Random Ethernet disconnects

[Starforsaken]

Hey guys!

 

Just today, I started getting this bizarre issue that I can’t seem to understand where it is coming from.

So I have a laptop, the 2021 g14 zephyrus. Up until today, I have been using a leftover dongle I have, using it to connect it to the usb-c port on the g14 and plug my ethernet cable, as wifi and csgo don’t go so well. It was all running flawlessly for months now.

 

Earlier today I launched the laptop as usual, went to youtube and that’s when I noticed - at a very random time interval, you’d hear the very familiar sound windows makes when you disconnect a usb and then the ethernet is gone… a minute later, or some seconds, 10-15-20 sec later boom it’s back. Without me moving a finger.

 

So since its a laptop, I made sure that windows doesn’t shut down usbs to save power (but why would it do that now anyway, it was working fine just last night); I tried to re-install the ethernet adapter, re-install basically anything i can get my hands on - no luck, nada, issue goes on. 
 

In a blind rage I completely formatted the life out of this laptop and reinstalled Windows. It was fine the first two hours, really. Then out of nowhere — this issue reappeared. I give up guys, I have no idea even where to begin troubleshooting. I suspect a windows update partially, but not sure. Tried the dongle on my MacBook - no issues at there, so I doubt its the dongle.
 

Can you possibly help or advise, I’m pulling my hairs out.

Thank you so much for reading through this!

 

[dag_dg]

How often were you plugging in and unplugging the dongle? Do you typically leave it plugged in for days at a time or disconnect it several times a day? Have you tried another USB type-c port?

One thing you might give a shot is to reproduce the issue in Windows, then without moving any cables try booting into a Live-USB of Linux and see if the issue persists(fire up a constant ping to a random IP or watch the system logs for network disconnects). If the issue persists you can eliminate Windows itself as a potential culprit and if it stops then you'll know to dig further into something in Windows that may be the culprit. If it's looking like a hardware issue and you haven't already updated the BIOS that would always be a good step to take.

 

When you're testing it on your MacBook try really jiggling the dongle(quickly, then very slowly) to see if it acts up in case it's just a particular way the dongle is positioned that causes the issue; when you plug it into your Zephyrus it might be getting plugged into just the right way to cause the issue to manifest.

[Starforsaken]

Yessir! That’s something I’ll definitely try and test with a brand new dongle just in case. BIOS is updated to the latest, so I’ll try what you suggested now and see what happens.

Thanks so much!

 

PS: I don’t really move the laptop around, so its stationary. The dongle also stays in, so nothing gets disconnected and reconnected.

Since there are 2x usb-c ports, only one of them has DP functionality to send signal to my monitor which is working fine so far, so I removed that same usb-c to DP cable I am using and hence plugged in the dongle there - for now I don’t see the issue and its alright. 
 

That’s good and bad news I think. So the moment both usb-c ports are occupied, one gets intermittently disconnected - always the non-DP one. Currently testing… 

[dkoudijs]

I think its a hardware issue, vs a software issue based on what you have said.

If you have another USB c device I would try that to see if the port is an issue. So like a usb hard drive might be a good idea.

[markwoll]

Look in the event viewer for the ethernet events and see if the adapter is faulting or if it is the usb port.

[Starforsaken]

Thank you once more guys for your advise and trying to help!

@markwoll I did and it's a very interesting mixture of these two I'm posting below.

@dag_dg - you're right, that seem so far to be the case. So if there is nothing plugged in and I plug the dongle on the left side usb-c with DP -- no problem. I plug it it on the right side usb-c - it starts to malfunction immediately. On the MacBook there was no way to replicate the issue, it never appeared, the dongle seems to be just fine. Also what happens is, I plugged a usb mouse in the dongle, then on the Zephyrus, when the internet stops, so does the mouse, it doesn't function as well until it comes back up and the below two errors cycle on the EV. No such occurrence on the Mac or other devices I tested, jiggled around, etc. So it's the Zeph.

Here's what the event viewer said (and thanks again for the advise to check on it). I can of course forward the entire log if needed: 

Log Name:      System
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-NDIS
Date:          9/7/2021 10:08:19 
Event ID:      10317
Task Category: PnP
Level:         Error
Keywords:      (16384),(16),(4),(2)
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:      DESKTOP-E8E9F9V
Description:
Miniport Realtek USB GbE Family Controller, {a607fcde-f241-4def-b0ff-23f5cf557ce0}, had event Fatal error: The miniport has detected an internal error
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">

and then seconds later: 

Log Name:      System
Source:        Server
Date:          9/7/2021 10:08:25 
Event ID:      2505
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      DESKTOP-E8E9F9V
Description:
The server could not bind to the transport \Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{A607FCDE-F241-4DEF-B0FF-23F5CF557CE0} because another computer on the network has the same name.  The server could not start.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">

 

and whenever I plug in the USB dongle initially and throughout the disconnects, I get this pop-up that's attached.

 

What should I make of this, is there something to be done further or should I go find the warranty card on it and check with the reseller? 

 

Thank you again guys! 

[markwoll]

Do you have another network adapter live?

 

[evilcloud]

one shot in the dark thing to check is just like on phones, check the possible faulty usb port for dust/crap in there and clean it out (not with anything metal!)

[Starforsaken]

Nothing works so far, I seem to have these network adapters as attached. 

 

However, simply plugging another USB device gets me with: Screenshot by Lightshot (prnt.sc) 

 

So the port appears to be clean from dust as much as I was able to inspect.

 

Should I consider disabling or uninstalling any USB devices or network adapters perhaps?

 

Thanks!