Package: aoetools Version: 36-6 /usr/share/initramfs-tools/scripts/local-top/aoe sets -e at the beginning of the file, later, it calls configure_networking from initramfs-tools.
The latter has a loop to try calling ipconfig and backoff to use larger timeout values if smaller timeouts failed, but with -e set, it will fail if the first try failed. In my tests, it works on hyper-v since the 1st try succeeds, but on a real PC, it drops me to the initramfs shell, since the 1st try always fails. Wrapping the configure_networking call in set +e/-e fixes it. Thanks for your time. - JimmyZ with best regards

