diff --git a/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater.yml b/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater.yml
index fc3017a..b47d7f1 100644
--- a/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater.yml
+++ b/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater.yml
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@
       set_fact:
         dev1_fw_clean: "{{ dev1_fw_base | regex_replace('\\s*[Rr][Ee][Vv]\\.??\\s*([0-9]+)\\s*$', '-r\\1') }}"
 
+    - name: Dev1 | Debug normalized fw string to be published
+      delegate_to: localhost
+      debug:
+        msg:
+          - "Dev1 fw_version (clean): {{ dev1_fw_clean }}"
 
     # Build payload preview for Dev1 (so the next debug is defined)
     - name: Dev1 | Build payload preview string
@@ -331,29 +336,11 @@
       changed_when: false
       ignore_errors: true
 
-    - name: Dev2 | Fallback to banner 'rev' if firmux not available
-      when: dev2_passfile_used != "NONE" and ((dev2_firmux.stdout | default('') | trim) | length == 0)
-      delegate_to: localhost
-      ansible.builtin.shell: |
-        set -e
-        PORT="{{ _local_port }}"
-        sshpass -f "{{ dev2_passfile_used }}" ssh \
-          -o AddressFamily=inet \
-          -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o PubkeyAuthentication=no \
-          -o PreferredAuthentications=password -o NumberOfPasswordPrompts=1 \
-          -o ConnectTimeout=30 \
-          -p "$PORT" "{{ dev2_ssh_user }}@127.0.0.1" \
-          "grep -i rev /etc/banner 2>/dev/null | head -n1 || true"
-      args: { executable: /bin/bash }
-      register: dev2_banner
-      changed_when: false
-      ignore_errors: true
-
-    # Dev2: firmux-only selection (prefer line with "rev NNNN")
+    # Dev2: firmux-only selection (prefer a line that has "rev NNNN")
     - name: Dev2 | Select line from firmux (prefer '... rev NNNN')
       delegate_to: localhost
       set_fact:
-        _firmux_lines: "{{ (dev2_firmux.stdout | default('') | splitlines()) | map('trim') | list }}"
+        _firmux_lines: "{{ (dev2_firmux.stdout | default('') | regex_replace('\r','')) | split('\n') | map('trim') | list }}"
         indoor_fw_raw: >-
           {{
             (