Z490 Aorus Master - network totally broken

Vertigo · 23 May 2020 at 20:57

So I've been setting up a new Z490 Aorus Master.

All works fine with the exception of the integrated i225-v Intel NIC. This insists on switching itself off every time I boot the system. Working fine, reboot the system, all link/activity lights go out and never come back on.

When I get back into Windows, there's no network and checking the interface status shows a cable disconnected error which is clearly not the case. Disabling and re-enabling the interface kicks it into life until the next reboot. This is on a totally fresh install of Windows.

I tried enabling some of the network options in the BIOS, firstly the network stack, then going into the IPv4 settings and enabling DHCP. Each of these changes resulted in the NIC working on the next boot (although the link lights went on and off about three times during the boot process) but then it's back to failure on all subsequent reboots.

More concerning was that, whilst in these network options in the BIOS, it was repeatedly locking up on me, with both keyboard and mouse going totally unresponsive and I had to hard reset.

Not at all impressed here Gigabyte! Anyone else got one of these boards (or similar) and experiencing anything like this?

@GIGA-Man can you offer any advice/help/feedback?

peahead · 23 May 2020 at 22:19

I guess you are running the latest bios release version F5e ?

Vertigo · 23 May 2020 at 22:44

peahead said:
I guess you are running the latest bios release version F5e ?

Actually no but I'll upgrade tomorrow.

I did spot there was an F4 (I think) the other day but it got pulled so only the release F3 version was available and now they've released F5e. The F4 one had the same description so presumably they found a bug or something.

I'll try F5e tomorrow and see if it makes a difference.

Vertigo · 24 May 2020 at 00:12

Updated to F5e - no difference.

It only happens on a restart from Windows - on a fresh boot it's fine and also fine if I hit the reset button whilst in Windows.

Mcnumpty2323 · 24 May 2020 at 00:20

check in device manager
in power management section of the network adapter
that turn off this device to save power is unticked
totally stupid why windows ticks it by default
as it makes a lot of adapters turn off when they shouldnt do

CageyH · 24 May 2020 at 08:35

Turn off the Windows fast start option in the power management. That may help.

Vertigo · 24 May 2020 at 10:20

Yeah I'd already tried the power management.

What I did this morning was uninstall the device and the driver, then let Windows update download and install afresh (via Wifi). Not sure if just a coincidence but that seems to have cured it. The interface does go on/off/on/off a few times during the boot process but, when I get to Windows, it's alive which is all I need.

I'll see how it goes. Could be purely Windows but I've never seen anything like that on any system before, hence why I thought it might be Z490/Gigabyte related. Even if this wasn't down to Gigabyte, the BIOS lockups most certainly were so I hope there's no repeat of those. Windows itself is stable so that's good.

CageyH · 24 May 2020 at 20:35

I had a similar sounding issue with a Gigabyte Z390 Auros Master.
A fresh install of windows helped, but it was a real pain getting it sorted.

Shadeh · 25 May 2020 at 12:21

I've just had the exact same issue on new Z490 Aorus Master install.

Interestingly, LAN seemed to work fine on initial Windows install (after manually installing LAN drivers - didn't work out of the box) - It was only after Windows Update the LAN failed.

When I uninstalled the device and driver and reinstalled manually I had the same issue.

I followed your steps above, uninstalling the device and let Windows find the driver - it worked!

Vertigo · 25 May 2020 at 12:28

Shadeh said:
I've just had the exact same issue on new Z490 Aorus Master install.

Interestingly, LAN seemed to work fine on initial Windows install (after manually installing LAN drivers - didn't work out of the box) - It was only after Windows Update the LAN failed.

When I uninstalled the device and driver and reinstalled manually I had the same issue.

I followed your steps above, uninstalling the device and let Windows find the driver - it worked!

Interesting that it's not just me and not just pot luck, there's obviously something about this board or chipset that's triggering it.

Glad it worked for you.

Shadeh · 25 May 2020 at 15:44

Just restarted there, although LAN worked it did seem quite slow - probably 10-15 seconds while at Windows 10 login screen before changed to connected.

I'm looking at the readme for this just now: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/do...t-Adapter-Complete-Driver-Pack?product=184686

MrRockliffe · 25 May 2020 at 16:26

https://wccftech.com/intel-400-series-chipsets-z490-i225-v-network-controller-issue-fix-2h-2020/

May be of use

Tl;dr - new drive out to fix issues. Check motherboard's support page to see if they have a new driver for the LAN port.

varinder · 25 May 2020 at 19:41

I have the Z490 Aorus Ultra and I am also having the same issues. Funnily enough it only happens when I switch the PC on first thing in the morning and then to internet, I then have to uninstall the i225-v Intel NIC, then reinstall and it all seems to work again...Then during the day even if I switch the PC of and restart it still works....only does not work when I first switch the PC on in the morning odd!!!

orbitalwalsh · 25 May 2020 at 20:16

Intel has issues with z490 . Was stated before launch

@GIGA-Man might be able to lend some help

Shadeh · 25 May 2020 at 21:17

MrRockliffe said:
https://wccftech.com/intel-400-series-chipsets-z490-i225-v-network-controller-issue-fix-2h-2020/

May be of use

Tl;dr - new drive out to fix issues. Check motherboard's support page to see if they have a new driver for the LAN port.

Thanks, that plus https://www.reddit.com/r/intel/comments/gq5cm9/z490_i225v_ethernet_disconnected_after_a_reboot/ seems to suggest the issue is fairly common.

Seems stable enough for now while awaiting a fix.

varinder · 26 May 2020 at 17:37

Just an update, after uninstalling the driver and rebooting, if I let windows automatically sort out the driver, everything works normally. It seem the issue only happens if I use the driver provided by Gigabyte.

Vertigo · 26 May 2020 at 18:56

varinder said:
Just an update, after uninstalling the driver and rebooting, if I let windows automatically sort out the driver, everything works normally. It seem the issue only happens if I use the driver provided by Gigabyte.

Yep, it's becoming obvious that this isn't a Gigabyte issue but rather a broken driver from Intel. It just happens that the one in Windows Update is old enough not to have the problem. Let's hope they fix it and before Windows Update starts deploying the broken one!

bonusssi · 28 May 2020 at 23:32

I just got mine Z490 Aorus Pro Ax and have the same issue. Sometimes it works fine, sometimes after booting I have "ethernet disconnected" message and I need OFF - ON card to make it work. Will try drivers you talking about tommorow.

Vertigo · 29 May 2020 at 23:24

Interestingly the F5e BIOS has disappeared from the Gigabyte site.

Vertigo · 29 May 2020 at 23:53

Hahaha, just watching LTT's live Gigabyte Z490 build stream and he rebooted and hit the exact problem - NIC dead.