chimera-gfx-Public/docs/retroarch/phase-1.0a-next-device-smoke-test.md

Proposed first PS5 smoke test (not authorized)

This is a review package only. It is not a sender, execution package or device instruction and it grants no authority.

Candidate

The first useful device test would use the exact audited retroarch_ps5_software.elf, not the headless ELF. The headless static core has no observable result channel and intentionally runs indefinitely with null input. The software candidate can provide visible, audible and controller evidence and can request a clean shutdown.

Before any action, a later task must bind:

• source commit ca1b45680577befc743e1c92fa40687e1b1745e7;
• the 3318432-byte ELF with SHA-256 7beb09592404b5c1fb4161c632171d2901f3715db26e59458998690e8c49f3fc;
• firmware text 9.60;
• a manual, non-autoload, non-installing one-shot loader route;
• an independently reviewed recovery path;
• a 100 ms flip timeout in the linked SDL object;
• no automatic retry;
• one explicit artifact-specific transfer authorization and one explicit execution authorization.

Exact proposed one-shot scope

1. Verify the local ELF hash against the reviewed manifest.
2. Verify autoload remains off and no live component will be replaced.
3. Transfer only that one ELF to a non-persistent one-shot loader path.
4. Execute once with no content and no arguments.
5. Observe whether a 320x240 moving pattern is presented through RGUI/SDL.
6. Observe bounded 48 kHz stereo test audio.
7. Check one controller: D-pad and left stick change pattern position and A changes its background.
8. Press Start once and observe whether RetroArch returns cleanly.
9. Do not retry automatically. On crash, hang, missing output, timeout or unexpected filesystem/service behaviour, stop and use the separately reviewed recovery action.
10. Hash and preserve host-side logs/transcript; do not infer success for unobserved subsystems.

Explicit technical effects to accept later

The SDK CRT performs its previously documented bounded runtime initialization. The software profile opens user/system service, VideoOut, Pad and AudioOut, allocates heap/direct-memory buffers, creates SDL audio/thread primitives, submits VideoOut flips, waits on an equeue with a 100 ms timeout, polls input and writes audio. Logs, scheduler activity, process accounting and caches may change. These are functional runtime effects, not a side-effect-free probe.

Remaining risks

• loader entry/return and firmware-9.60 lifecycle remain hardware-unproven;
• VideoOut ownership or direct-memory assumptions may fail;
• the public SDL backend's partial-init cleanup has not been observed;
• a timeout may return an error but higher-level shutdown still needs proof;
• audio output is blocking and underrun/overrun statistics are absent;
• controller mappings/deadzone need device validation;
• generic RetroArch write-capable code remains in the ELF even though the fixed first-run path blocks persistent writes;
• a crash or hang may require a reboot/new jailbreak session.

No transfer or execution may occur on the basis of this document alone.