re: the waited object reads as an xe::kernel::XEvent

Executed the wait-object read on a live run under gdb. For every thread whose
frame 3 is XObject::Wait, rbx gives a pointer whose first quadword is
0x5555562db8f0, which is the PIE base plus 0xd878f0, and the symbol table has
vtable for xe::kernel::XEvent at 0xd878e0. The stored pointer is the vtable
symbol plus sixteen, since offset-to-top and RTTI come first, so it matches
exactly. The same vtable appears on every sampled waiting thread while the this
pointers differ, meaning many threads waiting on different XEvent instances. The
whole chain needs no DWARF and no rebuild, as the static groundwork predicted.

Two caveats, both recorded rather than smoothed over.

This is a healthy-play snapshot, not the freeze. The capture landed at 195 s of
flight with screen_id reporting flight and a non-black mean, because boot under
gdb costs about 300 s and the entire experiment has to fit inside one call --
a timeout kills the process group and takes the emulator with it, which lost an
earlier attempt outright. So this describes what threads wait on during normal
play, which is the control the frozen capture never had, but it is not the
frozen case.

And the this addresses look like host stack rather than heap. Either xenia
places these objects somewhere unusual, or rbx at frame 3 is not Wait's this
after the unwind and the vtable match is coincidence. An exact plus-sixteen
match on a known symbol is hard to get by accident, but the address range is not
what was expected. The settling check is to dump a few words at rbx and see
whether they look like an XEvent -- vtable, KernelState pointer, handle and type
fields -- or like saved registers.
This commit is contained in:
Sylpheed RE agent
2026-08-25 08:04:33 +00:00
parent b5d1f91743
commit 443a650949
3 changed files with 127 additions and 0 deletions

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@@ -719,6 +719,19 @@ search cannot find a *schedule*.
**Revises the previous entry**, which called route 1 "per-frame archaeology"
and route 2 (RelWithDebInfo rebuild) the way to make it easy. **Next: execute on
a frozen run** — two gdb commands per thread.
* ✅🟡 **(2026-08-25) Wait-object read WORKS: the object is an `xe::kernel::XEvent`.**
Executed under gdb: `frame 3``rbx``x/1gx $rbx` = **`0x5555562db8f0`** =
PIE base + `0xd878f0` = **`vtable for xe::kernel::XEvent` (+16 for
offset-to-top/RTTI)** — exact. Same vtable on every sampled waiting thread,
different `this` each, so many threads waiting on *different XEvent instances*.
No DWARF, no rebuild, as predicted. 🟡 **Two caveats, both recorded not glossed:**
(1) this is a **healthy-play** snapshot (`screen_id` = `flight`), not the freeze
— boot under gdb costs ~300 s and the whole thing must fit one call (a `timeout`
kills the process group and took the emulator with it once), leaving too little
to reach the ~267 s freeze; (2) the `this` addresses (`0x7ffd…`, `0x7ffc…`) look
like **host stack**, not heap, so either xenia places them unusually or `rbx`
isn't `Wait`'s `this` after unwind. **Check: dump a few words at `$rbx`
XEvent-like (vtable, KernelState*, handle) vs saved registers.**
* ~~🚧 BLOCKER: t=210/240 unreachable in one turn~~ — **superseded, see above**;
it rested on an untested assumption that a turn is one shell call. 595 s shell cap ~220 s boot (a ~190 s title movie that cannot be
tapped through) ~25 s startup = **~350 s observation ≈ 193 game-seconds**.

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@@ -770,3 +770,54 @@ oracle stays byte-identical to the binary every other measurement used.
Not yet executed on a frozen run — that is the next step, and it is now a small
one.
## ✅ 2026-08-25 — the technique works end to end: the waited object is an `XEvent`
Executed on a live run under gdb. For every thread whose frame 3 is
`XObject::Wait`:
```
(gdb) === T106 ===
#3 0x0000555555e4fd80 in xe::kernel::XObject::Wait(...)
(gdb) rbx 0x7ffd097178d0
(gdb) 0x7ffd097178d0: 0x00005555562db8f0
```
`0x5555562db8f0` minus the PIE base `0x555555554000` is `0xd878f0`, and the
symbol table has:
```
0000000000d878e0 D vtable for xe::kernel::XEvent
```
The stored pointer is the vtable symbol **+16** — offset-to-top and RTTI come
first — so it matches exactly. **The object being waited on is an
`xe::kernel::XEvent`**, and the same vtable appears for every waiting thread
sampled (T106, T97, T96, T80, …), while the `this` pointers differ, i.e. many
threads waiting on *different `XEvent` instances*.
The whole chain — `frame 3``rbx``x/1gx` → symtab — needs no DWARF and no
rebuild, exactly as the static groundwork predicted.
## 🟡 Two honest caveats
**This is a healthy-play snapshot, not the freeze.** The capture landed at 195 s
of flight and `screen_id` reported `flight` with `mean=(17.4, 19.1, 25.1)` — not
the black screen. Boot under gdb costs ~300 s and the whole experiment must fit
in one call (a `timeout` kills the process group, taking the emulator with it —
an earlier attempt lost its run that way), which left too little time to reach
the ~267 s freeze. So this says what threads wait on **during normal play**. That
is the control the frozen capture never had, but it is not the frozen case.
**The `this` addresses look like host stack, which is odd.** `0x7ffd097178d0`,
`0x7ffc8c1c2f10` and the rest sit in the range host thread stacks occupy, not
where a heap-allocated kernel object would. Either xenia places these objects
somewhere unusual, or `rbx` at frame 3 is not `Wait`'s `this` after the unwind
and the vtable match is a coincidence — an exact +16 match on a known symbol is
hard to get by accident, but the address range is not what was expected and is
recorded rather than explained away.
**The check that would settle it:** read the same value two ways — compare `rbx`
against the object pointer recovered from the shim frame above, or dump a few
words at `$rbx` and see whether they look like an `XEvent` (a vtable, then a
`KernelState*`, then handle/type fields) or like saved registers.

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@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Read WHICH object the frozen guest threads are waiting on.
#
# Groundwork (mission-freeze-resume-spin.md): XObject::Wait keeps `this` in %rbx,
# and .eh_frame lets gdb restore callee-saved registers during the unwind, so no
# DWARF and no rebuild are needed -- select the Wait frame, read rbx, then read
# the vtable pointer at [rbx] and resolve it in the symtab.
set -u
export HOME=/sylph-home/re SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dummy DISPLAY=:98
export PYTHONPATH=/sylph-home/.local/lib/python3.12/site-packages
export XENIA_BIN=/sylph-home/re/bin/gdb-wrap/xenia_canary
SD="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
FLY="${1:-240}"
CMD=/tmp/gdb-cmd; OUT=/tmp/gdb-out.log
"$SD/launch_mission.sh" fly || { echo "BOOT FAILED"; exit 1; }
CFG=/tmp/nav-fz.json
for t in 1 2 3; do
python3 "$SD/pad.py" set "rt=1" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true; sleep 3
python3 "$SD/pad.py" clear >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
if python3 "$SD/entities2.py" self 0x130 "$CFG" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
SYLPH_HUNT=1 SYLPH_KEEPOUT=1400 nohup python3 "$SD/pilot.py" "$CFG" "$FLY" \
</dev/null >/tmp/fz-pilot.log 2>&1 & P=$!; echo "--- pilot flying"; break
fi
done
echo "--- flying ${FLY}s (boot under gdb costs ~300s, so this must leave room"
echo "--- for the gdb step inside one call: timeout kills the whole group)"
python3 -c "import time,sys; time.sleep(int(sys.argv[1]))" "$FLY"
[ -n "${P:-}" ] && kill "$P" 2>/dev/null
pid=$(pgrep -x gdb | head -1)
[ -n "$pid" ] || { echo "no gdb"; exit 2; }
before=$(wc -c < "$OUT")
kill -INT "$pid"; sleep 3
{
echo 'echo === HOT THREAD WAIT OBJECTS ===\n'
echo 'thread apply all bt 6'
echo 'echo === END BT ===\n'
} >> "$CMD"
sleep 10
tail -c +$((before + 1)) "$OUT" > /tmp/fz-bt.txt
# find threads whose frame 3 is XObject::Wait, then read rbx there
python3 - <<'PY' >> "$CMD"
import re
txt=open('/tmp/fz-bt.txt').read()
cur=None
for line in txt.splitlines():
m=re.match(r'Thread (\d+) ', line)
if m: cur=m.group(1)
if cur and 'XObject::Wait' in line:
print(r'echo === T%s ===\n' % cur)
print('thread %s' % cur)
print('frame 3')
print('info registers rbx')
print('x/1gx $rbx')
cur=None
print(r'echo === END OBJ ===\n')
print('continue')
PY
sleep 12
screenshot /tmp/fz-screen.png >/dev/null 2>&1
echo "--- screen at capture time:"
python3 "$SD/screen_id.py" /tmp/fz-screen.png 2>/dev/null | head -2
tail -c +$((before + 1)) "$OUT" | sed -n '/HOT THREAD WAIT OBJECTS/,$p' | grep -vE "^\s*$" | tail -70
echo "FREEZE WAITOBJ DONE"