fix startup for spectrometer

start.ps1

@@ -189,7 +189,8 @@ if (-not $GuiOnly) {
         } catch {}
 
         if ($alreadyUp) {
-            Write-OK "Spectrometer already responding on port $specPort"
+            Write-OK "Spectrometer already responding on port $specPort -- checking devices..."
+            # Fall through to device registration check below
         } else {
             # Title makes the window easy to find in the taskbar.
             # /k keeps the window open even if Django crashes at startup.
@@ -201,6 +202,59 @@ if (-not $GuiOnly) {
                 -WindowStyle Normal
             Write-OK "Spectrometer started (window: 'LF-MRI Spectrometer', port $specPort)"
         }
+
+        # -- Auto-register hardware devices if DB is empty --------------------
+        Write-Host "    Waiting for spectrometer API..." -ForegroundColor DarkGray
+        $apiReady = $false
+        $apiWait  = 0
+        while ($apiWait -lt 20) {
+            if (Test-ServiceUp @{ Url = "http://localhost:$specPort/api/" }) {
+                $apiReady = $true; break
+            }
+            Start-Sleep 1; $apiWait++
+        }
+
+        if ($apiReady) {
+            try {
+                $devResp = Invoke-WebRequest "http://localhost:$specPort/api/devices/" `
+                               -UseBasicParsing -TimeoutSec 5 -ErrorAction Stop
+                $devJson  = $devResp.Content | ConvertFrom-Json
+                $devCount = if ($devJson.PSObject.Properties['results']) {
+                    $devJson.results.Count
+                } else {
+                    @($devJson).Count
+                }
+
+                if ($devCount -eq 0) {
+                    Write-Warn "No devices in DB -- registering hardware..."
+                    $base = "http://localhost:$specPort/api/devices/"
+                    $hdr  = @{ "Content-Type" = "application/json" }
+                    $devs = @(
+                        '{"device_type":"ADC",  "brend":"Picoscope", "serial_model":"PS4000A", "proto":"adc_default",  "proto_interface":"TCP"}',
+                        '{"device_type":"SDR",  "brend":"HackRF",   "serial_model":"HackRF",  "proto":"sdr_default",  "proto_interface":"USB"}',
+                        '{"device_type":"SYNC", "brend":"Arduino",  "serial_model":"DuePP",   "proto":"sync_default", "proto_interface":"USB"}',
+                        '{"device_type":"GRA",  "brend":"ITMO",     "serial_model":"GRU",     "proto":"gra_default",  "proto_interface":"UDP"}'
+                    )
+                    foreach ($body in $devs) {
+                        try {
+                            Invoke-WebRequest $base -Method Post -Headers $hdr `
+                                -Body $body -UseBasicParsing -TimeoutSec 5 | Out-Null
+                            $name = ($body | Select-String '"serial_model":"([^"]+)"').Matches[0].Groups[1].Value
+                            Write-Host "    Registered: $name" -ForegroundColor DarkGray
+                        } catch {
+                            Write-Warn "  Failed to register device: $_"
+                        }
+                    }
+                    Write-OK "Hardware devices registered"
+                } else {
+                    Write-OK "Devices already in DB ($devCount found)"
+                }
+            } catch {
+                Write-Warn "Could not check/register devices: $_"
+            }
+        } else {
+            Write-Warn "Spectrometer API not ready in 20 s -- skipping device registration"
+        }
     }
 
     # -- 6. Health check -------------------------------------------------------