diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 1c8ee99..2c31b3c 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -271,6 +271,9 @@ build_release_linux() {
     [[ -f bin/asmap.dat ]]               && cp bin/asmap.dat "$dist_dir/"
     [[ -f bin/sapling-spend.params ]]    && cp bin/sapling-spend.params "$dist_dir/"
     [[ -f bin/sapling-output.params ]]   && cp bin/sapling-output.params "$dist_dir/"
+    # Bundle xmrig for mining support
+    local XMRIG_LINUX="$SCRIPT_DIR/prebuilt-binaries/xmrig-hac/xmrig"
+    [[ -f "$XMRIG_LINUX" ]] && { cp "$XMRIG_LINUX" "$dist_dir/"; chmod +x "$dist_dir/xmrig"; info "Bundled xmrig"; } || warn "xmrig not found — mining unavailable in zip"
     cp -r bin/res "$dist_dir/" 2>/dev/null || true
 
     # ── Zip ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -294,9 +297,14 @@ build_release_linux() {
 
     [[ -f bin/dragonxd ]]    && cp bin/dragonxd "$APPDIR/usr/bin/"
     [[ -f bin/dragonx-cli ]] && cp bin/dragonx-cli "$APPDIR/usr/bin/"
-    [[ -f bin/asmap.dat ]]   && cp bin/asmap.dat "$APPDIR/usr/share/ObsidianDragon/"
-    [[ -f bin/sapling-spend.params ]]  && cp bin/sapling-spend.params "$APPDIR/usr/share/ObsidianDragon/"
-    [[ -f bin/sapling-output.params ]] && cp bin/sapling-output.params "$APPDIR/usr/share/ObsidianDragon/"
+    # Daemon data files must be alongside the daemon binary (usr/bin/)
+    # because dragonxd searches relative to its own directory.
+    [[ -f bin/asmap.dat ]]             && cp bin/asmap.dat "$APPDIR/usr/bin/"
+    [[ -f bin/sapling-spend.params ]]  && cp bin/sapling-spend.params "$APPDIR/usr/bin/"
+    [[ -f bin/sapling-output.params ]] && cp bin/sapling-output.params "$APPDIR/usr/bin/"
+    # Bundle xmrig for mining support
+    local XMRIG_LINUX_AI="$SCRIPT_DIR/prebuilt-binaries/xmrig-hac/xmrig"
+    [[ -f "$XMRIG_LINUX_AI" ]] && { cp "$XMRIG_LINUX_AI" "$APPDIR/usr/bin/"; chmod +x "$APPDIR/usr/bin/xmrig"; }
 
     # Desktop entry
     cat > "$APPDIR/usr/share/applications/ObsidianDragon.desktop" <<'DESK'
@@ -602,6 +610,13 @@ HDR
         [[ -f "$DD/$f" ]] && cp "$DD/$f" "$dist_dir/"
     done
 
+    # Bundle Sapling params + asmap for the zip distribution
+    # (The single-file exe has these embedded via INCBIN, but the zip
+    # needs them on disk so the daemon can find them in its work dir.)
+    for f in sapling-spend.params sapling-output.params asmap.dat; do
+        [[ -f "$DD/$f" ]] && cp "$DD/$f" "$dist_dir/"
+    done
+
     cp -r bin/res "$dist_dir/" 2>/dev/null || true
 
     # ── Single-file exe (all resources embedded) ────────────────────────────
diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
index 6c55dd4..580f686 100755
--- a/setup.sh
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -627,8 +627,13 @@ XMRIG_SRC="$PROJECT_DIR/external/xmrig-hac"
 XMRIG_PREBUILT="$PROJECT_DIR/prebuilt-binaries/xmrig-hac"
 
 # Clean previous prebuilt xmrig binaries so we always rebuild
+# Only clean the binary for the platform(s) we are actually building,
+# otherwise a plain ./setup.sh deletes xmrig.exe without rebuilding it.
 if ! $CHECK_ONLY; then
-    rm -f "$XMRIG_PREBUILT/xmrig" "$XMRIG_PREBUILT/xmrig.exe" 2>/dev/null || true
+    rm -f "$XMRIG_PREBUILT/xmrig" 2>/dev/null || true
+    if $SETUP_WIN; then
+        rm -f "$XMRIG_PREBUILT/xmrig.exe" 2>/dev/null || true
+    fi
 fi
 
 # Helper: clone xmrig-hac if not present
diff --git a/src/app.cpp b/src/app.cpp
index d8003a6..cbd6e4f 100644
--- a/src/app.cpp
+++ b/src/app.cpp
@@ -1855,10 +1855,34 @@ bool App::startEmbeddedDaemon()
             }
             DEBUG_LOGF("Sapling params extracted successfully\n");
         } else {
-            daemon_status_ = "Sapling parameters not found. They should be in: " + rpc::Connection::getSaplingParamsDir();
-            DEBUG_LOGF("Sapling params not found and no embedded resources available!\n");
-            DEBUG_LOGF("Expected location: %s\n", rpc::Connection::getSaplingParamsDir().c_str());
-            return false;
+            // Fallback: check for params bundled alongside the executable
+            // (zip distributions bundle sapling-*.params next to the binary)
+            namespace fs = std::filesystem;
+            std::string exe_dir = util::Platform::getExecutableDirectory();
+            std::string daemon_dir = resources::getDaemonDirectory();
+            const char* paramFiles[] = { "sapling-spend.params", "sapling-output.params", "asmap.dat" };
+            bool copied = false;
+            if (!exe_dir.empty()) {
+                std::error_code ec;
+                fs::create_directories(daemon_dir, ec);
+                for (const char* name : paramFiles) {
+                    fs::path src = fs::path(exe_dir) / name;
+                    fs::path dst = fs::path(daemon_dir) / name;
+                    if (fs::exists(src) && !fs::exists(dst)) {
+                        DEBUG_LOGF("Copying bundled %s from exe dir to %s\n", name, daemon_dir.c_str());
+                        fs::copy_file(src, dst, ec);
+                        if (!ec) copied = true;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            if (copied && rpc::Connection::verifySaplingParams()) {
+                DEBUG_LOGF("Sapling params copied from exe directory successfully\n");
+            } else {
+                daemon_status_ = "Sapling parameters not found. They should be in: " + rpc::Connection::getSaplingParamsDir();
+                DEBUG_LOGF("Sapling params not found and no embedded resources available!\n");
+                DEBUG_LOGF("Expected location: %s\n", rpc::Connection::getSaplingParamsDir().c_str());
+                return false;
+            }
         }
     }
     
diff --git a/src/daemon/xmrig_manager.cpp b/src/daemon/xmrig_manager.cpp
index abb6179..444def2 100644
--- a/src/daemon/xmrig_manager.cpp
+++ b/src/daemon/xmrig_manager.cpp
@@ -466,6 +466,18 @@ bool XmrigManager::startProcess(const std::string& xmrigPath, const std::string&
         dup2(pipefd[1], STDERR_FILENO);
         close(pipefd[1]);
 
+        // Detach from controlling terminal's stdin to prevent SIGTTIN/SIGTTOU
+        // when running in a new process group (setpgid below).
+        int devnull = open("/dev/null", O_RDONLY);
+        if (devnull >= 0) {
+            dup2(devnull, STDIN_FILENO);
+            close(devnull);
+        }
+
+        // Ignore job-control signals that a background process group may receive
+        signal(SIGTTIN, SIG_IGN);
+        signal(SIGTTOU, SIG_IGN);
+
         // New process group so we can kill the whole group
         setpgid(0, 0);
         
diff --git a/src/resources/embedded_resources.cpp b/src/resources/embedded_resources.cpp
index b27b056..8487dfa 100644
--- a/src/resources/embedded_resources.cpp
+++ b/src/resources/embedded_resources.cpp
@@ -509,6 +509,18 @@ std::string getXmrigPath()
         return xmrigName;
     }
     
+    // Check alongside the wallet executable (zip / AppImage distributions)
+    {
+        std::string exeDir = util::Platform::getExecutableDirectory();
+        if (!exeDir.empty()) {
+            std::string exeDirPath = exeDir + "/" + xmrigName;
+            if (std::filesystem::exists(exeDirPath)) {
+                DEBUG_LOGF("[INFO] getXmrigPath: found alongside wallet at %s\n", exeDirPath.c_str());
+                return exeDirPath;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     // Check development paths
 #ifdef _WIN32
     // Not applicable for cross-compiled Windows builds
diff --git a/src/ui/windows/mining_tab.cpp b/src/ui/windows/mining_tab.cpp
index a4ce8f4..aa97689 100644
--- a/src/ui/windows/mining_tab.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/windows/mining_tab.cpp
@@ -153,10 +153,15 @@ void RenderMiningTab(App* app)
         s_pool_mode = app->settings()->getPoolMode();
         strncpy(s_pool_url, app->settings()->getPoolUrl().c_str(), sizeof(s_pool_url) - 1);
         strncpy(s_pool_worker, app->settings()->getPoolWorker().c_str(), sizeof(s_pool_worker) - 1);
-        
-        // If pool worker is empty or placeholder, default to user's first address
+        s_pool_state_loaded = true;
+    }
+
+    // Default pool worker to user's first shielded address once addresses are available
+    {
+        static bool s_pool_worker_defaulted = false;
         std::string workerStr(s_pool_worker);
-        if (workerStr.empty() || workerStr == "x") {
+        if (!s_pool_worker_defaulted && !state.addresses.empty() &&
+            (workerStr.empty() || workerStr == "x")) {
             std::string defaultAddr;
             for (const auto& addr : state.addresses) {
                 if (addr.type == "shielded" && !addr.address.empty()) {
@@ -175,9 +180,10 @@ void RenderMiningTab(App* app)
             if (!defaultAddr.empty()) {
                 strncpy(s_pool_worker, defaultAddr.c_str(), sizeof(s_pool_worker) - 1);
                 s_pool_worker[sizeof(s_pool_worker) - 1] = '\0';
+                s_pool_settings_dirty = true;
             }
+            s_pool_worker_defaulted = true;
         }
-        s_pool_state_loaded = true;
     }
 
     // Persist pool settings when dirty and no field is active