diff --git a/backend/DeviceHub/DeviceHubEndpoint.cs b/backend/DeviceHub/DeviceHubEndpoint.cs
index be57004..5d655f6 100644
--- a/backend/DeviceHub/DeviceHubEndpoint.cs
+++ b/backend/DeviceHub/DeviceHubEndpoint.cs
@@ -177,6 +177,10 @@ public static class DeviceHubEndpoint
         }, ct);
     }
 
+    // Bump on every backend change so we can verify a Coolify deploy landed
+    // by looking at the hello_ack config.server_version field in the Pi journal.
+    public const string ServerVersion = "plan3-debug-2026-06-12-09";
+
     private static async Task SendHelloAckAsync(ActiveDevice active, Device device, CancellationToken ct)
     {
         var enabled = device.Config?.EnabledToolsJson ?? "[]";
@@ -186,7 +190,8 @@ public static class DeviceHubEndpoint
           "model": "{{Escape(device.Config?.Model)}}",
           "system_prompt": "{{Escape(device.Config?.SystemPrompt)}}",
           "idle_timeout_seconds": {{device.Config?.IdleTimeoutSeconds ?? 30}},
-          "enabled_tools": {{enabled}}
+          "enabled_tools": {{enabled}},
+          "server_version": "{{ServerVersion}}"
         }
         """)!.AsObject();
 
diff --git a/backend/Realtime/RealtimeEvents.cs b/backend/Realtime/RealtimeEvents.cs
index fbe6fef..ea9b0f2 100644
--- a/backend/Realtime/RealtimeEvents.cs
+++ b/backend/Realtime/RealtimeEvents.cs
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ public static class RealtimeEvents
             });
         }
 
+        // Minimal GA session.update. We drop explicit audio.input/output.format
+        // objects (the GA shape accepts them but OpenAI defaults to 24 kHz PCM16
+        // mono on both directions, which is what we use). Removing the explicit
+        // format objects matches the documented minimal session config and
+        // eliminates a known source of OpenAI silently ignoring the audio.
         return new JsonObject
         {
             ["type"] = "session.update",
@@ -38,11 +43,6 @@ public static class RealtimeEvents
                 {
                     ["input"] = new JsonObject
                     {
-                        ["format"] = new JsonObject
-                        {
-                            ["type"] = "audio/pcm",
-                            ["rate"] = 24000,
-                        },
                         ["transcription"] = new JsonObject { ["model"] = "whisper-1" },
                         ["turn_detection"] = new JsonObject
                         {
@@ -50,9 +50,6 @@ public static class RealtimeEvents
                             ["threshold"] = 0.5,
                             ["prefix_padding_ms"] = 300,
                             ["silence_duration_ms"] = 500,
-                            // GA requires both explicitly — without them the
-                            // model never auto-generates a reply after VAD
-                            // detects speech_stopped.
                             ["create_response"] = true,
                             ["interrupt_response"] = true,
                         },
@@ -60,11 +57,6 @@ public static class RealtimeEvents
                     ["output"] = new JsonObject
                     {
                         ["voice"] = cfg.Voice,
-                        ["format"] = new JsonObject
-                        {
-                            ["type"] = "audio/pcm",
-                            ["rate"] = 24000,
-                        },
                     },
                 },
                 ["tools"] = tools,
diff --git a/backend/Realtime/RealtimeSession.cs b/backend/Realtime/RealtimeSession.cs
index 61ee09e..9586dd1 100644
--- a/backend/Realtime/RealtimeSession.cs
+++ b/backend/Realtime/RealtimeSession.cs
@@ -128,10 +128,18 @@ public class RealtimeSession
             if (evt is null && ct.IsCancellationRequested) return;
             if (evt is null)
             {
-                // Upstream has gone silent. If null persists for >2s, log so
-                // we can spot a dead upstream that's not surfacing as a close.
+                // Upstream has gone silent. Surface that to the device every
+                // ~2s so we can tell "OpenAI is up but emitting nothing" from
+                // "the upstream WS was closed" — Coolify logs aren't reachable.
                 if (++nullPolls % 8 == 0)
-                    _logger.LogDebug("upstream silent ({Polls} x 250ms polls)", nullPolls);
+                {
+                    _logger.LogInformation("upstream silent ({Polls} x 250ms polls)", nullPolls);
+                    await _output.WriteEnvelopeAsync(new JsonObject
+                    {
+                        ["type"] = "debug",
+                        ["message"] = "upstream silent " + nullPolls + "x250ms",
+                    }, ct);
+                }
                 continue;
             }
             nullPolls = 0;