From 325dafacbc63b45ebd2e7903ae81dfa08d9338d2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Smittix <jamessmith1@outlook.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2026 20:46:14 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] fix: improve startup error reporting with full stderr logging
 and dependency pre-check

Radiosonde route now runs a quick import check before launching the full
subprocess, catching missing Python dependencies immediately with a clear
message instead of a truncated traceback. Error messages are context-aware:
import errors suggest re-running setup.sh rather than checking SDR connections.

Increased stderr truncation limit from 200 to 500 chars and added full stderr
logging via logger.error() across all affected routes (radiosonde, ais, aprs,
acars, vdl2) for easier debugging.

Closes #173

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 routes/acars.py      |  6 ++++--
 routes/ais.py        |  4 +++-
 routes/aprs.py       |  4 +++-
 routes/radiosonde.py | 38 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 routes/vdl2.py       |  4 +++-
 5 files changed, 49 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/routes/acars.py b/routes/acars.py
index 88b91c7..f7141eb 100644
--- a/routes/acars.py
+++ b/routes/acars.py
@@ -366,9 +366,11 @@ def start_acars() -> Response:
             stderr = ''
             if process.stderr:
                 stderr = process.stderr.read().decode('utf-8', errors='replace')
-            error_msg = f'acarsdec failed to start'
             if stderr:
-                error_msg += f': {stderr[:200]}'
+                logger.error(f"acarsdec stderr:\n{stderr}")
+            error_msg = 'acarsdec failed to start'
+            if stderr:
+                error_msg += f': {stderr[:500]}'
             logger.error(error_msg)
             return jsonify({'status': 'error', 'message': error_msg}), 500
 
diff --git a/routes/ais.py b/routes/ais.py
index 6281172..377300b 100644
--- a/routes/ais.py
+++ b/routes/ais.py
@@ -450,9 +450,11 @@ def start_ais():
                     stderr_output = app_module.ais_process.stderr.read().decode('utf-8', errors='ignore').strip()
                 except Exception:
                     pass
+            if stderr_output:
+                logger.error(f"AIS-catcher stderr:\n{stderr_output}")
             error_msg = 'AIS-catcher failed to start. Check SDR device connection.'
             if stderr_output:
-                error_msg += f' Error: {stderr_output[:200]}'
+                error_msg += f' Error: {stderr_output[:500]}'
             return jsonify({'status': 'error', 'message': error_msg}), 500
 
         ais_running = True
diff --git a/routes/aprs.py b/routes/aprs.py
index 0961487..4c40b02 100644
--- a/routes/aprs.py
+++ b/routes/aprs.py
@@ -1870,9 +1870,11 @@ def start_aprs() -> Response:
                     stderr_output = remaining.decode('utf-8', errors='replace').strip()
             except Exception:
                 pass
+            if stderr_output:
+                logger.error(f"rtl_fm stderr:\n{stderr_output}")
             error_msg = f'rtl_fm failed to start (exit code {rtl_process.returncode})'
             if stderr_output:
-                error_msg += f': {stderr_output[:200]}'
+                error_msg += f': {stderr_output[:500]}'
             logger.error(error_msg)
             try:
                 os.close(master_fd)
diff --git a/routes/radiosonde.py b/routes/radiosonde.py
index c2f33e9..4c392ad 100644
--- a/routes/radiosonde.py
+++ b/routes/radiosonde.py
@@ -586,6 +586,26 @@ def start_radiosonde():
     # Set cwd to the auto_rx directory so 'from autorx.scan import ...' works
     auto_rx_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(auto_rx_path))
 
+    # Quick dependency check before launching the full process
+    if auto_rx_path.endswith('.py'):
+        dep_check = subprocess.run(
+            [sys.executable, '-c', 'import autorx.scan'],
+            cwd=auto_rx_dir,
+            capture_output=True,
+            timeout=10,
+        )
+        if dep_check.returncode != 0:
+            dep_error = dep_check.stderr.decode('utf-8', errors='ignore').strip()
+            logger.error(f"radiosonde_auto_rx dependency check failed:\n{dep_error}")
+            app_module.release_sdr_device(device_int, sdr_type_str)
+            return jsonify({
+                'status': 'error',
+                'message': (
+                    'radiosonde_auto_rx dependencies not satisfied. '
+                    f'Re-run setup.sh to install. Error: {dep_error[:500]}'
+                ),
+            }), 500
+
     try:
         logger.info(f"Starting radiosonde_auto_rx: {' '.join(cmd)}")
         app_module.radiosonde_process = subprocess.Popen(
@@ -609,9 +629,23 @@ def start_radiosonde():
                     ).strip()
                 except Exception:
                     pass
-            error_msg = 'radiosonde_auto_rx failed to start. Check SDR device connection.'
             if stderr_output:
-                error_msg += f' Error: {stderr_output[:200]}'
+                logger.error(f"radiosonde_auto_rx stderr:\n{stderr_output}")
+            if stderr_output and (
+                'ImportError' in stderr_output
+                or 'ModuleNotFoundError' in stderr_output
+            ):
+                error_msg = (
+                    'radiosonde_auto_rx failed to start due to missing Python '
+                    'dependencies. Re-run setup.sh or reinstall radiosonde_auto_rx.'
+                )
+            else:
+                error_msg = (
+                    'radiosonde_auto_rx failed to start. '
+                    'Check SDR device connection.'
+                )
+            if stderr_output:
+                error_msg += f' Error: {stderr_output[:500]}'
             return jsonify({'status': 'error', 'message': error_msg}), 500
 
         radiosonde_running = True
diff --git a/routes/vdl2.py b/routes/vdl2.py
index 2d0eae2..853ebbe 100644
--- a/routes/vdl2.py
+++ b/routes/vdl2.py
@@ -306,9 +306,11 @@ def start_vdl2() -> Response:
             stderr = ''
             if process.stderr:
                 stderr = process.stderr.read().decode('utf-8', errors='replace')
+            if stderr:
+                logger.error(f"dumpvdl2 stderr:\n{stderr}")
             error_msg = 'dumpvdl2 failed to start'
             if stderr:
-                error_msg += f': {stderr[:200]}'
+                error_msg += f': {stderr[:500]}'
             logger.error(error_msg)
             return jsonify({'status': 'error', 'message': error_msg}), 500