diff --git a/files/ansible-playbooks/update-indoor.yml b/files/ansible-playbooks/update-indoor.yml
index dcfd45c..a7cf2ce 100644
--- a/files/ansible-playbooks/update-indoor.yml
+++ b/files/ansible-playbooks/update-indoor.yml
@@ -487,28 +487,21 @@
     - name: Normalize rebootin detect now or integer HOURS
       delegate_to: localhost
       ansible.builtin.set_fact:
-        _reboot_raw: "{{ rebootin | default('') | string | trim | lower }}"
-        _reboot_is_now: "{{ (rebootin | default('') | string | trim | lower) in ['', 'now', 'immediate'] }}"
-        _reboot_is_int: "{{ (rebootin | default('') | string | trim) is match('^\\d+$') }}"
-        _reboot_hours: >-
-          {{
-            0
-              if ((rebootin | default('') | string | trim | lower) in ['', 'now', 'immediate'])
-              else (rebootin | int if ((rebootin | default('') | string | trim) is match('^\\d+$')) else -1)
-          }}
-
-
+        # treat rebootin as hours; consumer always passes a number (e.g., 4)
+        _reboot_raw: "{{ rebootin | default('') | string | trim }}"
+        _reboot_is_now: false
+        _reboot_is_int: "{{ (_reboot_raw | length) > 0 }}"
+        _reboot_hours: "{{ rebootin | int }}"
 
     - name: Debug reboot normalization detail
       delegate_to: localhost
       ansible.builtin.debug:
         msg:
-          - "_reboot_raw={{ _reboot_raw | default('UNSET') }}"
-          - "_reboot_is_now={{ _reboot_is_now | default('UNSET') }}"
-          - "_reboot_is_numtype={{ _reboot_is_numtype | default('UNSET') }}"
-          - "_reboot_is_digitstr={{ _reboot_is_digitstr | default('UNSET') }}"
-          - "_reboot_is_hsuffix={{ _reboot_is_hsuffix | default('UNSET') }}"
-          - "_reboot_hours={{ _reboot_hours | default('UNSET') }}"
+          - "_reboot_raw={{ _reboot_raw }}"
+          - "_reboot_is_now={{ _reboot_is_now }}"
+          - "_reboot_is_int={{ _reboot_is_int }}"
+          - "_reboot_hours={{ _reboot_hours }}"
+
 
     - name: Warn if rebootin was not provided by consumer (debug only)
       when: (rebootin | default('') | string | trim) == ''
@@ -1051,12 +1044,8 @@
     - name: Derive expected target_version from image filename (strict X.Y.Z-rNNNN)
       delegate_to: localhost
       ansible.builtin.set_fact:
-        expected_fw_core: >-
-          {{
-            (image_filename | regex_search('([0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+-r[0-9]+)'))
-              | default('', true)
-          }}
-      when: au_delay_sec is defined
+        expected_fw_core: "{{ (image_filename | regex_search('[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+-r[0-9]+')) | default('', true) }}"
+
 
 
     - name: Debug  derived expected target_version for checker