"Network cable unplugged" - but it is plugged in..


  1. stocktiki
    Posts : 26
    Windows 10
       New #1

    "Network cable unplugged" - but it is plugged in..


    Hoping some of the Windows ninjas can help.

    Running Windows 10 Pro on a Dell XPS 8500 desktop/tower. Hard wired Ethernet from Dlink router to PC.

    Had been working great for months. But all of a sudden (yesterday) - getting this message from "Net Connections." Ethernet, network cable unplugged (Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller). It's strange because it had been working. The PC has WIFI so it's connecting that way.

    Here's what I tried so far:

    1. Plugged in Ethernet directly from cable modem. Same error.
    2. Connected another device to router. It works.

    Seems like it's some kind of issue with PC itself - either hardware failure or driver corruption ? Would there be a problem with deleting the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller in the Control Panel>Network and Internet > Network Connections - restarting and see if that fixes the issue.

    Any other suggestions?

    "Network cable unplugged" - but it is plugged in..-capture.png
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  3. dalchina
    Posts : 44,112
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       New #2

    Hi you can certainly try uninstalling the driver & restarting. (Note, there is an option to also delete the driver, which means your PC has to download it again if you choose that as compared with installing from the driver already stored on you PC).

    Presumably you've tried swapping the cable & router connection?
    Last edited by dalchina; 21 May 2016 at 16:12.
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  4. bro67
    Posts : 9,797
    Mac OS Catalina
       New #3

    Possible bad cable bad port on the gateway or a bad NIC on the computer. Drivers have been an issue with 10 for a while.
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  6. NavyLCDR
    Posts : 18,467
    Windows 11 Pro
       New #4

    Try the drivers from Realtek:
    Realtek

    Top entry in the table is for Windows 10.
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  7. stocktiki
    Posts : 26
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       New #5

    Thanks everyone. One last question....

    * If I delete the Realtek Ethernet driver - is there a danger it would knock out the WIFI connection, too? That would be bad...

    Thanks!
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  8. NavyLCDR
    Posts : 18,467
    Windows 11 Pro
       New #6

    It should not affect WiFi.
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  9. stocktiki
    Posts : 26
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    Thanks everyone! Great forum we have here!

    Finishing up on an important piece of work tonight - but will try this tomorrow and see what happens.

    Thanks!
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  10. bro67
    Posts : 9,797
    Mac OS Catalina
       New #8

    No there is not, since you will be reinstalling the driver and device. You can save your connection info by doing this. Wireless Network Profile - Backup and Restore Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

    Always check the Tutorials. Brink has covered pretty much every contingency that could happen.
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  12. stocktiki
    Posts : 26
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       New #9

    Thank you everyone!! You fixed it!

    Uninstalled the Ethernet connection/driver - restarted - and boom - it works again! Guess the driver got corrupted somehow. At least fixing it was easy (with the guidance of this forum! Thanks1

    "Network cable unplugged" - but it is plugged in..-capture.png
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  13. bro67
    Posts : 9,797
    Mac OS Catalina
       New #10

    Make sure that you disable Windows from updating the driver.
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