Intel X540-T2 Win11 Not Detected

[JavaNocKziK]

I have 2 X540-T2 NICs. One of them I had plugged into a TrueNAS SCALE system, and it worked just fine - I could directly connect to the system via my motherboards built-in network controller (both Realtek).

The other I tried plugging into a Win11 Pro system and it just shows up as 2 unknown "Ethernet Controller" devices. I swapped it out for the one from the NAS, same thing. I've tried other PCIe devices in the same slot, and they work just fine - it was an LSI RAID controller.

I've also tried downloading the drivers from Intel's site, and their "Driver & Support Assistant" utility, but no matter which way I try to install drivers it always says it can't find compatible hardware.

My motherboard is an X870 Carbon WiFi, and I've tried changing the PCI_E1 (slot 1) to x8+x8, but that also didn't make a difference. The PCI_E2 slot is wired for x4, but I can't see this being an issue. The motherboard in the TrueNAS system is also x4 in the slot I was using. When I plug a network cable into either port it shows a solid orange light - presumeably a speed light, not activity.

Pretty sure this is just Windows being Windows, but there must be a way to get it working?

I will try creating a bootable Linux USB at some point, but can't do that today. Hopefully that will at least rule out hardware.

 

[AHNCHUL]

Intel's X540 driver (Integrated Wired LAN Driver Pack) does not officially support Windows 11.
To use the driver for the X540, you need to extract it manually from the driver pack and install it.

Change the file extension of the driver pack to .zip and extract its contents to access the driver files.

or, you can download the file named "Wired_driver_29.4_x64.zip." from intel site.
After extracting the file, you will find the driver for the X540 in the "PROXGB" folder.

 

[JavaNocKziK]

Intel's X540 driver (Integrated Wired LAN Driver Pack) does not officially support Windows 11.
To use the driver for the X540, you need to extract it manually from the driver pack and install it.

Change the file extension of the driver pack to .zip and extract its contents to access the driver files.

or, you can download the file named "Wired_driver_29.4_x64.zip." from intel site.
After extracting the file, you will find the driver for the X540 in the "PROXGB" folder.

Awesome, that worked. Thanks

I had downloaded those drivers before and just used the SetupBD.exe, didn't realise you could manually install the drivers like that.

 

[jf_Nola]

I have the same problem .
downloaded the file "Wired_driver_29.5_x64.zip" on intel website
I just don't know how to proceed to the manual install mentioned above and cannot find any documentation on how to do it
can someone point me in the right direction Please?

 

[JavaNocKziK]

I have the same problem .
downloaded the file "Wired_driver_29.5_x64.zip" on intel website
I just don't know how to proceed to the manual install mentioned above and cannot find any documentation on how to do it
can someone point me in the right direction Please?

1. Press Win+X and then select Device Manager (or find it in the start menu)
2. Locate your X540 device (most likely located under the Network adapters section)
3. Right-cick > update/install drivers > Browse my computer for drivers
4. Make sure you've extracted the drivers ZIP and navigate to the extracted folder, select the PROXGB folder and confirm all prompts

If you have the T2 (dual-port) version, you'll have to do it twice as each port shows as a separate device. Hope this helps!

 

[jf_Nola]

gotcha and Thanks but that I tried
problem is that I dont see my X540 in the device manager or in the BIOS
but its live and when plugged to my 10G switch I have green led at both ends ( but I am not sure what it means...
SO I guess my topic change to how to make Win11 see my X540 card?

 

[JavaNocKziK]

gotcha and Thanks but that I tried
problem is that I dont see my X540 in the device manager or in the BIOS
but its live and when plugged to my 10G switch I have green led at both ends ( but I am not sure what it means...
SO I guess my topic change to how to make Win11 see my X540 card?

Ah right. Hmm. Have you checked all of the different categories in device manager to make sure it's not hiding somewhere else? Have you also tried another PCIe slot, or ideally even another PC to try and rule out the X540 being the issue? I had zero problems with detection using Linux, so worst case you could create a USB boot of a Linux distro and see if that can detect it.

Cause mine showed up just fine in Win11 without having to do anything, it just didn't work until I installed the drivers.

 

[jf_Nola]

Yeah thanks for sharing all that ++> I just booted this pc on a Ubuntu thumb drive ( 24.04) and the X540 is not detected either
The only fact is that I still have 2 green led at both end of my cable between X540 and 10G switch but I am not sure what that mean...

 

[jf_Nola]

Update:
I switched the card to another PCIE slot and it was seen
I could then install manually the driver and it all works now
I really don't understand what's at play here as I tested the initial pcie slot and its properly functioning with a spare graphic card I had... go figure

 

[i386]

Did you switch the card from a x4 or x8 slot to a x16 slot?

 

[jf_Nola]

I honestly don't understand why my change worked:
my MB is gigabyte Z890 AERO G with
2 x PCIe 5.0 x16 (x16, x8) with PCIe UD Slot X
1 x PCIe 4.0 x4 Slot
I setup initially the card on one PCIe 5.0*16 slot --> did not work
moved it to the Pcie 4.0x4 slot --> it worked
even if intel specs for the card says it needs x8 Lane...

 

[i386]

Check the BIOS ans the settings for the x16 Slots.
On some Mainboards i Had to enable the second x16 Slot manually

 

[jf_Nola]

Ok got the answer from the guy that I bought the pc from :
On this MB and with my configuration the pcie slot I used is not compatible with some add ons card.
its apparently a known fact I was ignoring

 

[klui]

Is this what you're referring to?

https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_z890-aero-g_1004_e.pdf

The PCIEX16 and PCIEX8 slots can only support a graphics card or an NVMe SSD.
If only one graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot​

​

Of secondary concern, but still pretty limiting.

The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is
populated, the PCIEX16 slot operates at up to x8 mode.​

 

[jf_Nola]

yes indeed
and ignoring that fact, I focused on the driver. which brought me here

 

[XiBigDick]

hi there, first i want to thanks all the people here because i've had the same issue with my card but now there is a different problem. when i change my speed and duplex setting on my card to 10 gb, my card doesn't recognise my cable at all and don't want to connect to internet and the led also turn off. anyone here know what happen?