanks

by oh smeg

But every PS is a Switch Mode Unit and has Capacitors in it that can go off. At the very worst these capacitors can fail completely and stop the PS from working.

I've seen cases where the Monitor will display a No Signal Message when you press the On Button and this will disappear when you turn off the power or the unit. When this happens the case Fans run correctly but there isn't sufficient power available to run the CPU let alone the remainder of the M'Board just the 12 V fans.

PS are finicky things and depending on who makes them they can be hurt by spikes or other rubbish on the mains or if they are cheapies they can just pass that junk through to the components inside the case. Ideally the better ones will die and protect the internal components so that all that is required is a new PS and you are up and running again. Of course the cheap ones do not do this and in one case I have seen one of them allow Mains Power into the inside of the case on a server and that then went out over the Network Cables destroying everything connected to the Network. That particular machine was under 2 weeks old when this happened.

Col

by rob miners

proprietary hardware as I've been caught with it before. I prefer to roll my own. If something goes wrong it can be replaced off the shelf.

The PSU would definately weaken over time as components wear out. Everything seems to wear out over time. Today we live in a throw away society and unfortunately not a lot is built to last.

You do realise that if the System has a permanent position that you can always connect a PSU externally. It's not a pretty site but it is functional. An old case with all of the fittings removed and layed on its front with holes drilled appropriatly through the top and bottom can house a few Sata drives that can easily be connected to the System with the right USB adapter.

by coreyx64

now its failing even more

ive tried ALL of the suggestions you guys have provided me, but this board just keeps fighting.

here is the list of stuff wrong:

ethernet doesnt work
cant print to network printers, it kills the router
usb headers arent recognized by windows
anytime i try to use a cd, it gives me CRC errors and says "THE DEVICE IS UNAVAILABLE"
cant use shared folders (\\PCNAME\Shareddocs); also kills the router
wont go into Sleep/Standby power state without coming back on after 20 some minutes

all tumbled from simply messing with that bracket. unbelievable. :( its not a problem anyway.. im building a strictly "offline" system to where these problems wont show since it wont handle any networking stuff.

when i ordered this board i had no idea that gigabyte DROPPED IT 2 weeks later. they have since made a (based on several reviews from Cnet, newegg, etc.) much better revision of the same board with the same features if not more.

ive got the EG45M-DS2H:
http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2877

and they made a new one, the EG45M-UD2H:
http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=3021&ProductName=GA-EG45M-UD2H

the reviews are much better for the UD2H than the ones from the DS2H. Ive been happy with gigabyte boards this whole issue just must be a coincidence...

thanks 4 the help peeps... ;)

ive already ordered this other gigabyte model, so im curious: in your opinion/experience, what mobo MFR has been the best quality to you in terms of setup/reliability/speed/temps/etc... ?

when i first built this, i asked different people in some forums for their opinion. They all said the PSU was too weak and that the system wouldnt even turn on: FAIL

they also said that onboard graphics would be extremely choppy: FAIL (it can run most of those highGFX games on high settings flawlessly)

so despite those i still built it, ran excellent (at the time). so now this must just be...well....idk. i just was explaining all of the feedback i received then and now.

thanks again,
- Corey -

by rob miners

I've had a good run with them. Also never had to find Sata drivers just to be able to install an OS like a lot of the others. They have a comprehensive compatability list for CPU's and Memory. Driver and BIOS updates are a breeze. I've only contacted then once for support and I had an answer within three days. To be honest they are the only boards that I use so I might be a bit one sided.

by coreyx64

The last time I had this LAN issue it was an irq conflict, contacted support and I got a response IN ENGLISH the next day. They talked me thru how to fix it and reconfig the bios it was like unheard of. Like u said I use ALL SATA devices no IDE it kills my airflow. By bios has the NATIVE IDE MODE So sata works like ide. Makes iit so much better espesciLly for xp where they have mostly IDE drivers and very few sata. I've not had any problems with this board jus until I onstaled that card. So I trust gigabyte asfar as board quality. The next one I ordered yesterday is also a gigabyte, so that should be good. I like that face wizard to change the bios screen... Really neat. Hopefully this next board is as good as the reviews tout...I'm confidet. Just got go wait for the box to come in. :)

ThNks,
Corey

by oh smeg

I have just had a GA6-BXDU fail and that was a old Server Dual Processor P2 Board that has run 24/7 since it was originally built with 266 P2's fitted and subsequently upgraded over the years to 2 X 450 P3's and a GIG of RAM installed and it was as fast running XP Pro as quite a few newer P4 and the early Dual Core CPU's that had considerably more RAM installed.

About 5 Years Ago I stopped using Gigabyte Boards not because they where at all bad but because of the warranty changes that the company went through here instead of allowing the Wholesaler to change the faulty M'Boards they had to be returned to the Country Distributer for replacement. So instead of taking a few minutes you have a 6 week wait for a new Board and in my case that was for a Board that was DOA when I got it. That has since been changed and now Gigabyte have a Repair Facility in AU which makes things even better or so I'm told but I have not had the need to have any dealings with this part of Gigabyte.

Actually that was the only Gigabyte M'Board that I have had any problems with as the remainder have just worked and I have used hundreds of them over the years.

However I have previously found that On Board Video isn't the best possible solution available and a Dedicated Video Card with the Faster Video Memory is always better for gaming and CAD type Applications. But saying that provided that the correct M'Board for the job is used and it is correctly configured I have yet to experience any real problems with Gigabyte Boards. That is a lot more than I can say for some other brands that I have used over the years. There are some brands that I simply refuse to touch even when it comes to repairing Other Peoples Builds. They are just not worth the problems that come with them. ;)

Col

by coreyx64

If it was old then u got ur moneys worth. Mine has a g45chipset from intel, it has a faster tx rate than other chipsets. Clearly PCI 2.0.x16 is the best choice, integrated graphics aren't as good but the g45 seems to defy that. The other systems I've dealt with , their iternernal cards can't even play a utube video. So it makes sense that there not that good. Mine runs excellent with wow, crysis, halo 1/2, rct3, etc. But it might be driven stronger with dx11... Not sure but I a been very satisfied with that intel chipset and the Gigabyte board itself . When I get my new one I'll let u know how it goes. Should be a direct changeout since these 2 boards are very similar in peripheral location. Hope it works.

- corey -

by coreyx64

lets see:
is my board celebrating the 4th of july or its grave? hmmm... ;)

yep it went suicidal on me.

waiting for a response on the warranty to get it excahnged. in the meantime, back to the lan issue, i told u my lights were acting weird. see this picture from my gigabyte support post:
http://ggts.gigabyte.com.tw/ClientUserFile/OK/769891/gigabyteLANproblem.JPG

didnt make sense. am i the only one confused at these series of events?

SIDENOTE
-----------------
what do the lights mean on the lan port?
A) green = 10mbps orange = 100/1000mbps
B) green = link orange = activity

thanks,
- Corey -

by rob miners

you'll be OK. LOL I got up this morning and my main System wouldn't boot. Removed the power lead and drained the capacitors on Mobo and PSU and it fired up. OK it's the PSU. How long since I put this one together, it seems like forever. Checked the paperwork and I'm three months under the Warranty. That's the beauty of Antec PSU's a three year Warranty, so I'll be in touch with the supplier for a replacement.

by coreyx64

somewhere i read gigabyte has a 3 yr warranty also...i hope thats the case. now the entire board doesnt work besides USB, vga, and power.
not counting power theres literally only 2 working plugs on it now. :O

check my other post to oh smeg (titled MIRACLES) and i put more details there about my next steps.

thanks,
corey

by oh smeg

Truly Ancient but with On Board SCSI Dual Processors and for it's time Unfillable RAM as the biggest that ti can support is 256 MEG Chips and they simply where just not available in any shape or form no matter how much you where willing to pay for them back then it flew. I'm still a bit dirty that it died as I don't think that the newer M'Boards are anywhere near as good but on the other side of the coin it cost 1.2K Wholesale bare.

Wasn't everyones first choice as a M'Board but I loved those Boards to death. They just worked. I'm currently using a GA EP45-DS3L and while it's a great Board it's not in the same category as the old P2 Board and when you consider it has a Quad Core with 8 GIG of RAM it is not that much faster than that old Board. That replaced a 3 month old A Bit Board with the same chip set that was next to useless. Pity that I inherited that M'Board owing to a customers demands for s less than stellar system that they wanted.

The real down side with these EP45 Chip Sets is the very limited Expandability as there just are not sufficient Sockets for Plug In Cards that there used to be. ;)

Anyway lets know how you get on with the New M'Board.

Col

by coreyx64

yes i will let u no the progress on the new one. newegg said out of stock shortly after i ordered it and it is set to come back in stock on the 12th (tomorrow) so it will probably ship friday and either get to me on monday or tuesday of next week so i probably wont post anything on here until then, since thees nothing else to talk about, oh WAIT... YES THERE IS

a miracle has happened. turned it on last night:

audio chipset went out
ODD not recognized
dvi and hdmi ports stopped working (stuck with good ol vga)
ps/2 channel quit (im tied to usb)
front panel didnt respond to windows commands

YAY! 3yr warranty here i come.

i still dont know what the hell made this thing collapse in less than a week. its not gigabyte's "style" of manufacturing...

so the new board will B here mon or tues of next week. ill keep all of u up 2 date when i get it. ill take pics too. so in the mean time here is the specs page if you want to read it or not:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128390

so u can get a heads up with what im dealing with now. (not much different than last time)

thanks.

ttyl,
- Corey -

by rob miners

a lot cheaper than we can over here. I always try and go for something between the $150-$200 mark. If I pay anything less I'm only buying crap. Once I decide on a board I go hunting for bargains and I normally come out on top.

by coreyx64

well i tried a linux live cd and confirmed the lan chip is bad. now everything else on the board is dead (audio, keyboard port, hdmi, dvi, front panel, ODD, firewire, etc. basically everything but power and usb and vga. im getting a new board anyway so im hoping to return this if gigabyte has the 3yr warranty that i read up on.

thanks anyway,
corey

by coreyx64

well i tried a linux live cd and confirmed the lan chip is bad. now everything else on the board is dead (audio, keyboard port, hdmi, dvi, front panel, ODD, firewire, etc. basically everything but power and usb and vga. im getting a new board anyway so im hoping to return this if gigabyte has the 3yr warranty that i read up on.

thanks anyway,
corey

by rob miners

10 LNK Green: Link integrity, Flashing = Reversed polarity, Steady (On) = Good 10BT connection, Off = No connection between NIC & hub
100 LNK Green: Link integrity, Flashing = Reversed polarity, Steady (On) = Good 100BT connection, Off = No connection between NIC & hub
ACT Yellow: Port traffic for either speed, Flashing = Network traffic present, Steady (On) = Heavy network traffic, Off = No traffic

It is suggested that reversed polarity wires be corrected to attain maximum performance.

I doubt that you will get it working properly as this board has seen better days.

by coreyx64

So why would it be solid sometimes and crossed other times? It takes only seconds to go from solid to blink. and I've never seen the green light blink on any LAN port---never. So I knew something was wrong. So if it's indicating a crossed conductor, would this be in the chip? (I would Assume) I'm asking out of curiousity as this board is officially toast. I'll tinker with it tomorrow with different toys... At this point in time the board is for ooos and ahhs, nothing else.

Thanks for that led reference info...very helpful.

-Corey-

by rob miners

malfunctioning the way it is it could mean anything. In my early days I diagnosed a board as fit for Silicone Heaven so I had it replaced. It had Onboard Lan and Video. A couple of months later I added a PCI Video and Lan card and lo and behold it fired up. Three months later it died for the last time.

by oh smeg

Well here I would only be guessing but I think that it is fairly safe to suggest that as the M'Board is dead or working at a Reduced Capacity it is likely that the M'Board itself is causing this to happen. It could be something as simple as Bad Voltage Control with the Zener Diodes on the M'Board being faulty to something far more serious.

With the Warranty Gigabyte [i]HERE[/i] can repair their M'Boards so it would be a good idea not to hurt it in any way as the Company there may refuse to accept it for Warranty Replacement. Just be careful with the M'Board even if it appears to be dead. Also it wouldn't hurt to make sure that there is nothing loose inside the case that is causing a Short Circuit to occur.

Col

by rob miners

The Supplier only covers products for 1 year only. After this period if an
item is still under manufacturer warranty, we can act as a medium and
place a warranty claim on your behalf with the supplier. There will be a
handling fee of $33 to cover the costs of freight and admin. If you wish
to continue with this, let me know and I'll issue you a returns number.
Looks like I have to cough up $33 to have it replaced.

by oh smeg

It saves time & money. ;)

Drop me a PM if you need any help with this.

Col

by coreyx64

I'm packing the board up and shipping it tomorrow. Then I will get a new board once they receive this one.

by coreyx64

Especially when troubleshooting. This one simply won't power on at all even with external LAN / grafix. Psu I THINK Is still good. Plugged it into my moms asrock board and worked with no problems. so that couldn't have causedall this...

by coreyx64

nothings loose and the board contacts are clean of debris or anything else conductive. isnt it also weird that im typing this message to you using THIS BOARD? must have had 9 lives...revived itself (minus LAN)

according to the LAN light codes that jackie howe posted, this thing is crossed. when the green light is blinking, my router interprets that as lan activity and causes the routers ORANGE light to blink per normal and green light solid.

yes im leaving the board as is so the warranty will not void.

about the PSU:

i have a extremely rare chameleon LED case fan that changes color. cant find them anywhere anymore. at least i cant, wish i could. but anyway, bench testing this fan awhile back with a variable volt PSU, the hight voltage caused the colors to be brighter and transition faster. ever since this crap happened, there is a long, 6 sec delay between colors. (often getting stuck on red) PSU?

forgot about this whole time of (working) operation since nov. i had a USB battery charger that had been plugged in all the time in the back. remember, this PSU supplies constant voltage to USB...

so my question is could that be the culperate and since that device drained PSU power when not running could PSU again be messed up? and if it were, why is it running with no problems as i type? *shrugs*

still havent received a reply from gigabyte. a few more days of no reply and i might call a tech rep. and see if i can get a reply faster to let u know what i get back from them.

thanks,
Corey

by oh smeg

Supply a constant 5 V DC when plugged in with the computer not running. This is to provide power to various things like USB Ports and the Important thing the Front Panel Switch which creates a Ripple on the 5 V DC Line to switch On in this case or if the system is running to switch it off.

What should happen is if something has gone to [b]Silicon Heaven[/b] or at least is in the process of going there the Voltage would be Low on one Voltage Rail, at the very least. I would try reducing this to the bare minimum and see if that makes any difference. However depending on who made the PS here it could just be that the Capacitors in it are going off and starting to cause issues to arise. If you have another PS for this M'Board I would suggest giving it a try to see if there is any difference it's worth the test if nothing else. ;)

Col

by coreyx64

I guess the solid ones are better and more reliable...

I have to steal the 430w from my moms comp to test it. It's a thermaltake tr-2 430w.

by coreyx64

MY QUESTION
------------------------
Hello,

i have the EG45M-DS2H gigabyte mobo installed in my HTPC system and out of nowhere the onboard LAN stopped working. i checked in windows, and windows vista doesnt recognize it. the drivers are loaded fine, everything else is OK in windows. i went into the BIOS device listing and it only shows my wifi card (located in PCI slot 1) as the only network controller installed, which makes me think the Realtek chip is fried, although i still have my realtek audio working. im confused at what to do now. any suggestions? if this chip is bad, all of my expansion slots are in use so i cant use a PCI ethernet card. what is the standard warranty on this motherboard? it is not overclocked or anything like that, im just wondering if i can return it to gigabyte for an exchange for the same thing if thats possible. if not, thats too bad. ive never had any problems with the other gigabyte boards so this doesnt make sense to me. would it be a resource (IRQ) conflict? i tried pulling all of my expansion cards out and it still doesnt work, however the GREEN light on the port still blinks sometimes when a cable is plugged in. since then the USB headers on the board stopped working and any LOCAL network activity that i do (shared folders and shared printing) crash machine and my keyboard and mouse lock up, forcing me to pull the plug. im not sure if it means anything, but im just trying to give a more detailed description to help you help me solve this problem. thanks for the great support and i hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks,
Corey

PS. Also if it is under warranty, can i get it exchanged for the EG45M-UD2H model, which is the same price as the EG45M-DS2H? if not, a direct replacement is fine.

ANSWER
------------------------

Hello Corey,

Please jot down the current settings in the BIOS, remove the battery from the board for about 7 seconds, place the battery back, go back into the BIOS and load the failsafe default and optimized default, setup the BIOS the way you had it setup (settings you jot down earlier), reboot the PC and reattempt to connect the internet again. If it fails, please submit a return request from this link:

http://rma.gigabyteusa.com/DirectRMA/EndUser_AddRMA.asp

The board carries 3 years litmitted warranty, for more information, contact our service department at 626-854-9338 ext. 222 or 223. For the exchange/swap board request, you need to speak to them as well. A technician can only trouble shot and try to pinpoint the issue on the board.

Thank you.

by thumbsup2

So, did their instructions work, or are you returning the board? :D

by coreyx64

i tried what all of you guys said and GB themselves said, to no avail. lan chip = fried.

not a problem. im hoping to get the UD2H model of this same board instead of the one that i currently have, the DS2H.

ill let you know of anything new i hear from them.

- Corey -

by oh smeg

The Solid Caps are for Low Voltage where as the liquid Caps are for the Higher Voltage Applications. So things like 12V DC and 5 or lower V DC can use Solid Caps or Green Caps where as the High Voltage AC Applications require the more robust Liquid Caps, ;)

But depending on you location you could have unsuitable Caps in either the PS or the M'Board as these come rated to operate at different temps and if you exceed this Temp they fail because they are running hotter when there is no power than they individual Caps where designed to run. These are Air Cooled devices and they require a Air Temp lower than their Max Operating Temp to remain working. Over here we had circuit boards with Caps that failed because they where only rated to 30C and the air temp here was often above that level. These Circuit Boards worked perfectly in the Northern Hemisphere but when they hit AU they failed with alarming regularity. When they ran out of new ones to replace the failed ones with I was begged by a customer to see if I could repair several of these circuit Boards and when I looked at the boards with an aim to repair I saw what was going on and I replaced the Capacitors with Green Caps rated to 60C and never had another failure. Of course when I had a Minus Number of Repaired Circuit Boards showing on the Stock Control System the Accountants didn't like this one little bit and complained quite loudly. The Techs on the other hand in the rest of AU where beating a path to my door to find out what to do so that they could get these repaired and the systems that they where in running again. ;D

Col

by coreyx64

Since it is under warranty? I didn't think it was the bios like they said , tried it and still doesn't work so it's RMA time... :)

Illcontact their return dept. This week. Hopefully since they are the same price, I can get my ds-2h exchanged for a ud-2h...if you look at the 2 boards, the only difference is a different NB heatsink & some connector locations are differnt. So Ill contact them and see what I can do.

Thanks,
- corey -

by coreyx64

i will. waiting for a reply from GB to ship the board. so there may be a delay. ill keep u posted.

- Corey -

by coreyx64

arrived and everything works per normal. it runs cooler than the other one too---everything else just fell right into place as it was a direct replacement. i'm happy now. thanks for all the help. GIGABYTE was just as helpful too.

PS. The northbridge (main chipset) was replaced. why would this cause the LAN to go out?

Thanks again,
- Corey -

This discussion is closed to new replies.