#53 Boot Script with WiFi Retry

Context

The original Termux boot script (Hack #52) used sleep 15 to wait for WiFi before starting the gateway. This works most of the time — WiFi typically connects in 10-15 seconds. But on cold boot after a crash, WiFi can take 30-45 seconds. On those occasions, the gateway starts without network and fails to connect to API providers, entering a broken state.

The fix is a retry loop that actively checks for connectivity before proceeding, with graceful degradation if WiFi never comes up.

Implementation

Replace the fixed sleep with an active ping-based retry loop:

#!/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/bash
# start-pocketclaw.sh — robust boot with WiFi retry

LOG="$PREFIX/tmp/pocketclaw-boot.log"
log() { echo "$(date '+%H:%M:%S') $1" >> "$LOG"; }

log "Boot sequence started"

# Acquire wake lock
termux-wake-lock 2>/dev/null
log "Wake lock acquired"

# WiFi retry loop — 12 attempts x 5s = 60s max
RETRIES=12
WIFI_OK=0
for i in $(seq 1 $RETRIES); do
  if ping -c 1 -W 3 8.8.8.8 > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    log "WiFi ready after $i attempts"
    WIFI_OK=1
    break
  fi
  log "WiFi not ready, attempt $i/$RETRIES"
  sleep 5
done

if [ $WIFI_OK -eq 0 ]; then
  log "WARNING: WiFi not ready after $RETRIES attempts, continuing anyway"
fi

# Start sshd
sshd 2>/dev/null
log "sshd started"

# Start cron daemon
crond 2>/dev/null
log "crond started"

# Start gateway (setsid for detach)
/system/bin/setsid start-openclaw > "$PREFIX/tmp/openclaw-gateway.log" 2>&1 &
log "Gateway launched (PID: $!)"

log "Boot sequence complete"

Verification

# After reboot, check boot log:
cat $PREFIX/tmp/pocketclaw-boot.log
# Expected:
# 12:34:01 Boot sequence started
# 12:34:01 Wake lock acquired
# 12:34:06 WiFi not ready, attempt 1/12
# 12:34:11 WiFi not ready, attempt 2/12
# 12:34:16 WiFi ready after 3 attempts
# 12:34:16 sshd started
# 12:34:16 crond started
# 12:34:16 Gateway launched (PID: 1234)
# 12:34:16 Boot sequence complete

# Verify gateway is running:
pgrep -f openclaw-gateway
# Expected: PID number

Gotchas

• Ping target 8.8.8.8 requires internet access, not just WiFi connection. If the router is up but WAN is down, the loop will fail all 12 attempts
• The gateway starts even if WiFi never comes up (graceful degradation). The WiFi watchdog (Hack #46) will handle reconnection
• Boot log is written to $PREFIX/tmp/ which is tmpfs and cleared on reboot. This is intentional — we don't want logs accumulating on limited storage
• The 60-second maximum wait (12 x 5s) is designed for the worst case. Most boots complete WiFi check in 10-20 seconds

Result