VGL_LABS cockpit test suite as pod-launch 'test' mode
The WC hang, root-caused in three layers (each necessary):
1. WC was rendered-samples + 100ms-capped interpolation; AWEUTIL's poll
storm (~550k port-ops/s) starved the render thread of awe_lock, so the
clock crawled ~90x slow. Fixed: free-running host-clock derivation +
a fairness gate so the render thread can always take the lock.
2. Free-running at true 44.1kHz still failed: trapped port reads cost
~30us -- MORE than one 22.7us tick -- so consecutive reads skipped
counter values, and AWEUTIL's WaitUntilWC (decoded at COM offset
0x5F42) exits only on EQUALITY with a target tick: skipped value =
missed target = 1.49s wrap penalty, or forever.
3. Advancing +1 per read still failed: WaitUntilWC reads WC TWICE per
iteration, so its equality sample saw only every 2nd value -- wrong
parity = infinite loop. Final semantics: during a poll storm the
counter advances once per FOUR reads (every value observable by all
of AWEUTIL's loop shapes; its 8192-unchanged-reads dead-clock bailout
never trips), and resyncs to true wall time after any 50ms idle gap.
Result: the full stock TEST.BAT (DIAGNOSE + AWEUTIL /S on both cards)
completes in seconds.
Also: pod-launch 'test' mode -> vwetest.conf (stock TEST.BAT -> TSTALL),
DOSBox window defaults to 900,600 in test mode (the DOS screen is the
suite's UI), VWE_AWE_LOG gains storm bursts with guest cs:ip + caller and
rare-read tracing (the instrumentation that cracked this).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
CydandClaude Fable 5
72da9b2f14
