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Optiplex 980 NIC Failure after BIOS update
My company recently had these two 980 machines returned from offsite and in the process of reimaging and updating the first one, I ran the A15 BIOS update and lost the NIC card. It doesn't even show up in the BIOS anymore (meaning no Network menu item where I can change it from disabled/enabled/enabled w/pxe, etc). Also, it flashs "NIC Failure" shortly after the BIOS screen. Once windows boots, it sees an Intel 82xxx LC network card but is unable to start it.
What is odd is the other machine, running the A02 BIOS shows the NIC as an Intel 82xxx DM Network card. Did the A15 BIOS update the NIC firmware with an incorrect firmware file? The NIC card worked fine on the first for installing windows, installing all updated drivers, installing all windows updates, etc. Then I did the A15 update and bye bye NIC card.
What I've tried:
Going back to A02, no joy. I then did BIOS updates from A01 through A15 (yes, it took some time), still no joy and NIC Failure messages on each BIOS level. I've tried backing up the A02 BIOS on the working machine but no utilities could accomplish this without some sort of error, so no way I was going to flash the resulting ROM into the broken one. Short of buying a new motherboard...is there anything else I can try?
tstidham321
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February 28th, 2014 11:00
I appreciate the suggestions. I did do the full power off, remove cmos battery, change rst and pswd jumpers on mobo. I was still getting NIC failure. I tried some of the switches and the flash process did different things as a result, but still no NIC (force, jabil, wipeclean, etc). Hopefully a dell tech will see this and possibly have a suggestion. I suspect something with the NIC firmware as the model number changed somehow from an 82578 DM to an 82578 LC. The fact that the BIOS can no longer see it, nor show the Network menu item tells me the NIC is not initializing properly and likely needs a firmware reflash or something.
RoHe
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February 28th, 2014 11:00
Not sure this will help, but have you tried clearing BIOS?
Some versions of BIOS may allow you to use a "switch", for example to force installation of an older version than currently installed. You can read this, but try the suitable switch(es) entirely at your own risk. :emotion-5:
tstidham321
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February 28th, 2014 12:00
Their tech sheet lists it as an 82578DM Gbe NIC, and you can see the actual chip on the MOBO. Using a magnifying glass, I can read 82578DM right on the chip...but it was a good thought. I just don't understand how a BIOS flash could have done this. In the 100's to possibly thousand BIOS updates I've done, I've never seen this. I've had flashes go bad, power outages and what not, some I've recovered, some bricked completely but I've never seen one fubar just the NIC.
RoHe
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February 28th, 2014 12:00
I'll ping my Dell tech contacts to see if they have any suggestions...
RoHe
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February 28th, 2014 12:00
BTW: Is it possible the 2 systems actually have different NIC cards?
You may want to use the Service Tags at Dell's support site to look for each original system config to see if they both list the same / different NIC.
tstidham321
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February 28th, 2014 12:00
I should add that I'd be happy with just having the onboard NIC disabled and run a PCI card. I just don't want the calls my user will give me if he sees "NIC Failure" every time it boots.
jackdusty
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July 8th, 2014 11:00
I am having the exact same problem with a recently purchased OptiPlex 960.
I cannot get rid of the NIC Failure error message, There is no NIC section in the BIOS to disable, cleared the log files, updated BIOS to A18, reset, removed the battery, If I try repair with Windows I get Network Diagnostics, I get "Ethernet doesn't have a valid IP Configuration"'.
If I use a PCI Ethernet Card it works fine, but my customer does not want the NIC Failure message, or to pay for a new MoBo.
RoHe
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July 8th, 2014 14:00
Limeybiker -
tstidham321
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July 9th, 2014 07:00
I wound up just using a PCI card and telling my user to ignore the NIC Failure message anytime they reboot. There will be no fix, somehow the BIOS flash has killed and/or corrupted the onboard NIC.
As for the four questions from RoHe, what operating system or driver is installed is irrelevant. The onboard wired NIC has disappeared from the BIOS. You can't make any BIOS changes to the NIC as the NIC menu is missing. It's also no longer available in the BOOT options of the BIOS. Windows does see "something" but since the BIOS has not initialized it as a hardware device, Windows can do nothing with it. You can actually install (force) any driver you like, broadcom, intel, atheros, amd, etc and nothing will happen. Windows will just report the device could not be started and show a yellow ! on the device.