Tracking missing NIC drivers

SantaHawes · ‎10-14-2022

After a "bare-metal" restore, our Windows Server 2012 R2 Cisco UCSc-C220 server no longer has working NICs. Looking at the system, and when I look at the NIC properties, I get the following information:

To me, this reporting shows an Intel 82576-gigabit-dual-port-NIC. The vendor ID of 8086 is exclusively Intel, and the device ID being 10C9 indicates an Intel® Gigabit ET Dual Port Server Adapter.

I focus on this, because when I downloaded and installed the Intel PROSet Software specific that supports Windows 2012 R2, I received the following result:

I have verified that the NICs are active in the BIOS, that there are no "other" NICs on the system or within the configuration.

Does ANYONE have any idea what the heck is going on?

Mike_Intel · ‎10-16-2022

Hello SantaHawes,

Thank you for posting in Intel Ethernet Communities.

For us to further check the issue, please provide the following details.

Are you using onboard Intel 82576 network adapters?
What is the brand and model of your board/system?
Can you share the link of the driver that you are trying to install?

If you have questions, please let us know. In case we do not hear from you, we will make a follow up after 3 workings days. Thank you.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel® Customer Support

SantaHawes · ‎10-17-2022

Michael,

Here are the answers to the above questions . . .

1. Yes, these are the onboard Intel 82576 network adapters, which I have verified are active in the BIOS.

2. The System board is a Cisco UCS server, model # R200-1140202W

3. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/17480/intel-network-adapter-driver-for-windows-server-2012-r2.html

Driver URL: https://downloadmirror.intel.com/739883/Wired_driver_27.6_x64.zip

ProSet URL: https://downloadmirror.intel.com/739883/Wired_PROSet_27.6_x64.zip

Mike_Intel · ‎10-17-2022

Hello SantaHawes,

Thank you for the quick reply. I can see here that you already tried installing Intel's generic driver. Since your Intel 82576 is onboard and onboard network cards are considered OEM units, you need to contact the OEM manufacturer which is Cisco. They may have custom driver, firmware and software to enable all the features of your network card.

If you have questions, please let us know. In case we do not hear from you, we will make a follow up after 3 workings days. Thank you.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel® Customer Support

SantaHawes · ‎10-19-2022

Thank you for the referral back to Cisco, considering it was Cisco that sent me to the Intel site for the PROSet driver application. Now what I have got is a situation of two vendors pointing at each other saying I have to go to the other.

To say the least, this is not helpful.

n_scott_pearson · ‎10-19-2022

Oh, come on! If either of you (@SantaHawes or @Mike_Intel) had taken a few moments to actually look at the ReadMe.txt (release notes) file for the current (27.6) release, you would have discovered that the drivers for the 82576 were removed in this release. Thus, downloading an older version of the packages will be necessary to get you the drivers that you need.

I looked further back and discovered that, starting with release 25.4, the set of drivers supporting the 82576 (known as e1q) were frozen. Thus, downloading any release from 25.4 - 27.4 will net you (pun intended) the same (final) set of e1q drivers.

I hope this helps - and sorry for the mild admonishment, but it had to be said.

...S

SantaHawes · ‎10-19-2022

n_scott_pearson, thank you for your insight. However, having previously downloaded both the 25.4 and the 26.4 versions of the 64-bit PROSet software, I have checked them out as well.

I have attached the console screen capture results from attempting both of them.

I did want to mention that any version of Windows is NOT my preferred OS, and I had to be forced into becoming the Administrator for these systems, so excuse me if all this reminds me of the Windows driver compatibility issues from back in the Windows 95 days. *grin*

I will continue to attempt to find a workable solution, however it is looking like I will need to disable the on-board NIC chipset, and install discrete PCI NIC. I was trying to avoid using the Broadcom chipset, but that will probably be where I have to go to avaoid the chance of continued conflict.

Thank you folks!

Mike_Intel · ‎10-20-2022

Hello SantaHawes,

I hope this message finds you well. As much as we want to assist you, we have limited support because you are using a LAN on motherboard. It would be best to get in touch with Cisco for further support since they control the driver, firmware and product quality. They may have also customized Firmware/drivers and software to enable or alter features on your system. They are in best position where you can seek assistance so you wont not lose features or customizations of the Ethernet controller.

Also, upon further checking your configuration, you might be using a Cisco UCS C220 M2 Rack Server. Please see attached link for the available drivers provided by Cisco.

https://software.cisco.com/download/home/283860950/type/283853158/release/1.4(3y)?catid=282558030

Thank you and stay safe.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel® Customer Support