diff --git a/scripts/profile_sync.py b/scripts/profile_sync.py
index 24681a3c1..97823280e 100644
--- a/scripts/profile_sync.py
+++ b/scripts/profile_sync.py
@@ -2216,15 +2216,41 @@ def page_version(profile: dict, cache_dir: str, offline: bool) -> str | None:
     return match.group(1) if match else None
 
 
-def version_warning(report: VersionReport | None, pin: str | None) -> str | None:
-    """Flag a declared version that names a tag away from the resolved pin."""
+def version_warning(
+    report: VersionReport | None,
+    pin: str | None,
+    relation: tuple[int, int] | None = None,
+    passed_release: str | None = None,
+) -> str | None:
+    """Flag a declared version that names a tag away from the resolved pin.
+
+    ``relation`` is the pin's (ahead, behind) count against the tag commit.
+    A pin after its tag is a build between two releases. A pin before it
+    describes code the declared release had already replaced.
+    ``passed_release`` is a later release the pin already contains, which
+    core_version should name instead.
+    """
     if report is None or not report.tag_commit or not pin:
         return None
-    if report.tag_commit == pin:
+    if report.tag_commit == pin and not passed_release:
         return None
+    if passed_release:
+        return (
+            f"core_version {report.declared} is older than the code: the pin "
+            f"{pin[:7]} already contains release {passed_release}"
+        )
+    where = ""
+    if relation is not None:
+        ahead, behind = relation
+        if ahead and not behind:
+            where = f", {ahead} commits after the tag"
+        elif behind and not ahead:
+            where = f", {behind} commits before the tag: core_version is later than the code"
+        elif ahead and behind:
+            where = f", off the tag's history ({ahead} ahead, {behind} behind)"
     return (
         f"core_version {report.declared} names tag commit {report.tag_commit[:7]}, "
-        f"the pin resolved to {pin[:7]}"
+        f"the pin resolved to {pin[:7]}{where}"
     )
 
 
@@ -2901,6 +2927,16 @@ def bump_commit(
     if pending_recale(report, accept_changed, text):
         return False
     document = yaml.safe_load(text)
+    if document.get("built_by"):
+        # The pin is the commit a platform builds (recalbox gsplus.mk, the
+        # mame0258 its package fetches), not a point on a moving branch:
+        # HEAD is a build nobody ships under this name.
+        print(
+            f"{path.stem}: pinned to the build {', '.join(document['built_by'])} "
+            "ships, advanced by hand",
+            file=sys.stderr,
+        )
+        return False
     if any(isinstance(document.get(f), dict) for f in ("source_commit", "upstream_commit")):
         # A pin per build mode names one revision per repository, and the
         # report heads only the primary one: rewriting str(dict) was a
@@ -3937,7 +3973,48 @@ def _attach_version(
     except upstream.UpstreamError as exc:
         print(f"{report.name}: version check skipped: {exc}", file=sys.stderr)
         return
-    report.version_warning = version_warning(report.version, report.pin)
+    relation = None
+    passed = None
+    version = report.version
+    try:
+        if version and version.tag_commit and report.pin and version.tag_commit != report.pin:
+            relation = upstream.ancestry(
+                repo, version.tag_commit, report.pin, args.cache_dir, args.offline
+            )
+        passed = _passed_release(args, repo, version, report.pin)
+    except upstream.RateLimitError:
+        raise
+    except upstream.UpstreamError as exc:
+        print(f"{report.name}: tag ancestry unread: {exc}", file=sys.stderr)
+    report.version_warning = version_warning(version, report.pin, relation, passed)
+
+
+def _passed_release(
+    args: argparse.Namespace,
+    repo: upstream.Repo,
+    version: VersionReport | None,
+    pin: str | None,
+) -> str | None:
+    """The latest release, when the pin already contains it and core_version
+    names another one.
+
+    The latest tag is no witness: nightly, continuous and Pre-release tags
+    sort first on many forges. The latest release is a version the project
+    published as such.
+    """
+    if not version or not pin or not version.latest_release:
+        return None
+    if version.latest_release == version.declared:
+        return None
+    commit = upstream.tag_commit(repo, version.latest_release, args.cache_dir, args.offline)
+    if not commit:
+        return None
+    if commit == pin:
+        return version.latest_release
+    relation = upstream.ancestry(repo, commit, pin, args.cache_dir, args.offline)
+    if relation and relation[1] == 0:
+        return version.latest_release
+    return None
 
 
 def _print_extras(
diff --git a/scripts/upstream.py b/scripts/upstream.py
index 487c9e3cf..c23eb2e38 100644
--- a/scripts/upstream.py
+++ b/scripts/upstream.py
@@ -742,6 +742,41 @@ def compare(
     return CompareResult(files, truncated, payload.get("status") == "diverged")
 
 
+def _commits_ahead(payload: object, family: str) -> int | None:
+    """Commits the compare head carries that its base does not."""
+    if not isinstance(payload, dict):
+        return None
+    if family == "github":
+        value = payload.get("ahead_by")
+    elif family == "gitlab":
+        value = len(payload.get("commits") or [])
+    else:
+        value = payload.get("total_commits")
+    return value if isinstance(value, int) else None
+
+
+def ancestry(
+    repo: Repo, base: str, head: str, cache_dir: str, offline: bool = False
+) -> tuple[int, int] | None:
+    """(ahead, behind): commits head has that base lacks, and the reverse.
+
+    Two shas never change their history, so both answers are cached for
+    good. GitHub gives both counts in one answer, GitLab and Forgejo list
+    one direction only and are asked twice.
+    """
+    forward = _api(_compare_url(repo, base, head), cache_dir, offline)
+    ahead = _commits_ahead(forward, repo.family)
+    if ahead is None:
+        return None
+    if repo.family == "github":
+        behind = forward.get("behind_by")
+    else:
+        behind = _commits_ahead(
+            _api(_compare_url(repo, head, base), cache_dir, offline), repo.family
+        )
+    return (ahead, behind) if isinstance(behind, int) else None
+
+
 def find_renamed(result: CompareResult, path: str) -> str | None:
     """New path of a file the comparison reports as renamed."""
     for change in result.files:
diff --git a/tests/test_profile_sync.py b/tests/test_profile_sync.py
index d5644cd09..e98e8a0d0 100644
--- a/tests/test_profile_sync.py
+++ b/tests/test_profile_sync.py
@@ -2999,6 +2999,24 @@ class TestBumpCommit(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(profile_sync.pending_recale(report), 0)
         self.assertTrue(bump_commit(self.path, report))
 
+    def test_refused_on_a_build_a_platform_compiles(self):
+        # mame0258 documents the MAME Recalbox builds: libretro/mame HEAD
+        # is a later release, and every ref still anchors there.
+        self.path.write_text(SAMPLE + "built_by: [recalbox]\n", encoding="utf-8")
+        part = PartResult(
+            RefPart("a.c", 10, 12, "a.c:10-12"), "ANCHORED", None, 10, 12, []
+        )
+        report = ProfileReport(
+            name="p", repo="o/n", pin="pin", head="newhead",
+            entries=[
+                EntryReport("a.bin", "a.c:10-12, (just a note)", "ANCHORED", [part])
+            ],
+            counts={"ANCHORED": 1},
+        )
+        with contextlib.redirect_stderr(io.StringIO()):
+            self.assertFalse(bump_commit(self.path, report))
+        self.assertNotIn("newhead", self.path.read_text())
+
     def test_refused_when_no_ref_reads_the_pinned_repository(self):
         """gam4980: every bare libretro.c ref anchored in upstream, and the
         bump wrote the fork's HEAD over refs that never described it."""
@@ -3171,6 +3189,55 @@ class TestCheckVersion(unittest.TestCase):
         result = check_version({"core_version": "v3.0.0"}, self.repo, self.dir, False)
         self.assertIsNone(version_warning(result, "tagsha"))
 
+    def test_warning_says_which_side_of_the_tag_the_pin_is(self):
+        # 52 warnings read alike: a build after its release and a pin older
+        # than the release it claims could not be told apart.
+        result = check_version({"core_version": "v3.0.0"}, self.repo, self.dir, False)
+        self.assertIn("4 commits after the tag", version_warning(result, "p", (4, 0)))
+        self.assertIn("core_version is later than the code",
+                      version_warning(result, "p", (0, 9)))
+        self.assertIn("off the tag's history", version_warning(result, "p", (2, 3)))
+
+    def test_warning_names_a_release_the_pin_already_contains(self):
+        result = check_version({"core_version": "v3.0.0"}, self.repo, self.dir, False)
+        warning = version_warning(result, "tagsha", None, "v3.1.0")
+        self.assertIn("already contains release v3.1.0", warning)
+
+
+class TestAncestry(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.tmp = tempfile.TemporaryDirectory()
+        self.saved = profile_sync.upstream._http_json
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        profile_sync.upstream._http_json = self.saved
+        self.tmp.cleanup()
+
+    def test_github_answers_both_directions_at_once(self):
+        calls = []
+
+        def answer(url):
+            calls.append(url)
+            return {"ahead_by": 3, "behind_by": 0}
+
+        profile_sync.upstream._http_json = answer
+        repo = profile_sync.upstream.parse_repo("https://github.com/o/n")
+        self.assertEqual(
+            profile_sync.upstream.ancestry(repo, "tag", "pin", self.tmp.name), (3, 0)
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(len(calls), 1)
+
+    def test_gitlab_is_asked_both_ways(self):
+        def answer(url):
+            forward = "from=tag&to=pin" in url
+            return {"commits": [{}] * (0 if forward else 5)}
+
+        profile_sync.upstream._http_json = answer
+        repo = profile_sync.upstream.parse_repo("https://gitlab.com/o/n")
+        self.assertEqual(
+            profile_sync.upstream.ancestry(repo, "tag", "pin", self.tmp.name), (0, 5)
+        )
+
 
 HASH_PROFILE = {
     "files": [
diff --git a/wiki/first-install.md b/wiki/first-install.md
index f6a62a281..e62a9596b 100644
--- a/wiki/first-install.md
+++ b/wiki/first-install.md
@@ -76,8 +76,7 @@ It shows your setup and its BIOS folder:
 ```
 
 - **Right folder?** Go on.
-- **Wrong folder?** Press Ctrl+C. Run the command again with your folder
-  after `--dest`:
+- **Wrong folder?** Press Ctrl+C. Run it again with your folder:
 
 <!-- os-tabs windows: --dest D:\path\to\bios -->
 ```sh
@@ -120,14 +119,12 @@ Add `--check` to the same command. It changes nothing.
 curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Abdess/retrobios/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --check
 ```
 
-All good when every file is present and none is wrong:
+All good when every file is present:
 
 ```
   109/109 present (109 verified, 0 wrong hash)
 ```
 
-An empty folder also shows `0 wrong hash`, with `0/109 present`.
-
 ## Undo
 
 It keeps every file it replaces in a `retrobios-backup` folder, next to your
@@ -138,8 +135,7 @@ BIOS folder. The end of the run prints the line that puts them back.
 ### No supported platform detected.
 
 At a terminal, a menu follows. Pick your setup by its number, then type its
-BIOS folder, or press Enter for the usual one. A folder pasted with quotes
-around it is fine.
+BIOS folder, or press Enter for the usual one.
 
 With `--no-input`, or without a terminal, it stops and prints the command to
 use.
diff --git a/wiki/troubleshooting.md b/wiki/troubleshooting.md
index fdbfaeb74..260544c0d 100644
--- a/wiki/troubleshooting.md
+++ b/wiki/troubleshooting.md
@@ -66,9 +66,8 @@ version.
 
 ## If the command fails { #installation-script-fails }
 
-- **Network error:** try again once github.com opens.
-- **`The clock reads ...`:** the date is wrong. Let it sync over Wi-Fi, or set
-  it, then run again.
+- **Network error:** try again later.
+- **`The clock reads ...`:** set the right date.
 - **Permission denied:** do what the message says. It names what to run.
 - **No setup found:** name it and its folder: