Fixes from real fresh-install feedback (Framework node .81) + its log bundle:
Backend:
- websocket: subscribe before initial snapshot — broadcasts in the gap were
silently lost, stranding clients on stale state until a hard refresh
(the "everything needs ctrl-r" bug: My Apps stuck Loading, App Store
stuck Checking, containers-scanned never arriving)
- crash recovery: check the crash marker BEFORE writing our own PID —
recovery had never run on any node (always saw its own PID and skipped);
PID-reuse guard via /proc cmdline
- boot status: pending-boot-starts registry (recovery, stack recovery,
reconciler, adoption) — scanner overlays queued-but-down apps as
Restarting instead of Stopped after a reboot; scanner-authored
Restarting resolves immediately on a settled scan (no transitional wedge)
- install deps: bounded wait (36x5s) when a dependency is installed but
still starting ("Waiting for Bitcoin to start…") instead of instant
rejection; dependency-gate rejections remove the optimistic entry (no
phantom Stopped tile) and surface as a notification
- seed backup: auth.setup persists the onboarding mnemonic as the
encrypted seed backup (reveal previously failed on EVERY node — nothing
ever wrote master_seed.enc); seed.restore stashes too; error sanitizer
lets seed/2FA errors through instead of "Check server logs"
- lnd: bitcoind.rpchost resolved from the running Bitcoin variant
(hardcoded bitcoin-knots broke Core nodes); manifest uses derived_env
- bitcoin status: clean human message for connection-reset/startup; raw
URLs + os-error chains no longer reach the app card
- fedimint-clientd: chown /var/lib/archipelago/fmcd to 1000:1000 (root-
created dir crash-looped the rootless container, EACCES) — first-boot
script + pre-start self-heal
- log volume (>1GB/day on a day-old node): journald caps drop-in (ISO +
bootstrap self-heal), bitcoind -printtoconsole=0 everywhere (90% of the
journal was IBD UpdateTip spam), tracing default debug→info
Frontend:
- Login: Enter advances to confirm field then submits; submit always
clickable with inline errors (was silently disabled on mismatch);
Restart Onboarding needs a confirming second click (the mismatch →
"onboarding restarted" trap)
- sync store: 30s state reconciliation + refetch on re-entrant connect;
20s containers-scanned escape hatch so Checking can never show forever;
fresh empty node reaches the real "no apps yet" state
- intro video: CRF20 re-encode (SSIM 0.988) + faststart — moov was at EOF
so playback needed the full 15MB first (the intro lag)
- backgrounds: 10 heaviest JPEGs → WebP q90 (9.4MB→6.6MB); 7 stayed JPEG
(WebP larger on noisy sources)
- Web5ConnectedNodes: drop unused template ref that failed vue-tsc -b
ISO/kiosk:
- nginx: /assets/ 404s no longer cached immutable for a year; HTTPS block
gained the missing /assets/ location (served index.html as images)
- kiosk: launcher/service spliced from configs/ at ISO build (stale
heredoc force-disabled GPU); MemoryHigh/Max 1200/1500→2200/2800M (kiosk
rode the reclaim throttle = the lag); firmware-intel-graphics +
firmware-amd-graphics (trixie split DMC blobs out of misc-nonfree)
Verified: cargo test 898/898 green, npm run build green with dist
contents confirmed (webp refs, lnd.png, faststart video, new strings).
Handover for ISO build + deploy: docs/HANDOVER-2026-07-02-iso-feedback.md
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Archipelago OS Image Recipes
Build scripts for creating bootable Debian Linux OS images for Archipelago Bitcoin Node OS.
Quick Start
Build the ISO
# 1. Sync latest configs from live dev server
./sync-from-live.sh
# 2. Build components
./scripts/build-backend.sh
./scripts/build-frontend.sh
# 3. Build the ISO
./build-debian-iso.sh
This creates a bootable Debian Live ISO with Archipelago pre-installed.
Write to USB
# Using dd (recommended)
./write-usb-dd.sh /dev/diskN
# Or use Balena Etcher to flash the ISO
See the ISO-BUILD-CHECKLIST.md for a comprehensive build workflow.
See the Architecture documentation for detailed system information.
What's Included
- Debian Linux Base: Debian 13 (Trixie) with security updates applied during ISO/install creation
- Podman: Container runtime for apps (rootless by default)
- Archipelago Backend: Rust-based API server
- Archipelago Frontend: Vue.js web interface
- Systemd Services: Automatic service management
- Network Configuration: NetworkManager for easy setup
Build Output
results/archipelago-installer-x86_64.iso- Bootable hybrid ISO image
Supported Platforms
- x86_64: Dell OptiPlex, HP ProDesk 400 G4 DM, Start9 Server Pure, and other x86_64 machines
- Build Systems: macOS (requires Docker) and Linux (native or Docker)
Installation Methods
1. Live USB Boot
Boot from USB, run in live mode to test, or install to disk.
2. Full Disk Installation
From the live environment, run:
sudo /archipelago/install-to-disk.sh
This installs Archipelago to a target disk using debootstrap.
Directory Structure
image-recipe/
├── build-debian-iso.sh # Main ISO builder
├── write-usb-dd.sh # Write ISO to USB with dd
├── create-fat32-usb.sh # Alternative USB creation
├── archipelago-scripts/ # Scripts included in ISO
│ ├── install-to-disk.sh # Disk installer
│ └── setup-bitcoin.sh # Bitcoin Core setup
├── scripts/ # Build helper scripts
│ ├── build-backend.sh # Compile Rust backend
│ ├── build-frontend.sh # Build Vue.js frontend
│ └── check-dependencies.sh # Verify build requirements
└── results/ # Built ISO output
Requirements
- Docker (for macOS builds)
- xorriso (for ISO creation):
brew install xorriso - 7zip (for ISO extraction):
brew install p7zip