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Okay, so, I've had an ASUS for about four years (Intel Core i3, 64bits) (I don't know the exact Asus model, sorry) and since yesterday I've been getting this message whenever I start my PC:

INTEL UNDI, PXE-2.0 (build 003)
Copyright (C) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation
***JMicron JMC25X Gigabit Ethernet Controller Version (i couldn't pick the number)
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-MOF: Exiting PXE ROM.

The only "change" I've done in my computer recently was updating Itunes (but I have tried uninstalling it and the message still shows up). My computer STILL boots normally after this message shows up; it's not even slower or anything, the message simply shows up and then the computer boots normally.

Could you tell me if there is a way to make it disappear or if this may be cause for me to worry? (And please answer in the most simple way you can because my knowledge of computer hardware and software is like... 00000,00000).

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  • Did you change your boot order? Move the network device to the last slot in the boot order or disable network boot. If the problem persists, the firmware is probably not keeping your settings; if there are indications that your computer is losing track of time, you might have a bad CMOS battery.
    – bwDraco
    Jun 15, 2017 at 3:27

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Your computer is trying to PXE boot.

When you computer powers on the firmware (e.g. the BIOS or the UEFI) does several things and then hands over control to the OS. This OS can be located in several places, e.g. on a floppy, on a CDROM, on a harddisk or somewhere on the network.

Usually it will try several of these in sequence. E.g. first try to boot from floppy, it that fails because no floppy is present then try to boot from CDROM. If that fails move on to the next bootable device in the list.

Network cards can be bootable devices.

What happens in your case it that the network card is configured as a bootable device and that your system is configured to try to boot from the network before booting from your harddisk.

This is not something you general can set from within the OS. The change this you either need:

  1. To enter the BIOS/UEFI and change settings.
  2. Or use a program specially for your motherboard to change the BIOS.
  3. Or you have a failing battery and values in the BIOS are no longer maintained.
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  • First of all, thank you for answering; that was easy enough for me to understand (well, most of it anyway). Now, to be honest, my most important question is: do I really need to change this or can I just leave it be? As in, if I don't change it, will it cause me any trouble or will it just continue to annoy me but never actually do any harm?
    – Marta Silva
    Nov 15, 2014 at 13:59
  • Oh, and another question: what could be causing this? Since I've had the computer for so long and only now it is giving me this problem... Is there anything that could be causing this?
    – Marta Silva
    Nov 15, 2014 at 14:01
  • It will generally not cause any harm, but it will add a short delay to your boot time. (Generally because it is possible to put an OS on the network and boot from that. This is mostly used in coorporate environment to start windows installations. Getting your disk wiped with a fresh install might be considered harmful).
    – Hennes
    Nov 15, 2014 at 14:01
  • Possible causes: 1) Someone went into the BIOS and changed something. 2) Some program written specially for your laptop tried to change BIOS settings from within the OS. 3) The battery which keeps the BIOS values intact is [near] empty. 4) Random event (e.g. cosmic ray).
    – Hennes
    Nov 15, 2014 at 14:22
  • Oh, I see. Again, thank you very much for answering. That helped me a lot.
    – Marta Silva
    Nov 15, 2014 at 14:34

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