diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b7156b8..67c7234 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [5.5.3] 2024-12-13
+### Fixed
+- Add remote resource health checks before downloading updates
+### Added
+- Add fallback repository
+
 ## [5.5.1] 2024-12-03
 ### Fixed
 - Support localized decimal separators when parsing installed mod sizes
diff --git a/dzgui.sh b/dzgui.sh
index 144f874..a9afd95 100755
--- a/dzgui.sh
+++ b/dzgui.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -o pipefail
 
-version=5.5.2
+version=5.5.3
 
 #CONSTANTS
 aid=221100
@@ -314,8 +314,8 @@ check_unmerged(){
 check_version(){
     local version_url=$(format_version_url)
     local upstream=$(curl -Ls "$version_url" | awk -F= '/^version=/ {print $2}')
-    #2024-12-12: do not clobber local version if unreachable
-    [[ -z $upstream ]] && return
+    local res=$(get_response_code "$version_url")
+    [[ $res -ne 200 ]] && raise_error_and_quit "Remote resource unavailable: '$version_url'"
     logger INFO "Local branch: '$branch', local version: $version"
     if [[ $branch == "stable" ]]; then
         version_url="$stable_url/dzgui.sh"
@@ -377,11 +377,7 @@ dl_changelog(){
     local md
     [[ $branch == "stable" ]] && mdbranch="dzgui"
     [[ $branch == "testing" ]] && mdbranch="testing"
-    if [[ $remote_host == "gh" ]]; then
-        md="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/$author/$repo/${mdbranch}/CHANGELOG.md"
-    else
-        md="https://codeberg.org/$author/$repo/raw/branch/${mdbranch}/CHANGELOG.md"
-    fi
+    local md="$url_prefix/${mdbranch}/$file"
     curl -Ls "$md" > "$state_path/CHANGELOG.md"
 }
 test_display_mode(){
@@ -523,6 +519,7 @@ get_hash(){
     md5sum "$1" | awk '{print $1}'
 }
 fetch_a2s(){
+    # this file is currently monolithic
     [[ -d $helpers_path/a2s ]] && { logger INFO "A2S helper is current"; return 0; }
     local sha=c7590ffa9a6d0c6912e17ceeab15b832a1090640
     local author="yepoleb"
@@ -530,6 +527,8 @@ fetch_a2s(){
     local url="https://github.com/$author/$repo/tarball/$sha"
     local prefix="${author^}-$repo-${sha:0:7}"
     local file="$prefix.tar.gz"
+    local res=$(get_response_code "$url")
+    [[ $res -ne 200 ]] && raise_error_and_quit "Remote resource unavailable: '$file'"
     curl -Ls "$url" > "$helpers_path/$file"
     tar xf "$helpers_path/$file" -C "$helpers_path" "$prefix/a2s" --strip=1
     rm "$helpers_path/$file"
@@ -546,6 +545,8 @@ fetch_dzq(){
     local author="yepoleb"
     local repo="dayzquery"
     local url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/$author/$repo/$sha/dayzquery.py"
+    local res=$(get_response_code "$url")
+    [[ $res -ne 200 ]] && raise_error_and_quit "Remote resource unavailable: 'dayzquery.py'"
     curl -Ls "$url" > "$file"
     logger INFO "Updated DZQ to sha '$sha'"
 }
@@ -577,14 +578,14 @@ fetch_helpers_by_sum(){
     [[ -f "$config_file" ]] && source "$config_file"
     declare -A sums
     sums=(
-        ["ui.py"]="be3da1e542d14105f4358dd38901e25a"
+        ["ui.py"]="dd7aa34df1d374739127cca3033a3f67"
         ["query_v2.py"]="55d339ba02512ac69de288eb3be41067"
         ["vdf2json.py"]="2f49f6f5d3af919bebaab2e9c220f397"
-        ["funcs"]="8aa9eac96c21a3aabbf73c44b643523b"
+        ["funcs"]="6d985948a3b9b71017c4e0c5f7f55fe0"
         ["lan"]="c62e84ddd1457b71a85ad21da662b9af"
     )
     local author="aclist"
-    local repo="dzgui"
+    local repo="dztui"
     local realbranch
     local file
     local sum
@@ -605,16 +606,14 @@ fetch_helpers_by_sum(){
         sum="${sums[$i]}"
         full_path="$helpers_path/$file"
 
-        if [[ $remote_host == "gh" ]]; then
-            url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/$author/$repo/$realbranch/helpers/$file"
-        else
-            url="https://codeberg.org/$author/$repo/raw/branch/$realbranch/helpers/$file"
-        fi
+        url="${url_prefix}/$realbranch/helpers/$file"
 
         if [[ -f "$full_path" ]] && [[ $(get_hash "$full_path") == $sum ]]; then
             logger INFO "$file is current"
         else
             logger WARN "File '$full_path' checksum != '$sum'"
+            local res=$(get_response_code "$url")
+            [[ $res -ne 200 ]] && raise_error_and_quit "Remote resource unavailable: '$url'"
             curl -Ls "$url" > "$full_path"
             if [[ ! $? -eq 0 ]]; then
                 raise_error_and_quit "Failed to fetch the file '$file'. Possible timeout?"
@@ -635,11 +634,15 @@ fetch_geo_file(){
     local km_sum="b038fdb8f655798207bd28de3a004706"
     local gzip="$helpers_path/ips.csv.gz"
     if [[ ! -f $geo_file  ]] || [[ $(get_hash $geo_file) != $geo_sum ]]; then
+        local res=$(get_response_code "$geo_file_url")
+        [[ $res -ne 200 ]] && raise_error_and_quit "Remote resource unavailable: '$geo_file_url'"
         curl -Ls "$geo_file_url" > "$gzip"
         #force overwrite
         gunzip -f "$gzip"
     fi
     if [[ ! -f $km_helper ]] || [[ $(get_hash $km_helper) != $km_sum ]]; then
+        local res=$(get_response_code "$km_helper_url")
+        [[ $res -ne 200 ]] && raise_error_and_quit "Remote resource unavailable: '$km_helper_url'"
         curl -Ls "$km_helper_url" > "$km_helper"
         chmod +x "$km_helper"
     fi
@@ -887,10 +890,10 @@ test_connection(){
         res=$(get_response_code "${hr["codeberg.org"]}")
         [[ $res -ne 200 ]] && raise_error_and_quit "$str (${hr["codeberg.org"]})"
     fi
+    logger INFO "Set remote host to '${hr["codeberg.org"]}'"
     if [[ $remote_host == "cb" ]]; then
         url_prefix="https://codeberg.org/$author/$repo/raw/branch"
         releases_url="https://codeberg.org/$author/$repo/releases/download/browser"
-        # 2024-12-12: interpolate variables again
         stable_url="$url_prefix/dzgui"
         testing_url="$url_prefix/testing"
         km_helper_url="$releases_url/latlon"
diff --git a/helpers/funcs b/helpers/funcs
index 2f5875d..e8b9322 100755
--- a/helpers/funcs
+++ b/helpers/funcs
@@ -67,18 +67,12 @@ game_dir="$steam_path/steamapps/common/DayZ"
 #URLS
 author="aclist"
 repo="dztui"
-#TODO: this is hardcoded
-#2024-12-12
 gh_prefix="https://github.com"
 issues_url="$gh_prefix/$author/$repo/issues"
-url_prefix="https://codeberg.org/$author/$repo/raw/branch"
+url_prefix="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/$author/$repo"
 stable_url="$url_prefix/dzgui"
 testing_url="$url_prefix/testing"
-releases_url="https://codeberg.org/$author/$repo/releases/download/browser"
-km_helper_url="$releases_url/latlon"
-db_file="$releases_url/ips.csv.gz"
-sums_url="$stable_url/helpers/sums.md5"
-#TODO: move adoc to index
+releases_url="$gh_prefix/$author/$repo/releases/download/browser"
 help_url="https://$author.github.io/dzgui/dzgui"
 forum_url="$gh_prefix/$author/$repo/discussions"
 sponsor_url="$gh_prefix/sponsors/$author"
@@ -750,7 +744,45 @@ format_version_url(){
     esac
     echo "$version_url"
 }
+get_response_code(){
+    local url="$1"
+    curl -Ls -I -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "$url"
+}
+test_connection(){
+    source "$config_file"
+    declare -A hr
+    local res1
+    local res2
+    local str="No connection could be established to the remote server"
+    hr=(
+        ["github.com"]="https://github.com/$author"
+        ["codeberg.org"]="https://codeberg.org/$author"
+    )
+    res=$(get_response_code "${hr["github.com"]}")
+    if [[ $res -ne 200 ]]; then
+        logger WARN "Remote host '${hr["github.com"]}' unreachable', trying fallback"
+        remote_host=cb
+        res=$(get_response_code "${hr["codeberg.org"]}")
+        if [[ $res -ne 200 ]]; then
+            return 1
+        fi
+    fi
+    logger INFO "Set remote host to '${hr["codeberg.org"]}'"
+    if [[ $remote_host == "cb" ]]; then
+        url_prefix="https://codeberg.org/$author/$repo/raw/branch"
+        releases_url="https://codeberg.org/$author/$repo/releases/download/browser"
+        stable_url="$url_prefix/dzgui"
+        testing_url="$url_prefix/testing"
+    fi
+}
 download_new_version(){
+    test_connection
+    rc=$?
+    if [[ $rc -eq 1 ]]; then
+        printf "Remote resource unavailable. Aborting"
+        logger WARN "Remote resource unavailable"
+        return 1
+    fi
     local version_url="$(format_version_url)"
     mv "$src_path" "$src_path.old"
     curl -Ls "$version_url" > "$src_path"
@@ -775,7 +807,7 @@ dl_changelog(){
     local file="CHANGELOG.md"
     [[ $branch == "stable" ]] && mdbranch="dzgui"
     [[ $branch == "testing" ]] && mdbranch="testing"
-    local md="https://codeberg.org/$author/$repo/raw/branch/${mdbranch}/$file"
+    local md="$url_prefix/${mdbranch}/$file"
     curl -Ls "$md" > "$state_path/$file"
 }
 toggle(){
@@ -790,6 +822,7 @@ toggle(){
             fi
             update_config
             download_new_version
+            [[ $? -eq 1 ]] && return 1
             return 255
             ;;
         Toggle[[:space:]]mod[[:space:]]install[[:space:]]mode)
@@ -853,7 +886,7 @@ remove_from_favs(){
             break
         fi
     done
-    if [[ ${#ip_list} -gt 0 ]]; then
+    if [[ ${#ip_list[@]} -gt 0 ]]; then
         readarray -t ip_list < <(printf "%s\n" "${ip_list[@]}")
     fi
     update_config
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 22ec6ab..13f96cc
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -1,8 +1,41 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-curl -L "https://codeberg.org/aclist/dzgui/raw/branch/dzgui/dzgui.sh" > dzgui.sh
-chmod +x dzgui.sh
-xdg_file="$HOME/.local/share/applications/dzgui.desktop"
-share="$HOME/.local/share/dzgui"
-[[ -f $xdg_file ]] && rm $xdg_file
-[[ -d $share ]] && rm -rf "$share"
-./dzgui.sh
+get_response_code(){
+    local url="$1"
+    curl -Ls -I -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "$url"
+}
+abort(){
+    printf "Remote resource not available. Try again later.\n"
+    exit 1
+}
+fetch(){
+    local file="dzgui.sh"
+    local author="aclist"
+    local repo="dztui"
+    local branch="dzgui"
+    local url
+    local res
+    gh_url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/$author/$repo/$branch/$file"
+    cb_url="https://codeberg.org/$author/$repo/raw/branch/$branch/$file"
+
+    url="$gh_url"
+    printf "Checking the remote resource at '%s'\n" "$url"
+    res=$(get_response_code "$url")
+    if [[ $res -ne 200 ]]; then
+        url="$cb_url"
+        printf "Checking the remote resource at '%s'\n" "$url"
+        res=$(get_response_code "$url")
+        if [[ $res -ne 200 ]]; then
+            abort
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    curl -L "$url" > dzgui.sh
+    chmod +x dzgui.sh
+    xdg_file="$HOME/.local/share/applications/dzgui.desktop"
+    share="$HOME/.local/share/dzgui"
+    [[ -f $xdg_file ]] && rm $xdg_file
+    [[ -d $share ]] && rm -rf "$share"
+    ./dzgui.sh
+}
+
+fetch