# Linux broke my NIC! Seriously. (cable unplugged issue)



## crrimson (Dec 1, 2008)

I was bored tonight so I thought I would try out Fedora 10 livecd, so I am playing around with it, internet works fine just like it did in Windows. I end up entering these commands to reinitialize the cards settings:

ifconfig eth0 down
ifconfig eth0 up 

Internet still works fine. So I reboot back into windows and now I get the "A network cable is unplugged error"! ***? The cable works just fine with another NIC, the router link connection light won't show up either, I uninstalled the driver, disabled the card in the bios, uninstalled the device, and also tried changing the Auto-Sense settings, nothing has worked. and it's definitely not the cable because I can use the cable with another PCI NIC and my internet works fine in Windows. 

But here is the even stranger thing:

If I reboot to Linux using the Fedora CD, all of a sudden my router link light comes back on and the NIC is detected again.... The problem NIC is an onboard ASUSTeK/Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller.

I don't get how a simple ifconfig command could actually have messed up my NIC :4-dontkno. I would like to know how I could fix it.


----------



## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows XP with SP2/SP3.*

*S*tart, *R*un, *CMD* to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

_Note: Type only the text in bold for the following commands._

Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults, type: *netsh int ip reset reset.log*

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults, type: *netsh winsock reset catalog*

Reboot the machine.


----------



## crrimson (Dec 1, 2008)

The TCP/IP stack is working ok, since the PCI nic I plugged in is working just fine. I did try your suggestion though, because I read through all the other posts of people with this cable problem. It seems like a common problem.

I just think the problem is strange that the NIC will work in Linux but not in Windows, but it was working just fine until I rebooted into nix and issued those commands, which I just find to be so strange. 

So right now I have 2 nics in my computer. One is a PCI card and it works fine, and the link light on my router is on for it. The other is my onboard which also has a cable connected to router but the link light is OFF. 

When I reboot the link light for my PCI nic comes on almost automatically, but only if I reboot into linux does the onboard card's link up light come on. It's like the NIC is disabled or something until the Linux drivers let it work.... Windows sees no problem with the drivers or the card itself, even after reinstalling, etc.

I'm very confused. I wish it wasn't onboard I would like to remove it and try it out on another computer.


----------



## whackedGarfield (Jan 20, 2009)

I also have the same NIC ASUSTeK/Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller and recently i decided to upgrade my Ubuntu with a clean install so i formatted the partition that Linux was on. Ubuntu works great, but the first time i booted back into windows seen this message "network Cable unplugged". tried completed uninstall of nic card even though it said it was running fine. ran netsh ip for winsock and ip. disable media sense in registry. still no internet with windows


----------



## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Well, that's certainly odd, and not something I've ever seen. I always figured it would be pretty hard to break a NIC with software. :grin:


----------



## crrimson (Dec 1, 2008)

I never solved this issue, I just plugged my old PCI NIC back in and used it, I was pretty surprised myself that this happened.


----------



## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

I don't have a clue. :smile:


----------



## crrimson (Dec 1, 2008)

"Linux broke my NIC".... And windows 7 fixed it? 

I installed the Windows 7 beta, and to my surprise my onboard card worked in Win7! So I rebooted to XP, and it now works in XP again too . Odd...


----------



## drewhet (Feb 17, 2009)

i have the exact same problem!! 'network cable unplugged' in windows but it works fine in ubuntu.

problem solved! i turned off my computer, unplugged the power supply and when i booted windows up again it's working.


----------



## peepsforlunch (Mar 17, 2009)

I'm having this as well. Drewhet, are you saying unplugging the power supply was the only thing you did?


----------



## drewhet (Feb 17, 2009)

peepsforlunch said:


> I'm having this as well. Drewhet, are you saying unplugging the power supply was the only thing you did?


yes, i think something was causing my ethernet card not to power on when in windows. i noticed the light was off on my ethernet card when in windows but not in linux. i think unplugging my power supply kinda reset everything.


----------



## downwithwindows (Jun 1, 2009)

Problem:
Linux broke my NIC! Seriously. (cable unplugged issue)
Ubuntu 9.04 32 bit Network Card wont doesnt work after installing linux
Network card works in Ubuntu 9.04 but not in Windows XP. 

Solution:
I tried BOTH the stack commands and powering down the PC and removing the battery.
a)"Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults, type: netsh int ip reset reset.log" 
b) "Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults, type: netsh winsock reset catalog"
and the machine did not work. THEN I unplugged ALL cables to the PC (power, network cable) turned off the laptop and unplugged the laptop battery. AND pressed the power button to discharge whatever static remained.(probably just superstition at this point but...). Turned the computer back on and it worked!!!


Hardware and OS involved:
PC
Dell Inspiron 5100

NIC
Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller

OS
Linux 9.04(working) 
WinXP(working AFTER above)

Thanks guys, rock on.


----------

