CONFIRMED from a live console capture (restore cache -> video plays -> reconnect ->
"Playlist unchanged" -> screen falls to "Waiting for content..."). Audio survived because
only the "showing content" VIEW was covered, not the audio path.
ROOT CAUSE: the server re-emits device:paired on EVERY re-register of an already-paired
device (ws/deviceSocket.js:510) — i.e. on every reconnect, while content is already playing.
The player's device:paired handler called showStatus('Waiting for content...') UNCONDITIONALLY
(the "falls through to idle" sibling), putting the idle overlay OVER the live video. The
following device:playlist-update -> "Playlist unchanged" branch returned early and never
cleared it, so the idle screen stuck on top of playing content.
FIX (idle screen only when genuinely idle; unchanged is a strict no-op that keeps playback):
- lib/player-media-health.js: new shouldShowIdle(state) — idle ONLY when nothing is playing
AND there's genuinely no content. Already-playing (or content-present-about-to-render) is
never idle.
- device:paired handler: gate showStatus on shouldShowIdle({isPlaying, hasContent}) instead
of showing it unconditionally. On a reconnect while playing -> no-op.
- "Playlist unchanged" branch: when healthy playback is confirmed, hideStatus() to clear any
stale idle overlay a reconnect's device:paired may have put up — so the confirmation can
never leave "Waiting for content..." over live content. Still leaves the actual media
element exactly as-is (no teardown, no flicker).
- sw.js cache v10 -> v11.
SIBLING SCAN: device:paired was the only unconditional idle reset. The connect() idle
prompts (connecting / connecting_muted) were already guarded by !isPlaying; empty-playlist
and no-renderable idles are genuine.
Tests: player-media-health.test.js +2 (shouldShowIdle: playing never idle; idle only when
empty+not-playing). Inline player JS syntax-checked; module served + guard referenced on a
booted server. Suite 318/318.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
ROOT CAUSE (hypothesis A, pre-existing — NOT a beta7 regression; server/player/index.html
is untouched since v1.9.2-beta6): handlePlaylistUpdate's "Playlist unchanged" branch blindly
returned. The media re-attach (renderContent) lives ONLY in the content-changed branch, so
if the <video> surface was lost (element detached from the DOM while still decoding — video
gone, audio still playing) a no-new-content refresh never re-attached it. New-content
refreshes were fine because they re-render.
FIX (make the refresh idempotent for the media surface, no flicker on the healthy path):
- server/lib/player-media-health.js (new, UMD + unit-testable, mirrors schedule-eval.js):
needsReattach(state) — re-attach ONLY when playback should be happening but the current
item's surface is actually lost (video null / detached / ended / errored; non-video: no
mounted surface). A healthy attached+live video returns false, so a routine poll stays a
no-op (no re-render, no flicker). Served at /player/player-media-health.js from the single
source; loaded by the player.
- index.html no-change branch: extract the current item's DOM facts and, iff
PlayerMediaHealth.needsReattach, call playCurrentItem() to re-render the current item.
Wrapped so the health check can never break a refresh.
- teardownCurrentMedia: also release currentVideoEl even when it was DETACHED from the
container — a detached-but-playing <video> keeps emitting audio and the container-scoped
querySelectorAll can't find it. This kills the "ghost audio" on re-attach.
- sw.js cache bumped v9 -> v10 so players pick up the new index.html + module.
Tests: test/player-media-health.test.js (6) exercises the branch selection — healthy video
-> no re-attach; detached/null/ended/errored -> re-attach; idle -> never; non-video by
surface presence. Inline player JS syntax-checked; module served + referenced verified on a
booted server. Suite 316/316.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
