Troubleshooting
The failure modes we know about and how to get unstuck.
“Donna’s brain didn’t start”
The built-in server couldn’t come up. Retry usually fixes it (first launches can be slow while your OS scans the new binaries; Donna retries a few times on her own). If it persists, quit fully (tray → Quit), relaunch, and if it still fails, open an issue with your OS version.
The local model download failed
Usually a network hiccup; Try again resumes where it left off. As a fallback, install Ollama yourself; Donna detects it and continues. Model downloads are large (about 2 GB), so a slow connection takes a while.
The Linux AppImage won’t start
Make it executable first: chmod +x Donna_*.AppImage, then run it. On distros without FUSE 2, install libfuse2 or use the .deb/.rpm instead.
Donna shows “unreachable — check the server”
If you use the built-in brain, quit from the tray and relaunch. If you point at a self-hosted server, check the URL and token in Settings → Server (Test connection), and that the box is up. Use built-in server in the same card switches you back to the bundled brain anytime.
Something else is on port 8377
Fine — the built-in server notices and moves to a random free port automatically. If you run a self-hosted server on the same machine for development, the two coexist; just mind which one Settings points at.