Vostro 460 Network card not found Code 31 need to reboot 3 to 4 times

Not sure - the people that have tried the CMOS NVRAM reset have not posted since reporting success.  

Does that mean it is a long term solution, or does it mean they can't get on the internet anymore ?

I hope it is a solution but since my machine hasn't developed this fault I can't test the fix - need more people with missing network adapters to try it.

Not sure!  

It didn't necessarily happen every day from cold start (probably 80% of the time though) - but since we installed the drivers suggested by PudgyOne - here: Broadcom BCM5784M LAN or better known as Broadcom Netlink Gigibit Ethernet (64-bit drivers) <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed / replaced from this post by Dell>

- we haven't had the problem.

Even though that was an old driver, and not the current one - so far it has solved the problem for us!

Guys,

I have escalated this issue and we would have the back-end teams looking into this matter.

Cannot promise an ETA or a quick resolution but please post any more concerns regarding this topic. It would be better if we have a count of how many systems are affected.

All,

Anyone facing issues with the Ethernet Card on Vostro 460 please PM me the Service Tags of all the affected systems. 

DO NOT POST SERVICE TAGS HERE

Send me the Service Tags in a private message with the Subject as 'Vostro 460', i shall forward the same to the Team which is looking into this matter. The more Service Tags i get the better.

CMOS NVRAM reset does not work.  At least not for me.  I was thinking it was temprerature related, but no longer - with the PC nice and warm, I lost network card for 2-3 weeks.  It finally came back after leaving the PC off overnight and restarting, so I was hopeful that some sort of discharging would help.  It disappeared after about a week and the CMOS NVRAM reset did not bring it back.  (Apologies for cross-post, would be good if thi sand the XPS8300 thread were combined).

(Apologies for cross-post, would be good if thi sand the XPS8300 thread were combined).

XPS 8300 will be also looked into. It could be the same NIC on both the models, we shall leave that upto the Dell Techs to figure it out.

Thank you for forwarding me the Service Tag

On my Vostro 460, the only thing that reliably results in the Broadcom Netlink NIC being detected is:

- shutdown

- disconnect the power until the Power Supply green light (back panel) goes out

- reconnect the power and power up

I have had the same problem, I think, since updating the BIOS to A06.  I subsequently updated the chipset drivers to the latest and it made no difference.

By way of an update: Despite the updated (old) driver, 8 successful boots later, it failed this morning!  Restarted 5 times, and then it was found.

Looking forward to a resolution on this issue!

Guys,

Please PM me the Service Tags ASAP.

I'm not sure if this is what you want?  

I can't see anything in the BIOS screens that would be of use.  This is about as relevant a page as I can find:

 

Update:-

All affected systems please post a screen of your BIOS (with the onboard NIC settings ) ie., the 'Advanced' tab.

If the Onboard Controller is in 'Disabled' state, restore he BIOS to Defaults and restart. Check again for the status of Onboard Controller in the advanced tab. It should be enabled.

We have 250 Vostro 460s and this problem is spreading like wildfire. It's making my Monday mornings hell! One temporary "solution" I have found is to shutdown the affected machine and then pull the power out till the light on the back of the PSU goes out. Then plug it back in and power on. 9 times out of 10, the card comes back. Otherwise, the Clear CMOS trick sometimes works. Neither of these tricks will stop it happening again however. Come on Dell, we need a fix for this!

@Booce - We've also found this to be the temp fix.  Instead of waiting for light to go out, just pull plug and hold power button though.  Also our issues seems to be brought on after machine sleeps/hibernates overnight.  I'm going to add these machines to our shut down scripts at night.  You might want to try the same.

Have you pressed the issue with Dell?

Thanks for the Service Tags guys.

Who have not sent the Service Tags please send them to me in PM ASAP.

Did dell admit to the problem yet ?