Merge branch 'deploy/all-2026-08-24' into 'deploy/soak-2026-08-21'

deploy: land MRs 1-12 and upstream 1.2.20, as shipped in relay component

See merge request !13

1 files changed, 14 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1782bc3..77a0ad8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -289,12 +289,22 @@ See [public pool directory](docs/pool-directory.md) for the website/API shape.
 **Participant** — mine to someone else's pool. Enter or select the pool's `.btf` address and enable Start Mining.
 
 The built-in participant miner connects to operator pools through the `.btf`
-path. External miners can use Bitflash as a local Stratum bridge:
+path. Use it — **third-party RandomX miners such as XMRig and SRBMiner cannot
+mine Bitflash pools**, and no amount of configuration changes that. In RandomX
+mode they speak the Monero-style JSON-RPC protocol (`login`/`job`/`submit`) and
+assume a Monero-style job: the nonce at byte 39 of the blob, and a 32-byte seed
+hash given as 64 hex characters. Bitflash pools speak Bitcoin-style Stratum
+(`mining.subscribe`/`mining.notify`/`mining.submit`) over an 80-byte header
+whose nonce is at byte 76 — byte 39 falls inside the merkle root — and key
+RandomX from a fixed 36-byte string that is not a hash at all.
+
+`-stratumbridge` carries that same Bitcoin-style Stratum over the `.btf` path,
+so a miner on this machine can reach a pool it otherwise could not address. It
+is a byte relay, not a protocol translator, so it helps only a miner that
+already speaks the pool's dialect, and it does not make the miners above work:
 
 ```bash
 ./bitflash -nogui -stratumbridge=POOL_BTF_ADDRESS -stratumbridgeport=3333
-SRBMiner-MULTI --algorithm randomx --pool 127.0.0.1:3333 --wallet YOUR_BTF_ADDRESS --password x
-xmrig -a rx/0 -o 127.0.0.1:3333 -u YOUR_BTF_ADDRESS -p x
 ```
 
 Estimate rewards and electricity cost locally:
@@ -322,7 +332,7 @@ Bitflash has a reliable public market.
   -poolstatusfile=/var/www/pool_status.json \
   -poolroundsfile=/var/www/pool_rounds.json
 ./bitflash -nogui -gen -participant=POOL_BTF_ADDRESS  # mine to pool
-./bitflash -nogui -stratumbridge=POOL_BTF_ADDRESS      # local bridge for XMRig/SRBMiner
+./bitflash -nogui -stratumbridge=POOL_BTF_ADDRESS      # Stratum over .btf (see Mining)
 ```
 
 Every option takes `-` or `/`. **Under MSYS2 use the `-` form** — the shell