diff --git a/wled00/FX_2Dfcn.cpp b/wled00/FX_2Dfcn.cpp
index 9491e134..0b1c01f6 100644
--- a/wled00/FX_2Dfcn.cpp
+++ b/wled00/FX_2Dfcn.cpp
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ void WS2812FX::setUpMatrix() {
       // content of the file is just raw JSON array in the form of [val1,val2,val3,...]
       // there are no other "key":"value" pairs in it
       // allowed values are: -1 (missing pixel/no LED attached), 0 (inactive/unused pixel), 1 (active/used pixel)
-      char    fileName[32]; strcpy_P(fileName, PSTR("/2d-gaps.json")); // reduce flash footprint
+      char    fileName[32]; strcpy_P(fileName, PSTR("/2d-gaps.json")); // reduce flash footprint //WLEDMM you sure?
       bool    isFile = WLED_FS.exists(fileName);
       size_t  gapSize = 0;
       int8_t *gapTable = nullptr;
@@ -842,11 +842,11 @@ void Segment::drawArc(unsigned x0, unsigned y0, int radius, uint32_t color, uint
 //WLEDMM for artifx
 bool Segment::jsonToPixels(char * name, uint8_t fileNr) {
   if (!isActive()) return true; // segment not active, nothing to do
-  char fileName[32] = { '\0' };
+  char fileName[42] = { '\0' }; // we need up to 40 bytes (seg.name is 32 bytes max)
   //WLEDMM: als support segment name ledmaps
   bool isFile = false;
   // strcpy_P(fileName, PSTR("/mario"));
-  snprintf(fileName, sizeof(fileName), "/%s%d.json", name, fileNr); //WLEDMM: trick to not include 0 in ledmap.json
+  snprintf(fileName, sizeof(fileName)-1, "/%s%d.json", name, fileNr); //WLEDMM: trick to not include 0 in ledmap.json
   // strcat(fileName, ".json");
   isFile = WLED_FS.exists(fileName);
 
@@ -928,7 +928,7 @@ void Segment::drawCharacter(unsigned char chr, int16_t x, int16_t y, uint8_t w,
 
     for (int j = 0; j<w; j++) { // character width
       int16_t x0 = x + (w-1) - j;
-      if ((x0 >= 0) || (x0 < cols)) {
+      if (unsigned(x0) < cols) { // WLEDMM same as "x0 > 0 && x0 < cols"
         if ((bits>>(j+(8-w))) & 0x01) { // bit set & drawing on-screen
         setPixelColorXY(x0, y0, fgCol);
         } else {
diff --git a/wled00/FX_fcn.cpp b/wled00/FX_fcn.cpp
index 573de218..b3b9cc54 100644
--- a/wled00/FX_fcn.cpp
+++ b/wled00/FX_fcn.cpp
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@
 #include "FX.h"
 #include "palettes.h"
 #ifdef ARDUINO_ARCH_ESP32
-#include <esp_timer.h>     // WLEDMM to get esp_timer_get_time() 
+#include <esp_timer.h>     // WLEDMM to get esp_timer_get_time()
+#include "freertos/FreeRTOS.h"
+#include "freertos/portmacro.h"
+static portMUX_TYPE s_wled_strip_mux = portMUX_INITIALIZER_UNLOCKED; // to protect deleting Segment::_globalLeds
 #endif
 
 /*
@@ -953,7 +956,9 @@ static void xyFromBlock(uint16_t &x,uint16_t &y, uint16_t i, uint16_t vW, uint16
     x = vW / 2 - vStrip - 1;
     y = vH / 2 + vStrip - i2 * vStrip * 2;
   }
-
+  // softhack007 not sure if clamping is necessary
+  //x = min(x, uint16_t(vW-1)); // clamp x at vW-1  
+  //y = min(y, uint16_t(vH-1)); // clamp y at vH-1
 }
 
 void IRAM_ATTR_YN WLED_O2_ATTR __attribute__((hot)) Segment::setPixelColor(int i, uint32_t col) //WLEDMM: IRAM_ATTR conditionally
@@ -1847,9 +1852,19 @@ void WS2812FX::finalizeInit(void)
 
   //initialize leds array. TBD: realloc if nr of leds change
   if (Segment::_globalLeds) {
+    // DONG - Valkyrie is about to die
+    // this is a critical section that will be removed with PR #278 which removes _globalLeds
+    // problem: suspendStripService provides interlocking, but there’s a window before service() observes it, 
+    //          and ESP32 is dual-core. A critical section closes that window so the pointer swap is atomic across cores.
+#if defined(ARDUINO_ARCH_ESP32)
+    taskENTER_CRITICAL(&s_wled_strip_mux);
+#endif
     free(Segment::_globalLeds);
     Segment::_globalLeds = nullptr;
     purgeSegments(true);   // WLEDMM moved here, because it seems to improve stability.
+#if defined(ARDUINO_ARCH_ESP32)
+    taskEXIT_CRITICAL(&s_wled_strip_mux);
+#endif
   }
   if (useLedsArray && getLengthTotal()>0) { // WLEDMM avoid malloc(0)
     size_t arrSize = sizeof(CRGB) * getLengthTotal();