diff --git a/audit/internal/platform/runtime.go b/audit/internal/platform/runtime.go
index 659f603..c9fc4f8 100644
--- a/audit/internal/platform/runtime.go
+++ b/audit/internal/platform/runtime.go
@@ -173,6 +173,22 @@ func (s *System) collectGPURuntimeHealth(vendor string, health *schema.RuntimeHe
 
 	switch vendor {
 	case "nvidia":
+		if raw, err := os.ReadFile("/run/bee-nvidia-mode"); err == nil {
+			health.NvidiaGSPMode = strings.TrimSpace(string(raw))
+			if health.NvidiaGSPMode == "gsp-stuck" {
+				health.Issues = append(health.Issues, schema.RuntimeIssue{
+					Code:        "nvidia_gsp_stuck",
+					Severity:    "critical",
+					Description: "NVIDIA GSP firmware init timed out and the kernel module is stuck. Reboot and select 'GSP=off' in the boot menu.",
+				})
+			} else if health.NvidiaGSPMode == "gsp-off" {
+				health.Issues = append(health.Issues, schema.RuntimeIssue{
+					Code:        "nvidia_gsp_disabled",
+					Severity:    "warning",
+					Description: "NVIDIA GSP firmware disabled (fallback). Power management runs via CPU path — power draw readings may differ from reference hardware.",
+				})
+			}
+		}
 		health.DriverReady = strings.Contains(lsmodText, "nvidia ")
 		if !health.DriverReady {
 			health.Issues = append(health.Issues, schema.RuntimeIssue{
diff --git a/audit/internal/schema/hardware.go b/audit/internal/schema/hardware.go
index 0ced83a..f644f3f 100644
--- a/audit/internal/schema/hardware.go
+++ b/audit/internal/schema/hardware.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ type RuntimeHealth struct {
 	ExportDir     string                 `json:"export_dir,omitempty"`
 	DriverReady   bool                   `json:"driver_ready,omitempty"`
 	CUDAReady     bool                   `json:"cuda_ready,omitempty"`
+	NvidiaGSPMode string                 `json:"nvidia_gsp_mode,omitempty"` // "gsp-on", "gsp-off", "gsp-stuck"
 	NetworkStatus string                 `json:"network_status,omitempty"`
 	Issues        []RuntimeIssue         `json:"issues,omitempty"`
 	Tools         []RuntimeToolStatus    `json:"tools,omitempty"`
diff --git a/audit/internal/webui/pages.go b/audit/internal/webui/pages.go
index 3080fc6..18ec4d3 100644
--- a/audit/internal/webui/pages.go
+++ b/audit/internal/webui/pages.go
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ a{color:var(--accent);text-decoration:none}
 .sidebar-logo{padding:18px 16px 12px;font-size:18px;font-weight:700;color:#fff;letter-spacing:-.5px}
 .sidebar-logo span{color:rgba(255,255,255,.5);font-weight:400;font-size:12px;display:block;margin-top:2px}
 .sidebar-version{padding:0 16px 14px;font-size:11px;color:rgba(255,255,255,.45)}
+.sidebar-badge{margin:0 12px 12px;padding:5px 8px;border-radius:4px;font-size:11px;font-weight:600;text-align:center}
+.sidebar-badge-warn{background:#7a4f00;color:#f6c90e}
+.sidebar-badge-crit{background:#5c1a1a;color:#ff6b6b}
 .nav{flex:1}
 .nav-item{display:block;padding:10px 16px;color:rgba(255,255,255,.7);font-size:13px;border-left:3px solid transparent;transition:all .15s}
 .nav-item:hover{color:#fff;background:rgba(255,255,255,.08)}
@@ -107,6 +110,15 @@ func layoutNav(active string, buildLabel string) string {
 		buildLabel = "dev"
 	}
 	b.WriteString(`<div class="sidebar-version">Version ` + html.EscapeString(buildLabel) + `</div>`)
+	if raw, err := os.ReadFile("/run/bee-nvidia-mode"); err == nil {
+		gspMode := strings.TrimSpace(string(raw))
+		switch gspMode {
+		case "gsp-off":
+			b.WriteString(`<div class="sidebar-badge sidebar-badge-warn">NVIDIA GSP=off</div>`)
+		case "gsp-stuck":
+			b.WriteString(`<div class="sidebar-badge sidebar-badge-crit">NVIDIA GSP stuck — reboot</div>`)
+		}
+	}
 	b.WriteString(`<nav class="nav">`)
 	for _, item := range items {
 		cls := "nav-item"
diff --git a/iso/builder/config/bootloaders/grub-pc/grub.cfg b/iso/builder/config/bootloaders/grub-pc/grub.cfg
index 3af572c..01bdcd0 100644
--- a/iso/builder/config/bootloaders/grub-pc/grub.cfg
+++ b/iso/builder/config/bootloaders/grub-pc/grub.cfg
@@ -11,33 +11,25 @@ echo "  Hardware Audit LiveCD"
 echo ""
 
 menuentry "EASY-BEE" {
-    linux   @KERNEL_LIVE@ @APPEND_LIVE@ nomodeset bee.nvidia.mode=normal net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0 mitigations=off transparent_hugepage=always numa_balancing=disable nowatchdog nosoftlockup
+    linux   @KERNEL_LIVE@ @APPEND_LIVE@ bee.nvidia.mode=normal net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0 mitigations=off transparent_hugepage=always numa_balancing=disable nowatchdog nosoftlockup
     initrd  @INITRD_LIVE@
 }
 
-menuentry "EASY-BEE (graphics/KMS)" {
-    linux   @KERNEL_LIVE@ @APPEND_LIVE@ bee.display=kms bee.nvidia.mode=normal net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0 mitigations=off transparent_hugepage=always numa_balancing=disable nowatchdog nosoftlockup
-    initrd  @INITRD_LIVE@
-}
+submenu "EASY-BEE (advanced options) -->" {
+    menuentry "EASY-BEE — GSP=off" {
+        linux   @KERNEL_LIVE@ @APPEND_LIVE@ bee.nvidia.mode=gsp-off net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0 mitigations=off transparent_hugepage=always numa_balancing=disable nowatchdog nosoftlockup
+        initrd  @INITRD_LIVE@
+    }
 
-menuentry "EASY-BEE (load to RAM)" {
-    linux   @KERNEL_LIVE@ @APPEND_LIVE@ toram nomodeset bee.nvidia.mode=normal net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0 mitigations=off transparent_hugepage=always numa_balancing=disable nowatchdog nosoftlockup
-    initrd  @INITRD_LIVE@
-}
+    menuentry "EASY-BEE — nomodeset" {
+        linux   @KERNEL_LIVE@ @APPEND_LIVE@ nomodeset bee.nvidia.mode=normal net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0 mitigations=off transparent_hugepage=always numa_balancing=disable nowatchdog nosoftlockup
+        initrd  @INITRD_LIVE@
+    }
 
-menuentry "EASY-BEE (NVIDIA GSP=off)" {
-    linux   @KERNEL_LIVE@ @APPEND_LIVE@ nomodeset bee.nvidia.mode=gsp-off net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0 mitigations=off transparent_hugepage=always numa_balancing=disable nowatchdog nosoftlockup
-    initrd  @INITRD_LIVE@
-}
-
-menuentry "EASY-BEE (graphics/KMS, GSP=off)" {
-    linux   @KERNEL_LIVE@ @APPEND_LIVE@ bee.display=kms bee.nvidia.mode=gsp-off net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0 mitigations=off transparent_hugepage=always numa_balancing=disable nowatchdog nosoftlockup
-    initrd  @INITRD_LIVE@
-}
-
-menuentry "EASY-BEE (fail-safe)" {
-    linux   @KERNEL_LIVE@ @APPEND_LIVE@ bee.nvidia.mode=gsp-off memtest noapic noapm nodma nomce nolapic nosmp vga=normal net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0
-    initrd  @INITRD_LIVE@
+    menuentry "EASY-BEE — fail-safe" {
+        linux   @KERNEL_LIVE@ @APPEND_LIVE@ nomodeset bee.nvidia.mode=gsp-off noapic noapm nodma nomce nolapic nosmp vga=normal net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0
+        initrd  @INITRD_LIVE@
+    }
 }
 
 if [ "${grub_platform}" = "efi" ]; then
diff --git a/iso/builder/config/package-lists/bee.list.chroot b/iso/builder/config/package-lists/bee.list.chroot
index 40c965f..f30b79a 100644
--- a/iso/builder/config/package-lists/bee.list.chroot
+++ b/iso/builder/config/package-lists/bee.list.chroot
@@ -65,6 +65,10 @@ python3-pil
 xorg
 xterm
 chromium
+mousepad
+pcmanfm
+ristretto
+mupdf
 xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
 xserver-xorg-video-vesa
 lightdm
diff --git a/iso/overlay/usr/local/bin/bee-nvidia-load b/iso/overlay/usr/local/bin/bee-nvidia-load
index 022123f..8aeaa14 100755
--- a/iso/overlay/usr/local/bin/bee-nvidia-load
+++ b/iso/overlay/usr/local/bin/bee-nvidia-load
@@ -50,11 +50,93 @@ load_module() {
         log "WARN: not found: $ko"
         return 1
     fi
-    if insmod "$ko" "$@"; then
+    if timeout 90 insmod "$ko" "$@"; then
         log "loaded: $mod $*"
         return 0
     fi
-    log "WARN: failed to load: $mod"
+    log "WARN: failed to load: $mod (exit $?)"
+    dmesg | tail -n 10 | sed 's/^/  dmesg: /' || true
+    return 1
+}
+
+nvidia_is_functional() {
+    grep -q ' nvidiactl$' /proc/devices 2>/dev/null
+}
+
+load_module_with_gsp_fallback() {
+    ko="$NVIDIA_KO_DIR/nvidia.ko"
+    if [ ! -f "$ko" ]; then
+        log "ERROR: not found: $ko"
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    # Run insmod in background — on some converted SXM→PCIe cards GSP enters an
+    # infinite crash/reload loop and insmod never returns. We check for successful
+    # initialization by polling /proc/devices for nvidiactl instead of waiting for
+    # insmod to exit.
+    log "loading nvidia (GSP enabled, timeout 90s)"
+    insmod "$ko" &
+    _insmod_pid=$!
+
+    _waited=0
+    while [ $_waited -lt 90 ]; do
+        if nvidia_is_functional; then
+            log "loaded: nvidia (GSP enabled, ${_waited}s)"
+            echo "gsp-on" > /run/bee-nvidia-mode
+            return 0
+        fi
+        # Check if insmod exited with an error before timeout
+        if ! kill -0 "$_insmod_pid" 2>/dev/null; then
+            wait "$_insmod_pid"
+            _rc=$?
+            if [ $_rc -ne 0 ]; then
+                log "nvidia load failed (exit $_rc)"
+                dmesg | tail -n 10 | sed 's/^/  dmesg: /' || true
+                return 1
+            fi
+            # insmod exited 0 but nvidiactl not yet in /proc/devices — give it a moment
+            sleep 2
+            if nvidia_is_functional; then
+                log "loaded: nvidia (GSP enabled, ${_waited}s)"
+                return 0
+            fi
+            log "insmod exited 0 but nvidiactl missing — treating as failure"
+            return 1
+        fi
+        sleep 1
+        _waited=$((_waited + 1))
+    done
+
+    # GSP init timed out — kill the hanging insmod and attempt gsp-off fallback
+    log "nvidia GSP init timed out after 90s"
+    kill "$_insmod_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+    wait "$_insmod_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+    # Attempt to unload the partially-initialized module
+    if ! rmmod nvidia 2>/dev/null; then
+        # Module is stuck in the kernel — cannot reload with different params.
+        # User must reboot and select bee.nvidia.mode=gsp-off at boot menu.
+        log "ERROR: rmmod nvidia failed (EBUSY) — module stuck in kernel"
+        log "ERROR: reboot and select 'EASY-BEE (advanced) -> GSP=off' in boot menu"
+        echo "gsp-stuck" > /run/bee-nvidia-mode
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    sleep 2
+    log "retrying with NVreg_EnableGpuFirmware=0"
+    log "WARNING: GSP disabled — power management will run via CPU path, not GPU firmware"
+
+    if insmod "$ko" NVreg_EnableGpuFirmware=0; then
+        if nvidia_is_functional; then
+            log "loaded: nvidia (GSP disabled)"
+            echo "gsp-off" > /run/bee-nvidia-mode
+            return 0
+        fi
+        log "insmod gsp-off exited 0 but nvidiactl missing"
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    log "nvidia load failed (GSP=off)"
     dmesg | tail -n 10 | sed 's/^/  dmesg: /' || true
     return 1
 }
@@ -70,7 +152,7 @@ load_host_module() {
 
 case "$nvidia_mode" in
     normal|full)
-        if ! load_module nvidia; then
+        if ! load_module_with_gsp_fallback; then
             exit 1
         fi
         # nvidia-modeset on some server kernels needs ACPI video helper symbols