From 4117802f69309688882d15b1df6dacd7b2cb5e91 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Andreas Wrede <aew.git@wrede.ca>
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 2026 17:56:12 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] ap: watchdog checks link ground-truth, not just hostapd state
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After a USB re-enumeration the rtw89 radio can come back as a fresh DOWN
netdev, dropped from br0, while the still-running hostapd never notices and
never exits — so Restart=always never fires. hostapd_cli keeps answering
state=ENABLED off stale in-memory state, so the watchdog considered the AP
healthy and left it dark (observed 2026-07-05: AP down ~16:41 until manual
hostapd restart).

Add link_healthy(): require the netdev to be operstate=up and still a port of
its bridge, alongside the existing state=ENABLED check. That catches the wedged
case the control socket can't see.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 ap/van-ap-watchdog | 49 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------
 1 file changed, 41 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/ap/van-ap-watchdog b/ap/van-ap-watchdog
index 66a6be8..418ba00 100644
--- a/ap/van-ap-watchdog
+++ b/ap/van-ap-watchdog
@@ -8,9 +8,14 @@ exits and systemd restarts it (Restart=always, no start limit) until the interfa
 returns. This daemon is the backstop for the case systemd *can't* see: hostapd stays
 running but the radio has wedged and stopped serving (dmesg "timed out to flush queues").
 
-Every `interval` seconds it asks hostapd for its real state via the control socket
-(hostapd_cli status -> state=ENABLED). If the interface is present but the AP is not
-ENABLED for `fail_threshold` checks in a row, it clears any failed state and restarts
+Every `interval` seconds it checks two things: hostapd's self-reported state via the
+control socket (hostapd_cli status -> state=ENABLED), AND the kernel's ground truth for
+the netdev (operstate up + still a port of the bridge). Both matter because they fail
+independently: hostapd_cli keeps answering state=ENABLED off stale in-memory state after
+the USB radio is torn down and re-enumerated underneath a still-running hostapd — the
+netdev is recreated DOWN and dropped from the bridge, but hostapd never noticed and never
+exited, so Restart=always never fired. The link check catches exactly that. If the AP is
+unhealthy for `fail_threshold` checks in a row, it clears any failed state and restarts
 hostapd. If the interface is simply gone (mid re-enumeration) it waits — there is
 nothing to restart onto, and Restart=always reclaims it when it reappears. Stdlib only.
 """
@@ -33,11 +38,11 @@ def log(msg, level="info"):
     print(pri + msg, flush=True)
 
 
-def ap_ifname():
-    """The AP interface name, read from hostapd.conf so there's one source of truth."""
+def _conf_value(key):
+    """Read a `key=value` from hostapd.conf so there's one source of truth."""
     try:
         for line in Path(HOSTAPD_CONF).read_text().splitlines():
-            m = re.match(r"\s*interface=(\S+)", line)
+            m = re.match(rf"\s*{key}=(\S+)", line)
             if m:
                 return m.group(1)
     except OSError as e:
@@ -45,10 +50,36 @@ def ap_ifname():
     return None
 
 
+def ap_ifname():
+    """The AP interface name."""
+    return _conf_value("interface")
+
+
+def ap_bridge():
+    """The bridge the AP netdev is enslaved to, or None if hostapd isn't bridging."""
+    return _conf_value("bridge")
+
+
 def iface_present(ifname):
     return Path(f"/sys/class/net/{ifname}").exists()
 
 
+def link_healthy(ifname, bridge):
+    """True when the netdev is actually carrying traffic: operationally up and, if
+    hostapd bridges the AP, still a port of that bridge. This is the ground truth
+    hostapd_cli can't see — after a USB re-enumeration the radio comes back as a fresh
+    DOWN netdev outside the bridge while a stale hostapd still reports state=ENABLED."""
+    try:
+        operstate = Path(f"/sys/class/net/{ifname}/operstate").read_text().strip()
+    except OSError:
+        return False
+    if operstate != "up":
+        return False
+    if bridge and not Path(f"/sys/class/net/{bridge}/brif/{ifname}").exists():
+        return False
+    return True
+
+
 def ap_enabled(ifname):
     """True if hostapd reports the AP as beaconing (state=ENABLED). False if it's
     running but not enabled; None if the control socket is unreachable (hostapd down)."""
@@ -83,7 +114,9 @@ def main():
     if not ifname:
         log("no interface= in hostapd.conf; nothing to watch", "crit")
         sys.exit(1)
-    log(f"van-ap-watchdog up: watching {ifname} every {INTERVAL}s "
+    bridge = ap_bridge()
+    log(f"van-ap-watchdog up: watching {ifname}"
+        f"{f' on {bridge}' if bridge else ''} every {INTERVAL}s "
         f"(restart after {FAIL_THRESHOLD} bad checks)")
 
     bad = 0
@@ -97,7 +130,7 @@ def main():
             bad = 0
         else:
             waiting = False
-            if ap_enabled(ifname):
+            if ap_enabled(ifname) and link_healthy(ifname, bridge):
                 if bad:
                     log(f"AP {ifname} beaconing again")
                 bad = 0