EPOX-8KDA3J - Onboard Gigabit Ethernet Problem

[Kilyin]

Recently, I bought two EP-8KDA3J boards from Newegg along with some other parts, and put a machine together for myself and my girlfriend. I use Comcast Cable with a Netgear RT314 4 port 10/100 Router. I have never experienced any problems with our network - until now. After getting the new machines up and running, and installing the necessary Nforce drivers, I noticed intermittent messages in the tray saying "A Network Cable has been unplugged". I lose connectivity when this message appears, but once it's gone my connectivity is back. This exact problem is occurring on both machines with the 8KDA3J motherboards with onboard Gigabit Ethernet.

So far, the only solution I've found is to open up the Connection properties and "Force 10 Full Duplex" or "Force 10 Half Duplex" - or alternatively "Autonegotiate 10 FD" or "Autonegotiate 10 HD". If I use "Full Autonegotiation" (Default) or "Auto-negotiate 100 FD" or "Auto-negotiate 100 HD" I get the intermittent "A Network Cable has been unplugged" messages. Highly annoying. I've tried various Nvidia drivers, I've been in contact with Epox Tech Support, all to no avail. I don't understand why a "Gigabit Ethernet" can't support a 100mbs connection.

Does anyone have any clue as to what I can do to remedy this problem? As I said, Epox has been no help, their suggestion of installing the newest Nvidia drivers did nothing.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Try a different cable. If it works at 10mbit but not 100mbit, it could very well be a bad cable.

 

[jorken]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Try a different cable. If it works at 10mbit but not 100mbit, it could very well be a bad cable.

I concur

 

[Kilyin]

I've tried various cables, but I knew that wasn't the problem. I already had an existing network with no problems, until I upgraded the computers and started using the EPOX onboard gigabit. I haven't tried it yet, but I bet I could stick a PCI card in one of the boxes, and disable the onboard Gigabit - and stay connected fine at 100mbs. Why? Because I was doing it before..

I dunno, this is really a frustrating problem. Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[n0cmonkey]

We understand it is frustrating, but the process of tracking down a problem relies on eliminating possibilities. The cable was one possibility. It's one of the usual suspects.

Do you have the latest drivers for the NIC? Can you force 100mbit full-duplex? I'm wondering if there are some autonegotiate problems with the gigabit... You could also check for an updated BIOS. The epox page isn't coming up for me though, so I can't tell you what the latest one is.

 

[n0cmonkey]

BIOS on the epox.nl page I guess v34709, released 07/09/04.

 

[Kilyin]

I'm sorry if that came across badly, I know you guys meant well. Anyway yes the Epox site has been down all day. I have tried forcing 100 on HD and FD, no dice. Like I said, the only stable connection I can get is 10mbs, whether its forced or autonegotiated. I found a guy over at http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49859 having the exact same problem, so I'm thinking its gotta be the onboard ethernet now.

I was able to check the epox site a day or two ago when I was filling out a trouble ticket and talking to TS. There's no new BIOS out for the board. The Tech Support guy also claims 'nobody else has reported the problem', which is BS. Heh.

 

[Kilyin]

Aha, I'll check that out now. I don't think it's strictly autonegotiation, as it will autonegotiate 10mbs HD or FD, or alternatively it can be forced. Anything higher and it's blinking connection time.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I've had bad luck with autonegotiation, so I blame it for what I can.

If you have 2 boards with this problem, and you found a thread with another one, I'd guess that these aren't isolated incidents. If that's a new BIOS, check it out. The release notes don't mention the NIC, but it wouldn't surprise me if the release notes are incomplete.

 

[Kilyin]

Flashed to that BIOS, no luck, same problem.

 

[geoff2k]

Since you posted in my thread on nforcershq, I'll post in yours... here's my setup:

Athlon 2800+
EpoX EP-8KDA3J
1 stick Corsair XMS3200v1.1
Gainward ti4200

My issue is exactly the same as yours -- at random times, the network adapter thinks that the network cable becomes unplugged and miraculously comes back a half second later.

Things I tired:

1. known good hub ports and ethernet cables
2. BIOS kda34505 (this is what the mobo came with)
3. BIOS kda34516
4. BIOS kda34709
5. The Nforce drivers that came with the board
6. The latest WHQL Nforce drivers from Nvidia's site
7. The latest beta Nforce drivers from station-drivers
8. installing/not installing the Nforce firewall package
9. forcing the speed/duplex setting to 10/full 10/half 100/full 100/half

None of the above worked. I tried all 9 combinations of BIOS/drivers, still no love.

I've yet to contact EPoX tech support (I haven't been able to get on their site all weekend), and I decided yesterday to call mwave and ask for an RMA number... I was hoping this was an isolated issue with my board, but if you've got two others with the same symptoms, that doesn't seem likely. :-(

 

[Kilyin]

My setup(s) are AMD 64 3000 cpus, 2x512 pc3200 Crucial, with Windows XP Pro. Are you using XP also?

It's strange forcing 10 didn't work for you, but works for me on both motherboards. I've thought about RMA'ing the boards, but everything else works fine, and I CAN get a stable connection at 10. I don't wanna gut two machines and end up getting sent two more boards with the same problem.

 

[geoff2k]

Yep. XP Pro SP1. If the RMA'd board doesn't fix the issue, and the best EpoX can come up with is "try replacing the cable", I'll be going with another Nforce3 250 GB mobo manufacturer. Pity, because I've loved my Epox 8RDA+ and it was based on that good experience that I decided to go with them again...

 

[Kilyin]

Yeah I've always had good luck with Epox. I've used their boards in the past and never had a problem. You guys think I should RMA my boards? I wish Epox would acknowledge the problem and release a fix for it at least, but their main site is still down so I can't even tell Tech Support I'm still having the issue.

 

[Kilyin]

Another question now. I went into the BIOS to mess with some settings, and I enabled the NV LAN MAC Address. I had written down 00-04-61 as that was the beginning of the mac address. Problem is I didn't write the whole thing down, and it flashed the NV LAN MAC Address to 00-04-61-00-04-61. Is there any way to find out what the original Address was? I don't think it's affecting anything, but I'm just wondering. This whole ordeal has been a nightmare.

 

[Kilyin]

I fixed my MAC address problem. Shouldn't be trying fixes for other Epox boards, but that's how desperate I've become. Anyway, I have a question for you geoff, or anyone else with an 8KDA3J board, does the green light on your onboard ethernet stay on? I noticed mine doesn't, I don't know how I'm sustaining a connection at all.

If you do RMA the board, let me know how it turns out. Does anyone know the limit on RMA for Newegg?

 

[geoff2k]

Is there any way to find out what the original Address was? I don't think it's affecting anything, but I'm just wondering.

Even if you hadn't recovered it, it wouldn't affect anything as long as the address was unique on your local area network -- glad you got it back though.

Anyway, I have a question for you geoff, or anyone else with an 8KDA3J board, does the green light on your onboard ethernet stay on? I noticed mine doesn't, I don't know how I'm sustaining a connection at all.

I just booted the system (last test before shipping it off), and yes, the green ethernet light stays on up until the connection is dropped. The orange light flashes in time with data being sent.

 

[geoff2k]

I posted over at AOA, where an EpoX employee occasionaly answers some questions. I'll let you know if anything turns up.

 

[Kilyin]

I get orange lights for data transmission, but the green lights never come on - on either board. Does that mean both onboard ethernet chips are bad?

 

[geoff2k]

I get orange lights for data transmission, but the green lights never come on - on either board. Does that mean both onboard ethernet chips are bad?

Wow, that's really weird, and I'm not sure what that means. BTW, I just got an e-mail from EPoX USA that says that their website will be back up later today.

Out of curiosity, what type of device are your boards are plugging into? My board is plugged into a Linksys etherfast 10/100 5-port workgroup hub EFAH05W (ver 2.0).

 

[Kilyin]

Netgear RT314 10/100 4 port router, comcast cable modem.

 

[geoff2k]

I went to Microcenter last night, and picked up a D-Link DGS-1005D 10/100/1000 switch along with a couple of cat6 cables (one Belkin, one 'QVS'). Upon arriving home, I set the ethernet adapter's settings back to the defaults, and plugged the 8KDA3J as well as my other two boxes into the new switch. Everything has been up and running with no disconnects for the past 9.5 hours. I need to do more testing (a previous poster mentioned something about throughput issues -- so far downloads to the 8KDAJ3 have been at near-theoretical rates), but it would appear my disconnect issue is resolved...