Z790-F - No network connection

[AlexiTQ]

Installing WIndows (tried with both 10 and 11) I get no network connection on this motherboard. To get it working it seems I need to have Armoury Crate enabled and do a limited setup of Windows.

Or in other words: What is this **** and how do I fix it? I mean, I can't remember issues like this since Windows 95...

[JohnAb]

When you install Windows, it gets to the point where you can add/delete partitions on the drive. On that screen, there is the option to add drivers. Have a look at that first link from Murph_900 (above)...

I guess that this issue will be resolved when Microsoft add network driver support for 790 boards in the Windows image itself. It's probably just because these boards are still quite new?

[Hopper64]

JohnAb wrote:
When you install Windows, it gets to the point where you can add/delete partitions on the drive. On that screen, there is the option to add drivers. Have a look at that first link from Murph_900 (above)...

I guess that this issue will be resolved when Microsoft add network driver support for 790 boards in the Windows image itself. It's probably just because these boards are still quite new?

Yea, I was thinking they are so new there’s no net support yet. I had downloaded and prepped a USB drive for the windows 11 22h2 installation a second time thinking it may have been updated, but no go. Still no net driver.

On that add driver screen, is it the executable driver for the net adapter that I click on for installation? Thanks!

[JohnAb]

Sorry Hopper, honestly not sure as I have never needed to do it. However, what I would try is to select the *.inf file within the 'Drivers' folder which you will find once the drivers package is extracted. Place the package on a USB stick before you start and hopefully you'll be good to go. If all else fails, complete the install without an MS account or network as explained in the YouTube link I shared above. That method does work.

[Hopper64]

That is what I was thinking but never had to do it myself either. Extract from the executable and then hope it works I guess.

[JohnAb]

Hopper64 wrote:
That is what I was thinking but never had to do it myself either. Extract from the executable and then hope it works I guess.

I don't think you even have to extract from the .exe. You'll find the .inf file sitting in the Drivers folder, one level below where you would find the Windows installer 🙂

[Hopper64]

JohnAb wrote:
I don't think you even have to extract from the .exe. You'll find the .inf file sitting in the Drivers folder, one level below where you would find the Windows installer 🙂

But wouldn’t you need to have that folder copied into the USB flash drive during windows installation? So just copy the folder containing those files onto the USB disc when asked to load the driver? Â*

[JohnAb]

Hopper64 wrote:
But wouldn’t you need to have that folder copied into the USB flash drive during windows installation? So just copy the folder containing those files onto the USB disc when asked to load the driver? Â*

I think that you can access those files on a different USB stick. Boot off the Windows USB and then insert another stick - select that one for the drivers location. Well, I have to say I'm guessing here a bit, but that's how I think it's supposed to work. Please let me know how wrong I am lol.

I might have caused confusion - when I said the Windows installer, I didn't mean the Windows install USB, I just meant the Windows installer for the network driver files package (which you would normally download and install from within Windows).

Or, as I think you're suggesting then yes, I think you could copy the files onto the stick which contains all of the Windows install files. Either way, as long as you can find them somewhere then it shouldn't matter because (I think) those drivers will be loaded into RAM for the Windows install.

[Hopper64]

That’s what I was thinking. The files would need to be available somewhere to be accessed by windows during the installation but how to direct the installer to do that I don’t know. Thanks!

[JohnAb]

Just follow those instructions from Murph_9000 (his first link)

You'll know the answer soon enough lol, but that guide shows that you just need to browse to the driver location as shown below:

[Hopper64]

Thanks!