Realtek on-board Ethernet Controller driver not found

[pvc]

I’m thinking of going back to formatting my primary partition and re-installing Vista-64 from scratch. I want to see if the newly installed Vista will get around this device problem.

If not then maybe I have a hardware problem that (by coincidence) just happened to occur at the same time that windows update installed the optional update for my Ethernet Controller???

At least now I know that I can recover to the image backup of the original Vista-64 that is stored on the unformatted portion of my C: drive.

[WildEagle]

  Quote: Originally Posted by pvc

  Quote: Originally Posted by WildEagle

If this fails, uninstall the device again, but don't reboot. This time click on the Start Button and go to Settings, followed by Control Panel, and open Add Hardware. Then click the next button and choose the second option on the screen that comes up. This will allow you to scroll down through a list of devices until you come to Network Adapters, highlight that and click the next button. Then on the manufactuer list, if RealTek is listed, select the correct Network Adapter and select the option to have Windows Vista attempt the driver installation automatically, or select the Have Disk Option and point it to the directory that the extracted drivers are in. This will usually work.

I un-installed the device (Ethernet Controller) from Other Devices? then I went to Control Panel /Add Hardware to get the list of Common Hardware types. I don’t have any Network Adapter listed so I can’t use this solution.

That sucks. I can't think of anything else to try at the moment.

[pvc]

I reloaded Vista-64. I didn't reformat the partition. Just reloaded Vista on top of the previous Vista. For some reason vista would not load unto the primary partition which was reformatted in NTFS.

I still get the same problem. Vista will not replace the driver for Other Devices? Ethernet Controller.

I have been reading about other driver problems corrected by changing them in Safe Mode. So I will try a few more things.

[pvc]

Hmmmmm...
If I boot (Safe Mode with Networking) I get Other Devices? Ethernet Controller and >no< Network Adapter.

If I boot (Safe Mode) I get Network Adapter >and< Other Devices? Ethernet Controller. In this case the Network adapter devices WAN Miniport IP, IPv6, L2TP, PPPOE, and PPTP have Microsoft drivers.

Though I still have this Other Devices? Ethernet Controller that I can't replace the driver.

[pvc]

I was able to reload a fresh copy of Vista by deleting the primary partition, then recreate the partition with formatting it.

Still the same problem even with a fresh copy of Vista.

I'm going to Flash my BIOS to a current version to see if that helps.

[pvc]

I flashed BIOS to a current version (Gigabyte GA-PS35C-DS3R F11). I also jumped the CLR CMOS jumper to get back to the BIOS factory defaults.

Still the same problem (Other Devices? Ethernet Controller that will not take a driver).

For good measure I formatted the primary partition to NTFS and loaded Windows 2000. Still the same problem with Win 2000. At least I know it's not Vista's fault.

I suspect that I have a problem with the on-board Realtek Ethernet Controller on my motherboard!!

Before I try to RMA my (6 months old) motherboard does anyone have any other suggestions?

[Spoony]

I was having the exact same problem with my ethernet on my new gigabyte mobo as well.

I got it to work by doing this with the disk maybe it will help you.

I put the gigabyte disk in and after it loaded up i put it on manual selection and went to install the driver for the ethernet. If the ethernet installation window brings up the dialog to repair or uninstall the driver choose uninstall and when it's done do nothing except reboot the computer. When the computer reloads do the same thing as before however this time it should install the drivers and not pop up any dialog boxes (or at least nothing talking about repairing/uninstalling) after it fully installed the computer found the network after a minute for me.

The key thing i found was to make sure you uninstalled from the gigabyte disk as simply uninstalling any other way didn't work.

Hopefully this helps you.

[pvc]

  Quote: Originally Posted by Spoony

I was having the exact same problem with my ethernet on my new gigabyte mobo as well.

I got it to work by doing this with the disk maybe it will help you.

I put the gigabyte disk in and after it loaded up i put it on manual selection and went to install the driver for the ethernet. If the ethernet installation window brings up the dialog to repair or uninstall the driver choose uninstall and when it's done do nothing except reboot the computer. When the computer reloads do the same thing as before however this time it should install the drivers and not pop up any dialog boxes (or at least nothing talking about repairing/uninstalling) after it fully installed the computer found the network after a minute for me.

The key thing i found was to make sure you uninstalled from the gigabyte disk as simply uninstalling any other way didn't work.

Hopefully this helps you.

Thanks Spoony;
I don't think I can apply your solution to my problem.

My Gigabyte disk has "Express Install" which installs three sets of Drivers (INF Update Utility, Realtek HD Audio, and Gigabyte SATA & RAID). Instead of using "Express Install" you can select any one of three to install individually. I have tried both ways Express and individually (both are fully automated with no feedback except for a success message at the end).

My disk has no manual-install-feature unless you are talking about using Windows Device Manager and simply pointing to the Gigabyte disk as the location of the driver.

Also, my drivers worked fine for about six months before this problem arose.

[Dwarf]

Hi pvc,

Sorry to hear that you are still having problems. I think that what Spoony meant was that when you inserted the disk and the auto-run screen appeared, you should CLOSE it and instead open the disk to EXPLORE the contents manually. There should be one or more ReadMe files and possibly links to the motherboard manufacturers website where you can (or should) be able to obtain updated drivers. Check your BIOS to see if the interface hasn't been disabled there. It is possible that the Ethernet controller circuity on your m/b has died, in which case there is nothing you can do about it. If the rest of the board is working normally, have you considered an Ethernet network card that plugs into a spare expansion slot? That would be cheaper than a new m/b, and you shouldn't have to reinstall Vista. You can get these cards from your nearest computer retailer.
Dwarf

[pvc]

  Quote: Originally Posted by Dwarf

Hi pvc,

Sorry to hear that you are still having problems. I think that what Spoony meant was that when you inserted the disk and the auto-run screen appeared, you should CLOSE it and instead open the disk to EXPLORE the contents manually. There should be one or more ReadMe files and possibly links to the motherboard manufacturers website where you can (or should) be able to obtain updated drivers. Check your BIOS to see if the interface hasn't been disabled there. It is possible that the Ethernet controller circuity on your m/b has died, in which case there is nothing you can do about it. If the rest of the board is working normally, have you considered an Ethernet network card that plugs into a spare expansion slot? That would be cheaper than a new m/b, and you shouldn't have to reinstall Vista. You can get these cards from your nearest computer retailer.
Dwarf

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have explored the Gigabyte disk, located the Ethernet Controller driver on that disk, downloaded the Ethernet Controller driver from Gigabyte (see first post), and downloaded the Ethernet Controller driver from Realtek. None of these drivers are accepted by device manager of Vista-64 and Win-2K.

Yes I have a spare NIC PCI card. I installed it. It installed fine with Microsoft Drivers. I can't seem to get networking setup through my router for that card (even when I went into BIOS and disabled the on-board Ethernet Controller). Maybe I can try this again and post the problems I'm having with the PCI card.