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

Of course, I have three Vostro 460s that experience this failure days after their 1 year warranty expires. So, my client is buying all new PCs instead since a replacement motherboard costs half the price of a new PC.

You might want to check with Dell before buying replacement PC's as they might be lenient towards this problem if it's only a few days outside of the warranty.  It probably depends on which CSR or manager you talk with, but you could also refer to this thread about this ongoing issue.  There may be a grace period after the warranty officially expires?  

Forgot to mention -- Dell sent a Netgear GA311NA PCI adapter. Am I right in assuming that what we need is a PCI-Express adapter?

We're having the same problems here :-(  I was able to convince Dell to send me an internal ethernet adapter. However, they sent one that is not compatible with the Vostro 460 motherboard (0Y2MRG). I don't enough about PCI, etc. connections to know which type of NIC will work. Can someone suggest a brand/ model or provide other details to help me identify a compatible product? Many thanks in advance.

Here's what's more strange — installing a PCI-E network adapter caused the defunct adapter to start working. I've seen this on the other two machines as well. I can install a PCI-E adapter, or a wireless adapter, and this somehow causes the onboard NIC to work again.

I purchased and installed this NIC: www.amazon.com/.../ref=pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

If the problem is occuring with the onboard ethernet I wouldn't count on it being reliable in the future.  Perhaps when you powered down the computer to install the PCI-e card that may have been enough to gltich the onboard ethernet circuitry to start working again, but I would bet money that you will encounter the same disconnection issues down the road.  I would certainly see if it continues to work and just have the PCI-e card as a backup that you can switch to quickly.  You never know hey?

I believe the Vostro 460 has PCI-e slots which don't work with older PCI cards so yes I think only PCI-e ethernet adapter cards can be used.

I have one Vostro 460 as wks and it's been doing the same thing for the last two years.

I just finished talking to Dell Tech Support and she told me to go buy a new network card.

I took the computer out of the network and replace it with HP ... no more problem.

so far I replaced 5 Dell computers out of the network of 29 and replace them with HP's.

I found the solutions after talking to the Dell tech support who told me to replace the network card. there is no slot for network card. Dell tech support didn't know that.

solution:

1. replace the computer with HP Computer.

2. grenade

3. I went to Tiger Direct and bought a usb to network adapter. it's very simple to install. Just plug it in and install the driver. no need to restart the window. Done. it works flawlessly like it's  made for Dell Vostro 460.

This is a flawed response.  Sure I agree with you that Dell should be handling this issue better, but the Vostro 460 has 3 x PCI-E x 1 slots.  You can use one of MANY network cards available through resellers.  Here's one example.

www.newegg.com/.../Product.aspx

Hello, I experienced this issue with a customers PC recently

I did the BIOS reset and it didn't work.

I did manage to fix the issue by doing the following:

Boot into the BIOS setup;

Go to Advanced and find the On board Lan Controller.  Set to Disabled, Save and F10.

Let the PC Restart and go into Windows normally.

Restart the PC and repeat the procedure with the BIOS but setting to Enabled.

F10 and restart.

Allow to boot into windows and it should find the device and install the software.

Its too early to tell if its a permanent fix or not, but it worked straightaway.

I hope this helps you..?

Ross

Before we judge Dell and their intentions, my recommendation would be to contact Dell support and direct them to this thread.  I did just that and so far have been successful having V460 motherboards replaced for no charge.