The window was the handoff's remaining item: let up to N resource_create answers be
outstanding, read a provisional accept, collect the answers in order, and un-latch an
object whose late answer is DECLINED. It is a sound mechanism and the gates below pin
it - and on the device it does nothing at all, which is why the default is 1.
MEASURED, same device, same frame, same 101,421,396 B staged, same binary:
MOBILEGL_IPC_CREATE_WINDOW=4 by_op 2 = 4,536 wall 28.64 s
MOBILEGL_IPC_CREATE_WINDOW=1 by_op 2 = 4,536 wall 28.64 s
(the handoff's pre-window baseline: 31.3 s)
by_op 2 counts the creates that took the BLOCKING path (LinkMetricsBeginReply is
called with ownsReplySlot = rowCarriesReplySlot && wantReply), so it not moving means
no create deferred. A temporary counter in the row said why: pushed=24, blocked=4,476,
took=20, readfail=8,951, pending pinned at 4 - the drain READ the answers back and
failed every time.
WHY, IN THE PROTOCOL'S OWN ARITHMETIC. An answer is readable only until its pool slot
is reused, and the pool is kDefaultReplySlotCount = 8. The server answers EVERY
reply-owning record, not only the rows that wait, because it cannot know which those
are (ClientSession.cpp:1897-1900: "The server posts either way"). This frame posts
59,673 of them: create 4,536 + respecify 20,633 + params 18,056 + sub-data 12,671 +
the rest. 8 slots against 59,673 replies churns 7,459 times per frame, i.e. 13.2
replies between two creates, so an answer is overwritten after 8 replies - 0.61 of a
create. The deferral is not slow, it is UNREADABLE, and no window depth fixes that.
AND IT IS NOT NEUTRAL: with the window on, the provisional accept latches an object
the applier may have refused, and the un-latch that corrects it lives in that same
unreadable drain. A refusal would become an object the client believes is published -
the silent divergence the suspect list exists to prevent. So the machinery is kept
(one experiment away from usable: a deeper pool, or a "do not answer me" bit, both
wire changes) and the default is off.
Worktree note: the window implementation itself was uncommitted in the tree at
82ed1df9 (MOBILEGL-CS-HANDOFF-2.md section 2, "can compile, gates mostly green, never
run on a device"). This commit lands it in the state the measurement supports. The
row also gains the heal the suspect list was missing - a BLOCKING create that lands
takes its object back out of it, or kCreateSuspectMax recoveries would retire the
window for the rest of the process - and the clamp that ties the environment's value
to the array, with a static_assert tying the array to half the reply pool so "someone
raises kCreateWindowMax to 8 and steps on the pool" is a compile error.
Gates (RemoteClientControls.inc), all green, 171/171 RemoteClientTest:
ACreateWindowDefersTheAnswersAndTheWindowOffDoesNot - window on = 12 records 0 waits;
the SAME CHILD turns the knob to 1 and it is 12 records 12 waits (the negative
control); pending <= effective after every create; 99 clamps to the array; the
array is <= half the pool
ARefusedCreateUnlatchesItsObjectAndItsNextCreateBlocks - a real refusal (the
server's consumed mask narrowed) clears the latch, +1 suspect, the object's next
create BLOCKS (2 records 2 waits), and restoring the consumer HEALS it (latch
back, suspect -1)
Docs: CONTRACT-P5E.md section 2.5 rewritten (it still said all three rows keep
kWaitReply), plus
docs/Disaggregated/notes/p12/CREATE-WINDOW-MEASURED.md (the numbers, the arithmetic,
the picture evidence: both arms SSIM 0.977) and
docs/Disaggregated/notes/p12/UNPUBLISH-GUARD-SIGNALS.md (handoff section 3: neither
caps generation nor FreshlyPrimed is a signal for "the applier dropped its records",
and the residual gap is one line - the dedup at TextureEmit.h:838 does not read the
latch, so an UNCHANGED descriptor after a drop produces no record and therefore no
refusal to self-heal from).
MobileGL
A desktop OpenGL implementation
MobileGL is a free and open-source project that implements a desktop OpenGL API. The goal is to provide a complete desktop OpenGL implementation with a state management layer and multi-backend support.
Note
Status: In development. Parts of the codebase are incomplete. Current short-term target: OpenGL 4.2 (Core Profile).
Project positioning
MobileGL is an implementation of a desktop OpenGL library. It aims to provide:
- Full OpenGL state management.
- A front-end that exposes OpenGL functions.
- Multiple independent backend implementations, where each backend targets a specific graphics API and remains fully isolated from others.
This project is intended as an implementation/translation layer.
Key components
The repository is organized into following top-level modules:
- MG_State — state tracking and management logic for Graphics APIs.
- MG_Impl — front-end implementations of Graphics APIs that interact with
MG_StateandMG_Backend. - MG_Backend — per-backend translation layer that maps front-end Graphics APIs' semantics and state into concrete backend API calls (e.g. OpenGL ES, Vulkan).
- MG_Util and other utility modules.
Third-party components
MobileGL reuses several open-source projects:
- SPIRV-Cross by KhronosGroup - Apache License 2.0: github
- glslang by KhronosGroup - Various Licenses: github
- DiligentCore by Diligent Graphics - Apache License 2.0: github
- flat_hash_map by Malte Skarupke - Boost Software License 1.0: github
Refer to each component's repository for exact license texts. Any bundled third-party code in this repository is included under the upstream project's license.
Compatibility & target
- Short-term target:
OpenGL 4.2 (Core Profile). - Current development focus:
- Performance improvement
MG_StateandMG_ImplforOpenGL 4.2 (Core Profile)Direct (Vulkan)backendDirect (OpenGL ES)backend
Build Instructions
We currently provide no releases and no precompiled binaries.
If you want to try the project right now, you’ll need to build it yourself:
-
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/MobileGL-Dev/MobileGL.git -
Initialize and update all submodules recursively:
git submodule update --init --recursive -
Follow glslang’s own documentation for its required initiation.
-
Configure and build the project with CMake:
cmake -B build cmake --build buildor do it in a modern way:
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++ cmake --build buildAlternatively, you can use platform-specific build commands as needed.
Build For macOS
On macOS, MobileGL can be built as a dylib that exposes the normal OpenGL/CGL/NSOpenGL entry points and routes them to the DirectVulkan backend. This is useful for running applications such as Minecraft through their stock GLFW/LWJGL OpenGL path while MobileGL is injected before context creation.
Prerequisites:
- macOS with Clang and Ninja.
- Vulkan loader and MoltenVK installed. With Homebrew, the MoltenVK ICD is commonly located at
/opt/homebrew/etc/vulkan/icd.d/MoltenVK_icd.json.
Configure and build:
cmake -S . -B build-macos-magma \
-G Ninja \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
-DMOBILEGL_BACKEND_TYPE=DirectVulkan \
-DMOBILEGL_BUILD_TEST=OFF \
-DMOBILEGL_BUILD_BENCHMARK=OFF
cmake --build build-macos-magma --target MobileGL -j8
The dylib will be generated at:
build-macos-magma/libMobileGL.dylib
To run Minecraft by MobileGL from a launcher like PrismLauncher, keep the stock LWJGL/GLFW natives and add a wrapper command to the instance settings:
env DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES=/absolute/path/to/MobileGL/build-macos-magma/libMobileGL.dylib MOBILEGL_BACKEND_TYPE=DirectVulkan VK_ICD_FILENAMES=/opt/homebrew/etc/vulkan/icd.d/MoltenVK_icd.json
Also make sure the JVM arguments include:
-XstartOnFirstThread
DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES must be active before GLFW creates its OpenGL context. After startup, the Minecraft F3 screen should report MobileGL and the Direct (Vulkan) backend if the injection worked.
Build Options
| Option | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
MOBILEGL_BUILD_TEST |
Build MobileGL tests (requires Clang) | ON |
MOBILEGL_BUILD_BENCHMARK |
Build MobileGL benchmarks (requires Clang) | ON |
MOBILEGL_FORCE_RELEASE_OPT |
Enable O3 and LTO in Debug build | ON |
MOBILEGL_ENABLE_TRACY |
Enable Tracy profiler for performance analysis | OFF |
Notes:
- The project requires C++23.
MG_TestandMG_Benchmarkcan only be built with Clang, not GCC. To enforce Clang, add-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++to your command.- On Android, tests and benchmarks are always disabled.
Environment Variables
MobileGL supports runtime configuration via environment variables.
Supported Keys
| Variable | Description | Allowed Values | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
MOBILEGL_BACKEND_TYPE |
Select active backend implementation at startup. | DirectGLES, DirectVulkan |
DirectGLES |
MOBILEGL_DISABLE_TIMERQUERY |
Disable GPU timer-query exposure and use. | 0, 1 |
0 |
MOBILEGL_ESPRYT_USE_ANGLE |
Load ANGLE EGL/GLES libraries. | 0, 1 |
0 |
MOBILEGL_MAGMA_DISABLE_SUBGROUP |
Disable Vulkan shader subgroup support. | 0, 1 |
0 |
MOBILEGL_ADVERTISE_FP64 |
Advertise GL_ARB_gpu_shader_fp64. GLSL double/dvec/dmat compile and run either way - they are narrowed to 32 bits - so this only changes whether an application is told it has 64-bit precision, which it does not. |
0, 1 |
0 |
MOBILEGL_MAGMA_R11G11B10F_FALLBACK |
Use Magma's R11G11B10F format fallback. | 0, 1 |
0 |
MOBILEGL_MAGMA_FRAMESINFLIGHT |
Set Magma frames in flight. | Integer 1–64 |
3 |
MOBILEGL_ESPRYT_AVOID_SAMPLER_MIPMAP_MIN_FILTER |
Avoid sampler mipmap minification filters. | 0, 1 |
0 |
MOBILEGL_COHERENT_AS_FLUSH |
Treat persistent GL_MAP_FLUSH_EXPLICIT_BIT maps as coherent (app-compat for engines like Flywheel that never flush them). |
0, 1 |
0 |
MOBILEGL_ESPRYT_FORCE_DS_READBACK_EMULATION |
Always emulate depth/stencil glReadPixels/glGetTexImage by shader sampling on Espryt, instead of using the driver's own depth/stencil readback where it has one. |
0, 1 |
0 |
VK_ICD_FILENAMES |
Select the Vulkan ICD used by the Vulkan loader. | Path to an ICD JSON file | Loader default |
License
This project is distributed under GNU LGPL v3.0. See the LICENSE file in the repository for detailed information.