PS5_RetroArch/docs/ACTIVE.md

Active work

Updated: 2026-09-19

Now

Snes9x 1.63 is ported and owner-confirmed working. The owner answered “Works flawlessly” to gameplay colours/audio/input and menu/content-transition checks. Build and console evidence is in evidence/snes9x-native/. No next core is selected by this file.

Verified build and evidence

• Frontend identity: 64bef2e7826e5a63a6644a933e24ef5403d28c754230c0038eb8a76b4baa1c53.
• Snes9x source: fae2fea08f74180759ef540ee94259213f503480.
• Snes9x SHA-256: e8b66c5f6656afe927181e3fb4fb5d13152ae525fc64705b59af5d9a847a7cac. Core size 3,392,576 bytes; 25 callbacks; 4 initializers and 1 finalizer. Source, metadata, port-input and SDK hashes are in the evidence build report.
• All five host gates pass, 60 tests: /tmp/snes9x-verify.log. Preserved ELF: klog/snes9x-64bef2e7.elf.
• tools/run-title.sh --no-build --core-test=snes9x --watch 180 verifies upload, eight load/export/API/identity/unload cycles, and failed-load recovery with the live frontend. Both diagnostic reports pass; missing-core errors are deliberate.
• Owner-loaded SNES archive negotiated XRGB8888, 256x224, 60.10 Hz and 32040 Hz audio; these are declared rates, not measured throughput. Live log also records return to the 320x240 dummy menu. Owner: “Works flawlessly.”
• Final trace: zero Vulkan refusals and GPU API failure records; kernel has zero fatal signal reports. Title remained open for 180s; runner closed it. This is a menu/game/menu window, not 180 seconds of uninterrupted gameplay.
• Raw: klog/snes9x-first-run.log, klog/run-PPSA99169-161400.log, klog/snes9x-first-live-retroarch.log, klog/snes9x-first-live-trace.txt.
• FCEUmm and mGBA core bytes are unchanged from their accepted builds. Their prior evidence is in evidence/native-core-loading/ and evidence/mgba-native/.
• PS5_Vulkan was read only. Its four linked archive hashes stayed unchanged during this build and are recorded in evidence/snes9x-native/driver-archives.json. The owner develops that repository concurrently; no source revision is inferred.

What changed

• make snes9x: pinned upstream libretro Makefile, explicit native SDK tools, official .info in info/ and cores/, integrated title/import-table build.
• Snes9x keeps RGB565 internally. Its video callback converts into a separate bounded XRGB8888 buffer for the existing frontend RGBA GPU upload path. All 65,536 RGB565 colours are host-tested end to end; padded pitch, cached source immutability, bounds and 256/512/602/1024 widths are covered too.
• Core-local C++ destructor registration prevents stale process-exit callbacks. Loader validates bounded fini arrays before any initializer, runs cleanup in reverse order at last close, then unmaps. Reload and malformed-file tests pass.
• Existing texture cropping, immutable cached uploads and native Quit remain. Vulkan is still the GPU presentation route; no frontend video patch changed for Snes9x and no change to PS5_Vulkan was needed.

Limits

• Ordinary game/return-to-menu acceptance does not establish special-chip, subsystem BIOS, NTSC filter, HD Mode 7, hires/interlace or every-game coverage. The owner confirmed the requested test, but the captured geometry sequence does not independently establish a full cross-core transition matrix.
• Save RAM/state round trips, RTC, long-run A/V sync, measured performance, arbitrary Slang presets/history and linear-filter edges remain separate work.
• Loader still rejects TLS, legacy DT_INIT/DT_FINI, nonempty preinit arrays, unsupported relocations and additional dependencies; no unwind registration. Lifecycle callbacks must not reenter the loader. Faulty cores share the process.
• mGBA's 16-bit-only colour correction/interframe blending remain disabled in its XRGB build. Native-owned realloc retains native allocation ownership.
• Upstream Snes9x metadata still says display_version 1.61; runtime accurately reports 1.63 plus source revision. Official metadata was not rewritten.

Preserved platform and file locations

XMB stays default and RGUI selectable. Vulkan remains active; video_ps5 stays registered/selectable as CPU fallback. Native audio/input/binding, config saving, FTP permissions (0777) and directory browsing remain. Useful logs are retained. Deployments preserve live settings/games. No ROM or BIOS is shipped.

FTP base /data/homebrew/PPSA99169/ corresponds to in-title /app0. Use cores/, content/, system/, config/retroarch.cfg, savefiles/ and savestates/. See docs/DEPLOYMENT.md for core build and upload procedures.

Operating notes

Uploads/runs are authorized without further permission. Never interrupt an existing title; the runner checks idle before deployment and launch. Core/game selection is manual. Keep private filenames and console details in ignored logs. Trace appends across launches: separate bss check= sections and verify identity. Preserve live frontend logs before relaunch replaces them. Owner supplies images; a matching camera cadence can hide flicker. Do not infer gameplay duration or manual closure solely from the runner's final process count.