NIC problem

I have two ThinkPad X61's which work fine most of the time, but one of the has suddenly started having problems with network connectivity.

Is there anything I can use to use to see if the NIC is working properly?

The LEDs don't flash regularly and I can't get an IP address at boot up. Sometimes disconnecting and reconnecting the cable seems to generate some activity but after rebooting the system fails to connect to the network. I've swapped the hard disk and put it in the other system and it works perfectly, which seems to discount a problem with the setup. It was working fine for the last few weeks but I'd like to establish if it is a hardware failure. Is there any way to do that?
 
Sometimes disconnecting and reconnecting the cable seems to generate some activity
That's likely DHCP trying to get an IP address. The fact you actually see activity probably means the issue is somewhere else. Dodgy ethernet cable? Dodgy switch? How about a tcpdump(1) on your DHCP server and see if you can detect the DHCP requests?
 
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