0.2.0-beta.7 minor

First-run feels more like the app is on your side

Setup tells you what's happening, fewer silent dead-ends, easier escape from common stuck-states, port forwarding works on stricter routers.

Highlights

  • · Setup tells you what's actually happening. The wizard now uses calm 'Retrying' language when SpawnBox auto-recovers from a transient issue (instead of cryptic warnings that felt like failures). For users who want to look under the hood, a quietly-discoverable detail panel shows retry history. The non-technical default stays clutter-free; nothing in your face unless you go looking.
  • · Stuck on a pending-reboot you didn't cause? There's now an escape hatch. If Windows had a system-pending-reboot SpawnBox didn't trigger (a separate Windows Update, a different installer, etc.), the setup wizard would keep telling you to reboot even after you did. One user rebooted five times before giving up. Now the wizard shows an 'Ignore & continue' button on the reboot-required step when SpawnBox detects the pending-reboot is external, so you can bypass it and let setup proceed.
  • · A previous failed install no longer blocks the next attempt. If a prior install was killed mid-import (process kill, system crash, anything that interrupted the wsl-import step), the partial disk image file used to stay on disk and block every future install attempt with 'ERROR_FILE_EXISTS'. One user hit this for 14 minutes and gave up. SpawnBox now detects orphan disk images from interrupted previous installs and auto-recovers them so the next attempt proceeds cleanly.
  • · Hard install failures bring up the report-sending dialog automatically. When a setup step gets genuinely stuck for 30+ seconds, the diagnostic-report dialog now auto-opens. You still go through the normal report flow, but you don't have to hunt for the 'Send us a report' link at the bottom-corner; it's right in front of you when you need it.
  • · A class of silent install failures no longer leaves you stranded. Disk-full during Linux subsystem import that used to look like success, the Linux container runtime not actually registered after its installer exited cleanly, ghost-distro silent unregister no-ops, stale 'needs reboot' flags carried over from previous attempts. Each of these used to leave SpawnBox in a quietly-broken state where the wizard claimed it was done but nothing worked. They're now either auto-recovered or surfaced honestly. We expect this to substantially reduce the 'I installed it but nothing works' class of bug; if you still hit it, the one-click diagnostic path is your lifeline.
  • · Long-running install steps no longer go dark. Installing the Linux subsystem runtime, downloading it, enabling Windows features, initializing the Linux container; all formerly silent steps now show real progress every 15 seconds. The wizard's status copy reflects what's actually happening instead of pretending nothing's happening during a multi-minute install.
  • · Port forwarding now works on stricter routers. Some routers (older Asus and Netgear models, certain ISP-issued modems, MikroTik stock firmware) reject UPnP requests with timed leases and only accept permanent leases. SpawnBox previously logged a warning every 30 seconds and never recovered on those routers; now it detects the rejection and falls back to a permanent-lease request, restoring port forwarding for those users.
  • · Smaller wins. Telemetry plugin/datapack detection now matches more server-name variants (so dashboards properly recognize installs with custom mod-pack names), the world-scanner walks the correct datapacks path (so the asset inventory reports accurately instead of showing 0 datapacks), apt-update real-exit detection catches Linux-side install failures that were previously masked by downstream errors, dashboard datetime and BusinessView refinements.

First-run setup gets a lot friendlier this release: it tells you what it’s doing, gives you escape hatches out of common stuck-states, and recovers from more of the ways an install could go wrong.

Setup tells you what’s happening

When SpawnBox quietly recovers from a passing hiccup, the wizard now says “Retrying” in calm language instead of throwing a cryptic warning that felt like a failure. Curious users can open a tucked-away detail panel to see the retry history; everyone else gets a clean, clutter-free screen.

An escape hatch from a reboot you didn’t cause

If Windows was already asking for a restart that SpawnBox didn’t trigger (from a Windows Update or another installer), setup used to keep demanding a reboot even after you did one. One user rebooted five times before giving up. Now, when SpawnBox can tell the pending restart is external, it shows an “Ignore and continue” button so you can move right along.

A failed install no longer blocks the next one

If an earlier install was interrupted partway, a leftover file could block every future attempt. SpawnBox now spots that leftover and clears it automatically, so your next install proceeds cleanly.

Fewer silent dead-ends

A class of installs that used to look finished while quietly being broken (a full disk during setup, a piece that didn’t actually register, stale “needs reboot” flags) is now either auto-recovered or surfaced honestly.

No more dark, silent steps

The long parts of setup (downloading and enabling the Linux engine, then initializing it) now show real progress every 15 seconds, so the wizard reflects what’s actually happening instead of looking frozen.

Port forwarding on stricter routers

Some routers (older Asus and Netgear models, certain ISP modems, MikroTik) only accept permanent port-forwarding leases. SpawnBox used to warn every 30 seconds and never recover on those; it now detects the rejection and falls back to a permanent lease, restoring port forwarding for those users.