chimera-gfx-Public/docs/retroarch/phase-1.0r-launch-context-comparison.md

Phase 1.0R: PS5 launch-context comparison

Status: NO_SOURCE_PROVEN_LAUNCH_CONTEXT_FIX_TARGET_CHANGE_BLOCKED

Date: 2026-07-22

This is an offline source, map, and provenance audit. It did not build target code, connect to the PS5, transfer an artifact, receive a device result, or execute anything on the PS5. Phase-1.0O authority remains consumed and every authorization remains false.

Question and evidence boundary

Phase 1.0O proved that the exact M artifact opened VideoOut, registered its buffers, and received -1 with saved errno 0 from the first sceVideoOutSubmitFlip(handle, 0, 1, 0). Phase 1.0R asks whether the raw elfldr path differs, in a source-proven way relevant to that call, from the launch context used by existing PS5 SDL ports.

The comparison is bounded to these exact clean source identities:

Component	Commit	Relevant evidence
Chimera RetroArch	artifact source 12cf1d783c41eb303987e49a5a920805a59ef7a4; inspected HEAD 606909706f91d7213751c245081333f56c2cce89	Makefile.ps5; exact M map and artifact identities
PS5 Payload SDK	d2e2e585740362976a39fdd5ccf390f199a7bc37	crt/crt.c, toolchain/prospero.mk
PS5 SDL	0baf4ac49382b537ba449901b5b6d0d189bb1fbb	src/main/ps5/SDL_ps5_main.c, src/video/ps5/SDL_ps5video.c
hardened elfldr	197623058f509eddde18868dafcb92fdcac66464	elfldr.c, socksrv.c
controlled Payload Manager	e23d94ff91233aa770e2342800c1467875bdef44	src/ps5_launcher.c, src/main.c
PacBrew recipes	c2abcfcb60f569128abd0e8e70ad03a67bee5ea7	SDL2 and port recipes
LakeSnes reference	a2db690123649c7ffbc68a663af31efb3a41bf3f	Makefile.prospero, main.c, homebrew.js, README.prospero

The official port archives retained from Phase 1.0Q are source references, not deployed-artifact or on-device launch evidence.

Exact compared paths

Direct raw ELF and Payload Manager

The hardened elfldr listener sends every accepted raw ELF through payload_spawn() in socksrv.c, then through elfldr_spawn() in elfldr.c. That routine creates a process with rfork_thread, executes the system SceSpZeroConf image, replaces its executable mapping under ptrace, and detaches. The legacy route duplicates the accepted descriptor to standard input/output/error; the controlled route changes standard-I/O and watchdog policy. Neither route registers an application, title ID, flip owner, or display context.

Payload Manager's ps5_launch_elf() reads the selected ELF and sends it to loopback port 9021. It does not create a distinct payload process. Therefore both a direct host send and a Payload Manager launch reach the same payload_spawn()/elfldr_spawn() process constructor. Payload Manager does contain separate LNC-based disc-player management, but that path is not the ELF process constructor and is not evidence of payload display ownership.

Exact RetroArch artifact

Makefile.ps5 links libSDL2.a, but not libSDL2main.a. The exact M linker map proves _start comes from SDK crt1.o and includes SDL_ps5video.c.o. It contains no SDL_ps5_main.c, no libSDL2main, and no sceSystemServiceLoadExec; it does import sceSystemServiceHideSplashScreen through SDL video initialization.

SDK _start(payload_args_t *) initializes its runtime, invokes the ordinary main(argc, argv, environ), finalizes, and terminates according to the SDK payload contract. The inspected CRT contains no application/title registration and no LNC or VideoOut ownership setup.

SDL2main ports

At the pinned SDL commit, PS5 SDL2main is only this lifecycle wrapper:

1. sceSystemServiceHideSplashScreen();
2. SDL_main(argc, argv);
3. after SDL_main returns, sceSystemServiceLoadExec("exit", 0).

It contains no app registration, title-ID selection, LNC call, process creation, VideoOut call, or flip-owner acquisition. The LoadExec operation is post-return and cannot affect the first VideoOut submit.

The exact SDL PS5 PS5_VideoInit() independently calls sceSystemServiceHideSplashScreen() immediately before sceVideoOutOpen(0xff, 0, 0, NULL). Consequently the tested RetroArch path already performs the only SDL2main pre-entry action relevant by name before opening VideoOut. Linking SDL2main would merely perform that call earlier and again; no public source proves that this changes display ownership.

LakeSnes does link -lSDL2main -lSceSystemService and defines SDL_main. Its homebrew.js returns an executable path and arguments, while its README describes hbldr through ps5-payload-shsrv. These are launcher references, not source for application registration. The exact hbldr/shsrv process constructor and its active-app state were not present in this bounded source set, so the launch-context relationship is PARTIAL_UNBOUND.

Comparison matrix

Property before first submit	Direct host to elfldr	Payload Manager to elfldr	SDL2main-linked port	Evidence result
process constructor	hardened elfldr_spawn	same hardened elfldr_spawn	launcher-dependent	first two proven same; port launcher unbound
SDK CRT	crt1.o	crt1.o	ordinarily crt1.o through prospero.mk	same SDK model in inspected builds
splash hide	SDL VideoInit	SDL VideoInit	wrapper plus SDL VideoInit	only proven pre-submit difference is earlier duplicate call
SDL application entry	ordinary RetroArch main	ordinary RetroArch main	wrapper calls SDL_main	symbol/lifecycle difference only
post-return exit	SDK termination	SDK termination	LoadExec("exit") before wrapper returns	post-submit lifecycle only
title/app registration	absent in inspected path	absent in ELF launch path	absent in SDL2main	no source-proven registration
flip/display ownership	absent in inspected path	absent in ELF launch path	absent in SDL2main	unproven everywhere
autoload or persistent setup	none in launch route	none required by ELF launch route	launcher-dependent	no evidence of a required fix

LNC log classification

Phase 1.0O ordinary stdout repeatedly included getAppStatus: LNC_ISOK::0x80940004. It is OBSERVED_NONUNIQUE_CORRELATION: the trace does not identify its caller, multiple system-service/video activities can interleave, and public source does not define that value as the cause of the flip failure. It is not a root-cause verdict and does not justify adding LNC calls.

Decision

SDL2main is not a source-proven launch-context correction. PacBrew is a build/package repository, not a launcher. The official port metadata points to launchers whose exact process/app/display setup remains unbound. The possibility that active-app or launcher state matters therefore remains plausible but unproven.

The root cause is unresolved. Do not link SDL2main as an experiment, add LNC or SystemService calls, change submit parameters, call another VideoOut export, build a target, or perform a device action under Phase 1.0R.