Files
daedalus-v4l2/kernel
marfrit 2a449632b9 Phase 8.4: daemon ↔ kernel decode round-trip (VP9 end-to-end)
Wires the Phase 8.3 FFmpeg loader through the Phase 8.2 chardev
bridge: kernel injects REQ_DECODE carrying a raw VP9 access unit,
daemon hands the bitstream to libavcodec via dlopen, sends
RESP_FRAME back with a content-dependent FNV-1a digest of the
decoded YUV planes. Pure CPU decode for now — Phase 8.5 swaps in
dmabuf + QPU dispatch.

Protocol (include/daedalus_v4l2_proto.h):
- New REQ_DECODE (kernel→daemon) and RESP_FRAME (daemon→kernel)
  message types, with fixed-size payload structs.
- New DAEDALUS_CODEC_VP9/AV1/H264 enum (wire-stable so 8.6's
  AV1+H.264 work doesn't move existing values).
- New DAEDALUS_DECODE_* status enum (OK / NO_FRAME / ERR_OPEN /
  ERR_SEND / ERR_RECV / ERR_CODEC).
- Converted the prior `enum daedalus_msg_type` to #defines —
  high-bit values exceed INT_MAX and tripped -Wpedantic on
  userspace; kernel uABI headers use the same idiom.

Kernel (kernel/daedalus_v4l2_chardev.c):
- New debugfs entry /sys/kernel/debug/daedalus_v4l2/test_decode:
  writing raw bitstream bytes wraps them in a REQ_DECODE
  (codec=VP9 for Phase 8.4) and enqueues with an
  auto-incrementing cookie.
- daedalus_chardev_write learned RESP_FRAME: parses the payload
  and emits a single pr_info line with decode metadata. Keeps
  existing PONG handling on the default arm.

Daemon (daemon/src/...):
- chardev_client.{c,h} — opens /dev/daedalus-v4l2, blocking read
  loop, single-buffer write() responses (kernel chardev has only
  .write, not .write_iter, so writev lands as -EINVAL —
  discovered the hard way during first run).
- decoder.{c,h} — lazily-opened AVCodecContext per codec, shared
  AVPacket/AVFrame pair, descriptor-driven plane walker
  (av_pix_fmt_desc_get) so the same hash path covers YUV420P,
  YUV422P, YUV444P, GBRP and other 8-bit planar layouts.
  Generalised after first run decoded testsrc as GBRP (71)
  rather than the assumed YUV420P.
- `daemon` command in main.c opens the chardev and runs the loop
  until SIGINT/SIGTERM. Cookie correlation handled end-to-end.
- ffmpeg_loader gained av_pix_fmt_desc_get (23 symbols total).

Build:
- CMakeLists adds chardev_client.c + decoder.c; explicit
  -I../include for the shared protocol header.
- Still -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic clean.

Verification on hertz (Pi 5, 6.12.75+rpt-rpi-2712):

  $ ffmpeg ... -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:v libvpx-vp9 -frames:v 1 \
           -y /tmp/vp9_test.ivf
  $ python3 ... strip IVF framing → vp9_keyframe.bin (3268 B)

  $ sudo insmod kernel/daedalus_v4l2.ko
  $ daedalus_v4l2_daemon -v daemon &
  $ sudo dd if=vp9_keyframe.bin \
         of=/sys/kernel/debug/daedalus_v4l2/test_decode

  daemon: REQ_DECODE cookie=2 → decoded yuv420p 320x240
          fnv1a=0x6ef10d71 luma=76800 chroma=38400
  kernel: RESP_FRAME cookie=2 status=0 320x240 pixfmt=0
          fnv1a=0x6ef10d71  ← matches daemon ✓

Hash properties verified:
  cookie=2  testsrc 3268 B → 0x6ef10d71  (first decode)
  cookie=3  red     44 B   → 0x7f6e5dc5  (content-dependent ✓)
  cookie=4  testsrc 3268 B → 0x6ef10d71  (deterministic ✓)
  cookie=5  64 B random    → status=101  (ERR_SEND, daemon alive)

Daemon survives bad input (FFmpeg "Invalid sync code" wrapped
into structured ERR_SEND response). Clean SIGTERM shutdown,
clean rmmod.

Phase 8.4 acceptance criteria met:
- ✓ end-to-end kernel→daemon→FFmpeg→kernel round-trip
- ✓ cookie correlation per request/response pair
- ✓ content-dependent + deterministic digest
- ✓ structured error responses (no daemon crash on bad input)
- ✓ clean teardown (SIGTERM + rmmod)
- ✓ builds clean on both kernel kbuild and daemon CMake

Per correctness-before-speed:
- Real chardev I/O (no shortcuts, no select-loop hacks)
- Real FFmpeg AVCodecContext lifecycle (lazily opened, properly
  freed on cleanup)
- Descriptor-driven plane walk (generalises across pix_fmts)
- Structured error path (not just log-and-continue)
- All resource paths cleaned up on every error branch
- Documented why FNV-1a digest, why write() not writev(), why
  pix_desc walk in docs/phase_8_4_closure.md

Phase 8.5 next: V4L2 m2m queue submits REQ_DECODE from
vidioc_qbuf; dmabuf carries actual pixel data so the chardev's
64 KiB cap doesn't gate frame size; begin substituting
daedalus_dispatch_* into the daemon's decode path.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-05-18 15:22:16 +00:00
..

kernel/ — daedalus-v4l2 Linux kernel module

Out-of-tree kernel module providing a V4L2 stateless decoder device that forwards work to a userspace daemon.

Status

Scaffold only. Phase 8.1 not yet started.

Build (when implemented)

make -C /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build M=$(pwd)
sudo insmod daedalus_v4l2.ko
v4l2-ctl --list-devices  # confirm /dev/videoNN appears

Layout (planned)

  • Makefile — kbuild stub
  • daedalus_v4l2_main.c — module init + V4L2 device registration
  • daedalus_v4l2_chardev.c/dev/daedalus-v4l2 chardev for daemon communication
  • daedalus_v4l2_v4l2.c — V4L2 ioctl dispatch (stateless controls)

License

GPLv2. Required for kernel module symbol compatibility.

Phase 8.1 starting point

Minimal example: register a /dev/videoNN that returns -ENOSYS on every ioctl. Validates that the kernel build works and v4l2-ctl can see the device.