Inability to Reach Home Assistant via Web Interface

Installation
1

I spent over 10 hours on this. At some point I was able to access HA, and even detect devices in my home and cast HA on my tv. Then when trying to log in again it appeared that the username (an email address) and the password weren’t correct, although I had stored them in my password manager. So I flashed the device again (after many hours encountering issues with that as well!).

Here’s a very tidy AI summary of what I tried…

Goal:

  • To get Home Assistant (HA) up and running on a NUC, accessible via the home network through its standard IP (192.168.x.x).

Troubleshooting Steps Taken So Far:

  1. Reinstallation of Home Assistant Image:
  • Flashing the latest Home Assistant image for generic devices (December 2024) was done twice to ensure a fresh installation.
  • Despite this, Home Assistant core crashes upon startup, and the web interface remains inaccessible.
  1. Basic Network Connectivity:
  • The NUC is reachable via ping on the home network (IP: 192.168.x.x).
  • No network issues observed; the device responds quickly with no packet loss.
  1. Home Assistant Logs:
  • The ha core logs command reveals many Python errors, including a “frozen runpy” error and a failure to start the HA core (exit code 1).
  • Supervisor logs show repeated crashes: HA crashed, can't start HA core - rebuilding.
  1. Docker Version:
  • Docker version on the system is 20.10.22 (from 2022), which may be outdated.
  • Attempted to update or manage Docker, but encountered permission and tool limitations, as commands like apt-get, sudo, and docker management tools are not functioning as expected in the restricted environment.
  1. Configuration Issues:
  • configuration.yaml was found empty; attempted to add basic configuration (timezone, name, etc.) but still unable to get HA core to load.
  • No visible configuration errors after modifying the file.
  1. Access and Command Limitations:
  • The environment is highly stripped down, with very limited access to standard Linux utilities such as nano, sudo, apt-get, and other basic tools.
  • The HA system seems to be running in a minimal containerized environment with restrictions on file system access and command execution.
  1. No Access to the HA Web Interface:
  • Despite the NUC being reachable over the network, the web interface (typically accessible at the standard IP address) is not loading.
  • Several attempts to reboot or rebuild the HA core have been unsuccessful, with the same crash errors appearing in the logs.

Desired Outcome:

  • Access to Home Assistant via Web Interface using its standard IP address on the home network.
  • If still needed, resolve issues with Docker, Python, and configuration that are causing the HA core to crash.