UPDATE: I’ve made a separate post for people interested in quick fix: Realtek’s network controller deep sleep mode issue
Yes, you read the title right. It is my second day of Windows 7 and trust me it was a long one. Its 1 o’clock in the morning and I finally got my internet working (after I got my Network Controller to work). So, lets start from the top.
Windows 7 does not like waking up from sleep
As it seems, Windows 7 really doesn’t like waking up from “Sleep” mode, most of the times for me, it just crashes. When I say crashes, it means I get a message on my monitor screen saying “No video input”, and the system is frozen because pressing the Num Lock key does not make the light of Num Lock go off.
No internet connection
I restarted the system (something I hate to do as it is my fresh install!) and was greeted by the screen asking me if I wanted to do a clean start up or try to restore the sleep mode again (as if it was my fault!). I had some work to do, so I jumped to the clean start up option and went straight onto Windows 7 desktop. So far so good. But then I noticed, Windows was screaming at me that I had “No internet connection”!
Network Controller/Adapter Gone
I went through several steps and came to conclusion that my network adapter had ‘died’, ‘gone to sleep’, ‘cuckooed’! It seemed that Windows 7 just could not see my Network Controller/Adapter, as if it has disappeared or vanished or just didn’t exist! There wasn’t even a section for Network Adapters in Device Manager.
Network Controller in Deep Sleep Mode
I tried to install the drivers for my Network Adapter (RealTek by the way) but I got a really nice error message during the RealTek setup:
The RealTek Network Adapter/Controller was not found.
If Deep Sleep Mode enabled Please Plug the Cable
And that’s when I noticed something interesting, my network adapter wasn’t flashing. Just for curious minds, I own a SilverStone Raven (photo) in which the whole motherboard is turned 90° clockwise and the back-panel becomes the top-panel. This means, luckily, I could saw the problem.
Getting your Network Adapter/Controller Back
I instantly knew this isn’t a Windows 7 only issue. The first thing popped in my head I have to reset my motherboard. As I own a M4A79T Deluxe, resetting is as simple as sliding the RAM out and popping it back in (the normal way of resetting your motherboard by using BIOS/CMOS jumper).
And guess what, it did the job. I got my Network Controller/Adapter back!
Once I got my internet back, I tried to find out why does Windows 7 crash on trying to wake up from Sleep mode, I believe it has something to do with the S1 and S3 settings in the BIOS. I will investigate and report back here soon. But for people having trouble getting the Network Controller working, I hope this helps.
