Help with installing ethernet on new PC

[Rektum]

So, I've built my new PC and I am having trouble installing ethernet. I've installed the correct ethernet drivers for the specific motherboard and they show that they've installed correctly. But, windows still gives me an error that says "A network cable is not properly plugged in or may be broken." I was using my previous PC with this exact ethernet cable just two days ago, so I don't see a possible problem with the physical ethernet cable. It is plugged into the exact socket that it was plugged in my previous PC. I have the required LAN/Ethernet drives too and it still tells me this error. Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

In case you're wondering, here's the specs

• [Motherboard] MSI Z170A Gaming M5
• [RAM] G.Skill TridentZ 16GB DDR4
• [CPU] Intel i7 6700K Skylake
• [GPU] ASUS Strix GTX 970
• [SSD] Mushkin Reactor 1TB
• [CPU Cooler] Intel Stock Cooler
• [PSU] EVGA SuperNova Nex 750 Watts Bronze

[Huntsman]

Did you get the correct drivers for it? Also did you install the chipset drivers first?

[Rektum]

24 minutes ago, Huntsman said:

Did you get the correct drivers for it? Also did you install the chipset drivers first?

Yes, I checked many times that I've installed the correct drivers. And yes, I did install the chipset drivers, but not first...I installed the LAN/Ethernet driver first, then the chipset driver. Does the order of those two matter?

[Huntsman]

I actually never tried installing them in that order. It was always chipset then other drivers... You could try redoing it if possible, I kinda doubt it would make any difference but it would be interesting if I'm wrong.

[Omon_Ra]

Did you try resetting your router? It could be the router isn't connecting for some reason.

[Rektum]

11 minutes ago, Huntsman said:

I actually never tried installing them in that order. It was always chipset then other drivers... You could try redoing it if possible, I kinda doubt it would make any difference but it would be interesting if I'm wrong.

Just uninstalled and installed the other order, didn't seem to help. I get the same error as before.

8 minutes ago, Omon_Ra said:

Did you try resetting your router? It could be the router isn't connecting for some reason.

I already tried that four times, it's not doing anything. The router is working, I'm on my laptop right now using the wifi, as well as the rest of my family using wifi connections and ethernet connections right now. 

[Rektum]

Bump, I still help with this if anyone can give any suggestions it would mean a lot.

[Rektum]

Bump

[Rektum]

Bump

[Omon_Ra]

Have you tried doing the Windows Connection Troubleshooter? If you're on W10 and something about websockets comes up, you could be in for a constant battle.. Seems like certain updates are borking networking for a small, but still sizable, user base. If it's not your router, then it's something with your PC. Do you have a wifi antenna; does it work with wifi? Have you tried it directly connected to the modem rather than through the router? Do other devices work in the router port that the PC is connected to?

[Rektum]

2 minutes ago, Omon_Ra said:

Have you tried doing the Windows Connection Troubleshooter? If you're on W10 and something about websockets comes up, you could be in for a constant battle.. Seems like certain updates are borking networking for a small, but still sizable, user base. If it's not your router, then it's something with your PC.

 

Do you have a wifi antenna; does it work with wifi?

 

Have you tried it directly connected to the modem rather than through the router?

 

Do other devices work in the router port that the PC is connected to?

 The windows trouble shooter just tells me " A network cable is not properly plugged in or may be broken."

 

I don't have a WiFi card for my PC, just looking to use the onboard Ethernet, as I did with my previous PC for the last 3 years.

 

I have no option but to connect it through a socket in my wall that connects to the router through the walls since my room and the router are opposites from each other in my house. But this was never an issue in the past 3 years of my previous PC.

 

The wall socket has been used for the past 3 years with my previous PC and I never had this problem. As I am typing this on my laptop, I am using the WiFi, so there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the router. I'm confident that the problem is my actual PC, but I've downloaded all drivers and spent 2 days googling my problem and trying other methods that people seemed to get working for them, but no good for me. I searched the BIOS for any settings that should be enabled/disabled, but everything seems normal and Onboard Lan/Ethernet is enabled. I'll be calling MSI Technical Support tomorrow and hopefully they can get my problem fixed. Until then,feel free to suggest me anything else I should do. I'll be experimenting with this thing until I can get it fixed.

[Omon_Ra]

18 minutes ago, Rektum said:

-snip-

After you run the troubleshooter, there should be something you can click for more details. There should be an error code somewhere. Do you have W10? It may be worth it to try a fresh install. If you have a USB wifi dongle try using that. If it connects via wifi, then you probably have a dead LAN port. If it doesn't connect via wifi, it's probably the OS. Try hooking up your laptop via LAN to the same port your desktop would go into and just make sure the cable/port is still working correctly.

[WkdPaul]

25 minutes ago, Rektum said:

*snip*

move the PC right next to the router and connect it.

 

if you still have a problem then change the ethernet cable

if it connects fine then the wires running in the walls are the problem.

 

You keep focusing on how this has worked for years, it's cheap cables, there are week points in any type of installations, check the cables first.

[Rektum]

57 minutes ago, Omon_Ra said:

After you run the troubleshooter, there should be something you can click for more details. There should be an error code somewhere. Do you have W10? It may be worth it to try a fresh install. If you have a USB wifi dongle try using that. If it connects via wifi, then you probably have a dead LAN port. If it doesn't connect via wifi, it's probably the OS. Try hooking up your laptop via LAN to the same port your desktop would go into and just make sure the cable/port is still working correctly.

I'm running Windows 8.1, I don't see an error code anywhere. And I can't setup wifi, I don't have a Wifi USB. The OS is legit and activated too. I just tried connecting ethernet to my laptop and it didn't work. My laptop uses the same motherboard, I just noticed. Both my laptop and my new PC have the Killer e3400 Gigabit Ethernet Controller installed. I googled this problem and it appears that Killer Ethernet on MSI Motherboards is a common problem, but I haven't found a fix for it anywhere.

51 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

move the PC right next to the router and connect it.

 

if you still have a problem then change the ethernet cable

if it connects fine then the wires running in the walls are the problem.

 

You keep focusing on how this has worked for years, it's cheap cables, there are week points in any type of installations, check the cables first.

I can't move the PC to the router. Anyway, the plug I am using has been working for my previous PC for the past 3 years, so I doubt it's the wall socket. I changed the ethernet cable too and still nothing. I even tried another ethernet wall socket in my house for my laptop on both ethernet cables and nothing worked. As I said above, they share the same motherboard and ethernet controller so I am very certain that it's the motherboard that's the problem. I'll be calling MSI tomorrow since apparently this is a common problem for people with this motherboard.

[WkdPaul]

21 minutes ago, Rektum said:

I can't move the PC to the router. Anyway, the plug I am using has been working for my previous PC for the past 3 years, so I doubt it's the wall socket. I changed the ethernet cable too and still nothing. I even tried another ethernet wall socket in my house for my laptop on both ethernet cables and nothing worked. As I said above, they share the same motherboard and ethernet controller so I am very certain that it's the motherboard that's the problem. I'll be calling MSI tomorrow since apparently this is a common problem for people with this motherboard.

So you tried the ethernet cable and wall socket on the laptop and it worked with the laptop? (sorry, your wording makes it unclear)

[Rektum]

1 minute ago, wkdpaul said:

So you tried the ethernet cable and wall socket on the laptop and it worked?

No, the laptop didn't work either. Both my PC and laptop share the same motherboard and same ethernet controller drivers, so I'm pretty sure that it's something to do with the motherboard, MSI Z170A Gaming M5.

[WkdPaul]

4 minutes ago, Rektum said:

No, the laptop didn't work either. Both my PC and laptop share the same motherboard and same ethernet controller drivers, so I'm pretty sure that it's something to do with the motherboard, MSI Z170A Gaming M5.

then go with the laptop near the router and try there.

 

Is there another PC plugged into the router? If so then try that connection with the laptop with an ethernet cable you know works. It's not impossible that it could be the router. Happened to me once (router started randomly disconnectiong PCs but wifi was fine).

 

Do you still have your previous PC? You could try confirming with that also, connecting that PC would definately confirm a problem with both the laptop and the new PC.

[Rektum]

13 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

then go with the laptop near the router and try there.

 

Is there another PC plugged into the router? If so then try that connection with the laptop with an ethernet cable you know works. It's not impossible that it could be the router. Happened to me once (router started randomly disconnectiong PCs but wifi was fine).

 

Do you still have your previous PC? You could try confirming with that also, connecting that PC would definately confirm a problem with both the laptop and the new PC.

Tried laptop directly to the router and still nothing. I've also tried restarting the router a few times and still nothing. And I don't have my previous PC with me.

[Rektum]

Bump

[Matt420740]

9 hours ago, Rektum said:

Tried laptop directly to the router and still nothing. I've also tried restarting the router a few times and still nothing. And I don't have my previous PC with me.

Try a hard reset of the router.  There should be a button or hole on the back somewhere, just check the manual.  It will restore the router back to factory settings.  Also, if you have a modem feeding the router, make sure to reset it at the same time.