diff --git a/orbisrpc/daemon.c b/orbisrpc/daemon.c
index dbba98e..72bef1f 100644
--- a/orbisrpc/daemon.c
+++ b/orbisrpc/daemon.c
@@ -317,14 +317,19 @@ int daemon_run(const char *fixed_game_name){
                     log_msg("health: boot marked healthy");
                 }
                 char name[128] = "";
+                int scan_unknown = 0;
                 if(fixed_game_name){
                     strncpy(name, fixed_game_name, sizeof name-1);
                     name[sizeof name-1] = 0;
                 }else{
                     /* detect_current_game already checks foreground-active
-                     * internally; don't double-call it. */
-                    if(detect_current_game(name, sizeof name, NULL, 0) != 0)
+                     * internally; don't double-call it. -2 means the scan
+                     * itself failed: hold position, touch nothing. */
+                    scan_unknown = (detect_current_game(name, sizeof name, NULL, 0) == -2);
+                    if(scan_unknown){
+                        log_dbg("detect scan failed; holding");
                         name[0] = 0;
+                    }
                 }
 
                 if(name[0]){
@@ -376,7 +381,7 @@ int daemon_run(const char *fixed_game_name){
                         active = 1; need_post = 0;
                     }
                     }
-                }else if(active){
+                }else if(active && !scan_unknown){
                     cand_title[0] = 0;
                     cand_hits = 0;
                     if(++miss_hits >= 2){
@@ -390,7 +395,7 @@ int daemon_run(const char *fixed_game_name){
                         last[0]=0; sess_tid[0]=0; active=0; started=0;
                         home_posted = 0;
                     }
-                } else if(!home_posted){
+                } else if(!home_posted && !scan_unknown){
                     /* Home screen support: no game running. Post a timerless
                      * home presence once (instead of bare online), clear it
                      * the moment a game commits. */
diff --git a/orbisrpc/detect.c b/orbisrpc/detect.c
index d403967..b13cc14 100644
--- a/orbisrpc/detect.c
+++ b/orbisrpc/detect.c
@@ -56,14 +56,14 @@ static int is_title_prefix(const char *n);
 static int proc_has_eboot(void){
     int mib[4] = { 1, 14, 8, 0 };
     size_t sz = 0;
-    if(sysctl(mib, 4, NULL, &sz, NULL, 0) != 0) return 0;
+    if(sysctl(mib, 4, NULL, &sz, NULL, 0) != 0) return -1;
     static unsigned char buf[256*1024];
-    if(sz > sizeof buf) return 0;
-    if(sysctl(mib, 4, buf, &sz, NULL, 0) != 0) return 0;
+    if(sz > sizeof buf) return -1;
+    if(sysctl(mib, 4, buf, &sz, NULL, 0) != 0) return -1;
     size_t off = 0;
     while(off + 4 <= sz){
         int recsz = *(int *)(buf + off);
-        if(recsz <= 0 || off + (size_t)recsz > sz) break;
+        if(recsz <= 0 || off + (size_t)recsz > sz) return -1;
         if(recsz >= 479 && !memcmp(buf + off + 447, "eboot.bin", 10))
             return 1;
         off += (size_t)recsz;
@@ -394,7 +394,14 @@ int detect_current_game(char *out_name, size_t cap, char *out_path, size_t p_cap
     if(!out_name || cap==0) return -1;
     out_name[0] = 0;
     if(out_path && p_cap) out_path[0] = 0;
-    if(!detect_foreground_active()) return -1;
+    {
+        /* Tri-state foreground: 1 game, 0 none, -1 scan failed (unknown).
+         * Unknown must NOT count as disappearance — it means "keep whatever
+         * we had", never a transition. */
+        int fg = detect_foreground_active();
+        if(fg < 0) return -2;
+        if(!fg) return -1;
+    }
     char titleId[16]=""; int named=0, have_tid=0;
 #ifdef ORBISRPC_SDK_PAYLOAD
     /* Spawned processes see no ShellCoreUtil/UserService and /data/app is
diff --git a/orbisrpc/detect.h b/orbisrpc/detect.h
index ffa9dc9..d15af67 100644
--- a/orbisrpc/detect.h
+++ b/orbisrpc/detect.h
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
  * Returns -1 when no game is active or the arguments are invalid.
  * out_path is optional and receives the per-title cache path when provided. */
 int detect_current_game(char *out_name, size_t cap, char *out_path, size_t p_cap);
-/* Returns 1 if a foreground user app is running, otherwise 0. */
+/* Returns 1 if a foreground user app is running, 0 if definitely none,
+ * -1 if the scan itself failed (unknown: keep previous state). */
 int detect_foreground_active(void);
 /* Resolve a display name for a KNOWN title id (plugin mode). */
 int detect_name_for_title(const char *titleId, char *out_name, size_t cap);
diff --git a/orbisrpc/log.c b/orbisrpc/log.c
index 1e0e22c..5b77c45 100644
--- a/orbisrpc/log.c
+++ b/orbisrpc/log.c
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ static int g_klog = -1;
 static volatile int g_log_lock = 0;
 static volatile int g_debug = 0;
 void log_set_debug(int on){ g_debug = on ? 1 : 0; }
+int log_is_debug(void){ return g_debug; }
 static void log_lock(void){ while(__sync_lock_test_and_set(&g_log_lock, 1)) usleep(1000); }
 static void log_unlock(void){ __sync_lock_release(&g_log_lock); }
 
diff --git a/orbisrpc/log.h b/orbisrpc/log.h
index b22fc6e..593cda8 100644
--- a/orbisrpc/log.h
+++ b/orbisrpc/log.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ void log_msg(const char *fmt, ...);
 /* Debug logging: compiled in, emitted only when log_set_debug(1) is on.
  * Zero overhead otherwise. For per-poll detail — never for secrets. */
 void log_set_debug(int on);
+int log_is_debug(void);
 void log_dbg(const char *fmt, ...);
 void log_close(void);
-#endif
\ No newline at end of file
+#endif
diff --git a/orbisrpc/tls.c b/orbisrpc/tls.c
index 2e56a97..4bfd024 100644
--- a/orbisrpc/tls.c
+++ b/orbisrpc/tls.c
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@
  * code into the exact failing step. */
 static void tls_mbedtls_dbg(void *ctx, int level,
                              const char *file, int line, const char *str){
-    (void)ctx; (void)level;
+    (void)ctx;
+    /* mbedTLS chat (levels 1-3) only in debug mode: at threshold 3 every
+     * TLS record logs a line, which is pure I/O load in production. */
+    if(level > 0 && !log_is_debug()) return;
     const char *base = strrchr(file, '/');
     base = base ? base + 1 : file;
     size_t n = strlen(str);