Sometimes a lighting strike is a message from a higher being (more on that later).
Are there log messages indicating that it was unable to configure the switch?
Does swconfig dev switch0 show suggest that it has been configured properly?
On that lead-in line, perhaps it's time to consider a new router to replace that 8/64 device. It won't be long until you run up against RAM problems, even with 8 MB of flash. Units with comparable performance and much greater resources are available for around US$20. Several options and opinions are in the (long) thread. Some actually have strong support for OpenWrt from the OEM, as well as attentive and active support communities.