diff --git a/internal/cmd/daemon.go b/internal/cmd/daemon.go
index b284cc4..9bd0d9b 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/daemon.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/daemon.go
@@ -226,6 +226,12 @@ func runDaemonStart() error {
 
 	// Create persistent stream server
 	streamSrv := engine.NewStreamServer(cfg.Download.StreamPort)
+	// Reap HLS tmpdirs left over from a previous daemon run before we start
+	// accepting new sessions. The in-memory registry doesn't survive a
+	// restart, so without this disk usage grows unbounded across restarts.
+	if err := engine.CleanupHLSOrphanDirs(); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("[hls] orphan tmpdir cleanup: %v", err)
+	}
 	if err := streamSrv.Listen(ctx); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("start stream server: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/engine/hls.go b/internal/engine/hls.go
index bd0853c..729f3d3 100644
--- a/internal/engine/hls.go
+++ b/internal/engine/hls.go
@@ -57,6 +57,43 @@ func hlsTmpDirRoot() string {
 	return filepath.Join(os.TempDir(), "unarr-hls-sessions")
 }
 
+// CleanupHLSOrphanDirs removes any per-session tmpdir under hlsTmpDirRoot
+// that's older than 1 h. Daemon restart drops the in-memory session
+// registry but leaves tmpdirs behind; on the next start we GC them so
+// disk usage doesn't grow unbounded across restarts. Sessions started
+// less than 1 h ago might still belong to the daemon we're booting (race
+// during a quick restart) — leave those alone.
+func CleanupHLSOrphanDirs() error {
+	root := hlsTmpDirRoot()
+	entries, err := os.ReadDir(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return err
+	}
+	cutoff := time.Now().Add(-1 * time.Hour)
+	removed := 0
+	for _, e := range entries {
+		if !e.IsDir() {
+			continue
+		}
+		info, err := e.Info()
+		if err != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		if info.ModTime().Before(cutoff) {
+			if err := os.RemoveAll(filepath.Join(root, e.Name())); err == nil {
+				removed++
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if removed > 0 {
+		log.Printf("[hls] cleaned %d orphan tmpdir(s) at startup", removed)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // HLSSessionConfig describes a single browser playback session driven by HLS.
 type HLSSessionConfig struct {
 	SessionID  string
@@ -93,6 +130,8 @@ type HLSSession struct {
 	startedAt      time.Time
 	lastTouch      time.Time
 	ffmpegSegStart int // index of the first segment the current ffmpeg writes
+	restartCount   int // bounded auto-restart counter (resets on Close)
+	lastRestartAt  time.Time
 
 	// readyCond + readyMax track which segments ffmpeg has finished writing.
 	// Handlers waiting on a future segment block on readyCond until the
@@ -209,7 +248,13 @@ func StartHLSSession(ctx context.Context, cfg HLSSessionConfig) (*HLSSession, er
 		return nil, errors.New("hls: ffmpeg/ffprobe not available")
 	}
 
-	probe, err := ProbeFile(ctx, cfg.Transcode.FFprobePath, cfg.SourcePath)
+	// Probe gets a 15 s ceiling. ffprobe on a 50 GB MKV over a slow remote
+	// fs can hang indefinitely; without a deadline the daemon would block
+	// the goroutine that started the session forever and the user would
+	// see the player phase stuck on "Preparando sesión".
+	probeCtx, cancelProbe := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 15*time.Second)
+	probe, err := ProbeFile(probeCtx, cfg.Transcode.FFprobePath, cfg.SourcePath)
+	cancelProbe()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("hls: probe: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -370,6 +415,11 @@ func (s *HLSSession) Close() error {
 }
 
 // waitFFmpeg reaps the ffmpeg process and records its exit error for handlers.
+//
+// Auto-restart supervisor: if ffmpeg crashes (non-graceful exit) and the
+// session is still in use, we attempt to restart it from the last known
+// good segment. Bounded to maxRestarts within restartWindow to avoid
+// thrashing on a permanently broken source.
 func (s *HLSSession) waitFFmpeg() {
 	err := s.cmd.Wait()
 	s.readyMu.Lock()
@@ -379,9 +429,47 @@ func (s *HLSSession) waitFFmpeg() {
 		close(s.readyCh)
 		s.readyCh = nil
 	}
+	readyMax := s.readyMax
 	s.readyMu.Unlock()
-	if err != nil && !s.isClosed() {
-		log.Printf("[hls %s] ffmpeg exited: %v", shortHLSID(s.cfg.SessionID), err)
+
+	if err == nil || s.isClosed() {
+		return
+	}
+	log.Printf("[hls %s] ffmpeg exited: %v", shortHLSID(s.cfg.SessionID), err)
+
+	// Decide whether to attempt an auto-restart. We don't restart when:
+	//   - the session was closed externally (kill on quality change etc.)
+	//   - we've already retried 3 times within the last 60 s (broken file)
+	const maxRestarts = 3
+	const restartWindow = 60 * time.Second
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	if s.closed {
+		s.mu.Unlock()
+		return
+	}
+	if !s.lastRestartAt.IsZero() && time.Since(s.lastRestartAt) > restartWindow {
+		s.restartCount = 0
+	}
+	if s.restartCount >= maxRestarts {
+		s.mu.Unlock()
+		log.Printf("[hls %s] giving up after %d auto-restarts", shortHLSID(s.cfg.SessionID), maxRestarts)
+		return
+	}
+	s.restartCount++
+	s.lastRestartAt = time.Now()
+	s.mu.Unlock()
+
+	// Restart from the last segment we know is safely on disk. If readyMax
+	// is 0 (never produced anything), retry from segment 0 — covers initial
+	// startup failures on transient errors.
+	target := readyMax
+	if target < 0 {
+		target = 0
+	}
+	log.Printf("[hls %s] auto-restarting from segment %d (attempt %d/%d)",
+		shortHLSID(s.cfg.SessionID), target, s.restartCount, maxRestarts)
+	if rerr := s.restartFromSegment(target); rerr != nil {
+		log.Printf("[hls %s] auto-restart failed: %v", shortHLSID(s.cfg.SessionID), rerr)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1013,12 +1101,23 @@ func scaledDimensions(srcW, srcH, capH int) (int, int) {
 
 // hlsStderrCapture forwards ffmpeg stderr lines to the daemon log prefixed by
 // the session ID, so failures are visible without spelunking tmpdirs.
+//
+// The internal buffer accumulates partial bytes between writes (a single line
+// can span multiple Write calls). Capped at maxStderrBuf so a misbehaving
+// ffmpeg that emits megabytes without newlines can't grow daemon memory
+// unbounded; on overflow we discard the partial line and keep going.
 type hlsStderrCapture struct {
 	owner *HLSSession
 	buf   strings.Builder
 }
 
+const maxStderrBuf = 64 * 1024
+
 func (c *hlsStderrCapture) Write(p []byte) (int, error) {
+	if c.buf.Len()+len(p) > maxStderrBuf {
+		// Drop the unterminated partial line; we'll resync on the next \n.
+		c.buf.Reset()
+	}
 	c.buf.Write(p)
 	for {
 		line, rest, ok := strings.Cut(c.buf.String(), "\n")