ASCILINE/experiments/freeze_repro.js
Nate 58626d7602 fix(#7): anchor the audio master clock so it never jumps backward (startup freeze)
Cold-start root cause: on a slow first load the <audio> element starts late, so
the audio-ready gate's wall-clock fallback has already advanced playback a second
or two by the time audio finally begins at currentTime≈0. The master clock then
snapped back toward 0, every buffered frame read as "in the future", and
renderFrame() deadlocked until audio caught up — the freeze. A refresh warms the
cache, audio starts immediately, the gap (and the freeze) vanish — which is why
reloading "fixes" it.

Fix: the first time audio is genuinely playing, capture the offset between the
wall clock and the audio clock and add it back, so the master clock follows
audio's *rate* without ever moving backward. When audio starts promptly the
offset is ~0, so normal playback is unchanged.

experiments/freeze_repro.js models a 2s-late audio start with a realistic jitter
buffer + 60fps render loop: the original code and a naive `currentTime > 0` guard
render 0-1 of ~96 frames after audio starts (frozen ~4s); the anchored clock
renders 96/96 smooth. Real-browser regression (muted Chrome): normal playback
unaffected at ~29 fps.
2026-06-14 01:24:05 -04:00

59 lines
2.7 KiB
JavaScript

/*
* freeze_repro2.js — Model the COLD-START freeze (issue #7): audio starts late,
* so the wall-clock fallback renders ahead, then the master clock snaps back to
* audioEl.currentTime (~0) and playback freezes until audio catches up.
*
* Faithfully simulates: a server feeding frames at fps, a capped jitter buffer,
* a 60fps render loop, and the app.js master-clock + frame-gate logic — under
* three clock policies.
*/
function sim({ policy, audioDelayMs }) {
const fps = 24, rAF = 1000 / 60, DURATION = 6000;
const buf = [];
let lastServerFrame = -1, audioStart = null;
const renderTimes = [];
for (let t = 0; t <= DURATION; t += rAF) {
// server feeds frames in real time; jitter buffer caps at 20 (drops oldest)
const want = Math.floor(t / 1000 * fps);
while (lastServerFrame < want) buf.push({ time: ++lastServerFrame / fps });
while (buf.length > 20) buf.shift();
const audioPlaying = t >= audioDelayMs;
if (audioPlaying && audioStart === null) audioStart = t;
const audioCurrent = audioPlaying ? (t - audioStart) / 1000 : 0;
const wall = t / 1000;
// ── master clock policy ──
let master;
if (policy === 'broken') master = audioPlaying ? audioCurrent : wall;
else if (policy === 'guard') master = (audioPlaying && audioCurrent > 0) ? audioCurrent : wall;
else if (policy === 'monotonic') {
// fix: anchor audio so the clock never jumps backward
if (audioPlaying) {
if (sim._off === undefined) sim._off = wall - audioCurrent; // capture once
master = audioCurrent + sim._off;
} else master = wall;
}
// ── frame gate (verbatim from app.js) ──
if (buf.length) {
while (buf.length > 1 && buf[0].time < master - 0.1) buf.shift();
if (buf[0].time <= master + 0.05) { buf.shift(); renderTimes.push(t); }
}
}
delete sim._off;
const last = renderTimes[renderTimes.length - 1] ?? 0;
const afterAudio = renderTimes.filter(t => t > audioDelayMs).length;
const trailingStallMs = Math.round(DURATION - last); // froze until the end?
return { rendered: renderTimes.length, afterAudio, trailingStallMs };
}
const EXPECTED_AFTER = Math.round((6000 - 2000) / 1000 * 24); // ~96 frames in the 2-6s window
console.log(`audio starts 2s late (cold start). Expect ~${EXPECTED_AFTER} frames AFTER 2s if smooth:\n`);
for (const policy of ['broken', 'guard', 'monotonic']) {
const r = sim({ policy, audioDelayMs: 2000 });
const frozen = r.afterAudio < 5;
console.log(` ${policy.padEnd(10)} total ${String(r.rendered).padStart(3)} | after-audio ${String(r.afterAudio).padStart(3)}/${EXPECTED_AFTER} | `
+ (frozen ? `FROZE (stuck ${r.trailingStallMs}ms to end)` : `smooth`));
}