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# [Bug]: Dashboard screencast freezes on frame acknowledgment failures #40658

@Ishita-Jinturkar

Description

@Ishita-Jinturkar

Bug Description

Dashboard video feed freezes permanently when frame acknowledgments fail (network timeout, connection issues) with no error messages or recovery.

Root Cause

The screencast protocol uses a request-acknowledgment system where the browser waits for an acknowledgment before sending the next frame. The current code uses sendMayFail() which silently swallows all errors, leaving users with a frozen video and no indication of what went wrong.

Reproduction Steps

  1. Start Playwright Dashboard with screencast enabled
  2. Open a page and start viewing the video feed
  3. Simulate one of these conditions:
    • Network timeout: Artificially delay the network connection during frame ack
    • High latency: Use a network throttling tool (e.g., Chrome DevTools Network tab)
    • Connection interruption: Briefly disconnect network while screencast is active
    • Session termination: Close browser session while screencast callback is pending
  4. Expected: Error message shown, or video recovers gracefully
  5. Actual: Video feed freezes permanently with no error or recovery

Affected Scenarios

  • Network timeouts between Dashboard and browser
  • Browser session terminated while screencast active
  • CDP/protocol connection issues
  • High latency connections

User Impact

  • Video feed stops updating permanently
  • No error message shown
  • No recovery mechanism - requires full restart
  • Users don't know if it's a bug or intentional pause

Technical Details

  • Browser sends frame → waits for ack → sends next frame
  • If ack fails, browser never sends next frame
  • sendMayFail() hides these failures completely

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