The Realtek Gaming GbE Family Controller is experiencing a hardware IO error, causing the PC to freeze.
The Realtek Gaming GbE Family Controller is experiencing a hardware IO error, causing the PC to freeze.
Hi everyone,
I've been encountering the error
"Realtek Gaming GbE Family Controller has a Hardware IO error."
in the event viewer popup. It appears suddenly and appeared when I had Windows 10 installed. I attempted an upgrade to Windows 11 to check if it would resolve the problem, but nothing changed.
The issue occurs unexpectedly, causing my internet connection to drop immediately, followed by messages like
"Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort1, was issued" and
"Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort3, was issued."
My PC becomes unresponsive, freezing completely. Although the controller can reset itself, this error leads to HDD problems and makes the file explorer unusable with any open app. I can't even restart the computer; it just hangs. I have to force a shutdown to fix things, and everything returns to normal afterward.
The problem happens randomly, often in the evening when I use my PC. The event viewer also shows another error:
"Metadata staging failed, result=0x80070490 'random containers after this'."
This error keeps occurring without stopping and always comes before the main issue.
I suspect it might be related to hardware on the motherboard or a Windows corruption. The only change I made that seems connected was adding a second monitor (1440P, 180Hz). Not sure if that matters.
Any assistance or guidance would be greatly appreciated. I haven't experienced other serious issues with my PC yet, except for this freeze and the forced shutdowns. Temperatures seem normal.
Thanks,
PC specs
What is the BIOS version for your motherboard? It kept appearing even after trying to upgrade to Windows 11, but nothing changed. Did you reinstall the operating system? Also, could you provide the manufacturer and model of the power supply unit in your setup, along with its age?
Hi there,
BIOS version is F38D. I didn't expect this version to cause problems since I've been using it since the first BIOS flash and everything has worked fine so far.
Most parts (CPU, RAM, motherboard) are about three and a half years old.
My PSU is a Zalman ZM-550-EBT.
I only upgraded to Windows 11 and didn't do a clean install.
Then I considered reinstalling the OS. I just need a cheap USB drive to do that. If that doesn't work, I thought about turning off the Realtek controller in BIOS and running PC without it (no internet) for a while to check if it helps. It might be related to the onboard network controller.
I forgot to mention I've updated the Realtek drivers but didn't see any improvement.
I have updated the hard drives and reinstalled Windows 11.
I also turned off the RGFC lan controller in the BIOS and replaced the old network card with a new one for my PCI slot.
Initially, everything seemed to work as I believed I had resolved the problem.
Unfortunately, things are back to where they were before. The same errors appear again, indicating this wasn’t the root cause.
The only change was when the controller fails—then all the HDDs disconnect except for my Windows M2 drive, which means the PC no longer freezes and I can still use it, though without internet access or the ability to restore it except by restarting the system.
I suspect this might be due to formatting the drives and losing reliance on other drives from Windows, possibly preventing lockups.
I’m concerned now that the motherboard could have hardware issues.
I’m wondering if there’s a way to check thermal info for onboard devices, as I see similar problems in another thread.
I plan to flash my BIOS to the latest version as a final option since I don’t have other ideas.