Ethernet and Network Controller no Driver, Unable to Install

[u/reize]

Hi guys, my wife turned her PC off last night and it started an update cycle. This morning she turned the PC on, but there was no internet connection. I troubleshooted that it was neither cable nor router that were the problems.

I've surmised it also can't be a hardware issue on the mobo as the NIC lights come on, and when scanning in device manager the generic Ethernet Controller and Network Controller items appear.

It just cannot find the driver on its own, and I cannot seem to install the driver for this mobo from the manufacturer's website (the installation runs but doesn't do anything).

The motherboard is a GIGABYTE B660M AORUS PRO AX DDR4 (Rev. 1.x). And she is running Win 11.

• I've done a Network Reset.
• I've done SFC and DISM.
• I've tried to create a bootable Win 11 USB and tried to repair the installation (didn't work).

I'd preferably fix this without having to reinstall Windows entirely if possible, but will do it only if all my options are exhausted.

EDIT 1:

Additional things tested:

• Loaded a portable Ubuntu, Firefox no connection, no ethernet connections in settings.
• Pinged localhost, sent 4 received 4 packets

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[u/Xeno_Zed]

Did you try system restore? It'll rollback drivers, and settings to whenever the restore point was made, especially useful if an update broke something or if you can't pinpoint what issue causes Windows to misbehave.

As for the Windows 11 installation media, I've found that with repairs or in-place install it can throw a fit sometimes if the version of Windows in the installer and the version on the machine don't match (actually I think it has an issue if the version of Windows on the machine is newer than the one in the USB). Even then a re-install or repair might be overkill for a network adapter. If you can make a bootable usb, you could try a live USB session of Ubuntu (select try Ubuntu, not install). It loads generic device drivers to connect online, so if you have internet connectivity within Ubuntu that confirms your network adapter is fine.

You could also just fully remove/uninstall the network adapter in device manager and do a restart and Windows should automatically recognize there is a network adapter and load a generic driver for it.

[u/reize → u/Xeno_Zed]

I tried to do a rollback and system restore, but unfortunately there was none from a timestamp from the day before at minimum.

I also removed the network device from device manager, then scanned it so it reappeared again, but I can't reinstall the drivers for it either, the driver package runs and installs but nothing gets installed into the Ethernet and Network Controllers.

I'll try to make a bootable USB for Ubuntu and see if a portable session will work to double confirm if the NIC itself is still working.

[u/reize → u/Xeno_Zed]

Okay, update. I made an Ubuntu bootable, got into the Ubuntu test environment, and Firefox wouldn't connect to the internet. No sign of an ethernet connection on the settings either.

I went back to Windows, tried to ping localhost. Sent 4, Received 4. So the internal software logic is still working at least.

[u/Xeno_Zed → u/reize]

Okay, that definitely rules out the Windows device driver being the issue. I would say the physical Ethernet port could be the issue, but you said the LED lights come on. When you said router wasn't the problem, did you check DHCP settings LAN IP address leases? If you can find the MAC address for the PC in there, remove it from the list of connected device (disconnect the PC's Ethernet as well). Then on the PC execute an ipconfig /release. Then plug in the PC's ethernet, and execute ipconfig /renew. See if it gets a new local IP address from the router.

If that fails, you could try an Ethernet to USB adapter. The adapter will have it's own MAC address and network adapter logic, so if you get Internet with that, then something in your router settings is specifically blocking or causing a conflict with your PC's network adapter.

[u/9NEPxHbG]

I've tried to create a bootable Win 11 USB and tried to repair the installation (didn't work).

Can you be specific about how it didn't work? Did it not run? Did it run but not help?

[u/reize → u/9NEPxHbG]

The win 11 bootable wouldnt run the repair utility, it just boots back into windows as usual, and when i tried to just do a “keep file” upgrade installation both from boot and within windows itself to see if it would fill in and repair any files, it just runs a bit then says it failed to install windows.

[u/MikhailPelshikov]

Put a Linux distro (or ChromeOS Flex) on a USB stick and check if the net works. If it does, you at least know it's Windows that messed it up.

There is a small chance that it just broke when Windows did the updates.

[u/Rsgamer93]

This may/may not work, but i had a similar problem and thos worked, shut down the pc normally, on the back of your pc turn it off by the I/O power button only one your pc has fully shut down from the orginal shut down, then unplug it from the wall! Let it reset for 5 mins, plug it all in and turn on as normal!

My problem was my network card kept saying it was disabled, even according to the bios, it was a weird problem and thankfully a random bu easy solution! All the best of luck with your problem and hope you get it resolved! Please let's us know as it generally always interesting to hear what the solution is!

[u/reize → u/Rsgamer93]

Nah, doesn't work. Its the one thing I do every time something pops up long before I try anything else.