When something is badly wrong, work top to bottom — the options are roughly ordered from least to most drastic. Everything here runs over SSH (ssh clawbox@YOUR_BOX_IP) unless noted.
Before anything destructive, note what is safe: your settings, AI keys, chats, and Telegram pairing live in data/ and ~/.openclaw — they survive options A–C untouched. Only the factory reset (D) erases them.

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A — Reset the password (10 seconds, no data loss)

For “the box works but won’t accept my password” (browser and/or SSH): 
sudo passwd clawbox
Type your current password once (for sudo), then the new password twice. Both SSH and the browser login use the new password immediately — no restart needed. Use a simple ASCII password (letters/digits/simple symbols) to avoid keyboard-encoding mismatches between the terminal and the browser.

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B — Restart the services (30 seconds, no data loss)

For a box that’s reachable over SSH but the web page or assistant is unresponsive: 
sudo systemctl restart clawbox-setup clawbox-gateway
Wait ~30 seconds and reload http://YOUR_BOX_IP. If it recurs, capture logs before the next restart: 
journalctl -u clawbox-setup -n 50 --no-pager
journalctl -u clawbox-gateway -n 50 --no-pager

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C — Safe reinstall (10–15 minutes, no data loss)

The universal fix for a half-finished update, stale build, or mysteriously broken web app. Rebuilds the entire software stack from the official release, keeping all your data: 
cd /home/clawbox/clawbox
git fetch origin
git checkout -f main
git reset --hard origin/main
sudo bash install.sh
sudo reboot
Let install.sh finish completely (it prints numbered steps, [1/23] … [23/23]), then reboot. The box is back in ~2 minutes.
Why this works when a normal update didn’t: install.sh refreshes everything — the app build, the OpenClaw core (pinned version), the systemd service files, and system packages. Partial updates (a bare git pull, an interrupted updater) can leave those out of sync.
If the box is so broken the commands above fail, there is a standalone recovery script that performs the same hard-sync + rebuild: 
bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ID-Robots/clawbox/main/scripts/force-update.sh)

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D — Factory reset (wipes everything)

This erases: AI provider config and keys, chats and agent state, Telegram pairing, ClawKeep backup pairing, saved Wi-Fi networks, downloaded Ollama models, files in Documents/Downloads/Desktop, SSH authorized keys, and all settings. The system password resets to clawbox. The box reboots into first-boot setup mode.

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From the UI (preferred)

Open Settings → System → Factory reset (also offered at the end of the setup wizard). The device wipes itself and reboots into the ClawBox-Setup hotspot.

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Over SSH (when you can’t log in to the UI)

sudo systemctl stop clawbox-setup clawbox-gateway
sudo rm -rf /home/clawbox/clawbox/data/* /home/clawbox/.openclaw/* /home/clawbox/.clawkeep/*
echo "clawbox:clawbox" | sudo chpasswd
sudo reboot

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After the reset

1

Join the setup hotspot

Wait ~2 minutes, then connect your phone or laptop to the ClawBox-Setup Wi-Fi network.
2

Open the wizard

Browse to http://10.42.0.1. If a login is requested, the password is clawbox.
3

Run through setup

Wi-Fi → new password → AI provider → Telegram — the same flow as First Boot.

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Which option do I need?

SymptomStart with
Password not acceptedA (after the login ladder)
Page won’t load / assistant silentB, then C
Update failed or box half-updatedC
Updates never appear (modified box)C (the hard-sync clears local changes)
Selling the box / start truly fresh / nothing else workedD