diff --git a/server/src/main.rs b/server/src/main.rs
index 446fbb4..e2b6f9f 100644
--- a/server/src/main.rs
+++ b/server/src/main.rs
@@ -121,8 +121,12 @@ impl Handler {
         gadget.cycle()?;
 
         let ctrl  = UsbGadget::find_controller()?;
-        wait_configured(&ctrl, 10_000).await
-            .context("waiting for host to configure")?;
+        let configured = wait_configured(&ctrl, 10_000).await.is_ok();
+        if configured {
+            info!("✅ host enumerated (configured)");
+        } else {
+            warn!("⚠️ host absent – queuing HID traffic");
+        }
         let state = UsbGadget::wait_state_any(&ctrl, 5_000)?;
         match state.as_str() {
             "configured"   => info!("✅ host enumerated (configured)"),
@@ -144,6 +148,20 @@ impl Handler {
             did_cycle: AtomicBool::new(true),
         })
     }
+
+    async fn degraded(gadget: UsbGadget) -> anyhow::Result<Self> {
+        info!("🛠️  Handler::degraded - opening HID endpoints ...");
+        let kb = open_with_retry("/dev/hidg0").await?;
+        let ms = open_with_retry("/dev/hidg1").await?;
+
+        info!("✅ HID endpoints ready");
+        Ok(Self {
+            kb: Arc::new(Mutex::new(kb)),
+            ms: Arc::new(Mutex::new(ms)),
+            gadget,
+            did_cycle: AtomicBool::new(false),
+        })
+    }
 }
 
 #[tonic::async_trait]
@@ -288,24 +306,11 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let handler = match Handler::make(gadget.clone()).await {
         Ok(h) => h,
         Err(e) => {
-            error!("💥 failed to create Handler: {e:#}");
-            std::process::exit(1);
+            error!("💥 handler degraded (host offline): {e:#}");
+            Handler::degraded(gadget.clone()).await?
         }
     };
 
-    // tokio::spawn({
-    //     let gadget = gadget.clone();
-    //     async move {
-    //         loop {
-    //             tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_secs(4)).await;
-    //             if LAST_HID_WRITE.elapsed().as_secs() > 3 {
-    //                 warn!("no HID traffic in 3 s - cycling UDC");
-    //                 let _ = gadget.cycle();
-    //             }
-    //         }
-    //     }
-    // });
-
     info!("🌐 lesavka‑server listening on 0.0.0.0:50051");
 
     if let Err(e) = Server::builder()