diff --git a/bin/llm-runner b/bin/llm-runner
index ed7d61c..d675e14 100755
--- a/bin/llm-runner
+++ b/bin/llm-runner
@@ -84,14 +84,8 @@ cmd_stop() {
         pkill -f "llama-server" 2>/dev/null || true
         log_success "All llama-server processes terminated."
     else
-        local pid
-        pid=$(lsof -ti :"$target" 2>/dev/null || fuser "$target/tcp" 2>/dev/null || true)
-        if [ -n "$pid" ]; then
-            kill "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
-            log_success "Killed server on port ${target} (PID: ${pid})."
-        else
-            log_warn "No active server found on port ${target}."
-        fi
+        fuser -k -9 "$target/tcp" 2>/dev/null || true
+        log_success "Killed server on port ${target}."
     fi
 }
 
@@ -122,12 +116,10 @@ launch_instance() {
         exit 1
     fi
 
-    # Check if port is already in use
-    local existing_pid
-    existing_pid=$(lsof -ti :"$port" 2>/dev/null || fuser "$port/tcp" 2>/dev/null || true)
-    if [ -n "$existing_pid" ]; then
-        log_warn "Port ${port} is already in use by PID ${existing_pid}. Terminating existing process..."
-        kill -9 "$existing_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+    # Ensure target port is free
+    if fuser "$port/tcp" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        log_warn "Port ${port} is in use. Stopping existing process on port ${port}..."
+        fuser -k -9 "$port/tcp" 2>/dev/null || true
         sleep 1
     fi
 
@@ -189,6 +181,8 @@ launch_instance() {
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 cmd_cluster() {
     log_info "Starting Multi-Agent Cluster (SuperQwen 27B + 2x Qwen 4B)..."
+    pkill -f "llama-server" 2>/dev/null || true
+    sleep 1
 
     # Trap to gracefully stop all background instances on Ctrl+C
     cleanup_cluster() {
@@ -245,6 +239,8 @@ cmd_cluster() {
 
 cmd_muse() {
     log_info "Starting Muse-Glimmer 30B Solo Server (Max Context: 128K)..."
+    pkill -f "llama-server" 2>/dev/null || true
+    sleep 1
     local model="${MODEL:-${SCRIPT_DIR}/models/muse-glimmer/Muse-Glimmer-30B-UD-Q4_K_XL.gguf}"
     local mmproj="${MMPROJ:-${SCRIPT_DIR}/models/muse-glimmer/mmproj-Muse-Glimmer-30B-Q8_0.gguf}"
     if [ "${mmproj}" = "none" ]; then mmproj=""; fi
@@ -263,6 +259,8 @@ cmd_muse() {
 
 cmd_superqwen() {
     log_info "Starting SuperQwen 3.8 27B Solo Server (Max Context: 256K)..."
+    pkill -f "llama-server" 2>/dev/null || true
+    sleep 1
     local model="${MODEL:-${SCRIPT_DIR}/models/Qwen3.8/SuperQwen3.8-27b-abliterated-Q4_K_M.gguf}"
     if [ ! -f "${model}" ] && [ -f "${SCRIPT_DIR}/models/Qwen3.8/Qwen3.8-27B-UD-Q4_K_XL.gguf" ]; then
         model="${SCRIPT_DIR}/models/Qwen3.8/Qwen3.8-27B-UD-Q4_K_XL.gguf"
@@ -284,6 +282,8 @@ cmd_superqwen() {
 
 cmd_qwen4b() {
     log_info "Starting Qwen 3.5 4B Solo Server..."
+    pkill -f "llama-server" 2>/dev/null || true
+    sleep 1
     local model="${MODEL:-${SCRIPT_DIR}/models/Qwen3.5/Qwen3.5-4B-Q5_K_M.gguf}"
     local mmproj="${MMPROJ:-${SCRIPT_DIR}/models/Qwen3.5/mmproj-BF16.gguf}"
     if [ "${mmproj}" = "none" ]; then mmproj=""; fi
@@ -302,6 +302,8 @@ cmd_qwen4b() {
 
 cmd_custom() {
     log_info "Starting Custom Server Instance..."
+    pkill -f "llama-server" 2>/dev/null || true
+    sleep 1
     local model="${MODEL:-}"
     if [ -z "${model}" ] || [ ! -f "${model}" ]; then
         log_error "No valid MODEL specified! Pass MODEL=/path/to/model.gguf"