GA-Z170N Gaming 5 Ethernet Drops

[Drake86]

Hello everyone,

hoping I can get some help. It's been a really long time since my last post so I'll do my best to be clear. Here's what's going on...

I have a Hack with the following specs:
Mobo: GA-Z170N Gaming 5 - [Ethernet (Killer E2201 chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) - you'll understand why this is important]
CPU: i7 6700 3.4GHz
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000
Boot Volume: Samsung SSD 850 PRO 512GB
Storage: WD HDD 2x3TB and 1X4TB
OS: 10.14.5

THE PROBLEM:
Been running this Hack for some time and have moved from 10.12 to 10.13 and now 10.14 and all the while the ethernet connection built-in to the Mobo has had this nagging issue I have been unable to solve. The connection will randomly drop, the issue will last for 4-6 seconds and then reconnect. This happens once an hour at its most frequent and somedays it will happen two or three times in 24hrs. It always reconnects which is good but when streaming a webinar it becomes a problem.

WHAT I HAVE ATTEMPTED:
1. Complete erased and setup OS all over.
2. Issue persists in OSX 10.12, 10.13 and 10.14
3. I have used SMBIOS iMac 14,2 but am currently using SMBIOS MacPro 6,1
4. I have tried different kexts for Atheros to no avail
5. Searched the forums here and haven't found anyone having the same problem - tried some promising fixes but nothing worked

WHAT I HAVE NOT ATTEMPTED:
1. The Mobo has Firmware version F5 installed, I have never upgraded it. Could this make a difference?

TEMPORARY SOLUTION:
I'm using an external USB-C to Ethernet adapter. The adapter is connected to the USB-C port on the Mobo and this fixes the drop issue but only works at the lower speed limitations of the port (can this speed be controlled in the BIOS?) - so I'd rather get the Mobo Ethernet port working.

I would appreciate any help from anyone that can shed some light. I keep feeling like it's all going to come down to some little setting and in some way I hope that's all it is. Anyone know what I might be missing here?

Thank you all in advance for your time and for your input - it is much appreciated!

 

[P1LGRIM]

Try the forum Search tool, I recall discussion of this topic some time ago.

 

[Drake86]

Try the forum Search tool, I recall discussion of this topic some time ago.

I have searched and re-worded the issue in as many ways as I could to see if I could get a good hit. Nothing seems to match exactly and those that remotely match I have tried but they didn't really help.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

...
4. I have tried different kexts for Atheros to no avail
...

Hi there.

Okay, back to basics. You state the above, but how did you install the kexts? Where did you get them?

Probably obvious answers if you're hereabouts, but just to clarify ...

When I ran a GA-Z170MX Gaming 5, the motherboard used the same Atheros Killer E2201 LAN chip as your motherboard. I used MultiBeast to install the driver and chose: AtherosE2200Ethernet v2.2.2

All worked fine.

What worries me most about your problem is you say it has been with you from Sierra to Mojave. Which, kind of, implies it may not be a kext problem, as such.

 

[Drake86]

You're right UtterDisbelief I didn't indicate where I got the kexts. Initially I used MultiBeast as directed on the site (version 11.3.0 for Mojave since that is the OS I am running now). I have also searched in the Forum, found links to other sites and other kexts were found. I've tried adding them into the appropriate folders manually, then I learned it's better to use an installer so I ended up using KextBeast.

Because of doing it manually I ran into other problems where the Ethernet connection wasn't working at all. I even tried just for the sake of trying a newer version of the Atheros kext (version 2.3.0) and it was a no go (didn't expect it to work).

In the end I removed all kexts manually, went back to MultiBeast and reinstalled the Atheros kext version 2.2.2 and found Ethernet wasn't working at all until I reset the cache or reset permissions (can't remember which) and it's now working again but still with the random drops as stated earlier. Just an FYI, the Atheros 2.2.2 kext is currently located in L/E.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

You're right UtterDisbelief I didn't indicate where I got the kexts. Initially I used MultiBeast as directed on the site (version 11.3.0 for Mojave since that is the OS I am running now). I have also searched in the Forum, found links to other sites and other kexts were found. I've tried adding them into the appropriate folders manually, then I learned it's better to use an installer so I ended up using KextBeast.

Because of doing it manually I ran into other problems where the Ethernet connection wasn't working at all. I even tried just for the sake of trying a newer version of the Atheros kext (version 2.3.0) and it was a no go (didn't expect it to work).

In the end I removed all kexts manually, went back to MultiBeast and reinstalled the Atheros kext version 2.2.2 and found Ethernet wasn't working at all until I reset the cache or reset permissions (can't remember which) and it's now working again but still with the random drops as stated earlier. Just an FYI, the Atheros 2.2.2 kext is currently located in L/E.

Okay.

Yes, you certainly need to rebuild the kext-caches with Terminal:

sudo kextcache -i /

For Mojave yes, MultiBeast will place the Atheros kext in L/E.

If you are feeling adventurous, you could experiment by removing the kext from L/E and saving it, then re-build the kext-caches with the code I mention above, and finally put the kext, manually, into EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other on your EFI partition.

No guarantees it will work any better, but this is an option that might be worth exploring to see it if improves anything...

 

[Drake86]

I will give it a try, thank you very much. I'll report back and let you know how it goes

 

[Drake86]

Ok an update to report.

I did what you suggested in the following order:
1. Removed the Atheros kext from L/E and saved it
2. Then manually moved the kext into EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other on my EFI partition
3. Used the terminal command you provided to rebuild the kext-caches
4. RESULT = The Ethernet connection was not recognized at all

What I did next:
1. Removed the Atheros kext from EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other on my EFI partition
2. Then manually moved the kext into EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other on the EFI partition of the USB installer for the OS (I keep it mounted at all times)
3. Used the terminal command you provided to rebuild the kext-caches
4. RESULT = The Ethernet connection was recognized and worked - monitored this for a few days and original issue persists (remember - there is no kext for Atheros in L/E or the boot volume EFI)

Currently I have left it in this configuration. I'm gonna keep digging online to see what I can find. I might make the system a dual boot with Windows just to ensure that the ethernet port functions properly in a totally different OS to rule out a possible hardware problem.

Thanks again for your suggestions and input UtterDisbelief!