Ethernet port died, then PCI ethernet card died - GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P
 

I built this computer last summer, it has worked great until now. A
few days ago I lost internet connection, a clean reinstall of XP pro
didn't slove the problem, so I put in a USB wireless adapter, it works
fine. I bought a PCI express ethernet adapter and installed it
this morning. It worked fine for a few hours, then it suddenly stopped
working. It doesn't show up in device manager anymore, either.


Any ideas what the problem might be?


Thanks

Ethernet port died, then PCI ethernet card died - GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P
 

Johnny Asia wrote:

I built this computer last summer, it has worked great until now. A
few days ago I lost internet connection, a clean reinstall of XP pro
didn't slove the problem, so I put in a USB wireless adapter, it works
fine. I bought a PCI express ethernet adapter and installed it
this morning. It worked fine for a few hours, then it suddenly stopped
working. It doesn't show up in device manager anymore, either.


Any ideas what the problem might be?


Thanks

Ethernet chips that support Wake On LAN, would have a power source provided
to keep them powered when the computer is sleeping. If that source, regulated
by the motherboard, was operating at the wrong voltage, it could damage the
device. You'd have to check the various standards, to find out what pin is involved.

This is a picture of the slot pinout. Tomshardware has reduced the resolution of
this photo, making it useless. I have a copy here, and pin B10 is labeled
"3VSB" and that would be an example of a sleeping card's power source.
In the diagram here, it is connected to V_3P3_Stby implying the proper
voltage on pin B11 would be 3.3 volts. But the source for that pin is
not the 3.3V rail of your power supply. They would start with +5VSB rail,
and a regulator chip on the motherboard, would make the 3.3V on that pin. A
problem with the regulator chip of the motherboard would cause a problem.

http://img.tomshardware.com/us/2004/.../pcie-slot.gif

Both PCI slots and any PCI chips with waking type functions, may have
that power source connected as well.

On this PCI slot pinout, the pin involved would be A14, labeled 3.3Vaux .

http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_PCI_Pins.html

And this Texas Instruments document, has a schematic with both PCI Express
and PCI slots. And you can see Vaux connected to both kinds of slots.

http://focus.ti.com/lit/ug/scpu023/scpu023.pdf

You could either live with the defect (being careful with add-in cards
from now on - Ethernet chips at least, will want to connect to Vaux). Or
replace the motherboard (under warranty or otherwise).

If you're handy with a multimeter, you could also probe your PCI Express
Ethernet card, and see what kind of voltage is present on B10. You might
not want to probe the slot itself, as the probe could easily slide off.

Paul

Ethernet port died, then PCI ethernet card died - GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P
 

"Johnny Asia" wrote in message
...


I built this computer last summer, it has worked great until now. A
few days ago I lost internet connection, a clean reinstall of XP pro
didn't slove the problem, so I put in a USB wireless adapter, it works
fine. I bought a PCI express ethernet adapter and installed it
this morning. It worked fine for a few hours, then it suddenly stopped
working. It doesn't show up in device manager anymore, either.


Any ideas what the problem might be?


I had an old cable modem that stopped working after a few minutes.
Comcast would occasionally upload new instructions to it, and that would
kill it until
I unplugged, waited, reinstalled etc. A different cable modem solved
that problem. Maybe it's worth a try reset your cable modem (and rebooting
your PC,
in that order), unless you're sure you can rule that out.

hth,
Bill

Thanks

Ethernet port died, then PCI ethernet card died - GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P
 

On Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:51:09 -0500, "Bill"
wrote:


"Johnny Asia" wrote in message
.. .


I built this computer last summer, it has worked great until now. A
few days ago I lost internet connection, a clean reinstall of XP pro
didn't slove the problem, so I put in a USB wireless adapter, it works
fine. I bought a PCI express ethernet adapter and installed it
this morning. It worked fine for a few hours, then it suddenly stopped
working. It doesn't show up in device manager anymore, either.


Any ideas what the problem might be?


I had an old cable modem that stopped working after a few minutes.
Comcast would occasionally upload new instructions to it, and that would
kill it until
I unplugged, waited, reinstalled etc. A different cable modem solved
that problem. Maybe it's worth a try reset your cable modem (and rebooting
your PC,
in that order), unless you're sure you can rule that out.

hth,
Bill

Thanks



I tried that, it didn't help.

Curiously, everything was working fine until I rebooted after a
Windows update, then it wouldn't connect, "This connection has limited
or no connectivity." I thought it must be a software issue, but
nothing worked, not even a clean Windows reinstall.



+

Pucker your lips for the Apocalypse!

Johnny Asia, Guitarist from the Future


http://johnnyasia.com

Ethernet port died, then PCI ethernet card died - GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P
 

"Johnny Asia" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:40:45 -0500, Paul wrote:

Johnny Asia wrote:

I built this computer last summer, it has worked great until now. A
few days ago I lost internet connection, a clean reinstall of XP pro
didn't slove the problem, so I put in a USB wireless adapter, it works
fine. I bought a PCI express ethernet adapter and installed it
this morning. It worked fine for a few hours, then it suddenly stopped
working. It doesn't show up in device manager anymore, either.


Any ideas what the problem might be?


Thanks

Ethernet chips that support Wake On LAN, would have a power source
provided
to keep them powered when the computer is sleeping. If that source,
regulated
by the motherboard, was operating at the wrong voltage,



Hmmmm, both ethernet ports suddenly started working again, now they
both appear in device manager.

Did you turn off the cable modem overnight? Did you leave it turned off for
20 minutes
the first time (you tested it)? Mine worked for 4 years until Comcast
started sending
"instructions" to it (unbeknownst to me).

Good luck,
Bill

Ethernet port died, then PCI ethernet card died - GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P
 

On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:43:11 -0500, "Bill"
wrote:


Hmmmm, both ethernet ports suddenly started working again, now they
both appear in device manager.

Did you turn off the cable modem overnight? Did you leave it turned off for
20 minutes
the first time (you tested it)? Mine worked for 4 years until Comcast
started sending
"instructions" to it (unbeknownst to me).



I suspected that was the problem. I have Time-Warner cable.

I checked my tcpip settings and found 8192 half-open connections
It was set at 100 the last time I checked. I don't know how it got
changed to 8192.

Ethernet port died, then PCI ethernet card died - GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P
 

"Johnny Asia" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:43:11 -0500, "Bill"
wrote:


Hmmmm, both ethernet ports suddenly started working again, now they
both appear in device manager.

Did you turn off the cable modem overnight? Did you leave it turned off
for
20 minutes
the first time (you tested it)? Mine worked for 4 years until Comcast
started sending
"instructions" to it (unbeknownst to me).



I suspected that was the problem. I have Time-Warner cable.

I checked my tcpip settings and found 8192 half-open connections
It was set at 100 the last time I checked. I don't know how it got
changed to 8192.

Well, I can't help, but I hope you'll post your explanation after you
figure it out. Good luck! I've been there, done that...

Bill