Ufo: Enemy unknown hangs after startup intro with cycles=auto/max

[tazok81]

Describe the bug

The game "Ufo: Enemy Unknown" hangs after intro ends. I should get to main menu, but It hangs. I tried older version from 30.11.2021 and it works fine with this version.

EDIT: it works with cycles=number, cycles=auto or cycles=max fails

Steps to reproduce the behaviour

1. Start game
2. Watch or skip intro

Expected behavior

I should get to main menu

What operating system(s) this bug have occurred on?

Windows 11

What version(s) of DOSBox-X have this bug?

2023-10-06

Used configuration

No response

Output log

No response

Additional information

No response

Have you checked that no similar bug report(s) exist?

• [X] I have searched and didn't find any similar bug report.

Code of Conduct & Contributing Guidelines

• [X] I agree to follow the code of conduct and the contributing guidelines.

[rderooy]

Confirmed on Linux with both the SDL1 and SDL2 builds.

Also tried dosbox-staging, and there it does go to the menu.

Should be git bisected

[rderooy]

DOSBox-X 2022.08.0 works, which should make it a bit easier to pin down. Basically when the intro ends, it should load the GEOSCAPE binary for the menu, and that is when things seem to fail.

[maron2000]

It wasn't actually freezing, but you have to be patient enough to wait. It goes to the menu immediately if you change cycles=auto to some value.

[rderooy]

Thanks for the update @maron2000

To show the git bisect process for those not familiar (you normally don't have so many good hits...):

$ git bisect start
$ git bisect bad dosbox-x-v2023.10.06
$ git bisect good dosbox-x-windows-v2022.08.0
Bisecting: 636 revisions left to test after this (roughly 9 steps)
[67a3690e12b791f36dab08737ddd9b0bbbd784cd] PC-98 INT 18h: Ignore attempts to enable text layer in 256-color mode
$ ./build-sdl2

The generated binary worked, so...

$ git bisect good
Bisecting: 318 revisions left to test after this (roughly 8 steps)
[042d05ff44a55aa13620dc16ed916b3477073471] Revert DOS date/time to use cache DOS kernel copy for date and BIOS ticks for time to match what real MS-DOS does. Initialize time and date by RTC clock on startup. Revise CMOS emulation to run in emulator time, not real time
$ ./build-sdl2

This build has the problem, so...

$ git bisect bad
Bisecting: 160 revisions left to test after this (roughly 7 steps)
[2d05793a3c7cc64382911f80469540cacc7cf988] Move ATI emulation into a file for itself
$ ./build-sdl2

Build worked

$ git bisect good
Bisecting: 80 revisions left to test after this (roughly 6 steps)
[290d1bef7de2cb0936e80014c5f6c7c8238c627d] Merge pull request #4208 from aybe/fix-console-menu-item
$ ./build-sdl2

Build worked

$ git bisect good
Bisecting: 40 revisions left to test after this (roughly 5 steps)
[72cd9dacce2c50b5b7fdb174517b9ef78d9d4f43] Update build date, prepare for release later
$ ./build-sdl2

Build worked

$ git bisect good
Bisecting: 20 revisions left to test after this (roughly 4 steps)
[d51b7c7145e366dd2db24ab825fd2b6fee84a275] Merge pull request #4219 from 1abcd/cht-translation
$ ./build-sdl2

Build worked

$ git bisect good
Bisecting: 10 revisions left to test after this (roughly 3 steps)
[d0f869c28ae1ef61fd92c72f48041f2e0eb919ed] Merge pull request #4225 from Allofich/warn5
$ ./build-sdl2

Build worked

$ git bisect good
Bisecting: 4 revisions left to test after this (roughly 3 steps)
[72237faf4776f966a1138a1b11518a0bfd6ced78] Merge pull request #4229 from scu319hy/master
$ ./build-sdl2

Build worked

$ git bisect good
Bisecting: 2 revisions left to test after this (roughly 1 step)
[b5bd9337a72730a30ba79520c9015a34c9b89514] Merge pull request #4230 from dbjh/hardopl-chmod
$ ./build-sdl2

Build worked

$ git bisect good
Bisecting: 0 revisions left to test after this (roughly 1 step)
[8c30ea15387217016b0b847b0d59e82f272b4e9d] Merge pull request #4231 from dbjh/chmod
$ ./build-sdl2

Build worked

$ git bisect good
042d05ff44a55aa13620dc16ed916b3477073471 is the first bad commit
commit 042d05ff44a55aa13620dc16ed916b3477073471
Author: Jonathan Campbell <jonathan@castus.tv>
Date:   Wed May 3 23:19:52 2023 -0700

    Revert DOS date/time to use cache DOS kernel copy for date and BIOS ticks for time to match what real MS-DOS does. Initialize time and date by RTC clock on startup. Revise CMOS emulation to run in emulator time, not real time

 CHANGELOG             |   7 +-
 src/dos/dos.cpp       |  75 +++++++++-----
 src/gui/sdlmain.cpp   |   4 +
 src/hardware/cmos.cpp | 279 +++++++++++++-------------------------------------
 src/ints/bios.cpp     |  26 ++++-
 5 files changed, 153 insertions(+), 238 deletions(-)
$ git bisect reset 
Previous HEAD position was 8c30ea153 Merge pull request #4231 from dbjh/chmod
Switched to branch 'master'
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.

[tazok81]

I build executables and tested commits. I found that the issue was created between these commits, I hope I did not make mistake

commit d74744fb779088b166e8db196b4d6e9db9982f98 Date: Thu Apr 27 00:17:05 2023 -0700

commit 7dfc618a4840e0c4f3bd560cd559e18f20ad9b28 Date: Sun Jun 11 11:47:29 2023 +0900

[tazok81]

I tracked it a bit more and the issue is caused by "date-time/timer" rewrite in files bios.cpp, cmos.cpp, dos.cpp between commits above

[grapeli]

Works properly under the latest version.

dosbox-x-git-X-COM-UFO-Defense.webm

There is no point in reporting bugs that have already been fixed.

If it doesn't work, you need to specify which version, include the configuration and a copy of the program or game.

[tazok81]

As it was written above, it works with cycles=number. With cycles=auto or cycles=max it hangs.

[grapeli]

Cycles=10000 is recommended for this game. Max or auto not at all. I would suggest changing the title to something adequate and legible.

[tazok81]

I changed the title. But I disagree, cycles=auto is perfect match and should work. And cycles=max may be questionable, but I don't see any reason why it should not work.

[grapeli]

@tazok81 This is a bug, but it has little significance for this game. The game itself starts and works perfectly fine.

There was already a commit mentioned here earlier, from which it now hangs after the end of the intro. Exactly since this change 042d05ff. I confirm.

[rderooy]

I tracked it a bit more and the issue is caused by "date-time/timer" rewrite in files bios.cpp, cmos.cpp, dos.cpp between commits above

??? I did a full git bisect pointing to the exact commit that changed the behaviour 3 days ago. I even provided the full git bisect process above as an example.

[tazok81]

Ah, sorry. I am not familiar with git bisect and did not understand the result or I misslooked it. But yes, that is what I found.

@grapeli You are right. It is not important for this game.

[caiiiycuk]

+1

[tazok81]

I want remind this. This bug is there since may and other people reported it by other apps/games.