*BUG REPORT* NUC8i7HVK I210 port broken by 13.0.14.0 drivers.

[BHarr8]

This is not a support request, I do not need support. This is a bug report.

DSA recommends installing drivers version 13.0.14.0 for the I210 ethernet port. After install the port is unable to initialize these new drivers. Rebooting does not resolve this. Reverting to version 12.16.5.0 does resolve this issue. This bug was confirmed on 2 different units.

[LeonWaksman]

This driver is working on my Hades Canyon with Windows 11 Pro.

Leon

 

 

[BHarr8]

I removed the existing drivers and then installed the latest drivers from DAS and confirmed that the driver would not start.

I did an in place upgrade from Windows 10 Pro to Windows 11 Pro (no issues).

Device manager now reports that the ethernet port and driver are working correctly.

Perhaps this is a good place to start for Intel, comparing Windows 10 and Windows 11 to see if Microsoft has introduced some sort of compatibility issue.

[BHarr8]

I wonder if there is a 10 VS 11 difference. I can easily check that out.

[BHarr8]

So here is the plan. I'm going to "break" a system intentionally with this driver install on Windows 10 and then do an in place upgrade to 11. I will see if the driver that is complaining in 10 actually works in 11.

[BHarr8]

I confirmed today that this indeed a problem with this driver and Windows 10 specifically.

I merged the latest driver into a fresh Windows 10 image and did a clean install.

On first boot, I210 showed that 13.0.14.0 was installed but not functional.

It would seem that either this driver is not intended for Windows 10 but Intel mistakenly made it available for both 10 and 11 OR Intel didn't perform QA on a real Windows 10 install and missed the incompatibility. 

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello BHarr8,  

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities. I am sorry to know that you are having issues with your Intel® NUC Kit NUC8i7HVK and the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant (Intel® DSA).   

In order to better assist you, please try the following:  

1. To confirm, does the issue only happen with the driver "Intel® Ethernet (LAN) Network Connection Driver for both LAN ports on the Intel® NUC8i7HVK & NUC8i7HNK when using Windows® 10 & Windows 11*" and not with the other 2 drivers showed in your picture?

2. Is the issue only present with the latest driver from Intel® Driver & Support Assistant (Intel® DSA) or also with previous versions of the driver (not the previous Intel® DSA version)?

3. What are the models of the other 2 units that you tested?

4. Just to confirm, have you tried a clean install (using the uninstaller) of the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant (Intel® DSA)?

5. To confirm, is the driver from the Intel® DSA the same as the one shown in Ark?

• Ark driver: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/728263/intel-ethernet-lan-network-connection-driver-for-both-lan-ports-on-the-intel-nuc8i7hvk-nuc8i7hnk-when-using-windows-10-windows-11.html

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[BHarr8]

1. This bug impacts the I210 port. The I219-LM port (also on the NUC8i7HVK) works fine on 10 and 11 on the latest drivers.

2. I've seen this for a few months when installing the suggested drivers for the I210 port so at least a few version of DSA have been recommending these drivers. There never was a problem on older drivers.

3. I have 2 NUC8i7HVK systems I use for different things. The bug is present on both of them.

4. More than that, I did a clean install of Windows 10.

5. No, those drivers are different. When I install the drivers you linked, the I210 port reports that drivers version 12.18.13.0 is installed and this version functions normally.

[BHarr8]

I did some additional investigating and think I found what might be causing the bug here.

If I unzip the file you linked to, unzip it and run the main installer executable, driver version 12.18.13.0 is installed and works correctly.

but......

If I point the device manager driver update function at the same folder, driver version 13.0.14.0 is installed and the I210 port reports an error.

It looks like DSA is for some reason forcing the 2nd thing to happen on Windows 10 systems when 13.0.14.0 only works on Windows 11. It looks like both 12.18.13.0 and 13.0.14.0 are included in this package and the Windows version check is failing.

This is all a guess, but it makes sense.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello BHarr8, 

Thanks for the information. I will report this behavior to the team in charge, for the moment I recommend using version 12.18.13.0 since this is the one for Windows 10.

I get back to you as soon as possible.

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello BHarr8, 

Thanks for your patience. I would like to inform you that this issue may be limited to your NUC since we do not have any other reports about this issue in order to fix it I will need form information from you and you will need to perform some troubleshooting steps as well.

As part of the troubleshooting, please try the following:

1. Use the uninstaller to uninstall the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19333/intel-driver-support-assistant-uninstaller.html?v=t

2. Install the latest Intel® Driver & Support Assistant Uninstaller:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19333/intel-driver-support-assistant-uninstaller.html?v=t

Please let me know if the issue persists.

Regards,   

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[BHarr8]

Please refer above where I stated that I did a clean install and by that I mean a clean install of the OS.

You are not seeing other reports because:

1. This device is very rare.

2. There are 2 ethernet ports so if a user had a problem, they would likely use the other port and that would solve their issue.

I can show you screenshots of recreating this issue but unless someone at Intel tries this on the actual hardware in question, it is unlikely that you will be able to replicate this.

[BHarr8]

So I went through this one more time just to triple check before I post the steps to reproduce this bug.

1. Get a real NUC8i7HVK, not a simulated environment.

2. Install Windows 10 and get it up to date.

3. Install DSA.

4. Note that it says that there is an update for the I210 port that cannot be installed correctly.

5. Upgrade this system to Windows 11.

6. Run DSA and note that now you can successfully install the driver update for the I210 port.


Hopefully Intel can do better than the year and a half benchmark they set fixing this bug I reported:

https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-Unite-App/Intel-Memory-and-Storage-Tool-cannot-read-my-NUC8i7HVK-or-its/m-p/1245283#M2757

https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-NUCs/NUC8i7HVK-RAID-and-Intel-Memory-and-Storage-Tool/m-p/1301917#M84825

A whole lot of Intel claiming that they could not reproduce the problem and then I get an email about a fix for the problem support claimed did not exist. Problem fixed, 18 months later.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello BHarr8, 

Thanks for the information and the steps to replicate the issue. In order to investigate this behavior I will need the following:

1. Provide the report from the Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU):

• Download the Intel® SSU and save the application on your computer: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18377/intel-system-support-utility-for-windows.html  
• Open the application, check the "Everything" checkbox, and click "Scan" to see the system and device information. The Intel® SSU defaults to the "Summary View" on the output screen following the scan. Click the menu where it says "Summary" to change it to "Detailed View".  
• To save your scan, click Next and click Save.  

2. Provide the logs from the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant (Intel® DSA):

• Steps: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000089850.html

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[BHarr8]

Why isn't this being done on a NUC8i7HVK in the Intel labs?

100% of the bugs I have ever reported have been met with "we can't reproduce it" and "get us scans".

I'm sorry, I am done. Intel needs to use its own physical hardware to test things. I am not being paid and I am no long going to treat this as my job.

If you want scans, the other member here with the identical issue already posted theirs:

https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-NUCs/NUC8i7HVK-latest-network-drivers-won-t-install/m-p/1406025#M93095

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello BHarr8, 

I am sorry for the inconvenience, I will review this issue internally and I will let you know about any information we have for you.

Regards,  

Deivid A. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello BHarr8, 

Based on our investigation and the results from replicating this issue, I recommend you to completely remove the driver and try a manual installation of the driver:

Driver: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/721283/intel-ethernet-lan-network-connection-driver-for-windows-11-for-intel-nuc.html

Please let me know if the issue persists. 

Regards,  

Deivid A. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[BHarr8]

I am out of the country but will be able to check back in on this soon.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello BHarr8, 

I do appreciate your response. I understand that you will need more time since you will be out of the country. I will wait for your next update.

Thanks for your time.

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello BHarr8,  

After checking your thread, I would like to know if you need further assistance. 

If so, please let me know. 

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello BHarr8,  

I was checking your thread and see that we have not heard back from you.  

I’m going to close your post, but if you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to create a new thread. 

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician