Two issues - startup error + wired connection issue

[Vinyl Richie]

Hi folks. My PCS gaming PC is now 3 years old and I've been thinking about buying a new one and selling my current one to a friend (hence my thread in the "Check my spec" forum). However I have a couple of issues with my current PC that I'd like to iron out first. The first thing is that after a reformat/fresh install I am no longer able to connect via ethernet/wired connection. I've reformatted a bunch of times before and this has never been an issue previously. I usually just run the driver cd that came with the motherboard and everything is good. At the moment I'm connected via wireless as it seems to be the only option available. I've reset the router, checked cables, etc. I checked the downloads section on PCS main site but there is nothing there "Unfortunately there are no available drivers for the components on this order. This may be because your operating system supports the components without the need for additional drivers." I looked at device manager and all seems good there I think. I don't see any exclamation marks in any drop downs. However I'm wondering why both the network drivers are wireless and no wired is mentioned?

I found a link somewhere to download the network adapter driver for Intel but when I run the exe it errors out with this

Is there something I could check in BIOS to make sure it's turned on or something? I would hate to think that the LAN port has broken or something.


For the second issue I will just copy in what I posted to another forum. It's the reason I was re-formatting in the first place.

My current PC has had some weird issues that seem more likely to occur after it has been switched off for a while. I booted it up and windows explorer kept crashing repeatedly, causing everything to freeze. (Should say that in the months prior to that it would randomly crash the odd time and I'd have to reboot due to the irritating freezing and lag). Couldn't do anything to even try some fixes so decided to reformat - most of my stuff is backed up on external HDs anyway. After picking the language for Windows install it then hung at the "setup is starting" screen. Rebooted a ton of times to no avail, always stuck at that screen. Some forum posts suggested changing Sata config from AHCI to IDE and/or disabling all non essential stuff in BIOS, like USB ports, Wifi controller, Audio controller, etc. Not sure if that actually did the trick, but it then stopped hanging at the setup starting screen and let me reformat the drive and re-install Windows.

The first reboot after installation brought up the Windows Error Recovery screen... Picked repair but it said it couldn't repair the computer automatically. Choosing to let it start normally didn't work either. At this point I opened the machine up and made sure the connections were good and reseated the RAM. I tried another fresh install and this time it worked fine and no issues after reboots. Re-installed my programs, used it for a week or so and then shut it down again due to another mini-break. On returning home I got the Windows Error Recovery screen again on startup. :wave: Choosing to repair doesn't work and nor does starting normally. Again I did a format and fresh install. So it's working again at the moment but I know it'll go **** up again soon, especially if I reboot or shut down. This has happened before a couple of times - maybe 6 months ago. Anyone any ideas as to what could be causing it? There have been no hardware changes made and no major software installs. Just the odd Windows update, etc. I was thinking it could only really be the hard drive, but I'm not an expert to say the least.

Any help or advice will be appreciated, this is really frustrating for a non-techy noob like me. Cheers.

Edit: posting my spec

Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
CORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE
Windows 7
BT home hub

 

[thisisevilevil]

Hi folks. My PCS gaming PC is now 3 years old and I've been thinking about buying a new one and selling my current one to a friend (hence my thread in the "Check my spec" forum). However I have a couple of issues with my current PC that I'd like to iron out first. The first thing is that after a reformat/fresh install I am no longer able to connect via ethernet/wired connection. I've reformatted a bunch of times before and this has never been an issue previously. I usually just run the driver cd that came with the motherboard and everything is good. At the moment I'm connected via wireless as it seems to be the only option available. I've reset the router, checked cables, etc. I checked the downloads section on PCS main site but there is nothing there "Unfortunately there are no available drivers for the components on this order. This may be because your operating system supports the components without the need for additional drivers." I looked at device manager and all seems good there I think. I don't see any exclamation marks in any drop downs. However I'm wondering why both the network drivers are wireless and no wired is mentioned?

I found a link somewhere to download the network adapter driver for Intel but when I run the exe it errors out with this

Is there something I could check in BIOS to make sure it's turned on or something? I would hate to think that the LAN port has broken or something.


For the second issue I will just copy in what I posted to another forum. It's the reason I was re-formatting in the first place.



Any help or advice will be appreciated, this is really frustrating for a non-techy noob like me. Cheers.

Edit: posting my spec

Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
CORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE
Windows 7
BT home hub

Hello there.

Regarding your NIC: If it's not popping up in device manager, this might mean the NIC itself is faulty or disabled in BIOS. It might also be some freak driver issues. Either way, please try and navigate to your BIOS -> Go to advanced -> Onboard devices configuration -> Make sure the "Intel LAN Controller" is set to enabled. This is also shown in your manual for your motherboard which you can fetch here: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1155/P8Z77-V/E7074_P8Z77-V.pdf -> Look at page 3-23. If it is enabled, I would like to have a closer look at your OS Device settings. Normally a DxDiag is fine, but in this case I would like to request a HwInfo64 output. You can fetch it here: http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/hwinfo64-download.html -> Install and run the program, then it will start collecting information about your system. When it's done, go to the main screen, top left corner -> Report Create -> Leave it at HTML and choose a path where you want the file to be exported to. Upload the file to a dropbox, filedropper or something similar and paste the link in here.

EDIT: Also found the latest official driver from ASUS to your NIC: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/lan/Intel_Gigabit_V17200_XPWin7_8.zip you might want to try this.

Regarding the recovery issue: Sounds like a faulty hard-drive to me. There is a number of tools to scan for errors on your hard-drive, but to be certain, use WD's own tool, Datalifeguard to verify this: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=613&sid=3&lang=en -> You might want to try and start with the "Quick test" first, as the extended test which is more thorough, will take a couple of hours.

EDIT: Make sure your BIOS is up-to-date. The amount of BIOS updates for this board which states "improves system stability" is staggering, lol. Latest BIOS is "P8Z77-V BIOS 2104". Can also be downloaded here: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1155/P8Z77-V/P8Z77-V-ASUS-2104.zip

 

[ubuysa]

Looking at the history of this PC it looks to me as though you have had a hardware problem for a while, hence all the reinstalls. Your LAN adapter is not showing up at all in Device Manager, that's why you can't install the driver for it - Windows doesn't think you have a LAN adapter.

I didn't believe in coincidence nor that you have two different hardware problems at the same time (though you just might of course) so I'd initially suspect the LAN card as being faulty. The good news is that they are as cheap as chips so I'd get a new LAN card from wherever and try that.

 

[Vinyl Richie]

Thanks for your reply thisisevilevil, I appreciate your help.

So regarding the NIC issue. Firstly I confirmed in BIOS that LAN Controller is indeed enabled. Secondly I downloaded the latest driver from the link you provided but got the same error message as I posted in the OP - "Cannot install drivers, no Intel adapters are present in this computer". Something I should probably bring up at this point is the following. I mentioned this earlier:

After picking the language for Windows install it then hung at the "setup is starting" screen. Rebooted a ton of times to no avail, always stuck at that screen. Some forum posts suggested changing Sata config from AHCI to IDE and/or disabling all non essential stuff in BIOS, like USB ports, Wifi controller, Audio controller, etc. Not sure if that actually did the trick, but it then stopped hanging at the setup starting screen and let me reformat the drive and re-install Windows.

Now the last time I reformatted I was trying the above and stupidly disabled all USB ports. Of course that meant the keyboard was disabled and so I couldn't hit F2 to get into BIOS, nor any key to boot from cd to reformat. To get around this I had to use the jumper setting to load the fail safe defaults. I removed the jumper cap from pins 1-2 to 2-3 for 10 seconds then moved them back. This solved the problem and my keyboard was usable again. But I *think* the NIC hasn't been working since then, whereas it was fine before. It seems like Windows thinks I don't have a LAN card so I'm wondering if the jumper setting could've messed something up.

Anyway I ran the HwInfo64 software and have uploaded the output here http://www.filedropper.com/ptw-pc . I note on the screenshot there's an ! beside my HD...

Secondly the recovery issue. I downloaded the BIOS update but am not sure what to do with the .CAP file to be honest. I then ran the WD diagnostic quick test and it failed:

The full test is estimated at around 5 hours so I won't run that unless you think it's necessary. I guess it looks like I need a new HD?


Hi ubuysa. Yeah I've had some hardware issues before. It had to be sent back to PCS twice within the first few months. It's been mostly fine for the last couple of years though. The LAN card could be dead and I suppose I could order a new one if they're cheap so I can rule that out, but it seems suspicious that it would suddenly stop working after a reformat when it has always worked fine before. Also would a faulty LAN card cause windows explorer crashes and startup repair issues?

Thanks both.

 

[thisisevilevil]

Thanks for your reply thisisevilevil, I appreciate your help.

So regarding the NIC issue. Firstly I confirmed in BIOS that LAN Controller is indeed enabled. Secondly I downloaded the latest driver from the link you provided but got the same error message as I posted in the OP - "Cannot install drivers, no Intel adapters are present in this computer". Something I should probably bring up at this point is the following. I mentioned this earlier:



Now the last time I reformatted I was trying the above and stupidly disabled all USB ports. Of course that meant the keyboard was disabled and so I couldn't hit F2 to get into BIOS, nor any key to boot from cd to reformat. To get around this I had to use the jumper setting to load the fail safe defaults. I removed the jumper cap from pins 1-2 to 2-3 for 10 seconds then moved them back. This solved the problem and my keyboard was usable again. But I *think* the NIC hasn't been working since then, whereas it was fine before. It seems like Windows thinks I don't have a LAN card so I'm wondering if the jumper setting could've messed something up.

Anyway I ran the HwInfo64 software and have uploaded the output here http://www.filedropper.com/ptw-pc . I note on the screenshot there's an ! beside my HD...

Secondly the recovery issue. I downloaded the BIOS update but am not sure what to do with the .CAP file to be honest. I then ran the WD diagnostic quick test and it failed:

The full test is estimated at around 5 hours so I won't run that unless you think it's necessary. I guess it looks like I need a new HD?


Hi ubuysa. Yeah I've had some hardware issues before. It had to be sent back to PCS twice within the first few months. It's been mostly fine for the last couple of years though. The LAN card could be dead and I suppose I could order a new one if they're cheap so I can rule that out, but it seems suspicious that it would suddenly stop working after a reformat when it has always worked fine before. Also would a faulty LAN card cause windows explorer crashes and startup repair issues?

Thanks both.

It would seem your NIC is faulty.VEN_8060 (Intel) / DEV_153B (Your NIC) is not present at all.

There is another "Unknown Communication device":
[General Information]
Device Name: Intel Panther Point PCH - Host Embedded Controller Interface 1 (HECI1) [C1]
Original Device Name: Intel Panther Point PCH - Host Embedded Controller Interface 1 (HECI1) [C1]
Device Class: Unknown Communication Device
Revision ID: 4
Bus Number: 0
Device Number: 22
Function Number: 0
PCI Latency Timer: 0
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1E3A&SUBSYS_84CA1043&REV_04

That seems to be the Intel Management Interface, which is not related to the onboard LAN. Otherwise the very last thing you could try, I believe you mentioned it yourself: Update the BIOS. You can get it here: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1155/P8Z77-V/P8Z77-V-ASUS-2104.zip - That's a version from 2013/09/16, where it looks like you are on 2012/10/05 right now. Use ASUS EZ Update to update the BIOS from your OS: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1155/P8Z77-V_PREMIUM/ASUS_EZ_Update_V20008.zip

As ubuysa already mentioned, a new NIC is really cheap. There's a really cheap one here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-EXPI9...qid=1437811111&sr=8-3-fkmr1&keywords=1gbs+nic - B - And believe it or not, that's actually a high quality one. There's cheaper ones for as low as 4-5£ on amazon as well, but I wouldn't touch them.


EDIT: Oh yeah, almost forgot about your hard-drive:

[Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.)]
[01] Raw Read Error Rate: 196/51, Worst: 196 (Data = 27737)
[03] Spin Up Time: 253/21, Worst: 253 (Data = 7941)
[04] Start/Stop Count: 100/Always OK, Worst: 100 (Data = 963)
[05] Reallocated Sector Count: 200/140, Worst: 200
[07] Seek Error Rate: 200/Always OK, Worst: 200
[09] Power-On Hours/Cycle Count: 79/Always OK, Worst: 79 (Data = 15629 hours / 1.78 years)
[0A] Spin Retry Count: 100/Always OK, Worst: 100
[0B] Calibration Retry Count: 100/Always OK, Worst: 100
[0C] Power Cycle Count: 100/Always OK, Worst: 100 (Data = 948)
[C0] Power-Off Retract Count: 200/Always OK, Worst: 200 (Data = 197)
[C1] Load/Unload Cycle Count: 200/Always OK, Worst: 200 (Data = 765)
[C2] Temperature 116/Always OK, Worst: 112 (Data = 36.0 °C)
[C4] Reallocation Event Count: 200/Always OK, Worst: 200
[C5] Current Pending Sector Count: 200/Always OK, Worst: 200 (Data = 247)
[C6] Off-Line Uncorrectable Sector Count: 200/Always OK, Worst: 200
[C7] UltraDMA/SATA CRC Error Rate: 200/Always OK, Worst: 200
[C8] Write/Multi-Zone Error Rate: 200/Always OK, Worst: 200 (Data = 2)

Doesn't look all too good. You will want your raw read error rate to be below 100. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe that most vendors would flag their hard-drive as "pre-failure" when the raw read error rate goes above 100. You are almost double that. So that could definitely be a sign of a bad hard-drive. You can always try running a chkdsk. Go to a command prompt and use the following command: chkdsk c: /f /r /b

It cannot perform the chkdsk while you are in windows, so you would have to schedule a disk check, upon next system reboot. It will probably take some time though

When I was working for dell's desktop/laptop support a few years back, we saw a clear pattern with these regular disk drives (platter drives, not SSDs): After only a few months of usage, these drives has a risk of failing. If you are unlucky they can go bad after a month. If you are really lucky they can go on for quite a few years, without breaking a sweat. It's very random with these drives. If you are planning on buying a new hard-drive, SSDs are extremely cheap these days. One of the best SSDs in the SATA-6 market, the EVO-850, is extremely cheap, and general SSD prices has been lowered a lot the past year. Here's an amazon search for the Samsung 850 EVO: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=Samsung+850+evo

 

[Vinyl Richie]

Posting from my tablet as the PC has gone titz up. I installed the updated BIOS which it said was successful. Rebooted and it brought up the "Please enter setup to recover BIOS setting" message. Hit F1 to enter then F10 to save and close. It looked like Windows was going to load but then bluescreen flashed up and it rebooted. It did that a couple of times then brought up the Startup Repair screen again. Chose repair and it asked if I wanted to use system restore, picked yes and it asked me to reboot. Brought up the repair screen again so I let it try to repair. It says it can't automatically repair it though. Any ideas?

 

[thisisevilevil]

Hey

Make sure whatever setting you had in SATA Controller Mode, is the same as you had when you installed windows. When you load setup defaults, I believe the default setting would be AHCI. If you installed Windows when it was set for IDE, it wont boot to OS if it's now set to AHCI in BIOS. Refer to your BIOS Manual http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1155/P8Z77-V/E7074_P8Z77-V.pdf -> Page 3-19. While you are at it, also check that SMART Monitoring is also enabled

If it still won't boot after this, boot to a Windows 7 installation media, and you can run the chkdsk from the recovery command prompt. You can also find more info about that here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ie/...ns#what-are-system-recovery-options=windows-7 -> After the chkdsk is completed you might want to run the bootrec /fixmbr and bootrec /fixboot in attemps to repair/remake the bootsector to your OS.

 

[Vinyl Richie]

You're a star. I changed the SATA Controller Mode to IDE and verified that SMART was enabled. This stopped the blue screen from flashing up and brought up the repair screen. Tried to repair again, it failed but I entered advanced options and opened the command prompt. chkdsk result: "Windows has checked the system and found no problems". Then I ran both bootrec /fixmbr and bootrec /fixboot and rebooted. I'm now posting again from the PC. So from here on in I reckon I need to do the following..

1. Order a new LAN card.
2. Order a new HDD (1 TB would do) to replace my faulty one.
3. Order an SSD (I'll only do this if I decide to keep and upgrade this machine. If I'm selling it to a mate he can make do with the HDD )

Questions:
1. At the moment inside the machine behind the LAN port is a small square box with an "Intel ethernet" label on it. If I buy a LAN card I presume it plugs into one of the PCI slots and will 'overrule' the faulty one?
2. I assume I'll have to keep the SATA set to IDE until I do a Windows reinstall with it set to AHCI? Any harm on keeping on IDE for a while? Reading the manual it says AHCI increases performance on random workloads.

Cheers

 

[thisisevilevil]

Great you got it working again

Answer to question #1: Yeah, the new LAN card will go into one of the PCI slots. You can easily have 2 LAN cards in a system, that wouldn't be an issue. But you might as well disable the onboard LAN Controller in BIOS, as you won't be using it.
Answer to question #2: It's possible to change it to AHCI without reinstalling. You can use the "Fix it" button on this page to change your installation to use AHCI upon next reboot: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/922976 - You can also do it manually via regedit if you scroll further down the page. When you have done this, just to be sure to change it in BIOS as well, as Windows is now configured to using AHCI.
And yes, AHCI has several improvement over the legacy IDE mode. Especially if you plan to install SSD drives, certain features will just run better with AHCI.

 

[Vinyl Richie]

Thanks bud, repped you all I can. Learnt some things too!

 

[Vinyl Richie]

Hello again. So I decided to keep the machine and upgrade it a bit. I installed the LAN card and it works fine. I also put in some new RAM and a 970. Both work fine. Next step was the hard drives and I have a 1TB to replace the faulty one, plus a 250 GB SSD. I have fitted both, changed BIOS so the sata config was ACHI and installed Windows 7.

The first install didn't seem to work properly. When it rebooted itself to finish the installation it went back to the beginning of the setup process. So I started the process again, although this time I chose to reformat the SSD before installing on it again as the capacity had dropped a little - presumably some Windows files were on it. This time the setup seemed to run normally and I made it to the desktop but on the first reboot after installing MSE it got stuck at the starting windows screen, followed by the Startup Repair thing again...

That's the same issue I had at the start of all this and that I thought the new hd's would fix. When the Startup Repair failed it said in the logs that a recent driver installation or upgrade may be the cause. It said something about a bad driver somewhere else in the log too I think. I hadnt installed the software that came with the SSD yet but I doubt that would be the issue. Also in BIOS it mentions the ssd under 'sata6g_1' and a hot plug which is disabled. Not sure if that means anything.

Any help or tips as to next steps would be appreciated. First time making hardware changes myself.. thought it was too good to be true when it was going well! Tried the bootrec commands again but no dice.

Update: In the mean time I'm trying to install Windows again. Reformated SSD again but got the message 'Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks.' Edit: NM, got past that by deleting all partitions.

 

[thisisevilevil]

Hey Vinyl

The version of Windows 7 you are using, where do you have it from? have you tried a different version of Windows 7? I can download a clean image MSDN for you, and give you a link to download it, just to rule out a bad media/ISO file. After installing your Windows, please also don't install anything except your chipset drivers. You can find the latest here: http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/intel-chipset-software-installation-10-1-2-8-whql-download.html - When that's installed do a few reboots to see if the issue returns.

EDIT: I would also be available for a remote session via teamviewer if you are interested. I would mainly be available outside normal working hours between 5-11PM GMT

 

[Vinyl Richie]

Hey dude. It's Win 7 professional 64 bit. I bought it years ago so I'm just installing from CD. I had considered there might be an issue with my Windows but the fact it's an official hard copy on CD made me think it couldn't be that.

Just to update, I reinstalled again earlier. Then Installed the drivers that are on my motherboard CD, the SSD software, the GPU drivers and not else but Chrome and MSE. Then I've been installing Windows updates for the past few hours. I eventually want to update to Win 10 so was getting all the 'important' updates which will then give me the upgrade option I think. Must've installed around 200, machine rebooted multiple times with no probs, but now after doing latest ones it has hung on the blue screen that you see just before it loads the desktop. Have left it over an hour and it hasn't budged so going to restart now and fully expect to see the repair screen!

Edit - surprisingly it didn't. It did bring up the windows didn't shut down properly screen - start normally or use safe mode. Started normally and am back on again. Will update the chipset drivers now, thanks for the link. Then I suppose I'll continue with the updates - maybe getting Windows 10 on the machine would help. As for team viewer I'd be up for that although I am heading off to Donegal for a few days soon.

 

[thisisevilevil]

Could you share the minidump generated by the BSoD? Would be interesting to see what's going on behind the scenes.

Otherwise good to hear everything seems to be on track. So try not to install too much and just do the Windows 10 update, and hopefully you'll be in the clear Now you just have to go through all the 300-400ish Windows updates

 

[Vinyl Richie]

It wasn't a BSOD, was just the default blue Win 7 screen that appears just before windows finishes loading and opens the desktop! And aye, it's a complete b*llocks. I would be shocked if I don't encounter the same issues again and have to do another wipe. BTW, say I do manage to get Win 10 installed and a few weeks down the line everything goes belly up again. Would I have to repeat the same same process with Win 7, getting all the updates and then upgrading, or is there a way of just installing Win 10 from fresh for someone who doesn't own the cd and is just upgrading?

 

[thisisevilevil]

It wasn't a BSOD, was just the default blue Win 7 screen that appears just before windows finishes loading and opens the desktop! And aye, it's a complete b*llocks. I would be shocked if I don't encounter the same issues again and have to do another wipe. BTW, say I do manage to get Win 10 installed and a few weeks down the line everything goes belly up again. Would I have to repeat the same same process with Win 7, getting all the updates and then upgrading, or is there a way of just installing Win 10 from fresh for someone who doesn't own the cd and is just upgrading?

Oh, not sure I'm following then, what screen is that exactly? When you boot to Windows 7 you get Windows loading logo -> Windows login screen -> Desktop. If you've installed Windows updates it usually needs more time installing updates, before you get to the login screen. If it happens again take a picture with your phone and upload it here?

And regarding your Win10 question: No, you don't have to repeat this process. As soon as you complete the Windows 10 upgrade, you will have activated your free Windows 10 upgrade on your PC. Should you want to reinstall your PC, you can use the Windows 10 media creation toolkit to create a bootable USB: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/media-creation-tool-install