diff --git a/kde/gui/plumber.cpp b/kde/gui/plumber.cpp
index 371f96c..a582368 100644
--- a/kde/gui/plumber.cpp
+++ b/kde/gui/plumber.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 #include <QThread>
 
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include <cstdarg>
+#include <cstdio>
 
 // Canonicalise the X11 display the way plan9 getns() does: "xxx:0.0" -> "xxx:0"
 // and '/' -> '_'. Only the trailing ".0" is stripped.
@@ -87,46 +89,85 @@ Q_SIGNALS:
 protected:
     void run() override
     {
-        NineP nine;
-        if (!nine.connectAndAttach(m_socketPath, currentUser())) {
-            Q_EMIT failed(QStringLiteral("plumb connect: %1").arg(nine.errorString()));
-            return;
-        }
-        static constexpr uint32_t PortFid = 1;
-        if (!nine.walk(PortFid, m_portName) || !nine.open(PortFid, NineP::OREAD)) {
-            Q_EMIT failed(QStringLiteral("plumb open %1: %2").arg(m_portName, nine.errorString()));
-            return;
-        }
-
         static constexpr int PollMs = 200;
-        bool pending = false;
+        static constexpr int ReconnectMs = 2000;
+        
+        // Log to file for debugging
+        FILE *logf = fopen("/tmp/ollie-plumber.log", "a");
+        auto log = [logf](const char *fmt, ...) {
+            if (!logf) return;
+            va_list ap;
+            va_start(ap, fmt);
+            vfprintf(logf, fmt, ap);
+            fprintf(logf, "\n");
+            fflush(logf);
+            va_end(ap);
+        };
+        
+        log("PlumbReader starting for port %s on %s", qPrintable(m_portName), qPrintable(m_socketPath));
+        
         while (!m_stop.loadRelaxed()) {
-            if (!pending) {
-                if (!nine.beginRead(PortFid, 0, nine.msize())) {
-                    Q_EMIT failed(QStringLiteral("plumb read: %1").arg(nine.errorString()));
-                    break;
+            NineP nine;
+            log("Connecting to %s...", qPrintable(m_socketPath));
+            if (!nine.connectAndAttach(m_socketPath, currentUser())) {
+                log("Connect failed: %s", qPrintable(nine.errorString()));
+                QThread::msleep(ReconnectMs);
+                continue;
+            }
+            log("Connected, walking to %s...", qPrintable(m_portName));
+            static constexpr uint32_t PortFid = 1;
+            if (!nine.walk(PortFid, m_portName)) {
+                log("Walk failed: %s", qPrintable(nine.errorString()));
+                QThread::msleep(ReconnectMs);
+                continue;
+            }
+            log("Opening %s for read...", qPrintable(m_portName));
+            if (!nine.open(PortFid, NineP::OREAD)) {
+                log("Open failed: %s", qPrintable(nine.errorString()));
+                QThread::msleep(ReconnectMs);
+                continue;
+            }
+            
+            log("Port %s connected and open!", qPrintable(m_portName));
+            
+            bool pending = false;
+            while (!m_stop.loadRelaxed()) {
+                if (!pending) {
+                    if (!nine.beginRead(PortFid, 0, nine.msize())) {
+                        log("beginRead failed: %s", qPrintable(nine.errorString()));
+                        break;  // reconnect
+                    }
+                    pending = true;
+                }
+                QByteArray buf;
+                bool timedOut = false;
+                const int n = nine.recvReadReply(&buf, PollMs, &timedOut);
+                if (timedOut)
+                    continue;
+                if (n < 0) {
+                    log("Read error: %s", qPrintable(nine.errorString()));
+                    break;  // reconnect
+                }
+                pending = false;
+                if (n == 0)
+                    continue;
+                log("Received message: %d bytes", buf.size());
+                PlumbMsg m;
+                if (PlumbMsg::unpack(buf, &m)) {
+                    log("Emitting message: %s", m.data.constData());
+                    Q_EMIT message(QString::fromUtf8(m.data), m.lookup(QStringLiteral("addr")),
+                                   m.wdir);
                 }
-                pending = true;
             }
-            QByteArray buf;
-            bool timedOut = false;
-            const int n = nine.recvReadReply(&buf, PollMs, &timedOut);
-            if (timedOut)
-                continue;
-            if (n < 0) {
-                if (!m_stop.loadRelaxed())
-                    Q_EMIT failed(QStringLiteral("plumb read: %1").arg(nine.errorString()));
-                break;
-            }
-            pending = false;
-            if (n == 0)
-                continue;
-            PlumbMsg m;
-            if (PlumbMsg::unpack(buf, &m)) {
-                Q_EMIT message(QString::fromUtf8(m.data), m.lookup(QStringLiteral("addr")),
-                               m.wdir);
+            
+            // Connection lost, wait before reconnecting
+            if (!m_stop.loadRelaxed()) {
+                log("Disconnected, reconnecting in %dms...", ReconnectMs);
+                QThread::msleep(ReconnectMs);
             }
         }
+        log("PlumbReader exiting");
+        if (logf) fclose(logf);
     }
 
 private: