diff --git a/tools/chatgui/src/call_audio_engine.cpp b/tools/chatgui/src/call_audio_engine.cpp
index 9f374940..8e4ca381 100644
--- a/tools/chatgui/src/call_audio_engine.cpp
+++ b/tools/chatgui/src/call_audio_engine.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #include "debug_config.h"
 }
 #include <cstring>
+#include <QCoreApplication>
 
 CallAudioEngine* CallAudioEngine::instance() {
     static auto* engine = new CallAudioEngine();
@@ -32,7 +33,9 @@ CallAudioEngine::CallAudioEngine() {
 
 int CallAudioEngine::start(quint64 callId) {
     if (m_active && m_callId == callId && !m_ending) return 0;
+    if (m_capture.closing()) { DEBUG_WARN(DEBUG_CATEGORY_CALL, "CallAudio: previous microphone is still closing"); return -1; }
     stop();
+    m_captureError.clear(); emit captureErrorChanged();
     if (!m_microphone.acquire()) {
         DEBUG_WARN(DEBUG_CATEGORY_CALL, "CallAudio: microphone owned by another operation"); return -1;
     }
@@ -82,9 +85,20 @@ bool CallAudioEngine::openCapture() {
 }
 
 void CallAudioEngine::recoverDevices() {
-    if (!m_active) return;
+    if (!m_active) {
+        if (!m_capture.closing()) { m_microphone.release(); m_recoveryTimer.stop(); }
+        return;
+    }
     auto* manager = SoundManager::instance();
     if (!m_outputAttached && manager->context()) m_outputAttached = manager->attachVoice(&m_voice, m_playbackId);
+    if (!m_ending && m_captureError.isEmpty() && m_capture.captureTimedOut()) {
+        DEBUG_ERROR(DEBUG_CATEGORY_CALL, "CallAudio: microphone has no PCM for 1000ms call=%016llx; disabling capture",
+            (unsigned long long)m_callId.load());
+        m_captureError = QCoreApplication::translate("ChatGui", "The microphone is not delivering audio. Select another microphone or restart.");
+        m_capture.closeAsync(); m_voice.stopCapture(); call_audio_reset_io(m_callId.load(), 0);
+        emit captureErrorChanged();
+    }
+    if (!m_captureError.isEmpty() || m_capture.closing()) return;
     if (!m_ending && ((m_capture.initialized() && !m_voice.captureRunning()) || m_capture.needsRecovery())) {
         m_capture.close(); m_voice.stopCapture();
         call_audio_reset_io(m_callId.load(), 0); m_capture.retryLater();
@@ -115,14 +129,15 @@ void CallAudioEngine::setPlaybackDevice(const QString& id) {
 void CallAudioEngine::setCaptureDevice(const QString& id) {
     if (id == m_captureId) return;
     m_captureId = id;
-    m_capture.close(); m_voice.stopCapture(); m_capture.retryNow();
+    m_capture.closeAsync(); m_voice.stopCapture(); m_capture.retryNow();
+    m_captureError.clear(); emit captureErrorChanged();
     if (m_active) { call_audio_reset_io(m_callId.load(), 0); recoverDevices(); }
 }
 
 void CallAudioEngine::beginEnd(quint64 callId) {
     if (!m_active || m_callId != callId || m_ending) return;
     m_ending = true;
-    m_capture.close(); m_voice.stopCapture();
+    m_capture.closeAsync(); m_voice.stopCapture();
     call_audio_begin_end(callId);
     uint64_t generation = m_generation;
     QTimer::singleShot(500, this, [this, generation]() { if (m_generation == generation) stop(); });
@@ -130,10 +145,12 @@ void CallAudioEngine::beginEnd(quint64 callId) {
 
 void CallAudioEngine::stop() {
     ++m_generation;
-    m_recoveryTimer.stop();
     m_active = false;
-    pauseDevices(); m_voice.stop();
-    m_microphone.release();
+    m_capture.closeAsync(); m_voice.stopCapture();
+    SoundManager::instance()->detachVoice(&m_voice); m_outputAttached = false;
+    m_voice.stop();
+    if (m_capture.closing()) m_recoveryTimer.start();
+    else { m_microphone.release(); m_recoveryTimer.stop(); }
     uint64_t id = m_callId.exchange(0);
     if (id) call_audio_release(id);
     m_muted = false;
diff --git a/tools/chatgui/src/call_audio_engine.h b/tools/chatgui/src/call_audio_engine.h
index 07030fea..019806b4 100644
--- a/tools/chatgui/src/call_audio_engine.h
+++ b/tools/chatgui/src/call_audio_engine.h
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ public:
     bool isActive() const { return m_active.load(); }
     quint64 callId() const { return m_callId.load(); }
     VoiceAudioIo::OutputLatency outputLatency() const { return m_voice.outputLatency(); }
+    QString captureError() const { return m_captureError; }
 
     /* Mute: пир слышит тишину (отправляем нулевые кадры вместо захваченного PCM). */
     void setMuted(bool muted);
@@ -47,6 +48,9 @@ public:
     /* Hardware capture callback: без DSP и растущих буферов. */
     void dataCallback(const void* in, void* out, unsigned int frames);
 
+signals:
+    void captureErrorChanged();
+
 private:
     CallAudioEngine();
     bool openCapture();
@@ -60,6 +64,7 @@ private:
     QString m_playbackId;  /* только GUI-поток */
 
     QString m_captureId;
+    QString m_captureError;
     AudioDevice m_capture;
     AudioCaptureLease m_microphone;
     VoiceAudioIo m_voice;