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Late 5401 - strange network behavior
Hi all.
did someone else notice some very strange network behavior in late 5401 Latitudes (built around 26th Nov 2019)?
I have several of them and they all act VERY strange:
- usually after few minutes, the network (LAN) throughput is extremely low (down to packet loss) for several minutes and then it is all fine again - for a few minutes and it starts again
- change network cable sometimes fixes this instantly
- sometimes not
- sometimes a "subnet" change fixes this instantly
- sometimes not
- even if its fixed, it returns few minutes later
we have older 5401 that work very well and we used the very same OSD (Win 1903 with SCCM) with the same drivers.
Anyways, I updated the drivers. One laptop with Dell Command Update and one by hand. Both still have the same problem. I updated Windows from 1903 to 1909. Same problem. I boot Ubuntu and after about half an hour I don't have the problem.
To be clear: I'm currently not asking for diagnostics and tipps, there is some more to try with lots of effort and we did test far more than I could write down right now.
I'm here to ask, if someone else also have this and maybe this is some kind of drivers issue or hardwarefault in this charge.
JOcean
7 Technologist
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12.1K Posts
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January 16th, 2020 09:00
I am assuming that Ubuntu does not give you problems because Smartbyte is a Windows program and you probably have it installed. Uninstall it as it is more trouble than it is worth. This forum page will help.
AndAuf
17 Posts
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January 17th, 2020 01:00
answered twice already... both replies lost. nice Forum software, Dell...
I thought it is the Bios 1.3.2 from August, which actually has a network problem and was fixed in August. Don't ask me, why Dell builds Laptops in November using outdated and faulty Bios versions...
It is no Smartbyte or anything. We install our own Windows 10 which basically is original Microsoft ISO and Dell driver cabs
And this is how it looks like. Later down, there is also packet loss
AndAuf
17 Posts
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January 21st, 2020 01:00
ok, some update and I hope, I don't curse it by this:
Back in 2019, when we got our first 5401s, I included the CAB from Dell. All these old 5401s work as they should.
Those new 5401 from Nov 2019 install pretty fine with the very same old CAB, but have this strange network problems later on.
Updating drivers and BIOS (by DCU or manually) does not fix it.
BUT: I deleted all drivers from old CAB from SCCM and downloaded and imported the new CAB from Dec 2019. First 5401 installs just fine and has no network problems for over an hour now.
AndAuf
17 Posts
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January 22nd, 2020 06:00
well.. this also didn't fix the problem.
I now downloaded the driver from Intel directly, as it is newer than the one in newest Dell CAB. So far no problems.
AndAuf
17 Posts
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January 23rd, 2020 03:00
Another thing that might be relevant:
All affected devices have a MAC starting with 98:E7:43:*
Right now I have another new 5401 running with MAC 34:48:ED:* and I have no problems so far.
DELL-Cares
Moderator
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25.1K Posts
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January 23rd, 2020 05:00
Apologies for the oversight about the network driver, I was looking at the Realtek network driver for the docking stations rather than the Intel driver which I can see the last update was the 13th January.
Do you have a case reference for the case you have logged with German tech support?
My troubleshooting steps still stand - have you tried a Dell OEM version of the OS and the latest available CAB file?
Alan
DELL-AlanD
AndAuf
17 Posts
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January 23rd, 2020 05:00
First device with 34:48:ED:* has the same problem now. So this is not part of the reason/solution...
DELL-Cares
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January 28th, 2020 02:00
Thanks for the update on the case. I'm still not sure how you are resolving the issue though. Is it a configuration of the Intel driver that is fixing it?
Alan
DELL-AlanD
AndAuf
17 Posts
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January 28th, 2020 02:00
Problem is solved for now
It is caused by Intel drivers -> NIC gets sent to some kind of energy saving mode and does not wake up instantly/properly/at all.
As soon as I remove the Intel driver and use the internal Windows 10 driver for this NIC, it also gets sent to energy saving mode, but wakes up properly.
AndAuf
17 Posts
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January 28th, 2020 03:00
Fixing: I removed the Intel NIC drivers from SCCM so it does not get deployed to new installations. For old installations we just uninstall the Dell/Intel driver so Windows "falls back" to his own.
Actually I have no fix, if we run DCU and update all drivers.
DELL-Cares
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25.1K Posts
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January 28th, 2020 03:00
I'm not sure that confirms the Intel driver is at fault here.
If you don't mind, there are 4 different revisions of the Intel network driver available for download.
Can you try installing this version A11 and let me know if it still exhibits this behaviour - https://dell.to/2U37pSJ
Also, as per my previous messages, can you try setting up one system with the Dell OEM image and our drivers and let us know if the issue is still happening. That will help with our investigation if it is the Intel drivers that is causing it.
Alan
DELL-AlanD
Thomas1900
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May 8th, 2020 12:00
Dell recently released Intel Ethernet Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Update Tool to address LAN connectivity issue. I hope this will fix your issue.
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=22ymx&oscode=wt64a&productcode=latitude-14-5401-laptop
Thomas1900