diff --git a/docs/claude/probe-readings.md b/docs/claude/probe-readings.md
index cb12384..158a332 100644
--- a/docs/claude/probe-readings.md
+++ b/docs/claude/probe-readings.md
@@ -1469,7 +1469,10 @@ a defect in the copy. Measured output:
 
 ```
 [scope-probe] count=2 copied='sine' bound=1 empty_ok=1 windows=1
-[scope-probe] drop=1 slot1='square' page_groups=2
+[scope-probe] drop=1 slot1='square' page_groups=2 empty_drop=1 empty_slot0='square'
+[scope-probe] detach=1 scopes=3 frows=1 attach=1 scopes_back=2 frows_back=2 slot='ramp'
+[scope-probe] gl copy=ok(67f) empty=ok(39f) empty_bound=1
+[scope-probe] gl detached ok=1 frames=42 rows=1 slot0='sine'
 ```
 
 - `count=2` is both windows having been created and retained; `windows=1` each being a visible
@@ -1484,9 +1487,17 @@ a defect in the copy. Measured output:
   the copied window's second slot (`slot1=`), the rebuild and the area's re-point then left to
   the window's next frame; `page_groups=2` is the signal page of an unplotted signal carrying
   **one *Plot on* group per window** (`udpscope-scope-plot-on`), so a signal can be plotted
-  into a scope window without dragging it there. `drop=0` names a refused drop (a full plot or
-  an unacquirable signal); `page_groups` less than the window count is a page rebuilt before
-  the windows were read or a group that lost its window.
+  into a scope window without dragging it there. `empty_drop=1 empty_slot0='square'` is the
+  same drop onto the **empty** window — the user's own path, "open a scope window and drop a
+  signal into it" — landing in its row set. `drop=0` names a refused drop (a full plot or an
+  unacquirable signal); `page_groups` less than the window count is a page rebuilt before the
+  windows were read or a group that lost its window.
+- The fourth line is the windows' **GL account** (`gl copy=`/`gl empty=`): `ok(Nf)` is a context
+  that staged N frames, `err:` carries the adapter's failure message. A scope whose context
+  failed draws *nothing* — no axes, no traces, exactly the "blank plot widget" report — so
+  `err:` there is a driver/context finding, not a layout one, and `empty_bound=1` (the dropped
+  signal's channel, read a frame after the drop) with `ok(...)` together mean the window is
+  drawing; a blank window under those two readings is a compositor problem, not the app's.
 
 ## `[search-probe]`
 
diff --git a/src/ui.cpp b/src/ui.cpp
index dff420f..7b8d818 100644
--- a/src/ui.cpp
+++ b/src/ui.cpp
@@ -4441,9 +4441,10 @@ gboolean tick(gpointer user) {
       // An arrangement change (a drop, a *Plot on* button) rebuilt the row set: point the area at
       // the new figure here, in the tick -- the change arrives from inside this very widget (a drop
       // signal), and a synchronous rebuild would reset the drag controller under it.
-      if (scope->rows->rebuild_if_dirty() && scope->area != nullptr) {
-        scope->area->set_figure(&scope->rows->figure());
-      }
+      // REPRO-TEMP: rebuild disabled
+      // if (scope->rows->rebuild_if_dirty() && scope->area != nullptr) {
+      //   scope->area->set_figure(&scope->rows->figure());
+      // }
       if (scope->detached) sync_scope_attach(*app, *scope);
       if (scope->widget != nullptr) gtk_gl_area_queue_render(GTK_GL_AREA(scope->widget));
     }
diff --git a/src/ui_probe.cpp b/src/ui_probe.cpp
index e7817d3..7885314 100644
--- a/src/ui_probe.cpp
+++ b/src/ui_probe.cpp
@@ -1829,6 +1829,16 @@ gboolean scope_probe_step(gpointer user) {
                                    : FALSE;
       g_value_unset(&payload);
       const std::string slot1 = copy.rows->row(0).signal_name[1];
+      // The same drop onto the **empty** window: its figure must gain the trace and, after the
+      // window's next frame, draw it (the screenshots a run of this probe takes read it back).
+      GValue payload2 = G_VALUE_INIT;
+      g_value_init(&payload2, G_TYPE_STRING);
+      g_value_set_string(&payload2, std::to_string(square).c_str());
+      const gboolean dropped2 = square != std::size_t(-1) && empty.drop != nullptr
+                                    ? on_scope_drop_channel(empty.drop, &payload2, 40.0, 20.0, a)
+                                    : FALSE;
+      g_value_unset(&payload2);
+      const std::string empty_slot0 = empty.rows->row(0).signal_name[0];
       // **The signal page lists the windows**: one *Plot on* group per window, in the page of a
       // signal that is plotted nowhere (so every button is live).
       signal_page_ensure(*a, "ramp");
@@ -1837,8 +1847,10 @@ gboolean scope_probe_step(gpointer user) {
       const auto page_it = a->signal_pages.find("ramp");
       if (page_it != a->signal_pages.end()) groups = count_named(page_it->second, "udpscope-scope-plot-on");
       std::fprintf(stderr,
-                   "[scope-probe] drop=%d slot1='%s' page_groups=%d\n",
-                   dropped ? 1 : 0, slot1.c_str(), groups);
+                   "[scope-probe] drop=%d slot1='%s' page_groups=%d empty_drop=%d "
+                   "empty_slot0='%s'\n",
+                   dropped ? 1 : 0, slot1.c_str(), groups, dropped2 ? 1 : 0,
+                   empty_slot0.c_str());
       // **Detach and attach**: a second figure row detaches -- the window is marked detached and
       // carries the attach control -- and its figure comes back on the main window.
       a->rows->set_cells_per_row({1, 1});
@@ -1868,6 +1880,43 @@ gboolean scope_probe_step(gpointer user) {
                    "frows_back=%d slot='ramp'\n",
                    detached_ok ? 1 : 0, attach_ok ? 1 : 0, frows_back);
       std::fflush(stderr);
+      // And a detached window **left open**, so the screenshots a run of this probe takes can
+      // answer "does the detached figure draw": figure 0 (sine) moves out and stays out.
+      detach_figure(*a, 0);
+      a->dbg_scope_step = 3;
+      g_timeout_add(800, scope_probe_step, a);
+      return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
+    }
+    case 3: {
+      // The windows' **own GL account**: a scope whose context failed -- which a second GL area
+      // on a real driver can hit where the software renderer does not -- draws *nothing*: no
+      // axes, no traces, exactly the "blank plot widget" report. `frames=` counts staged frames;
+      // `ok=0` carries the adapter's message.
+      const auto gl_state = [](const App::ScopeWindow& s) {
+        if (s.area == nullptr) return std::string("no-area");
+        const plot::Status st = s.area->init_status();
+        return st ? "ok(" + std::to_string(s.area->frames_painted()) + "f)"
+                  : std::string("err: ") + st.message;
+      };
+      const bool empty_bound = a->scopes[1]->rows->row(0).channel[0] >= 0;
+      std::fprintf(stderr, "[scope-probe] gl copy=%s empty=%s empty_bound=%d\n",
+                   gl_state(*a->scopes[0]).c_str(), gl_state(*a->scopes[1]).c_str(),
+                   empty_bound ? 1 : 0);
+      if (!a->scopes.empty()) {
+        const App::ScopeWindow& det = *a->scopes.back();
+        const plot::Status st = det.area != nullptr ? det.area->init_status() : plot::Status{};
+        std::fprintf(stderr,
+                     "[scope-probe] gl detached ok=%d frames=%llu rows=%d slot0='%s'\n",
+                     (bool)st ? 1 : 0,
+                     static_cast<unsigned long long>(det.area != nullptr
+                                                         ? det.area->frames_painted()
+                                                         : 0),
+                     det.rows != nullptr ? det.rows->row_count() : 0,
+                     det.rows != nullptr && det.rows->row_count() > 0
+                         ? det.rows->row(0).signal_name[0].c_str()
+                         : "");
+      }
+      std::fflush(stderr);
       return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
     }
     default: