AUDIT-005's static attribution to sub_824ABA98 was wrong. The 0xC0000011
(STATUS_END_OF_FILE) at lr=0x824a97e4 traces to the NtReadFile call at
0x824a9810 inside sub_824A9710 — the cache-loader reads 1024 B from
offset 2048 of `\Device\Harddisk0\partition0`. Our synth-empty fallback
returned EOF (start_pos 2048 > size 0), so the function bailed via
RtlNtStatusToDosError before sub_824ABA98 was ever called.
Canary mounts partition0 to a NullDevice; `NullFile::ReadSync`
([null_file.cc:24-31](xenia-canary/src/xenia/vfs/devices/null_file.cc))
returns X_STATUS_SUCCESS with bytes_read=0 and never touches the
buffer. Sylpheed's caller pre-zeroes the 1024-byte stack buffer
(`memset(sp+208, 0, 1024)` at sub_824A9710 prologue), validates a
"Josh" magic on the first read, and falls back to the cache-recreate
path when the magic doesn't match.
The fix mirrors NullFile semantics: when the open synthesized a
zero-length file (`data.is_empty() && size == 0`), NtReadFile returns
SUCCESS with information=0 and the buffer untouched.
Effects (chain-of-effects verification at -n 500M):
- tests: 590 → 591 (added regression covering NullDevice semantics)
- lockstep: deterministic across 3 reruns (same instructions=100000010,
swaps=2)
- sylpheed_n50m golden re-baselined: instructions 50000004→50000000,
imports 407416→407362
- canary kernel-call diff: 10 → 7 missing exports
(XeCryptSha + XeKeysConsolePrivateKeySign + NtDeviceIoControlFile
now run; the cache-recreate path executes through to NtWriteFile)
- boot reaches silph::Silph::Impl::OnInit: 19 worker threads spawn
(was 6 before the fix)
- parked-handle 0x1004 still signal_attempts=0; the original 0x100c
and 0x15e0 are now <UNCREATED> because cascade walked past them and
the handle assignments shifted; new parked sites: 0x12fc/0x1600/
0x1040/0x10b8/0x15e8/0x1014/0x101c/0x10bc/0x1044
- draws=0 plateau persists; renderer is multi-causal blocked
Next blocker: per the canary-only diff, XamTaskSchedule + the cluster
of XAM exports (XamTaskCloseHandle, XamUserReadProfileSettings,
ObCreateSymbolicLink) and the post-thread-exit chain (ExTerminateThread,
KeReleaseSemaphore, KeResetEvent) are the next-up frontier.
Sylpheed regression goldens
These JSON files anchor xenia-rs check digest output for Project Sylpheed.
Files
| File | -n | Mode | Captures |
|---|---|---|---|
sylpheed_n2m.json |
2_000_000 | full digest | early boot (swaps=0, no rendering) |
sylpheed_n50m.json |
50_000_000 | stable-digest | first VdSwap pair (swaps=2 post-Phase-A) |
Stable-digest mode
sylpheed_n50m.json is captured with --stable-digest, which omits
timing-sensitive counters: packets (±2–8% lockstep noise from a GPU thread
race), resolves, interrupts_delivered, interrupts_dropped,
texture_decodes. The remaining fields are byte-identical across repeated
lockstep runs at a fixed -n.
sylpheed_n2m.json predates the stable-digest flag and uses full-digest
compare. It still works because at -n 2M the GPU pipeline has not produced any
packets yet — packets=0 is trivially deterministic.
Circularity hazard
Per ORACBUG-001/002/003, these goldens were captured by running the same code
they validate. They detect regression from a known-good snapshot, not
correctness. When a planned fix intentionally moves the digest (e.g. a
shader fix landing draws > 0 for the first time), re-baseline the golden as
a separate commit and reference the audit ID in the message.
Re-baselining
cargo build --release -p xenia-app
target/release/xenia-rs check \
"$SYLPHEED_ISO" \
-n 50000000 \
--stable-digest \
--out crates/xenia-app/tests/golden/sylpheed_n50m.json
Running the goldens
cargo test --release -p xenia-app --test sylpheed_oracles -- --ignored --nocapture
The tests are #[ignore]-gated because each run takes a few seconds, which is
unacceptable in the default cargo test cycle. The ISO path defaults to the
contributor's local ~/RE Project Sylpheed/Project Sylpheed*.iso and can be
overridden via SYLPHEED_ISO=/path/to/sylpheed.iso.
n4b canonical-invocation regression anchor (deferred)
The audit's recommended next sprint also called for a sylpheed_n4b.json
golden capturing the canonical reference invocation
xenia-rs check sylpheed.iso -n 4_000_000_000 --parallel --reservations-table.
This is deferred because:
- The
--parallel --reservations-tablecombination is empirically pathologically slow at -n 100M (>32 min per run per the audit memory). At -n 4B the run cost is many hours, not the single-session-friendly 5–15 min the original plan estimated. - Each phase that intentionally moves rendering counters (C, D, E, F) would need a re-baseline of n4b — a significant time cost compounding over the sprint.
Once the renderer-unblock phases (C+D+E) land and draws > 0 is confirmed at
-n 100M lockstep, an n4b artifact may be captured one-shot and stored under
audit-runs/post-fix/ (not as a test golden) as a manual regression anchor for
the canonical invocation.