diff --git a/services/capture/src/capture-manager.js b/services/capture/src/capture-manager.js
index b0732ae..9fce90a 100644
--- a/services/capture/src/capture-manager.js
+++ b/services/capture/src/capture-manager.js
@@ -937,6 +937,12 @@ const bmx = [
     // overwrites them in-place. It is killed by the cleanup trap on exit.
     const script = `
 set -u
+# Save the ORIGINAL stdin (the fc_pipe video stream Node pipes in) to FD 9
+# BEFORE any FIFO priming touches fd 0. ffmpeg later reads from FD 9 explicitly,
+# guaranteeing it is the sole reader of the raw video — running ffmpeg as a
+# backgrounded subshell that merely inherited fd 0 starved it of bytes when the
+# input was a pipe (the "No filtered frames / empty output" growing failure).
+exec 9<&0
 VF=$(mktemp -u /tmp/grow_v.XXXXXX); AF=$(mktemp -u /tmp/grow_a.XXXXXX)
 OUT=${sh(outPath)}
 mkfifo "$VF" "$AF"
@@ -945,24 +951,16 @@ cleanup() { rm -f "$VF" "$AF"; [ -n "$PATCHPID" ] && kill "$PATCHPID" 2>/dev/nul
  trap cleanup EXIT
 # Prime both FIFOs read-write (non-blocking) to break the open-order deadlock.
 exec 7<>"$VF" 8<>"$AF"
-# raw2bmx: close priming FDs (no stray writer) before exec so it sees real EOF.
-# Capture raw2bmx stderr to /tmp/raw2bmx.log for debugging.
-( exec 7>&- 8>&- 0</dev/null; exec ${bmxLine} >/tmp/raw2bmx.log 2>&1 ) &
+# raw2bmx: close priming FDs (no stray writer) + read stdin from /dev/null before
+# exec so it sees real EOF and never competes for the video pipe.
+( exec 7>&- 8>&- 9>&- 0</dev/null; exec ${bmxLine} >/tmp/raw2bmx.log 2>&1 ) &
 BMXPID=$!
-# ffmpeg: closes priming FDs and EXPLICITLY inherits bash stdin (fd 0) so that
-# 'pipe:0' reads the fc_pipe video stream Node piped into this orchestrator's
-# stdin. For non-fc_pipe sources (FIFO/device input) fd 0 is unused and this is
-# harmless.
-( exec 7>&- 8>&- 0<&0; exec ${ffLine} ) &
+# ffmpeg reads the raw video from FD 9 (the saved original stdin). pipe:0 in its
+# arg list maps to fd 0, so we point fd 0 at FD 9 for the child.
+( exec 7>&- 8>&- 0<&9 9<&-; exec ${ffLine} ) &
 FFPID=$!
-# CRITICAL: the parent shell must DROP its own copy of stdin (fd 0) now that
-# ffmpeg has inherited it. When video comes from fc_pipe (node pipes it to this
-# orchestrator's stdin), leaving fd 0 open in the parent means BOTH the parent
-# and the ffmpeg subshell hold the read end of that pipe — the kernel delivers
-# bytes to whichever reads first, so ffmpeg is starved of the raw video and its
-# filtergraph gets "No filtered frames" / empty output. Closing fd 0 here makes
-# ffmpeg the SOLE reader so all fc_pipe video reaches pipe:0.
-exec 0</dev/null
+# Parent no longer needs the saved stdin — drop it so ffmpeg is the sole reader.
+exec 9<&-
 # Forward a clean stop to ffmpeg; raw2bmx then gets EOF and finalizes the footer.
 stop() { kill -INT "$FFPID" 2>/dev/null; }
 trap stop INT TERM
@@ -975,12 +973,6 @@ for i in $(seq 1 200); do
   sleep 0.1
 done
 exec 7>&- 8>&-
-# No header-duration patcher is needed. In this bmx v1.6 build, raw2bmx's rdd9
-# writer with --part maintains a live, correct header Duration as the file grows
-# (verified on-node: ffprobe reads a growing duration mid-write, e.g. 2.04s of a
-# 10s clip while still recording). A patcher (the earlier dur-patch.py) was a
-# no-op here — it searched for Duration=-1, which rdd9 never writes — and opening
-# the file r+b while raw2bmx appends over CIFS only adds concurrency risk.
 PATCHPID=
 # Wait for ffmpeg (source end), then for raw2bmx to finalize the footer.
 wait "$FFPID"; FFRC=$?
@@ -1228,6 +1220,15 @@ exit "$BMXRC"
       // When video comes from fc_pipe, pipe its stdout to the bash orchestrator
       // stdin (which the orchestrator forwards to the ffmpeg rawvideo input).
       if (bridgeProcess && bridgeProcess.stdout && hiresProcess.stdin) {
+        // Swallow EPIPE/stream errors so a broken video pipe (e.g. the
+        // orchestrator exiting) can never crash the whole capture sidecar with
+        // an unhandled 'error' event ("Error: write EPIPE").
+        hiresProcess.stdin.on('error', (e) => {
+          if (e && e.code !== 'EPIPE') console.warn(`[capture] orchestrator stdin error: ${e.message}`);
+        });
+        bridgeProcess.stdout.on('error', (e) => {
+          console.warn(`[capture] fc_pipe stdout error: ${e && e.message}`);
+        });
         bridgeProcess.stdout.pipe(hiresProcess.stdin);
         bridgeProcess.on('exit', () => {
           try { if (hiresProcess.stdin) hiresProcess.stdin.end(); } catch (_) {}