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-rw-r--r--docs/03-architecture/13-vexecution-plane.md33
-rw-r--r--docs/04-implementation/04-real-render-walls.md187
-rw-r--r--docs/05-operations/06-guest-frame-path-and-looking-glass.md19
-rw-r--r--docs/README.md1
4 files changed, 240 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/03-architecture/13-vexecution-plane.md b/docs/03-architecture/13-vexecution-plane.md
index caaad01..3d97d07 100644
--- a/docs/03-architecture/13-vexecution-plane.md
+++ b/docs/03-architecture/13-vexecution-plane.md
@@ -568,6 +568,39 @@ forwards (local evidence and the prepared harness:
forwarding-service cost, not engine time — the number to drive down is the
7.9 ms and the per-window round trips.
+### 3.5a Copy-out change detection: fingerprint rule
+
+A forwarded launch stages every referenced data page into the data-bounce
+chunk, and after the retire wait the copy-out ships back only the pages the
+engine actually modified. That decision used to be a 32-bit additive
+checksum of the page's words, compared against a baseline captured at
+copy-in. The additive form has a structural blind spot: doubling every word
+of a 4 KB page raises each float exponent by one (+2^23 per word), and 1024
+words contribute `1024 * 2^23 = 2^33`, which is exactly `0 (mod 2^32)` — an
+in-place power-of-two scale of a whole page (`c[i] *= 2.0f`) left the
+checksum bit-identical, the page was classified "engine did not touch",
+the write-back was skipped, and the client read the pre-scale values. The
+same blindness applies to `*= 0.5f`, `* 4`, `* 8`, etc. Since `r452`
+(commit `19399f4f`) every change decision in the copy path — the retire
+wait's settle scan, the tracked and gap copy-outs, the window witness, the
+late-store witness and the idempotent-launch fingerprint — uses a 64-bit
+FNV-1a hash over the page instead; the additive sum survives only as the
+all-zero filter. Policy rule for the plane: **a change-detection
+fingerprint must not be an algebraic invariant of any plausible kernel
+operation** — use a hash, never a sum.
+
+The reader side of the same decision is the landing table: a D2H copy of a
+device VA resolves through the last recorded write of that VA. Since `r453`
+the forwarded QMD's release0 is redirected to the module semaphore by
+default (`gsp_phys_rmcall_gr_rel_mod=1`): the guest-visible release word is
+authored by the host only on the completion edge, after the copy-out has
+shipped the engine's stores, so a client's stream-ordered readback can no
+longer run ahead of the write-back (the historical shape: the engine's own
+release satisfied the guest while the copy-out was still pending). The
+engine-completion observable remains the module semaphore, and the
+per-outcome authoring path guarantees the guest word is applied on every
+outcome (timeout, wedge, no-write).
+
### 3.6 Citation map for this section
| Claim | Authority |
diff --git a/docs/04-implementation/04-real-render-walls.md b/docs/04-implementation/04-real-render-walls.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6ea39d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/04-implementation/04-real-render-walls.md
@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+# Real-render walls: Vulkan and Xorg on the emulated vGPU
+
+Status: OPEN (2026-10-29, SESSION 64). This page records the measured state
+of the guest's *display/graphics* consumers - the Vulkan ICD and the Xorg
+server - on the emulated vGPU, with the exact evidence and the next
+subsystem to implement. It complements
+[05-operations/06-guest-frame-path-and-looking-glass.md](../05-operations/06-guest-frame-path-and-looking-glass.md)
+(which covers the CUDA -> ivshmem -> host frame transport that is already
+proven).
+
+## 1. What works today
+
+* The guest's shipped 570.144 Vulkan userspace **loads and enumerates**:
+ `vkCreateInstance` succeeds and two physical devices are reported -
+ `NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER` (discrete, Vulkan 1.4.303) and the
+ software `llvmpipe` - from `/etc/vulkan/icd.d/nvidia_icd.json`. Probes:
+ `tools/vk/vk_probe.py`, `tools/vk/vk_probe2.py`.
+* `eglInitialize` succeeds with `vendor=NVIDIA` on the guest EGL device
+ platform (the EGL probe `tools/guest-diag/egl_retry.c` and the older
+ `egl_frame`).
+* CUDA is unaffected (its clients run through the same emulated GSP; see
+ the battery evidence in the handoff).
+
+## 2. Wall 1 - `vkCreateDevice` fails in nvidia-modeset's ALLOC_DEVICE
+
+`vkCreateDevice` returns `VK_ERROR_INITIALIZATION_FAILED`. An
+`LD_PRELOAD` ioctl logger (`tools/guest-diag/nvkmstrace.c`) shows the
+ICD's first nvKms ioctl failing:
+
+```
+NVKMS_IOCTL cmd=0 size=1488 addr=0x... rc=-1 # NVKMS_IOCTL_ALLOC_DEVICE
+```
+
+i.e. the kernel's `nvKmsAllocDevice` (in `nvidia-modeset`) returned a
+non-success status; the userspace frees everything and reports the
+generic initialization error. Reading the driver's own modeset source
+(`nvkms-rm.c`) gives the alloc order and the two gates we hit and fixed:
+
+1. `ProbeHeadCountAndWindowAssignment()` -> `NV0073_CTRL_CMD_SYSTEM_GET_NUM_HEADS`
+ (`0x730102`): a zero reply logs `No heads found on board!` and fails the
+ alloc. The emulated GSP RSP answered all NV0073 controls through the
+ generic zero-reply path.
+2. After the heads: `NoValidDisplays()` -> `NV0073_CTRL_CMD_SYSTEM_GET_SUPPORTED`
+ (`0x730107`) must report at least one display id, and the connector
+ path (`SPECIFIC_OR_GET_INFO` `0x73028b`, `SPECIFIC_GET_CONNECTOR_DATA`
+ `0x730250`, `DFP_GET_INFO` `0x731140`) must describe a connector.
+
+The host GSP-RM emulation now implements a minimal headless display:
+one head (`0x730102`/`0x730287`), flexible window assignment (`0x7302ad`),
+one static HDMI connector on display id 0 (SOR + single-link TMDS, which
+avoids the DP-AUX library), plus DDC support. With this shim the alloc
+gets past heads and `NoValidDisplays` and proceeds through the connector
+queries and the display-object allocations (classes `0xc570`, `0xc57d`,
+`0xc372`, controls `0x50700709`, `0x73010c`, `0xc3700201`) before failing
+later in the display-core/modeset-channel path. That remaining subsystem
+is the wall: the modeset core channel and the per-display dpy objects
+must be emulated (a coupled object + channel + memory set whose exact
+wire forms should be captured from a real-GPU session).
+
+A related experiment ruled out one shortcut: booting the guest with
+`nvidia-modeset`/`nvidia-drm` blacklisted (no `/dev/nvidia-modeset`) does
+not avoid the wall - the ICD's nvKms client still issues ALLOC_DEVICE and
+fails, so the display path cannot be sidestepped by disabling KMS.
+
+## 3. Wall 2 - Xorg ScreenInit fails in nvidia-push's channel test
+
+Xorg starts (the GPU is detected, `Virtual screen 1280x1024`) and then:
+
+```
+(EE) NVIDIA(GPU-0): Failed to initialize DMA.
+(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to allocate push buffer
+```
+
+`nvidia-push` logs `Failed to initialize DMA.` from
+`__nvPushTestPushBuffer()`: right after allocating a push buffer the
+driver writes a NOP and waits (10 s) for the channel to consume it. Host
+evidence shows why it never does:
+
+* the X driver's channel registers (`class 0xc46f` GPFIFO channel,
+ `gpfifo=0x120090000`, `userd=0x350000` sysmem) and lives with
+ **`submissions=0`** - its published GP_PUT never advances in the host's
+ view, because the host needs the channel's VA->PA translations to read
+ its USERD/GPFIFO and that resolution comes from the guest-side scanner
+ that currently follows *CUDA clients only* (`targeted resolve
+ va=0x20400f000: full RAM scan found nothing`);
+* on a busy boot (Xorg started while a CUDA battery ran) the channel's
+ completion-counter slot is rejected: `counter auto h=0x1000013 rank=0
+ pa=0x11c827ff0 rejected (slot owned by another channel)` - two
+ concurrent clients both derive rank 0's slot from the per-device
+ structural formula.
+
+Fixing Xorg therefore needs (1) a platform-wide (non-CUDA) VA-resolution
+path for the scanner or the host, and (2) counter-slot ownership keyed by
+client identity (or a per-client slot domain), not just rank.
+
+## 4. Wall 3 - the EGL/glsi engine-init gate (unchanged)
+
+`eglMakeCurrent` returns `EGL_BAD_ALLOC (0x3003)`; the glsi engine-init
+entry returns a "busy" status once, sets a state bit, and the eglcore
+caller does not retry. Ten in-process retries (`egl_retry`) all fail, so
+the state machine fails on a real input - the return-value trace of its
+callees remains the way in (see
+[userspace/cuda/570.144/docs/ANALYSIS-egl-engine-selection.md](../../userspace/cuda/570.144/docs/ANALYSIS-egl-engine-selection.md)).
+
+## 5. Why this matters for the frame path
+
+Everything downstream of a working GL/Vulkan context is already in place:
+a guest publisher writes frames into the kvmfr ivshmem BAR
+(`tools/vk/vk_frame.c`, `tools/guest-diag/xshm_pub.c` use the same layout
+as the proven CUDA `frame_producer`), the host reader decodes them
+(`tools/lg/frame_reader.py`) and ffmpeg assembles video. The missing
+piece is a *working* graphics API on the guest GPU - the two subsystems
+above.
+## 6. UPDATE 2026-10-25 (RESUME #56): the wall is now fully bisected
+
+Three new instruments settled the remaining questions:
+
+* **An `LD_PRELOAD` nvKms ioctl logger** (`tools/guest-diag/nvkmstrace.c`)
+ decodes the failing `NVKMS_IOCTL_ALLOC_DEVICE` reply: status **5 =
+ `NVKMS_ALLOC_DEVICE_STATUS_CORE_CHANNEL_ALLOC_FAILED`**.
+* **The QEMU gdb stub (`-gdb tcp::1234`) as a guest-kernel microscope**
+ (the guest kernel's `nvidia_modeset` symbols are in `/proc/kallsyms`):
+ breaking inside `nvAllocCoreChannelEvo` (the blob's offsets were mapped
+ from a disassembly of the shipped `nv-modeset-kernel.o_binary`) dumped
+ the driver's class list (42 classes; all `NVC57x` display classes are
+ present; **`NV927C_BASE_CHANNEL_DMA` (0x927c) is not** - it exists in no
+ HAL class list, so the "base channel" fallback path can never succeed).
+ Breaking at the capability parse showed the **capability notifier buffer
+ is all zeros** (nothing emulates the display engine that would fill it).
+* **The caps-fill experiment**: with gdb writing `SYS_CAP = HEAD0_EXISTS`
+ and `SYS_CAPB = WINDOW0..7_EXISTS` into the caps buffer right before the
+ parse, the driver flips from the dead base path to the **window path**
+ (`nvRMAllocateWindowChannels`) - the hypothesis that `numWindows > 0`
+ unblocks the flow is confirmed.
+
+The window path then fails one step later: `nvRmApiAlloc(display,
+class=0xc57e NVC57E_WINDOW_CHANNEL_DMA)` returns **`NV_ERR_NOT_SUPPORTED`
+(0x56) locally in the guest kernel** (it never reaches the emulated
+GSP - no ALLOC RPC is logged). This matches the shipped driver's vGPU
+architecture: the guest runs in vGPU mode (`IS_VIRTUAL`), where the
+display/modeset channel classes are rejected (the reference source's
+`_rpcAllocObjectPrologue` documents "Display classes are added for DCE,
+vGPU Guest does not support those") - a vGPU guest's display is meant to
+be emulated by the **host-side vGPU display service** (the vGPU RPC
+display path), which the emulation does not implement.
+
+**Consequence for the roadmap.** Guest Xorg/GL/Vulkan on this emulated
+vGPU needs (a) the display capability fill on the host side (mechanics
+proven by the gdb experiment) and (b) a vGPU display service: the
+display-engine MMIO/RPC backend the guest expects from its host (the
+equivalent of NVIDIA's vGPU display plugin), or the specific vGPU
+configuration that makes the kernel accept the display channel class.
+Until (b) exists the guest's NVIDIA display path is closed by design, and
+GZDOOM-class workloads cannot render on the guest GPU.
+## 7. UPDATE 2026-10-25 #2 (SESSION 66): the 0x56 pinned to the RS alloc path
+
+A new instrument closed the gap: the guest's `nvidia.ko` (DKMS build) is
+**not stripped** - copy it out (`/lib/modules/<kver>/updates/dkms/nvidia.ko`),
+`objdump -t`/`-dr` it, compute the module's `.text` runtime base from any
+`/proc/kallsyms` symbol, and every guest-kernel function/offset becomes
+addressable for live gdb breakpoints on the QEMU stub. With it:
+
+* `rpcAllocObject_v29_06`/`_rpcAllocObjectPrologue` are **exonerated** for
+ 0xc57e (their reject list is 0x73/0xc67*/0xc770/0xc77d only; the register
+ mapping `hClass = r8d` was verified live).
+* The failing chain is pinned exactly: `rmapiAllocWithSecInfo` **enters**
+ with class 0xc57e, calls `serverAllocResourceUnderLock`, and that
+ function returns **0x56** - *before* the GSP-RM alloc RPC
+ (`rpcRmApiAlloc_GSP`, called from under-lock+0x447; the emulation never
+ sees an ALLOC for 0xc57e). The same probe shows 0xc57d/0xc570/0xc573
+ return 0.
+* So the last blocker for the window path is a **local RS-layer validation
+ inside `serverAllocResourceUnderLock`** (candidates: the inlined
+ privilege/class-support checks, `rmapiFixupAllocParams`' per-class fixup,
+ or `clientAllocResource`'s construct dispatch). The 0x56-producing
+ instruction is not yet pinned - a `stepi` loop over the QEMU stub is far
+ too slow and wedged the guest (recovered by a fresh cycle); the next
+ session should use conditional breakpoints on the function's call-return
+ sites (the approach in `gdbdiag19` works; the earlier run had truncated
+ addresses and needs the `0xffffffff00000000` base restored) or a
+ watchpoint on the status word.
+
+**gdb-stub field notes**: the stub is single-client; killing an attached
+gdb leaves the VM stopped (recover with a detach-only connect);
+`stepi` loops over the stub freeze the guest's userspace for minutes -
+prefer breakpoints; every probe run with the caps-fill breakpoint changes
+the driver's path, so keep the fill in each experiment.
diff --git a/docs/05-operations/06-guest-frame-path-and-looking-glass.md b/docs/05-operations/06-guest-frame-path-and-looking-glass.md
index 3dda4f1..bc5447a 100644
--- a/docs/05-operations/06-guest-frame-path-and-looking-glass.md
+++ b/docs/05-operations/06-guest-frame-path-and-looking-glass.md
@@ -81,3 +81,22 @@ python3 tools/lg/frame_reader.py --frames 5 --out /tmp/opencode/frames
gcc -O2 -o egl_frame tools/guest-diag/egl_frame.c -lEGL -lGLESv2
./egl_frame
```
+
+## 5. Session-13 update (2026-10-21, r432→r441)
+
+* The single-frame path is unchanged and still proven: guest `frame_producer`
+ (CUDA Julia) -> kvmfr ivshmem BAR -> host `frame_reader.py` ->
+ `/tmp/opencode/frames/frame-0001.png` (320x240, 1431 colours).
+* `tools/lg/frame_sequence.sh` captures an **animated** sequence end to end
+ (reader first, then N frames from the guest). It is blocked by the
+ GR no-execute wedge: when the lane is wedged the render launches write zero
+ pages and the producer republishes stale identical frames (observed: 6/6
+ identical MD5s on r438; r439 published 5 identical plus one frame left in
+ the BAR by the previous boot). A multi-frame animation needs a healthy
+ lane; the frame pipeline itself is not the blocker.
+* The GL wall is untouched: `Xorg :0` -> `(EE) NVIDIA(GPU-0): Failed to
+ allocate VASpace object`, guest dmesg `NVRM: vaspaceapiConstruct_IMPL:
+ Could not construct VA space. Status ffff`, i.e. `vmmCreateVaspace` inside
+ the guest's own RM. Next step: reproduce with the guest RM's
+ `ResmanDebugLevel` raised (a guest module reload, the service's m177 path)
+ to capture which inner call returns the generic error.
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
index 27e04e9..b423762 100644
--- a/docs/README.md
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ Read in order if you are new. Jump directly if you know what you need.
| 24 | [risc-v-gsp-rm-debugger user guide (experimental)](05-operations/04-risc-v-gsp-rm-debugger-user-guide.md) — implemented, documented and tested ([audit](../debug/risc-v-gsp-rm-vm/docs/27-TOOL-AUDIT.md); [value demos](../debug/risc-v-gsp-rm-vm/docs/25-VALUE-VALIDATION.md)) | developers, analysts | 15 min |
| 25 | [Defensive Operations Runbook](RUNBOOK.md) | maintainers, operators | 20 min |
| 25a | [GPUBreach-class audit and threat model](05-operations/05-gpubreach-audit.md) | developers, auditors | 15 min |
+| 25b | [Real-render walls: Vulkan and Xorg on the emulated vGPU](04-implementation/04-real-render-walls.md) | developers, debuggers | 10 min |
| 26 | [Engineering operations](eng-ops.md) — tool admission and workflows (Part I) plus live physical-backend operations (Part II) | maintainers, developers | 20 min |
| 27 | [Hardware and software matrix](06-portability/hardware-software-matrix.md) | developers, integrators | 20 min |
| 28 | [Developer onboarding and standards](07-developers/onboarding-and-standards.md) | contributors | 20 min |