Intel I219-LM Random Disconnects

[KremitFrog]

We are a MSP and have seen 5-6 Dell machines out of hundreds in our deployment recently start randomly disconnecting the ethernet adapter for a few seconds to about a minute, then the adapter restarts and works again. This can happen a few times a day, or dozens.

When this happens, we see Event ID 27 e1dexpress

and Event ID 10400 NDIS:

The network interface "Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (7) I219-LM" has begun resetting. There will be a momentary disruption in network connectivity while the hardware resets. Reason: The network driver detected that its hardware has stopped responding to commands. This network interface has reset 1 time(s) since it was last initialized.

We have tried several different ethernet drivers, including Intel's latest, as well as older drivers from 2019, we have disabled power saving features and advanced power saving stuff in the advanced tab from device manager. We had a Dell technician come out and replace the entire motherboard on one machine, and the issue persisted immediately after booting it back up.

Any idea what is going on or how to fix? Every one of the machines with this issue is running Windows 10 x64 (21H1 / 21H2 Preview) with the latest updates installed.

[KremitFrog]

Attaching SSU file

[KremitFrog]

One more thing to note, these computers are in separate physical locations and connected to completely different networks. Please do not tell me to check the network equipment.

[Zigfreid_Intel]

Hello KremitFrog,

Thank you for posting on Intel Ethernet Communities. 

We will be further checking your concern as well as the SSU that you have provided us before we can provide you our recommended actions for your concern. Is it ok if we can ask you to provide us 2-3 business days to provide you an update? Once we have all the necessary information we will notify you immediately. Thank you and have a good day! 

Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support

[thegibenator]

Hi Intel

We are also having this issue across multiple locations and is the HP Desktops mainly.  All running  different Windows versions but mainly 21H1 and have tried about 10 different drivers.  Had one machine stable on a 2019-09 version of the driver which I also disabled all power saving features.  This has been logged with HP and seems like its been happening for the last 3 weeks but can't see any Windows Updates that would have affected it.  

Have tried latest Intel Nic Driver to no benefit, all bios is updated.  We installed 10 new machines all identical and only 2 have started having the issue in the last few weeks,

Hope that helps.

[KremitFrog]

Are you saying the one with the 2019-09 version of the driver is still stable at this time? Do you know what specific driver version this is?

[mperrotta · Accepted solution]

We have the same issue occurring. Not sure what AV you are using, but what we are finding it is the new version of Webroot 9.0.31.84 that is causing the issues. Systems on 9.0.30.75 don't seem to have the issue or systems that we removed Webroot from.

No driver version or power settings seemed to work as a workaround for this.

[thegibenator]

mperrotta one of the machines is definitely running that version of webroot!!  

I'm checking others now

[KremitFrog]

That is quite interesting! We DO have that version of Webroot spread through the deployment. I just reverted a machine to 9.0.30.75, and completely removed from another with the issue. To report results after some time has elapsed.

[KremitFrog]

After a discussion with a Webroot staff member in Slack, it was confirmed there have been reports of this issue, and their team is working on a patch. The computer that we downgraded had the issue yesterday UNTIL we rebooted it, and has not had the issue since. The machine that we completely removed WR from has not had the issue at all thus far.

[Amicro_JS]

I also have a couple endpoints on that version, same NIC, same symptoms.  I'm testing uninstalling the agent completely on one, have a ticket open with Webroot to downgrade the agent on another.  We'll see what happens

[Zigfreid_Intel]

Hello to all that responded on this thread,

Firstly we want to thank you for responding and providing your feedbacks on this thread, it was all very helpful. 

For KremitFrog,

Since it is possible that the Webroot is causing the disconnection issue, please observe the connection after the Webroot version has been downgrade and for the systems with this anti-virus completely removed.

However if the issue still persist, we recommend to try the following:

1. Perform Clean Driver Installation. Since this is an Intel® Ethernet Controller which is embedded on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) system which is DELL, it's best to check with the manufacturer as the software and drivers linked from the Intel page are generic versions and can be used only for general purposes. To avoid any potential installation incompatibilities on the OEM system, Intel still recommends checking with the OEM and use the software provided via system manufacturer.

How to perform a clean driver installation, please refer to the link below:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000058304/ethernet-products.html

Based on the SSU log that you provided, currently you are using driver version 12.18.9.8 which we believe is not the latest. We have a generic driver with version 12.19.1.37 (26.6 package) that you can try but this is only a generic driver so it is still recommended to contact Dell as mentioned above.

Intel® Ethernet Adapter Complete Driver Pack

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15084/intel-ethernet-adapter-complete-driver-pack.html

2. Change Speed/Duplex from Auto-Negotiate to 1.0 Gbps Full Duplex to see if there was a negotiation issue.

3. Uncheck the Power Management option to Allow this device to wake the computer.

4. Try to perform a fresh OS installation, and then test it without any Windows updates. If it does work, it's possible that this could be a Windows* update compatibility issue.

5. This could be a BIOS related as well. Check with Dell if you have the latest firmware or BIOS that may fix the issue.

We would also want to know how long you want to observe the connections to confirm if it is an anti-virus issue? If issue persists, please try our recommendations.

If you have questions or other clarifications please let us know so we can help you further.

Awaiting to hear from you soon, should there be no response from you, I’ll make sure to reach out after 3 business days. Thank you and have a nice day!

Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support

[KremitFrog]

We have tried every step listed, except reloading the OS. We are 99.999% sure this issue is isolated to the Webroot version 9.0.31.84 as we have been discussing. Once this is 100% confirmed and without a doubt, we will let everyone know.

[KremitFrog]

We have had no issues since downgrading Webroot to 9.0.30.75 and then rebooting, or completely removing Webroot from affected machines. We are in contact with Webroot and aware that their devs are working to quickly put out a fix.

[Amicro_JS]

 Hate to muddy the waters here, but I have an endpoint that is still experiencing the issue even after removing Webroot 9.0.31.84 from the machine completely and rebooting.

On this machine I've already done a driver fresh install and updated the BIOS, as well as unchecking the Power Management setting in the driver config.  Reinstalling the OS is not an option.

[KremitFrog]

I cannot really speak to this - the three workstations that we have removed WR from or downgraded have been 100% stable for us. You may want to check into a temporary solution for now like connecting a USB to Ethernet adapter to the machine, if an OS reload cannot be done.

[Zigfreid_Intel]

Hello KremitFrog,

Good day! We hope that you are having a great one so far.

We'd like to know if you have any other questions or concerns please let us know so we can further assist you.

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Should there be no response from you, I’ll make sure to reach out after 3 business days

Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support

[Zigfreid_Intel]

Hello KremitFrog,

Good day! We hope that you are having a great one so far.

We'd like to know if you have any other questions or clarifications please let us know so we would know if we can close the thread.

Hoping to hear from you soon.

We will wait for your reply within 3 business days in case we don't hear from you, we will proceed closing this request.

Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support

[KremitFrog]

I believe we are good to close, thank you. Webroot has a fix that is being QA tested for this issue presently, and is expected to be released soon but no exact ETA.

[Mike_Intel]

Hello KremitFrog,

Thank you so much for the update and we are glad that there is a fix now being tested.

Since you mentioned that we can close this case, we will close this one now.

If you need any assistance again in the future, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Thank you and stay safe.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel® Customer Support Technician

[RLHord]

I have the same issue without webroot. Have performed all 5 steps as above by Zig_M, and still the issue exists. Have sent results of SSU to Intel and no results. Have used all network drivers, removing each before new installed.

Have utilized both 219-LM and I210 adapters together and separately. Still periodic disconnect of network adapter. 
My issues are generated from several Intel NUC9VXQNX (3) and  NUC9i9QNX (4)