diff --git a/Plugin/varaverk.plg b/Plugin/varaverk.plg
index 3a82f4e..147fa89 100644
--- a/Plugin/varaverk.plg
+++ b/Plugin/varaverk.plg
@@ -86,6 +86,21 @@ log() { echo "[$(date '+%H:%M:%S')] $*" | tee -a "$LOG"; }
 SCRIPTS_DIR="$CFG_DIR"
 CONF_DIR="$SCRIPTS_DIR/Configurations"
 
+# ── Boot device check ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Warn if /boot is on a USB/removable device. Varaverk is designed for internal
+# NVMe/SSD boot — git repo + state files + data writes on USB will wear it out
+# fast and may run out of space. Install proceeds but user is warned.
+_boot_dev=$(df /boot --output=source 2>/dev/null | tail -1)
+_boot_base=$(lsblk -no pkname "$_boot_dev" 2>/dev/null || basename "${_boot_dev%[0-9p]*}")
+_removable=$(cat "/sys/block/${_boot_base}/removable" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+if [[ "$_removable" == "1" ]]; then
+    log "WARNING: /boot is on a removable/USB device ($_boot_dev)"
+    log "WARNING: Varaverk is designed for internal NVMe/SSD boot."
+    log "WARNING: Running from USB risks drive wear and space exhaustion."
+    log "WARNING: Strongly recommend migrating boot to an internal NVMe/SSD drive."
+fi
+unset _boot_dev _boot_base _removable
+
 # Seed varaverk.cfg with defaults (SCRIPTS_DIR + Gitea settings) if not present.
 # Requires internal NVMe/SSD boot — scripts live on flash, available before array mounts.
 if [[ ! -f "$CFG_FILE" ]]; then
diff --git a/Watchdogs/stability_watchdog.sh b/Watchdogs/stability_watchdog.sh
index ca00b40..3e110b4 100755
--- a/Watchdogs/stability_watchdog.sh
+++ b/Watchdogs/stability_watchdog.sh
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@
 # Checks Run Every Cycle
 #   rootfs usage, /var/log, /tmp, free RAM, ZFS ARC, CPU temp, load avg,
 #   zombie processes, Docker daemon, OOM rate, /boot read-only, kernel oops,
-#   file descriptor exhaustion, array disk errors, NIC state, required containers.
+#   file descriptor exhaustion, array disk errors, NIC state.
+#   (Container health is owned by docker_watchdog — not checked here.)
 #
 # ==============================================================================================
 # OPERATIONAL SAFEGUARDS
@@ -84,7 +85,6 @@
 #
 #   SYS_WATCHDOG_STATE_FILE  — strike counters and cycle state
 #   SYS_WATCHDOG_REBOOT_LOG  — reboot history for rate limiting
-#   SYS_WATCHDOG_FAILED_FILE — containers confirmed down for skip list integration
 #   SYS_WATCHDOG_OOM_FILE    — OOM kill counter from previous cycle
 #
 # ==============================================================================================
@@ -766,22 +766,10 @@ echo "━━━ $ICON_REBOOT Stability Watchdog — $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
         fi
     fi
 
-    # ── Required containers from docker_watchdog skip list ────────────────────────────────────
-    if [[ "$SYS_WATCHDOG_CHECK_CONTAINERS" == true ]] && [[ -s "$SYS_WATCHDOG_FAILED_FILE" ]]; then
-        FAILED_CONTAINERS=()
-        while IFS= read -r container; do
-            [[ -z "$container" ]] && continue
-            STATUS=$(timeout "$DOCKER_TIMEOUT" docker inspect -f \
-                '{{.State.Running}}' "$container" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
-            [[ "$STATUS" != "true" ]] && FAILED_CONTAINERS+=("$container")
-        done < "$SYS_WATCHDOG_FAILED_FILE"
-
-        TRIGGERED=false
-        [[ ${#FAILED_CONTAINERS[@]} -gt 0 ]] && TRIGGERED=true
-        run_strike_check "failed_containers" "$TRIGGERED" \
-            "required containers stopped: ${FAILED_CONTAINERS[*]:-}" && \
-            TRIGGERS+=("containers=${FAILED_CONTAINERS[*]:-}")
-    fi
+    # ── Required containers — removed from stability_watchdog ────────────────────────────────
+    # Container health is owned entirely by docker_watchdog: strike system, restart attempts,
+    # skip-listing, and critical notifications. Rebooting here when docker_watchdog already
+    # gave up creates a reboot loop — the container is still broken after reboot.
 
     # ==========================================================================================
     # ━━━ Evaluate Standard Triggers ━━━