DroidDeck/docs/progress-log.md

DroidDeck - Progress Log

Running engineering log for the DroidDeck app (com.droiddeck.launcher; called SteamDeck, com.steamdeck.launcher, until 2026-09-23 - entries below that date keep the old name). Newest state first, then the timeline, then lessons and backlog. Companion to the README (what the app does) and to docs/releases/ (what each version said) - this is how it got here and where it stands.

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2026-09-23 (evening) - renamed SteamDeck → DroidDeck

• App name, app ID and code package: DroidDeck, com.droiddeck.launcher (was com.steamdeck.launcher), sources under app/src/main/java/com/droiddeck/launcher, the 68 JNI functions renamed with them. A new app ID means DroidDeck installs beside SteamDeck, not over it: the runtime, the Steam sign-in and the settings start fresh.
• Downloads: session logs go to Download/DroidDeck/; the switch files are droiddeck-env, -osc, -driver, -tu-debug, -no-pad, -pad-log, -no-hud, -wlr-renderer. The old steamdeck-* names are not read.
• Inside the runtime: droiddeck-desktop, Firefox's droiddeck.js, ~/.droiddeck-desktop-debug, ~/.cache/droiddeck, the shortcuts tag droiddeck-app, X-DroidDeck-AppId, the droiddeck-rumble socket. "Desktop installed" now tests for usr/bin/labwc (it tested for the launcher, which the app stages itself).
• Kept on purpose - Valve's Steam Deck: the -steamdeck flag, steamdeck_publicbeta/steamdeck_stable, "Steam Deck mode", steamdeck-packages.steamos.cloud. And names inside the hosted desktop package: steamdeck.png, steamdeck-steam(.desktop), steamdeck-bigpicture.desktop (renaming them means re-hosting it).
• CI artifact droiddeck-apk; a stray committed __pycache__/*.pyc removed.

2026-09-23 (afternoon) - main 90c7574: first-run onboarding, Desktop & apps page, 4:3 display

State: main = 90c7574 (PR #14 merge), main build run 35895701784. No tag, no release; next version is still open. Nothing below is device-tested except the audio default (Kurt, AYN Thor).

• PR #11 → f79dc2d (fix/directaudio-default): the Steam client's audio is back on the 0.1.5 classic sink by default (module-aaudio-classic-sink.so, byte-identical to 0.1.5's arm64 module); DirectAudio is a choice in the Steam cog ("Steam client audio", pref clientDirectAudio, default off). Games keep DirectAudio on by default; mic on by default, RECORD_AUDIO asked once. Old armhf sink out of the bundle; the bundle re-unpacks when its contents change (stamp = BUNDLE_STAMP + CRC32 of pulseaudio.tzst). Relay logs a heartbeat line; Setup › Session logs › Share latest logs. Kurt on the Thor: classic "works perfectly".
• PR #12 → 0ddb0be (feat/play-installs-runtime):
  • 586c9c2 Play and Desktop UI are enabled with no runtime; the session's loading screen downloads, checks and unpacks it ("downloading the Linux runtime · 332 of 791 MB"), then starts the session. A failure ends on the loading screen with the reason.
  • f437957 Desktop does the same: the runtime if missing, then the desktop package from desktop.json (426 MB), then LXQt. Play, Desktop UI and Desktop all give the non-Adreno warning before any download (MainActivity.startSession).
  • cbd3bc9 Desktop & apps is a page in the pane (pageKey apps), not a dialog: a rail-style dropdown per tier with an installed/total pill (Native ARM64 open), per-package Install/Remove, and the installing package's step line and bar in its own row. Leaving the page does not stop an install.
• PR #14 → 90c7574 (fix/exact-panel-shape), from a user report on a 4:3 handheld (RP Nova) - "the panel's shape" still gave 16:9:
  • Cause: SessionActivity sized the display at maxOf(panel aspect, 16:9) (the foldable guard), so on a 4:3 panel both choices were 16:9 with bars.
  • 9c47095 Shape › Exactly this panel (4:3, 3:2…) - the panel's own aspect, no floor. The other two unchanged; foldables still default to 16:9. In the cog and the in-session menu (SessionPrefs.shapeChoices).
  • ad2f9f8 Resolution › Custom… per mode (customRes.<mode>, 320×240-3840×2160, evened) with 4:3 / 16:10 / 16:9 presets. It replaces the cap and the shape (Shape greys out); picking a cap clears it; the device report lists it. Not in the in-session menu.
  • Note: the branch was cut from cbd3bc9, not 0ddb0be - same tree.
• Staged: SteamDeck-play-installs-runtime-586c9c2.apk (21460acd…), …-f437957.apk (174e74a6…), SteamDeck-apps-page-cbd3bc9.apk (c2cfbebe…), SteamDeck-custom-res-ad2f9f8.apk (d02ee5ce…, = main's content). HTML preview of the onboarding flow: /sdcard/Download/SteamDeck-onboarding-preview.html.
• CI note: a branch push does not build (build.yml = main + PRs); dispatch it with gh workflow run build.yml --ref <branch>. A newer dispatch on the same branch cancels the older run.
• Open: Kurt's PR #13 "Add Steam second-screen controls" (steamdeck-second-screen) - not reviewed; now needs to merge onto 90c7574.
• Next: (1) fresh-install pass: uninstall, install, press Desktop first (runtime + desktop, ~1.2 GB), then Play with no download; (2) the Desktop & apps page on device (dropdowns, in-row bar, Back mid-install); (3) the Nova reporter tests Exactly this panel / Custom 960×720; (4) PR #13.

2026-09-23 - branch feat/armada-and-lineage

• Steam Deck mode: -steamdeck only; SteamOS helper stubs staged from the apk under /usr/bin and /usr/bin/steamos-polkit-helpers (the missing steamos-update there was the "Update Error" dialog; jupiter-dock-updater --check answers 7 so no dock firmware row); Deck mode defaults the steamdeck_publicbeta channel (on publicbeta every start reinstalled the client and lost the launch URL); client branch row in the Steam cog.
• QAM battery: session/BatteryComponent.kt writes BAT0/BAT1 from BatteryManager, bound over /sys/class/power_supply. Cloud saves checked on device: in sync, nothing was broken.
• Added games: any number of Games folders, each bound under /root/Games; one shortcut per subfolder in the client's shortcuts.vdf under the ARM64 Proton; exe choice per game; art from the folder, else Steam's store (capsule, header, hero, logo) copied into the client's grid.
• gamescope: the runtime's 3.16.29 rebuilt in CI (tools/gamescope, release gamescope-3.16.29-p1) with Armada's ARM64 client fixes, a realtime-queue switch and the gamepad cursor fix; staged over /usr/local/bin. Game windows forced fullscreen in Steam mode (a game came back in the top-left corner after the Steam menu).
• Audio: own PulseAudio sinks in tools/aaudio-sink, built into the bundle by CI. With DirectAudio on, the client's sound goes through the relay's shared ring (module-directaudio-sink, sink named DirectAudio); off, module-aaudio-sink. Inside proot AAudio only gave 20 ms bursts, the relay gets 4 ms.
• Winlator code rewritten or removed (SessionPart, HostEnvironment, HostProcess, PadState, cpp/framegen); rumble now served by session/RumbleComponent.kt.
• Front end shelf laid out whole so the d-pad reaches every tile.
• Hosted runtime and desktop packages untouched.

0.1.5 RELEASED 2026-09-23 03:17 - known-good point

• Tag 0.1.5 = d2f4a84 (bump commit, versionCode 6), notes docs/releases/0.1.5.md on main after it. Private release 0.1.5 and public SteamDeck-0.1.5 on winlator-contents, both Latest, asset SteamDeck-0.1.5.apk 21,093,959 bytes, sha256 85b42954…, run 35813465422. Staged as /sdcard/Download/SteamDeck-0.1.5.apk.
• What went in since 0.1.4 (58 commits): the motion front end, settings as pages with anchored menus, the session drawer, three themes (Paper default) and the new icon, run-as-a-game + libpci fix (117 fps Big Picture on a Fold), client-interface switches, FEX presets, 720p default, TZ, non-Adreno gate, 16 KB app libs, two on-screen sticks + bar-aware layout, folded categories at launch, Kurt's #3 (Back key) / #4 (icon) / #5 (local build helpers), pull-request CI + contributions ledger.
• Untested at release: sticks/bar layout, FEX presets, Deck mode, desktop → Steam hand-off, the perf: line. Rollback: git reset --hard 8e58e8e (0.1.4) + SteamDeck-0.1.4.apk.
• After the cut: the public release on winlator-contents got the private title, and that repo's README a SteamDeck section (latest release, linuxfs.json, desktop.json) - refresh both at every cut. Verified on the FIT's client binary: there is no -steampal flag; the Deck flags are -steamdeck / -steamos3 (Deck mode on the Performance page), -gamepadui, -steamos.
• Next, in order: (1) device pass of 0.1.5 - sticks in a game and the bar layout on the Fold, the perf: line and 720p in a session log, a FEX preset, the desktop → Steam hand-off; (2) decide the stick click gesture (double tap or long press); (3) Kurt's draft PR #1 (Decky installer) builds when he marks it ready - it compiles against main, minus two stray .kotlin files; (4) rebuild the six PulseAudio prebuilts 16 KB-aligned; (5) optional FIFO/mailbox switch on the compositor's Vulkan present path; (6) the rename away from Valve marks is still open (icon is now the "A").

2026-09-22 (late) - motion front end + run-as-a-game, branch feat/frontend-motion (unmerged)

• Front end rebuilt around a motion system (ui/FrontEndScreen.kt, same state/actions API): the rail's selection is one pill that springs between rows; sub-lists unfold and stagger their children; a page change sinks out and cascades in over a blurred wash of the selection's art; tiles lift/ring/shine on focus and pop a play badge; the launch button sweeps a sheen and squashes on press; the session activity rises over the front end (res/anim/session_*). Durations follow the system animator scale.
• The session now runs as a game: manifest appCategory=game + game_mode_config (Performance mode welcome; the OS FPS cap and downscaling refused), sustained performance mode, the panel's fastest mode at its size, GameManager game state, and an ADPF hint session over the compositor thread fed with each presented frame's interval (session/PerfMode.kt, session/PerfHints.kt, nativeCompositorTid). One perf: line in the session log says what took on the device.
• App libraries link 16 KB-aligned. Still 4 KB-only (prebuilt, need a rebuild): libpulse, libpulseaudio, libpulsecommon-13.0, libpulsecore-13.0, libsndfile, libltdl.
• The session's display caps at 720p by default now, client and desktop alike (SessionPrefs.defaultResolutionCap); a cap the user chose still wins. The cog's list marks the default per mode.
• Builds: r1 7ddfb57 (motion only), r2 546c063 (+ run-as-a-game), r3 d1ced87 (+ client 720p), r4 fb2a3d4 (+ desktop 720p) - all CI-green, none device-tested. Staged as SteamDeck-motion-r1..r4.apk; r4 has everything.
• r5 1ba803b + TZ in the guest; r6 39272cf Setup folds, "Linux desktop environment", help link above the grid (r4 seen running on the FIT); r7 af3f377 settings without a pop-up: the cog and Performance are pages in the pane with anchored menus under each value, frame generation / logs / offline open in place on the rail. r7 merged fast-forward to main (af3f377) and main's auto-build staged as SteamDeck-r52.apk; no tag, no release.
• r8 90ff23a (branch only, unmerged): the session drawer in the front end's dress with the same rows and menus (Now / Next session / leave), FEXCore presets carried over from Bannerlator (core/FexPreset, Steam settings page + drawer, FEX_* into the Steam session's environment; default = FEX defaults as before), file manager and picker locked to landscape.
• Collaborators: maxjivi05 (push) and xXJSONDeruloXx (push, invited 2026-09-22) on the private repo.
• CI for pull requests (2026-09-23 early): Build APK runs on pull_request_target against main (a conflicting pull request never fires pull_request), checks the pull request out at its head with full history, merges main itself, and leaves one comment kept current: mergeable + built (apk on the run), or the conflicting files and hunks, or the compiler's errors from the kept Gradle log. Drafts wait. Fork pull requests may run without approval (repo setting). Proven with a throwaway pull request (#2, closed) both ways. Contributions ledger rewrites the README's contributors table on open/merge/close via .github/scripts/contributions.sh, committed to main by the Actions bot.

Checkpoint 2026-09-22 22:xx - known-good point for the front end

• main @ 36cde7d, APK SteamDeck-r51.apk staged (sha adb5acf5…, run 35761437514) = frontend-r6 + docs. Same versionCode 5 / 0.1.4 inside; 0.1.5 not cut yet.
• Proven on the Pocket FIT this evening: the front end renders and navigates (rail, art, square emulator icons, focus outline); RPCS3 lists Tomb Raider (ISO in a subfolder) and God of War II HD (its HDD); God of War II HD boots the game under gamescope at ~40 fps (session-20260922-133044: run: rpcs3.AppImage --no-gui …NPUA80491/USRDIR/EBOOT.BIN, 399 frames on screen in 10 s).
• Not yet proven: desktop→Steam hand-off after the three fixes (r47–r50); FlatOut from the rail (Steam session with rungameid); Running tile; volume keys; automatic SD game storage (Install drive drop-down); Steam desktop-UI session; Tomb Raider ISO boot.
• Open decision: rename the app away from Valve's marks before it spreads (shortlist offered: Linuxlator / Pocketscope / Portascope); rename = label, icon text, applicationId (fresh install + runtime re-download), Download/SteamDeck/ log folder, repo, release-tag pattern.
• Rollback: git checkout 36cde7d (or 0.1.4 tag 8e58e8e for the last release), reinstall SteamDeck-r51.apk / SteamDeck-0.1.4.apk from Downloads.
• Loose ends: ui/MainScreen.kt keeps ConfirmDialog/CreditsDialog/EmulatorHelpDialog but its MainScreen/tiles are dead; worktree ~/steamdeck-frontend still exists (branch merged).

Current state (2026-09-22, evening)

• main @ the front end merge (feat/frontend fast-forwarded): the launcher main screen - Steam ▸ games, Desktop ▸ emulators ▸ games, Running tile, focus outline. First emulator game proven from the app: God of War II HD in RPCS3 under gamescope at ~40 fps on the Pocket FIT.
• Since 0.1.4 on main, unreleased: volume keys to Android; emulators under gamescope; ROMs chip
  • ? explainer; sysmem copy + ENOSYS hint; automatic game storage (a card = a Steam library); the client's games on the desktop with a steam shim; desktop→Steam hand-off (three causes fixed from FIT logs: Surface detach race, the replaced session's exit ending the new one, shared log folder); the front end. Next release = 0.1.5 once the hand-off is seen working.

State at 0.1.4 (2026-09-22)

• Latest release: 0.1.4 - private: https://github.com/The412Banner/SteamDeck/releases/tag/0.1.4 · public: https://github.com/The412Banner/winlator-contents/releases/tag/SteamDeck-0.1.4 main @ 8e58e8e, CI run 35682844106, versionCode 5, APK sha256 4b53ce6a… (20,957,823 B).
• Runtime: linuxfs-r9 on winlator-contents (790 MB), the only runtime release left; desktop packages from steamdeck-desktop-r1. The app rewrites its own scripts (bannerlator-*), the driver, bannerlator-netmanager and the DirectAudio pieces into the installed runtime at every launch, so a fix in those reaches an installed runtime without a re-download.
• Shipped feature set: the native ARM64 Steam client under gamescope on the in-app Wayland compositor; a LXQt-on-labwc desktop with Firefox and a shelf of emulators; Proton tools (GE / CachyOS) as downloads; graphics drivers importable per mode; DirectAudio + microphone; client/game core masks + four session switches; NetworkManager stand-in (Max's); overlay restored; ROMs folder + Storage bound into the session's home; Bannerlator's File Manager; a cog per launch mode (resolution, shape, HDR10, drivers, touch, OSC/audio, renderer); per-session log folders that survive a crash; leftover-process sweep; frame generation (Win-FG, LSFG).
• Verification level: every release is CI-green and staged to the maintainer's device. Proven on hardware (Pocket FIT / Fold): sign-in, store, install + launch (FlatOut 144 Hz), frame generation, controllers + OSC, sound, desktop + Firefox, folding mid-session, driver import, the log folder, the ANR fix, the network page. Not yet proven: everything 0.1.4 added (ROMs folder inside an emulator, File Manager, resolution cap, HDR10, crash sweep, orphan sweep, the drawer's Steam menu), DirectAudio voice, the core masks' effect, offline start, the soft keyboard, any emulator with a game, Adreno 710.
• Open field reports (Thor Pro, 8 Gen 2): trackpad-mode tap does not click (code sends the click; cause not found by reading); crash after 1–2 min in Ballionaire / Geometry Wars (no log survived - 0.1.4's sweep will leave crash.log); a Fold's 10–20 fps client menus (Chromium → ANGLE → Zink on an experimental A8xx Turnip); Fold crash loop (xalia ENOSYS storm - switches shipped, untested); FlatOut shrinking after Resume (gamescope forcing the swapchain extent).

Release pipeline (how every version is cut)

1. Work on main, pushed → Build APK runs assembleRelease (AOSP test key, v1+v2+v3 re-signed by CI with zipalign + apksigner) → artifact steamdeck-apk. Dev builds keep the last release's versionCode/versionName; a release bumps both in app/build.gradle in its own commit.
2. Verify: gh run view <id> --json conclusion (never trust a run listing's first row - a workflow_dispatch run gets cancelled by concurrency in favour of the push-triggered one), download the artifact, sha256 it.
3. Stage: cp to /sdcard/Download/SteamDeck-rN.apk (dev) or SteamDeck-X.Y.Z.apk (release). Never pm install - the maintainer installs.
4. Private release X.Y.Z targeting the full 40-char sha (a short sha is refused), notes from the draft in the session scratchpad, --latest. Public release SteamDeck-X.Y.Z on winlator-contents with the README-style notes; one public release per version.
5. README ledger, this log, memory.

Timeline

• 2026-09-19 - 0.1 groundwork. Lifted out of Bannerlator's gamescope runtime on the user's ask: one screen, one button. r2 reached Big Picture sign-in on the Pocket FIT. Package renamed to com.steamdeck.launcher (r4), foreground service, test key, on-screen controls.
• 2026-09-20 - 0.1. The Linux Steam client and a desktop; runtime r6→r9 in a day (Proton self-selection, proot shipped, refresh rate, video, first run reaches a game). Public explainer page for non-Linux users.
• 2026-09-21 - 0.1.1. Catch-up with Bannerlator: driver selection (two lists, per mode), overlay restored + GameHub force-stop, DirectAudio + microphone, core masks, four session switches as toggles, per-session log folders with credentials scrubbed, Adreno 710 path via Banners-Turnip r3.
• 2026-09-22 - 0.1.2. The teardown ANR (log collection on the main thread) fixed; two compositor log lines (frame-size change, window rename); README ledger.
• 2026-09-22 - 0.1.3. Max's NetworkManager stand-in ported (the client's network page); shim audit vs WinNative = zero functional drift.
• 2026-09-22 (later) - after 0.1.4, on main. Volume keys; emulators under gamescope (the desktop cannot: labwc on pixman offers no dma-buf); ROMs chip; sysmem warning + ENOSYS hint; automatic game storage; the client's games on the desktop (steam shim hands off to a gamescope session); the hand-off's three faults found in FIT logs and fixed; the front end merged (branch feat/frontend, r1–r6); God of War II HD booted in RPCS3 from the rail.
• 2026-09-22 - 0.1.4. ROMs folder + Storage in the session's home; Bannerlator's File Manager ported whole; a cog per mode (railed settings window) with resolution cap, shape, HDR10 gated on the panel, drivers, touch, OSC/audio/renderer; two-column main menu; crash-safe log folders + Session logs toggle; OrphanReaper; drawer Steam menu. Public releases reorganised: one per version, old Steamdeck release and runtimes r1–r8 deleted.

Architecture (where things live)

• MainActivity / ui/MainScreen.kt - the main screen; ui/ModeSettingsDialog.kt the cogs; ui/*Dialog.kt the rest.
• SessionActivity - the Surface, input (touch, touchpad, pads, keyboard), the drawer, the HDR decision, the compositor start (wayland/CompositorHost, wayland/WaylandCompositor).
• session/SessionService - proot + gamescope/labwc + PulseAudio + DirectAudio relay + network link; binds (/root/Storage, /root/ROMs); env for the guest; teardown; OrphanReaper; SessionArtifacts + CrashHandler + SessionPaths for the log folders; SessionPrefs.
• files/ - Bannerlator's File Manager (FileManagerScreen.kt and its helpers), the picker activity and InAppFilePicker intent API.
• gpu/ - Turnip (bionic, for the compositor) and Linux Turnip (glibc, for the runtime) managers.
• tools/linuxfs/overlay/usr/local/bin/bannerlator-* - the guest scripts, staged into the runtime by SessionFiles at every launch (CI packages only bannerlator-* names).
• app/src/main/cpp/waylandcomp/ - the compositor (shared lineage with Bannerlator).

Lessons learned (don't repeat these)

• Nothing in teardown may do bulk filesystem work on the main thread (0.1.1's ANR).
• A CI closure check on a multi-line variable must flatten it first (libaaudio.so refusal).
• A runtime script must be named bannerlator-* or CI never packages it.
• gh release create --target needs the full sha.
• A proot bind is invisible to a program's "Computer" list; put what users need under home.
• The compositor decides its driver and its HDR gate once per app process - anything that changes them applies after the app is fully closed, and the UI must say so.
• Bannerlator's File Manager ports mechanically (port_fm.py anchors) once the container hooks are cut; do not hand-edit 2,500 lines.
• Deleting a release asset on GitHub can drop a sibling asset - re-list and restore.

Backlog / next

• Device-prove 0.1.4 on the FIT (list above).
• Thor Pro: trackpad tap; the 1–2 min in-game crash once a crash.log arrives.
• Xfce as a second desktop shell (Max's branch runs XFCE 4.20 on labwc) - a catalog package + a shell choice in the Desktop cog; comfort, not performance.
• Quick Access Menu for non-Deck pads - Back double-press (500 ms) now routes to the existing Guide+A chord; the in-session menu, Steam settings, and Setup › Session can swap the single- and double-Back actions. Device confirmation is still needed.
• FlatOut shrink: try vk_wsi_force_swapchain_to_current_extent=false via steamdeck-env.
• Max's stricter winnative-directaudio guards; winnative-epic-launch (a feature).
• Rename before anything truly public: "SteamDeck" is Valve's mark.