diff --git a/tools/ca3-v4-amend/pc1-clocks-restore.ps1 b/tools/ca3-v4-amend/pc1-clocks-restore.ps1
index f1b550914..01033e56e 100644
--- a/tools/ca3-v4-amend/pc1-clocks-restore.ps1
+++ b/tools/ca3-v4-amend/pc1-clocks-restore.ps1
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-# PC 1: put the RTX 5090's clocks back to the driver default through the Igneum Power Helper task (7 October 2026, 20:4x UTC).
+# PC 1: put the RTX 5090's clocks back to the driver default through the Igneum Power Helper task (7 October 2026, 20:4x UTC; again 8 October
+# 02:4x UTC after the third pass hit its time cap at the 300 MHz step, so its finally block never ran).
 # The second efficiency pass (run-ca3-pc1-v4-eff-5090-floor-20261007) lost the helper at its 1,000 MHz step (no helper.log line
 # within 30 s for that and every later command, the `nvidia-smi -lgc 0,1000` most likely hanging inside the helper), so its
 # closing `rgc` never ran and the card stayed at the 1,100 MHz lock (sm 1,087 on the unlocked-end rows; the live miner at 118
@@ -20,11 +21,15 @@ if (Test-Path $helperLog) { "RESULT helper.log tail: $((Get-Content -LiteralPath
 $task = Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName 'Igneum Power Helper' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
 if (-not $task) { 'RESULT error the Igneum Power Helper task is not registered: no reset path without a prompt (Power control off)'; exit 3 }
 "RESULT task state before: $($task.State)"
+# the cleared sequence (update-return lane, 8 October 2026, 01:17 BST): the 0.3.20 helper skips the first N lines of cmd.txt, N = the line
+# count when it started, so the task is started over an EMPTY file and its heartbeat waited for before the write
+Set-Content -LiteralPath $cmdFile -Value '' -NoNewline -Encoding ascii
 try { Stop-ScheduledTask -TaskName 'Igneum Power Helper' -ErrorAction Stop; 'RESULT task stopped' } catch { "RESULT task stop failed: $_" }
-Start-Sleep -Seconds 3
-try { Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName 'Igneum Power Helper' -ErrorAction Stop; 'RESULT task started' } catch { "RESULT task start failed: $_"; exit 3 }
-Start-Sleep -Seconds 3
-"RESULT task state now: $((Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName 'Igneum Power Helper').State)"
+Start-Sleep -Seconds 2
+try { Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName 'Igneum Power Helper' -ErrorAction Stop; 'RESULT task started over an empty cmd.txt' } catch { "RESULT task start failed: $_"; exit 3 }
+$alive = Join-Path $helperDir 'helper.alive'; $t = 0; $fresh = $false
+while ($t -lt 60 -and -not $fresh) { Start-Sleep -Seconds 1; $t++; if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $alive) { try { $v = [int64]((Get-Content -LiteralPath $alive -Raw).Trim()); if (([int64][double]::Parse((Get-Date -UFormat %s)) - $v) -le 4) { $fresh = $true } } catch { } } }
+"RESULT task state now: $((Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName 'Igneum Power Helper').State); heartbeat fresh=$fresh after $t s"
 $seq = 0
 if (Test-Path $cmdFile) { $seq = @(Get-Content -LiteralPath $cmdFile -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | ForEach-Object { if ($_ -match '^(\d{1,6})\s') { [int]$Matches[1] } }) | Measure-Object -Maximum | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Maximum }
 if (-not $seq) { $seq = 0 }