diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2b07a96..7798db4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ overlay /mnt/merged-cstrike/models    overlay ro,lowerdir=/home/gameservers/css_
 overlay /mnt/merged-cstrike/sound     overlay ro,lowerdir=/home/gameservers/css_ze/cstrike/sound:/home/gameservers/css_mg/cstrike/sound:/home/gameservers/css_zr/cstrike/sound,nofail 0 0
 
 ## third run
-docker run -d --name css-test -e SIG_URL=ws://172.17.0.1:3000 -e CONTAINER_NAME=css-test -e CF_APP_ID= -e CF_APP_TOKEN= -e CAP_FPS=60 -e CAP_W=800 -e CAP_H=600 --cpus="8.0" \
+docker run -d --name css-test -e SIG_URL=ws://172.17.0.1:3000 -e CONTAINER_NAME=css-test -e CF_APP_ID= -e CF_APP_TOKEN= -e CAP_FPS=60 -e CAP_W=800 -e CAP_H=600 --cpus="10.0" \
 -v /mnt/merged-cstrike/maps:/home/ubuntu/Counter-Strike\ Source/cstrike/maps:ro \
 -v /mnt/merged-cstrike/materials:/home/ubuntu/Counter-Strike\ Source/cstrike/materials:ro \
 -v /mnt/merged-cstrike/models:/home/ubuntu/Counter-Strike\ Source/cstrike/models:ro \
@@ -64,3 +64,5 @@ css-client
 ## CSS DirectX9 → built-in DXVK → Vulkan → Wine Wayland driver → Weston (lavapipe/llvmpipe) → Xwayland → X11 → ximagesrc capture for gst_agent
 
 ## using DXVK cache and MESA_SHADER_CACHE which are mounted volumes
+
+## the inbuilt DXVK version 2.3 is replaced with DXVK 3.0 downloaded from https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases/download/v3.0/dxvk-3.0.tar.gz
diff --git a/streaming-agent/gst_agent.py b/streaming-agent/gst_agent.py
index f386665..1075328 100755
--- a/streaming-agent/gst_agent.py
+++ b/streaming-agent/gst_agent.py
@@ -79,6 +79,20 @@ def xdotool(*args):
         stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
     )
 
+# Track held keys so we can release them all on controller change
+_held_keys = set()
+
+def release_all_keys():
+    # Release all currently held keys and reset X11 modifier state
+    for key in list(_held_keys):
+        try:
+            xdotool('keyup', key)
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+    _held_keys.clear()
+    # Reset X11 modifier state (clears stuck shift/ctrl/alt etc.)
+    xdotool('key', '--clearmodifiers', 'Escape')
+
 def handle_input(event):
     t = event.get('type')
     if t == 'mouse_move':
@@ -91,12 +105,18 @@ def handle_input(event):
     elif t == 'mouse_up':
         xdotool('mouseup', str(event.get('button', 1)))
     elif t == 'key_down':
-        xdotool('keydown', event.get('key', ''))
+        key = event.get('key', '')
+        _held_keys.add(key)
+        xdotool('keydown', key)
     elif t == 'key_up':
-        xdotool('keyup', event.get('key', ''))
+        key = event.get('key', '')
+        _held_keys.discard(key)
+        xdotool('keyup', key)
     elif t == 'mouse_wheel':
         button = '4' if event.get('direction') == 'up' else '5'
         xdotool('click', button)
+    elif t == 'release_keys':
+        release_all_keys()
 
 # ── GStreamer Pipeline ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 class CSSStreamAgent:
@@ -125,18 +145,10 @@ class CSSStreamAgent:
             f'webrtcbin. '
 
             # Game audio: pipewiresrc → Opus
-            # pipewiresrc with no target follows PipeWire's default *capture*
-            # node (the microphone, virtual_mic) — not the default sink's
-            # monitor — so without explicit targeting it silently captured
-            # the mic into this track instead of game audio.
-            # game_output is a single PipeWire node with both playback ports
-            # (what CSS writes to) and monitor ports (the loopback read side)
-            # on the same node — there's no separate "game_output.monitor"
-            # node. stream.capture.sink=true tells PipeWire's autoconnect to
-            # link to that node's monitor/capture-sink ports rather than
-            # treating it as a regular source.
-            f'pipewiresrc target-object=game_output '
-            f'stream-properties="props,stream.capture.sink=(boolean)true" ! '
+            # pipewiresrc is the native PipeWire GStreamer source (Ubuntu 24+/26).
+            # It connects to the default audio output monitor via PipeWire directly,
+            # avoiding the PulseAudio compatibility layer entirely.
+            f'pipewiresrc ! '
             f'audio/x-raw,format=F32LE,rate=48000,channels=2 ! '
             f'audioconvert ! '
             f'opusenc ! '
diff --git a/streaming-agent/signaling-server.js b/streaming-agent/signaling-server.js
index 1f28ec1..7b4b26c 100644
--- a/streaming-agent/signaling-server.js
+++ b/streaming-agent/signaling-server.js
@@ -182,6 +182,15 @@ function releaseControl(entry, reason) {
     entry.ws.send(JSON.stringify({ type: 'control_released', reason }));
   }
 
+  // Tell gst_agent to release all held keys and reset X11 modifier state.
+  // Without this, stuck keys (shift/ctrl/w/etc.) persist across controller
+  // handoffs and eventually corrupt xdotool's input state, requiring a
+  // full container restart to recover.
+  const agent = [...agentSessions.values()][0];
+  if (agent && agent.agentWs && agent.agentWs.readyState === WebSocket.OPEN) {
+    agent.agentWs.send(JSON.stringify({ type: 'release_keys' }));
+  }
+
   if (controlQueue.length > 0) {
     const next = controlQueue.shift();
     applyController(next);