diff --git a/src/h264.c b/src/h264.c
index 4f30c2b..113aecf 100644
--- a/src/h264.c
+++ b/src/h264.c
@@ -430,14 +430,6 @@ static void h264_va_picture_to_v4l2(struct request_data *driver_data,
 			decode->delta_pic_order_cnt1	= sh.delta_pic_order_cnt1;
 			decode->pic_order_cnt_bit_size	= sh.pic_order_cnt_bit_size;
 			decode->dec_ref_pic_marking_bit_size = sh.dec_ref_pic_marking_bit_size;
-			request_log("slice_header parse: idr_pic_id=%u "
-				    "poc_lsb=%u poc_bits=%u refmark_bits=%u "
-				    "frame_num=%u slice_type=%u pps_id=%u\n",
-				    sh.idr_pic_id, sh.pic_order_cnt_lsb,
-				    sh.pic_order_cnt_bit_size,
-				    sh.dec_ref_pic_marking_bit_size,
-				    sh.frame_num, sh.slice_type,
-				    sh.pic_parameter_set_id);
 		} else {
 			request_log("slice_header parse FAILED rc=%d "
 				    "(payload_len=%zu) — DECODE_PARAMS bit_size "
@@ -464,42 +456,6 @@ static void h264_va_picture_to_v4l2(struct request_data *driver_data,
 	 * the OUTPUT bitstream — a hypothesis verified empirically by
 	 * running this patch and inspecting the CAPTURE buffer.
 	 */
-	/*
-	 * DEBUG INSTRUMENTATION (0014): dump the raw bytes of
-	 * VAPicture->CurrPic plus sizeof(VAPictureH264) so we can
-	 * tell whether the observed TopFieldOrderCnt=65536 anomaly is
-	 * (a) at the documented byte-offset 12 (ffmpeg-side bug or
-	 * intentional non-spec encoding) or
-	 * (b) at a different offset (libva ABI / VA_PADDING_LOW
-	 * mismatch between ffmpeg's writer and our reader).
-	 *
-	 * Documented VAPictureH264 layout (libva-2.x):
-	 *   offset 0:  VASurfaceID picture_id  (uint32)
-	 *   offset 4:  uint32 frame_idx
-	 *   offset 8:  uint32 flags
-	 *   offset 12: int32 TopFieldOrderCnt
-	 *   offset 16: int32 BottomFieldOrderCnt
-	 *   offset 20+: uint32 va_reserved[VA_PADDING_LOW]
-	 */
-	{
-		const unsigned char *cp = (const unsigned char *)&VAPicture->CurrPic;
-		char hex[32 * 3 + 1] = { 0 };
-		unsigned int i;
-		for (i = 0; i < 32; i++)
-			snprintf(hex + i * 3, 4, " %02x", cp[i]);
-		request_log("VAPictureH264 sizeof=%zu CurrPic[0..31]:%s\n",
-			    sizeof(VAPictureH264), hex);
-		request_log("VAPictureH264 CurrPic field reads: "
-			    "picture_id=0x%08x frame_idx=%u flags=0x%x "
-			    "TopFOC=%d BottomFOC=%d frame_num=%u\n",
-			    (unsigned)VAPicture->CurrPic.picture_id,
-			    (unsigned)VAPicture->CurrPic.frame_idx,
-			    (unsigned)VAPicture->CurrPic.flags,
-			    (int)VAPicture->CurrPic.TopFieldOrderCnt,
-			    (int)VAPicture->CurrPic.BottomFieldOrderCnt,
-			    (unsigned)VAPicture->frame_num);
-	}
-
 	decode->nal_ref_idc = nal_ref_idc;
 	decode->frame_num = VAPicture->frame_num;
 	decode->top_field_order_cnt =
diff --git a/src/surface.c b/src/surface.c
index 348d493..549b595 100644
--- a/src/surface.c
+++ b/src/surface.c
@@ -437,8 +437,6 @@ VAStatus RequestSyncSurface(VADriverContextP context, VASurfaceID surface_id)
 
 	if (surface_object->status != VASurfaceRendering) {
 		status = VA_STATUS_SUCCESS;
-		request_log("  RequestSyncSurface(surf=%u) early-exit, status=%d\n",
-			    surface_id, surface_object->status);
 		goto complete;
 	}
 
@@ -522,8 +520,6 @@ error:
 	}
 
 complete:
-	request_log("  RequestSyncSurface(surf=%u) RETURN status=%d\n",
-		    surface_id, status);
 	return status;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/v4l2.c b/src/v4l2.c
index abc7b66..1063c5d 100644
--- a/src/v4l2.c
+++ b/src/v4l2.c
@@ -457,7 +457,16 @@ int v4l2_get_controls(int video_fd, int request_fd,
 	rc = v4l2_ioctl_controls(video_fd, request_fd, VIDIOC_G_EXT_CTRLS,
 				 control_array, num_controls);
 	if (rc < 0) {
-		request_log("Unable to get control(s): %s\n", strerror(errno));
+		/*
+		 * EACCES on G_EXT_CTRLS for request fds is the normal case on
+		 * this hantro rig — the kernel doesn't allow readback through
+		 * the request_fd. Caller (h264.c) tracks this with a one-time
+		 * "V4L2 readback unavailable" announcement. Suppress per-call
+		 * noise to keep the log signal-to-noise high.
+		 */
+		if (errno != EACCES)
+			request_log("Unable to get control(s): %s\n",
+				    strerror(errno));
 		return -1;
 	}