ASUS a8n-sli won't connect to the internet

[mentalcrisis00]

Hey all

I just installed an ASUS A8n-SLI motherboard on my AMD X2 system, I installed windows, updated everything, installed DX9 and the correct Nforce SLI AMD drivers. I plugged my network cable in and it won't let me connect to the internet. I checked in the network section of the device manager and it says 1394 net adapter and 1394 net adapter #2 it doesn't tell me nvidia network controller like with my old nforce 4 ultra board. The ethernet port isn't bad because the light comes on and blinks like it's transfering data but windows tells me it can't detect a network adapter.

It's not a problem with my router because my laptop is plugged into the same router right now and it's working fine.

anyone have suggestions?

 

[mentalcrisis00]

this is strange, i just went into the command prompt and typed ipconfig.exe which usually shows me my ip address, subnet mask, and gateway but instead it just tells me "Windows Ip Configuration. I tried resetting the ip address to no avail. Also under the status of the 1394 net adapter the ip address is blank. I've tried fixing this under windows xp SP 1 SP 2 and SP 3 and it's all the same thing.

I just installed a netgear gigabit PCI card and now I can get on the internet and all my ip addresses show up in ipconfig now. Could the board be bad?

 

[Quiksilver]

Does you board have two ethernet ports or just one? I know I have two but I have the deluxe version of the same board. If you have two I assume you plugged it into the right ethernet port, sames one is the nForce ethernet and the other is a marvel yukon.

If you have just one, did you make sure to check the box on the drivers that says install nvidia ethernet drivers? To me it just sounds like a missing driver.

 

[mentalcrisis00]

This is just the plain old A8n-SLI so it only has one ethernet port. Also I've tried installing the driver repeatedly from nvidia and even tried the driver on the retail asus cd and none of it worked. It seems like a driver problem to me as well but I am loading the correct driver. The one I keep downloading is the Nforce4 SLI AMD, this is the correct driver isn't it?

 

[Quiksilver]

Yes thats the right driver but on my mobo the nForce ethernet is the second port while my main port is the yukon, so I'd wonder if the one on your board is a marvel yukon as well.

 

[mentalcrisis00]

I was thinking that too but I wouldn't know where to get the marvel driver, also on the retail disc for this board it does not have a marvel 10/100/1000 driver available. It only lists the nforce driver. There is only one ethernet port as well, it lights up with activity and the only thing I've done with the board is take it out of the packaging, put a new chipset cooler on and popped it in the case. Something I've done a 100 times, although my last Asus board was the Nforce2 so I have no experience with Nforce 4 SLI chipsets.

The person I bought it from is trust worthy and he stated all components on the board were functioning properly when he tested them. I imagine it's a driver incompatibility. I've also heard that theres a bug with WINXP service pack 3 RC2 that messes up network connectivity? It wouldn't surprise me, I might have to take it to my local PC diagnostics shop and have them look at it.

thanks for the help

 

[BassBomb]

You are using SP3? I'd say try SP2 and see if that resolves the issue

 

[mentalcrisis00]

reinstalling windows with SP2 didn't help, and I noticed that the LED indicator light isn't on after all

 

[sdgserv]

I had that same board..I had to get the drivers of the web site. the mobo disk that came with did not install my
Ethernet drivers correctly

 

[fastman]

I have this board too, I remember hearing every so often the Nic dies out? Maybe that's the issue?

Good luck.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Try this, as it has worked a few times so far. Turn off the computer, unplug the ethernet cable, then unplug the power cable to the PSU (from rear of computer). Wait a bit (10 seconds or so), then plug the power back into the PSU, then plug the ethernet cable in, and turn on the computer.

This has worked for me and several other people.

 

[mentalcrisis00]

fullmetal chocobo AWSOME idea, I did it and the LED light for the onboard LAN actually turns on now. As far as I know that means the hardware itself isn't burned out. Only thing is I reinstalled the nforce 4 SLI drivers from nvidias site and it still won't install the onboard lan controller so I still can't connect to the internet.

Now I have noticed something strange, I was trying to install this board without reformating my drive when I put it in. I changed the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers in the device managed from the Nvidia chipset to the standard universal, making what they call on the guides I found "Operating System Agnostic". It didn't work I got a blue screen and had to reinstall windows anyway. But now when I go into the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers there is no Nvidia chipset controller, the only thing I see in there is standard. Could this be what my problems are stemming from? I remember that my previous Nforce 4 ultra had the Nvidia driver controller for the harddrive. Also when I install the nforce 6.86 driver I'm only selecting SMBUS and ethernet, should I be installing the Storage drivers as well?

I'm also curious if I should try flashing the bios? the current bios installed is 1014 which is the latest non beta from asus. But there are beta versions I believe up to 1030-1032.

If I can't figure it out I might have to just bring it to the local PC diagnostics place, I don't want to hassle taking my system apart if this problem can be repaired.

anyways thanks a lot for the suggestions everyone

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Well, the not formatting on a new install is the part that scares me. I've heard different things in this respect, but I always do a fresh install with new hardware. Would it be possible to donwload a linux live CD and boot with it and see if it picks up the network? That way you can rule out the XP install as being the issue maybe?

 

[mentalcrisis00]

I was thinking about that, I have a Ubuntu cd. It runs the OS straight from the disc which is the same thing that the linux live cd does correct? I will have to try that tonight. I usually do a clean install of windows too but I was using an OEM version of vista and was afraid that I would have trouble activating it again.