ibara
Install ibara

TROUBLESHOOTING

Troubleshooting.

Common problems and what to do about them. Start in the console: a computer’s System tab shows its health, and a problem ibara couldn’t repair by itself shows with Fix It. On the spare itself, run a health check:

computerctl doctor

Updated

The spare doesn’t show up#

  • Both computers must be signed in to the same Tailscale network.
  • The spare must be on, awake and signed in.
  • Open Add Computer in the console. It lists the computers on your tailnet and says whether ibara is ready on each; one without ibara shows the command that installs it, and one that is off is dimmed.
  • On the spare itself, computerctl status shows whether ibara is running and available.

A reinstalled computer can’t be reached#

A computer that was uninstalled with ibara uninstall --delete-data and installed again answers as a new computer, and its old card says its identity changed. Open Add Computer and choose Add Again beside it: that adds it and replaces the old entry. Or take the old entry off first with Remove Computer, in the card’s ⋯ menu or on its System tab. If agents can’t click or type right after installing again in the same session, sign out and back in once; setup says when that’s needed.

Pairing or an invite code is refused#

When you add someone else’s computer, the same six-digit code shows on both screens. A person there checks that the codes match and accepts; a computer with no screen accepts with ibara join. The request waits five minutes. If it expires or is declined, choose Try Again.

An invite code works once, until the end its owner chose. A wrong, used or expired code gets one plain refusal; ask the person who shared the computer for a new one. After five refusals in ten minutes, your computer is refused for up to ten minutes, even with a good code.

The spare says Paused#

Only a person’s pause needs you. A spare that someone paused stays paused until someone chooses Resume on its card or in its header. After setup or a restart, it shows “Paused after a restart · resuming by itself” and resumes once it’s healthy. If its Resume agents after a restart setting is off, it says so and waits instead: choose Resume, turn the setting back on in its Settings tab, or run computerctl resume on the spare. If it stays paused because of a problem, the problem shows on its card with Fix It.

The agent can’t type or click after an update#

The spare’s input plugin is rebuilt automatically after every Hyprland or GCC update, and the new one loads the next time someone signs in on the spare. If agents still can’t type or click after that, run ibara setup on the spare; it rebuilds the plugin when it’s out of date. Then run the task again.

Keys are refused#

ibara refuses keystrokes on the spare while Caps Lock (or another lock key; Num Lock is fine) is on, while a key is held down or latched (sticky keys), or when its keyboard layout isn’t English (US). Turn Caps Lock off, release the key or switch the layout, then retry.

The agent lost control mid-task#

An agent loses control when its session sends no heartbeat for five minutes (one goes every 30 seconds while it’s connected), or 30 seconds after it disconnects. A restart of the spare also ends it. If only the connection dropped, the same agent carries on over a new connection as soon as it calls again, so there’s no need to restart the task. If control has already ended, ask it to begin again.

You can’t take control#

  • Your access on that computer must allow Take Control. Permissions.
  • If it’s set to Ask First, choosing Take Control asks for approval. Once someone who administers that computer approves it, choose Take Control again.

The agent can’t read part of a page#

ibara reads the page’s top frame only, so content inside iframes and shadow DOM isn’t listed. The agent can still see it on screen and click it.

The spare didn’t come back after a power cut#

If the spare’s disk is encrypted, it waits at start for the disk password at its own keyboard. To let it start by itself, turn on Start without the disk password in the spare’s own console (Settings, under This Computer), or run ibara unattended-boot enable on it. It’s off by default. When it’s on, the spare’s TPM chip unlocks the disk, so anyone who has the whole computer can get at its files. If Omarchy signs you in automatically, first turn on Lock the screen at sign-in, just below it (or run ibara unattended-boot lock-at-sign-in on): ibara won’t start without the disk password until it’s on, and someone then has to unlock the screen before agents can work. Once it’s running, the spare resumes agents by itself when it’s healthy. Starting without the disk password has been tested in a virtual machine, not yet on real hardware.