# update-rc.d -f iwd remove
# update-rc.d iwd defaults

The manpage for update-rc.d says that running the `remove' directive while the script is still present in /etc/init.d will result in errors. However, that didn't happen for me. In fact, it was exactly what I needed to do to fix the problem. It removed the symlinks in /etc/rc*.d, which then allowed me to reinstall the script with the default settings.

[Edit to clarify this paragraph] The manpage doesn't mention that running update-rc.d with the `defaults' directive when symlinks are already present in /etc/rc*.d will result in errors. There is a paragraph that says it "does nothing" if files exist at /etc/rc*.d/[SK]??, and I think this information is meant to apply to the `default' action, although the wording isn't really clear. But that's not really what happened either. In my case, installed kill scripts all over the place.

It's all very confusing, but I think I have the proper procedure figured out now.

I wish I'd looked at the rc directories before changing the iwd script to see if it was installed wrong from the start. That could have been the problem from the beginning.

I've got the orphan-sysvinit-scripts package on all my systems now, that's a good one to have.

Edit - update:

I used `update-rc.d iwd enable [runlevels]` to force the service to start when I wanted it to. It still doesn't explain why the default method fails, but at least it works now, and the service starts at boot!

# Default-Start:  2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:   0 1 6

to...

# Default-Start:  S
# Default-Stop:   0 6

I hope this helps.

I was also instructed to install orphan-sysvinit-scripts

package description info...

Orphaned System-V-like init scripts
 
This package provides System-V init scripts for packages whose maintainers
have chosen to drop them from the distribution in favour of only supplying
a systemd service file.

It will only put files into /etc/init.d/ when the relevant package is
installed on your system.

rc.local worked for me, but I can't remember what it was now I needed it for, the devuan system has evolved and matured.

<edit> it was for starting nftables.
the files will be at /usr/share/orphan-sysvinit-scripts/...</edit>

# update-rc.d iwd defaults
insserv: warning: current start runlevel(s) (empty) of script `iwd' overrides LSB defaults (2 3 4 5).
insserv: warning: current stop runlevel(s) (0 1 2 3 4 5 6) of script `iwd' overrides LSB defaults (0 1 6).

I don't understand why it's doing this, as the script has the correct runlevels:

if [ true != "$INIT_D_SCRIPT_SOURCED" ] ; then
    set "$0" "$@"; INIT_D_SCRIPT_SOURCED=true . /lib/init/init-d-script
fi
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:       iwd
# Required-Start: $remote_fs
# Required-Stop:  $remote_fs
# Should-Start:   $network
# Should-Stop:    $network
# Default-Start:  2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:   0 1 6
# Description:    Wireless service
### END INIT INFO

Can anyone explain why update-rc.d isn't picking up these runlevels? When I update other scripts on the system, it works fine.

#!/bin/sh
# Generated by sysd2v v0.3  --  http://www.trek.eu.org/devel/sysd2v
# kFreeBSD do not accept scripts as interpreters, using #!/bin/sh and sourcing.

I think the sys2dv script would work fine as it is, if it weren't for the known bug with the Atheros hardware, which was apparently fixed for the newer chipset (ath10k) but not my older system (ath9k.) This is a really old system (2008) and I don't think anyone at iwd or the kernel cares about fixing it anymore. I'll have a look at the sysd2v script source and see if I can figure out where I need to introduce the 2-second delay that the systemd unit fix would normally provide.

apt install iwd

sh /home/glenn/bin/sysd2v-0.3.sh /lib/systemd/system/iwd.service
#rsync -avh /home/glenn/local/other/backup/backup-etc-sys/etc/init.d/iwd.initd /etc/init.d/iwd.initd
rsync -avh /home/glenn/local/other/backup/backup-etc-sys/etc/init.d/iwd.initd /etc/init.d/
rsync -avh /home/glenn/local/other/backup/backup-etc-sys/etc/runlevels/iwd.initd /etc/runlevels/
rsync -avh /home/glenn/local/other/backup/backup-etc-sys/etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/iwd.service /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/
chmod +x /lib/systemd/system/iwd.service
chmod +x /etc/init.d/iwd.initd
service iwd.initd start
update-rc.d iwd.initd defaults

# udev rules for iPhones
rm /lib/udev/rules.d/*-usbmuxd.rules # 85-(?)
rsync -avh /home/glenn/local/data/build/39-usbmuxd.rules /lib/udev/rules.d/
chmod -R 744 /lib/udev/rules.d/39-usbmuxd.rules
chown -Rh root:root /lib/udev/rules.d/39-usbmuxd.rules

As you can see I'm using backups to restore the files.

The sysd2v-0.3.sh script does most of the work. I got this from more experienced users than I.

If you search here for sysd2v script, you should be able to find it.

I hope this helps.

Later in that thread, some people report a fix. However, the issue persists on my ath9k hardware. The Arch Wiki suggests adding the following to the systemd unit as a fix:

[Service]
ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/sleep 2

Obviously, this fix won't work with sysvinit. The Devuan script at /etc/init.d/iwd sources /lib/init/init-d-script, and calls do_start_cmd to launch the daemon. I tried inserting a 'sleep 2' command before do_start_cmd, and reinstalling the script via update-rc.d, but the problem persisted. Finally, out of sheer desperation, I added the following lines to the end of my /etc/rc.local:

sleep 2
service iwd start

This actually worked, but clearly it's a hack. What's puzzling to me is that, if the rc.local addition worked, why didn't the edit to the init.d script? Could it just be because it comes later in the boot process?