diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 059e0d23..5365e79a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **In-progress DVR playback no longer jumps to the live edge.** The floating video player still opens in-progress recordings at the start of the seekable range, but hls.js was configured with `liveMaxLatencyDurationCount: 10`, which forced the playhead forward to "now" shortly after playback began. Live-edge sync is now disabled for recording HLS so users can watch, pause, and scrub from the beginning while the recording continues. (Fixes #1329)
 - **M3U refresh recovers DB connections and account status after failures.** Celery workers now call `close_old_connections()` before and after every task; `refresh_single_m3u_account` also resets its DB connection at task start and retries account loads once after a connection reset (avoids opaque `list index out of range` errors from poisoned worker connections). Accounts leave `fetching`/`parsing` for a terminal `error` or `success` state when refresh aborts. Error-path status updates use `QuerySet.update()` on a clean connection instead of `save()` on a connection that may already be INTRANS after `refresh_m3u_groups` or batch ORM failures. Failed group downloads now set `error` instead of returning silently. Refresh start replaces stale `last_message` text. `refresh_account_profiles` releases DB connections after each profile failure. (Fixes #1338)
 - **EPG refresh recovers DB connections and source status after failures.** `refresh_epg_data` now mirrors the M3U hardening: connection reset at task start/end, retried source load after a poisoned-worker connection reset, `QuerySet.update()` for error status on a clean connection, and a `finally` guard that moves sources stuck in `fetching`/`parsing` to `error`. Programme index builds are skipped when programme parsing fails. `parse_channels_only` now persists the error status when a missing file has no URL to refetch.
 - **M3U `custom_properties` JSON normalization.** Legacy rows and some API writes could store a JSON-encoded string instead of an object in `custom_properties`, causing refresh, profile sync, and auto-sync to fail with `'str' object has no attribute 'get'`. M3U account, profile, and group-relation models normalize on `save()`; group settings bulk writes and read/merge paths use shared helpers in `core.utils` without re-parsing dict values.
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/FloatingVideo.jsx b/frontend/src/components/FloatingVideo.jsx
index 507e0caf..e49c3bb2 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/FloatingVideo.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/FloatingVideo.jsx
@@ -333,65 +333,68 @@ export default function FloatingVideo() {
     let hls = null;
 
     if (isHls && Hls.isSupported()) {
-      hls = new Hls({
-        // Open at the very beginning of the recording rather than the live
-        // edge.  Without this, an in-progress recording would start at "now"
-        // and hide everything already recorded.  hls.js applies this AFTER
-        // MEDIA_ATTACHED, so the listener-driven `seekToStart()` above is
-        // also kept as a safety net for the Safari native-HLS path and for
-        // edge cases where this initial-position logic loses to the user's
-        // first interaction.
-        startPosition: 0,
-        // Allow seeking back to the start of the recording, regardless of
-        // current playhead position.  Recordings can be hours long and the
-        // user may want to scrub anywhere; we explicitly disable buffer
-        // eviction by setting a very large back-buffer length.
-        backBufferLength: 90 * 60, // 90 minutes
-        maxBufferLength: 60,
-        maxMaxBufferLength: 600,
-        // For an in-progress recording, hls.js refreshes the playlist on
-        // its target-duration cadence; let it follow the live edge but keep
-        // the full DVR window seekable.
-        liveSyncDurationCount: 3,
-        liveMaxLatencyDurationCount: 10,
-        enableWorker: true,
-        lowLatencyMode: false,
-        // Inject the JWT into every playlist + segment XHR.  Read the token
-        // from the auth store at request time rather than capturing the
-        // closure value at hls.js init, so a refreshed access token mid-
-        // playback is picked up on the next segment fetch.
-        xhrSetup: (xhr) => {
-          const token = useAuthStore.getState().accessToken;
-          if (token) {
-            xhr.setRequestHeader('Authorization', `Bearer ${token}`);
-          }
-        },
-      });
-      hls.on(Hls.Events.ERROR, (_evt, data) => {
-        if (data.fatal) {
-          // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
-          console.error('HLS fatal error:', data.type, data.details);
-          if (data.type === Hls.ErrorTypes.NETWORK_ERROR) {
-            try {
-              hls.startLoad();
-            } catch {
-              // ignore
+      try {
+        hls = new Hls({
+          // Open at the very beginning of the recording rather than the live
+          // edge.  Without this, an in-progress recording would start at "now"
+          // and hide everything already recorded.  hls.js applies this AFTER
+          // MEDIA_ATTACHED, so the listener-driven `seekToStart()` above is
+          // also kept as a safety net for the Safari native-HLS path and for
+          // edge cases where this initial-position logic loses to the user's
+          // first interaction.
+          startPosition: 0,
+          // Allow seeking back to the start of the recording, regardless of
+          // current playhead position.  Recordings can be hours long and the
+          // user may want to scrub anywhere; we explicitly disable buffer
+          // eviction by setting a very large back-buffer length.
+          backBufferLength: 90 * 60, // 90 minutes
+          maxBufferLength: 60,
+          maxMaxBufferLength: 600,
+          // Leave liveMaxLatencyDurationCount at the hls.js default (Infinity).
+          // A finite value forces the playhead to the live edge during playback.
+          enableWorker: true,
+          lowLatencyMode: false,
+          // Inject the JWT into every playlist + segment XHR.  Read the token
+          // from the auth store at request time rather than capturing the
+          // closure value at hls.js init, so a refreshed access token mid-
+          // playback is picked up on the next segment fetch.
+          xhrSetup: (xhr) => {
+            const token = useAuthStore.getState().accessToken;
+            if (token) {
+              xhr.setRequestHeader('Authorization', `Bearer ${token}`);
             }
-          } else if (data.type === Hls.ErrorTypes.MEDIA_ERROR) {
-            try {
-              hls.recoverMediaError();
-            } catch {
-              // ignore
+          },
+        });
+        hls.on(Hls.Events.ERROR, (_evt, data) => {
+          if (data.fatal) {
+            // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+            console.error('HLS fatal error:', data.type, data.details);
+            if (data.type === Hls.ErrorTypes.NETWORK_ERROR) {
+              try {
+                hls.startLoad();
+              } catch {
+                // ignore
+              }
+            } else if (data.type === Hls.ErrorTypes.MEDIA_ERROR) {
+              try {
+                hls.recoverMediaError();
+              } catch {
+                // ignore
+              }
+            } else {
+              setLoadError(`HLS playback error: ${data.details || data.type}`);
             }
-          } else {
-            setLoadError(`HLS playback error: ${data.details || data.type}`);
           }
-        }
-      });
-      hls.attachMedia(video);
-      hls.on(Hls.Events.MEDIA_ATTACHED, () => {
-        hls.loadSource(streamUrl);
-      });
+        });
+        hls.attachMedia(video);
+        hls.on(Hls.Events.MEDIA_ATTACHED, () => {
+          hls.loadSource(streamUrl);
+        });
+      } catch (error) {
+        setIsLoading(false);
+        setLoadError(`HLS initialization error: ${error.message}`);
+        return;
+      }
     } else if (isHls && video.canPlayType('application/vnd.apple.mpegurl')) {
       // Safari path: native HLS support, including seekable DVR windows.
       video.src = streamUrl;
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/__tests__/FloatingVideo.test.jsx b/frontend/src/components/__tests__/FloatingVideo.test.jsx
index f99a3dcc..9683fc59 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/__tests__/FloatingVideo.test.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/__tests__/FloatingVideo.test.jsx
@@ -20,8 +20,49 @@ vi.mock('mpegts.js', () => ({
   },
 }));
 
+const mockHlsInstance = {
+  attachMedia: vi.fn(),
+  loadSource: vi.fn(),
+  destroy: vi.fn(),
+  on: vi.fn(),
+};
+
+let capturedHlsConfig = null;
+let forceHlsInitError = false;
+
+vi.mock('hls.js', () => ({
+  default: class MockHls {
+    static isSupported = vi.fn(() => true);
+
+    static Events = {
+      ERROR: 'error',
+      MEDIA_ATTACHED: 'media_attached',
+    };
+
+    static ErrorTypes = {
+      NETWORK_ERROR: 'networkError',
+      MEDIA_ERROR: 'mediaError',
+    };
+
+    constructor(config) {
+      if (forceHlsInitError) {
+        throw new Error('Illegal hls.js config');
+      }
+      capturedHlsConfig = config;
+      Object.assign(this, mockHlsInstance);
+    }
+  },
+}));
+
+vi.mock('../../store/auth', () => ({
+  default: {
+    getState: vi.fn(() => ({ accessToken: 'test-token' })),
+  },
+}));
+
 // Import the mocked module after mocking
 const mpegts = (await import('mpegts.js')).default;
+const Hls = (await import('hls.js')).default;
 
 // Mock react-draggable
 vi.mock('react-draggable', () => ({
@@ -53,6 +94,8 @@ describe('FloatingVideo', () => {
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
     vi.clearAllMocks();
+    capturedHlsConfig = null;
+    forceHlsInitError = false;
 
     // Mock HTMLVideoElement methods
     HTMLVideoElement.prototype.load = vi.fn();
@@ -239,6 +282,57 @@ describe('FloatingVideo', () => {
       expect(video.poster).toBe('http://example.com/poster.jpg');
     });
 
+    it('should disable live-edge sync for in-progress recording HLS', () => {
+      useVideoStore.mockImplementation((selector) => {
+        const state = {
+          isVisible: true,
+          streamUrl:
+            'http://example.com/api/channels/recordings/1/hls/index.m3u8',
+          contentType: 'vod',
+          metadata: { name: 'News Recording' },
+          hideVideo: mockHideVideo,
+        };
+        return selector ? selector(state) : state;
+      });
+
+      Hls.isSupported.mockReturnValue(true);
+
+      render(<FloatingVideo />);
+
+      expect(capturedHlsConfig).toEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          startPosition: 0,
+        })
+      );
+      expect(capturedHlsConfig).not.toHaveProperty(
+        'liveMaxLatencyDurationCount'
+      );
+      expect(capturedHlsConfig).not.toHaveProperty('liveSyncDurationCount');
+    });
+
+    it('shows an in-player error when hls.js config is invalid', () => {
+      useVideoStore.mockImplementation((selector) => {
+        const state = {
+          isVisible: true,
+          streamUrl:
+            'http://example.com/api/channels/recordings/1/hls/index.m3u8',
+          contentType: 'vod',
+          metadata: { name: 'News Recording' },
+          hideVideo: mockHideVideo,
+        };
+        return selector ? selector(state) : state;
+      });
+
+      Hls.isSupported.mockReturnValue(true);
+      forceHlsInitError = true;
+
+      render(<FloatingVideo />);
+
+      expect(
+        screen.getByText(/HLS initialization error: Illegal hls.js config/i)
+      ).toBeInTheDocument();
+    });
+
     it('should show metadata overlay', () => {
       const { container } = render(<FloatingVideo />);
       const video = container.querySelector('video');