Driver test: link interruption

Downloading a large file via HTTP provides an opportunity to test the ability of the card to cope with a temporary link loss.

Create a 512MB file containing pseudo-random data, using e.g.:

  dd if=/dev/urandom of=512mb bs=1M count=512

Copy your pseudo-random data file to a web server on your local network.

1. Before starting, ensure the network cable is connected to a network which provides a DHCP server and a web server which can serve your pseudo-random data file.
2. Boot into iPXE.
3. Use ifstat to identify the name of your network interface (hereafter assumed to be net0).
4. Open the interface and obtain an IP address using dhcp net0.
5. Download the pseudo-random data file using imgfetch.
6. Before the transfer completes, disconnect the network cable.
7. Verify that the transfer stops making progress.
8. After a few seconds, reconnect the network cable.
9. Verify that the transfer resumes and completes successfully.