CosmOS lets every voice go when a program stops

A gate is a register on the sound device and only a program can drop one.
A program that has stopped cannot: it is gone. So a note left held
sustained until something else said otherwise, and nothing else did -
one program could leave the machine sounding for as long as it ran, with
nothing the person at it could do.

The shell already puts back the Stack, the vectors, the drive, the
working directory and the screen. This is the same list and the same
argument, and the fault path calls it too, for the stronger version of
the argument: a program that CRASHED is exactly the one that cannot tidy
up after itself, and a machine that will not stop humming is a poor place
to read an error message.

It does not make the device silent at once and does not pretend to.
Dropping a gate RELEASES a note rather than stopping it, so the patch's
release still runs. A bounded tail rather than an endless one is the part
the system can be responsible for without knowing what instrument the
program had built.

Hum exits while holding a note; Pause makes no sound and takes a couple
of million cycles, because the machine stops the moment the shell runs
out of input and a note quietened at that instant leaves no samples
behind to say whether it was. They are on a disk of their own so that a
fixture does not move the ten recordings that quote cosmos.img's listing.

THE CHECK CAUGHT ITSELF PASSING WRONGLY FIRST. Pause was missing from the
disk, the machine halted immediately, and the window that should have
held the tail was past the end of a render a twentieth of a second long -
an empty window's peak is nought, which is indistinguishable from silence.
So the sample count is asserted before anything is read from it. Verified
with break.sh: without the call the note is still ringing at 9869.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01E2JrLzFvuFX9fgi1LDRjrW
This commit is contained in:
Anachronaut
2026-09-05 18:54:46 -04:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 5
parent 7f96499438
commit f9b08cf7f9
7 changed files with 232 additions and 3 deletions
+2 -2
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@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ the program was stopped
most faults meets the very instruction that failed and fails again, so carrying on is not on most faults meets the very instruction that failed and fails again, so carrying on is not on
offer - but the machine is almost never what is broken. Everything the shell puts back when a offer - but the machine is almost never what is broken. Everything the shell puts back when a
program exits, which is the Stack, any vectors it installed, the drive, the working directory, program exits, which is the Stack, any vectors it installed, the drive, the working directory,
the console and the screen, is exactly what wants putting back after one dies. So you are the console, the screen and the sound, is exactly what wants putting back after one dies. So you are
returned to the prompt, and the program is recorded as having stopped rather than finished. returned to the prompt, and the program is recorded as having stopped rather than finished.
A fault *below* where programs load is the system's own code, and there is nothing to go back A fault *below* where programs load is the system's own code, and there is nothing to go back
@@ -1261,7 +1261,7 @@ Those numbers are written down once, in `Programs/CosmOS/Source/services.asm`, w
| --- | --- | | --- | --- |
| osPrintString | DP0 names a string ending in a zero byte. Prints it. | | osPrintString | DP0 names a string ending in a zero byte. Prints it. |
| osReadLine | DP0 names somewhere to put a line, B says how much room there is. Reads one from the console, with the shell's own editing - arrows, Home, End, Delete - but not its history. Q comes back holding how long it was. The console is left in whatever mode it was found in. | | osReadLine | DP0 names somewhere to put a line, B says how much room there is. Reads one from the console, with the shell's own editing - arrows, Home, End, Delete - but not its history. Q comes back holding how long it was. The console is left in whatever mode it was found in. |
| osExit | Gives the machine back. Does not return. | | osExit | Gives the machine back. Does not return. The system puts back what the program was borrowing - the Stack, its vectors, the drive, the working directory, the screen - and lets every voice of the sound device go, because a gate is a register only a program can drop and a program that has stopped cannot drop one. |
| osArgument | DP0 names somewhere to put whatever followed the run command, B says how much room there is. | | osArgument | DP0 names somewhere to put whatever followed the run command, B says how much room there is. |
| osFileRead | DP0 names a file, DP1 says where to put it. Q is zero if it read, and DP3 comes back holding how many bytes there were. It writes WHOLE BLOCKS: a sixteen byte file still puts 256 bytes where it is told, so the room given has to be the length rounded up to the next 256. | | osFileRead | DP0 names a file, DP1 says where to put it. Q is zero if it read, and DP3 comes back holding how many bytes there were. It writes WHOLE BLOCKS: a sixteen byte file still puts 256 bytes where it is told, so the room given has to be the length rounded up to the next 256. |
| osFileSave | DP0 names a file, DP1 is the bytes, A and B together are how many. Q is zero if it saved, whether or not it was there before. | | osFileSave | DP0 names a file, DP1 is the bytes, A and B together are how many. Q is zero if it saved, whether or not it was there before. |
+42
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@@ -1496,6 +1496,10 @@ faultSay:
; read, and a program that faulted may have left the screen with nowhere to put a letter. ; read, and a program that faulted may have left the screen with nowhere to put a letter.
CALL faultScreen CALL faultScreen
; And quiet, before them. A program that faulted mid-note left one sounding and is no longer
; in a position to stop it.
CALL soundQuiet
CALL printString CALL printString
SETD.1 FaultNumbered SETD.1 FaultNumbered
LDA.1 LDA.1
@@ -5154,6 +5158,40 @@ screenGiveDone:
screenGiveNone: screenGiveNone:
RET RET
; ---- Every voice let go of ----
;
; The same argument as the screen, and for a stronger reason. A program that took the sound
; device and stopped has nothing left that could end a note it was holding: a gate is a
; register on the device and only a program can drop one. A held note sustains until somebody
; says otherwise, so what this bounds is the difference between a machine that rings for a
; moment and one that rings until it is switched off.
;
; IT DOES NOT MAKE THE DEVICE SILENT AT ONCE, and does not pretend to. Dropping a gate
; RELEASES a note rather than stopping it, so whatever release the patch was given still runs.
; A bounded tail rather than an endless one is the part the system can be responsible for
; without knowing what instrument the program had built.
;
; A PROGRAM THAT FAULTS CANNOT TIDY UP AFTER ITSELF, which is why this is called from the
; fault path too. A machine that will not stop humming is a poor place to read an error
; message, and the program that would have quietened it is exactly the one that just died.
;
; Safe from a fault handler: four port writes, no service, no disk, and nothing that can
; refuse.
soundQuiet:
RSTA
soundQuietOne:
OUTA 0x41 ; This channel. Every sound port writes to whichever was last.
PSHA
RSTA
OUTA 0x45 ; Let go of whatever it was holding.
POPA
INCA
INIB 0d4
CCF
SUB
BNQ soundQuietOne
RET
; The registers a console cannot work without, put back. Not the picture - that is ; The registers a console cannot work without, put back. Not the picture - that is
; screenGive's, and only happens for a program that asked. ; screenGive's, and only happens for a program that asked.
screenSane: screenSane:
@@ -6266,6 +6304,10 @@ handleExit:
; What was on the screen before this program had it, if it asked for that. ; What was on the screen before this program had it, if it asked for that.
CALL screenGive CALL screenGive
; And every voice let go of, for the same reason the screen is: a program that has stopped
; cannot drop a gate it left up.
CALL soundQuiet
; The drive the person was on, whatever the program did with it. ; The drive the person was on, whatever the program did with it.
PSHA PSHA
SETD.1 RunDrive SETD.1 RunDrive
+70
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@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
; A program that stops while a note is still held down.
;
; The gate is a register on the sound device, and only a program can drop one. This one does
; not: it starts a note whose envelope sustains at full and then hands the machine back, so
; the note is left sounding with nothing left in the world able to end it.
;
; WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN IS THAT COSMOS ENDS IT, the way it puts the screen back and the drive and
; the vectors - and for a stronger reason, since a program that faults cannot tidy up after
; itself either. Without that this note sustains for as long as the machine runs.
;
; Sustain at full and a short release, so the difference between the two answers is loud: a
; gate left up rings for ever and a gate dropped is quiet within a fraction of a second.
;
; Written by Anachronaut
#Include services.asm
#Program
#Base 0x5000
start:
RSTA
OUTA 0x41 ; Channel 0
OUTA 0x42
INIA 0d2
OUTA 0x43 ; Saw
INIA 0x01
OUTA 0x42
INIA 0xFF
OUTA 0x43 ; at full gain
INIA 0x05
OUTA 0x42
INIA 0x01
OUTA 0x43 ; and on.
INIA 0x20
OUTA 0x42
RSTA
OUTA 0x43 ; No attack
INIA 0x21
OUTA 0x42
RSTA
OUTA 0x43 ; no decay
INIA 0x22
OUTA 0x42
INIA 0xFF
OUTA 0x43 ; and held at full, for ever, until a gate says otherwise.
INIA 0x23
OUTA 0x42
INIA 0d5
OUTA 0x43 ; A short release, so a dropped gate is quiet almost at once.
INIA 0xC0
OUTA 0x46
INIA 0d60
OUTA 0x44 ; Middle C, started and never let go of.
SWI osExit
#Data
#Base 0x3000
Unused:
0x00
#Vectors
Boot start
+47
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@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
; A program that takes a while and makes no sound.
;
; Fixture. Something has to happen after a program that left a note sounding has stopped, or
; there is nothing for the sound device to be measured DURING: the machine halts the moment
; the shell runs out of input, and a note quietened at that instant leaves no samples behind
; to say whether it was quietened at all.
;
; So this burns about two million cycles and exits. Two nested counts and a third around
; them, because a byte only reaches 256 and a fifth of a second is a great deal more than
; that.
;
; Written by Anachronaut
#Include services.asm
#Program
#Base 0x5000
start:
INIA 0d16
outer:
PSHA ; The outer count, which the inner ones need A for.
RSTB
middle:
RSTA
inner:
DECA
BNA inner
DECB
BNB middle
POPA
DECA
BNA outer
SWI osExit
#Data
#Base 0x3000
Unused:
0x00
#Vectors
Boot start
+1 -1
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@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ the console's line editing was in when it broke twice in two days.
## Fixture Disks: ## Fixture Disks:
`Tests/makedisks.sh` builds 27 images with SplitDisk before anything runs, into `Tests/makedisks.sh` builds 28 images with SplitDisk before anything runs, into
`Tests/build/disks`. **That is the point of them.** A SplitBit program reading one of these `Tests/build/disks`. **That is the point of them.** A SplitBit program reading one of these
is being checked against a filesystem written by different code from the same written is being checked against a filesystem written by different code from the same written
specification, rather than against itself. specification, rather than against itself.
+17
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@@ -685,6 +685,23 @@ printf 'system /System/Boot/cosmos.bin\n' > "$WORK/lonely.cfg"
"$TOOL" put "$DISKS/nofallback.img" "$WORK/lonely.cfg" /System/Boot/boot.cfg >/dev/null "$TOOL" put "$DISKS/nofallback.img" "$WORK/lonely.cfg" /System/Boot/boot.cfg >/dev/null
"$TOOL" bootstate "$DISKS/nofallback.img" 1 >/dev/null "$TOOL" bootstate "$DISKS/nofallback.img" 1 >/dev/null
# ---- A program that stops while a note is still held ----
#
# Its own disk rather than a place on cosmos.img, because everything on that one appears in a
# directory listing and ten recorded tests quote those. A fixture that exists to be run by one
# check should not move ten others every time it changes size.
"$TOOL" format "$DISKS/quiet.img" 128 2 >/dev/null
"$TOOL" mkdir "$DISKS/quiet.img" /Apps >/dev/null
"$ROOT/Assembler" -I "$ROOT/Programs/CosmOS/Source" \
"$ROOT/Programs/testPrograms/humTest.asm" -o "$WORK/Hum.sbx" >/dev/null
"$TOOL" put "$DISKS/quiet.img" "$WORK/Hum.sbx" /Apps/Hum.sbx >/dev/null
# And something silent to run after it, because the machine stops the moment the shell runs
# out of input - a note quietened at that instant leaves no samples behind to say whether it
# was quietened at all.
"$ROOT/Assembler" -I "$ROOT/Programs/CosmOS/Source" \
"$ROOT/Programs/testPrograms/pauseTest.asm" -o "$WORK/Pause.sbx" >/dev/null
"$TOOL" put "$DISKS/quiet.img" "$WORK/Pause.sbx" /Apps/Pause.sbx >/dev/null
# ---- What a program made of it ---- # ---- What a program made of it ----
# #
# A status is only worth having if it survives the program that set it, so this runs three # A status is only worth having if it survives the program that set it, so this runs three
+53
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@@ -702,6 +702,59 @@ QUIETER="$ALONE0"
&& result ok "and then both at once" "peak $TOGETHER against $ALONE0 and $ALONE1 alone" \ && result ok "and then both at once" "peak $TOGETHER against $ALONE0 and $ALONE1 alone" \
|| result no "and then both at once" "peak $TOGETHER, which is not above either of $ALONE0 and $ALONE1" || result no "and then both at once" "peak $TOGETHER, which is not above either of $ALONE0 and $ALONE1"
# ---- The system quietens a note the program that made it cannot ----
#
# A gate is a register on the sound device, and only a program can drop one. A program that
# has stopped cannot: it is gone. So a note left held sustains until something else says
# otherwise, and nothing else did - which means one program could leave the machine sounding
# for as long as it ran, with no way for the person at it to stop it.
#
# CosmOS now lets every voice go when a program hands the machine back, the same way it puts
# the screen and the drive and the vectors back, and from the fault path too - because a
# program that CRASHED is exactly the one that cannot tidy up after itself.
#
# Hum starts a note whose envelope sustains at full and exits while holding it. Pause makes no
# sound and takes a couple of million cycles, and it is there because the machine stops the
# moment the shell runs out of input: a note quietened at that instant would leave no samples
# behind to say whether it had been.
#
# ITS OWN DISK, so that a fixture run by one check does not move the ten recorded tests that
# quote cosmos.img's directory listing.
if [ ! -f "$ROOT/Tests/build/disks/quiet.img" ]; then
result no "the system quietens what a program left sounding" "quiet.img is missing; run Tests/makedisks.sh"
else
"$ASM" -I "$ROOT/Programs/Libraries" -I "$ROOT/Programs/CosmOS/Source" \
-o "$BUILD/cosmos.bin" "$ROOT/Programs/CosmOS/Source/cosmos.asm" >/dev/null 2>&1
printf 'Hum\nPause\nexit\n' > "$BUILD/quiet.in"
timeout 60 "$EMU" --fast --cycles 20000000 --sound "$BUILD/quiet.raw" \
--disk "$ROOT/Tests/build/disks/quiet.img" "$BUILD/cosmos.bin" \
< "$BUILD/quiet.in" > "$BUILD/quiet.out" 2>&1
# ---- PROOF THAT ANYTHING WAS MEASURED AT ALL ----
#
# This check reads a window near the end of the render, and a window past the end of the
# samples is empty, and an empty window's peak is nought - which is indistinguishable from
# silence and passes. It happened: Pause was missing from the disk, the machine halted the
# moment the shell ran out of input, and the check reported a quietened note on a render
# a twentieth of a second long. So the length is asserted before anything is read from it.
SAMPLES="$(measure quiet count)"
[ "$SAMPLES" -gt 150000 ] \
|| result no "the quieting check measured a real run" "only $SAMPLES samples, so the windows below are empty"
# The note has to have been made, or silence afterwards proves nothing at all. This is the
# half that would let the check pass on a machine where the sound device did not work.
STARTED="$(measure quiet peak 0 40000)"
[ "$STARTED" -gt 1000 ] \
&& result ok "a program can leave a note sounding" "peak $STARTED while it held one" \
|| result no "a program can leave a note sounding" "peak $STARTED, so nothing sounded and the rest proves nothing"
# And by the end there is nothing, though the program that started it never let go.
LEFT="$(measure quiet peak 100000 0)"
[ "$LEFT" -lt 200 ] \
&& result ok "the system quietens what a program left sounding" "peak $LEFT after it handed back" \
|| result no "the system quietens what a program left sounding" "peak $LEFT, so it is still ringing"
fi
echo echo
if [ "$FAIL" -eq 0 ]; then if [ "$FAIL" -eq 0 ]; then
echo "All $PASS sound checks passed." echo "All $PASS sound checks passed."