Files
NX2navi/tools/prepare_shaders.py
chrg6 918d399d55 Add the shared pipeline list: mesh pipelines players met are built at the shader preparation, before the first start.
The preparation translates every shader and builds each one's stage library, so a pipeline a draw meets for the first time is linked in 2 to 6 ms. A mesh pipeline has no stage libraries: on an install that never drew it, it compiles whole in play, 0.2 to 1.1 s with its draws left out of the picture (18 of them on a first visit of Kokiri Forest). Whole pipelines were built ahead only from the folder's own pipeline-keys.bin.

tools/pipeline_list.py merge folds the pipeline-keys.bin and shader-answers.bin of game folders that were played into one list file: every key record once, with the answers record of each shader it names. A record names its shaders by input id, which depends on the game's code and the answers alone, and holds the game's pipeline state; what depends on the GPU is derived when the pipeline is built, so a record made on one machine is good on another with the same game version and runtime. Four folders on this PC give 5,432 records, 317 of them mesh pipelines (147 KB of keys).

tools/prepare_shaders.py reads the list (tools/data/pipeline_list.bin, data/pipeline_list.bin in a release folder, or --pipeline-list), adds its shader variants to the seed and writes its records as seed-pipeline-keys.bin. nx2navi.exe --prepare-shaders builds the mesh pipelines among them after the seed is translated and saves the pipeline cache before the stage libraries are built (NX2NAVI_PREPARE_PIPELINES=all builds the vertex pipelines too); --warm-shaders does it again after an update or a new driver, and --prepare-pipelines is that step alone. The pipelines go into the caches and are not kept or added to the folder's own key file, so they cost no start-up time or video memory until a draw meets them. A marker file keeps a driver that crashes on one of them from failing every preparation.

The list is derived from game data and stays out of the repository: check_content.py refuses files recorded from a game folder by their first bytes, and make_kit.py, make_launcher.py and make_release.py carry a list given with --pipeline-list. All three now also carry pipeline_list.py, which prepare_shaders.py imports.

Checked without the game: tests/pipeline_list_test.py, and prepare_shaders.py --no-run on the game files with a list of 317 mesh pipelines (all 266 shader variants found in this game version, 177 new to the seed). The build step in nx2navi.exe compiles and links and has not been run.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.2 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-11-10 14:52:46 -05:00

326 lines
18 KiB
Python

"""Prepare the default variant of every game shader and the variants of the shared shader list for a
build, once, before play.
The list (tools/shader_list.py) names shader variants
players met: a shader key (sha256 of the NVN control section and code, as tools/shader_census.py names shaders) and
the translator answers it was translated for. This tool reads the shaders from the extracted RomFS and ExeFS
(tools/shader_census.py inventory), keeps the list's variants whose shader is in this game version, adds each shader's
default variant (every texture slot a 2D texture, float vertex inputs and colour outputs: the
default bind state), and writes them next to the
build's nx2navi.exe in the record layouts of runtime/gfx_shader.c ("answers met in play"):
seed-programs.bin "NX2NSPRG": stage, length, c1 length, runtime code hash, control section, code, c1
seed-answers.bin "NX2NSANS": stage, code hash, input id (zero: the runtime computes it), answers, priority
Priority (the pad byte): 0 shaders the list's warm rows flag as title/menu (t), 1 other warm rows (S, C, R), 2 the
rest; a default variant takes its shader's priority and sets DEFAULT_FLAG (bit 7). The runtime reads a flagged
record's first translation and translates it again with better answers where it reads other ones
(runtime/gfx_shader_guess.c): integer vertex inputs, and the texture and image types a compute shader's translation
declares, for which a compute default variant goes without texture answers. Then it runs `nx2navi.exe --prepare-shaders`, which translates every record into the build's shader cache, writes
shader-prepared.bin (one record per variant, in priority order) and builds every variant's stage library or compute
pipeline once, so the GPU driver's own disk cache holds them (vk_pipeline.c "stage library prebuild"). The seed files
can be deleted afterwards.
The shared pipeline list (tools/pipeline_list.py: graphics pipelines players met, with the shader variants they name)
is read beside the shader list when there is one: tools/data/pipeline_list.bin, data/pipeline_list.bin in a release
folder, or --pipeline-list. Its variants of shaders this game version has join the seed, and its key records are
written as seed-pipeline-keys.bin, which --prepare-shaders builds into the pipeline caches once the seed is translated
(vk_pipeline.c "the shared pipeline list"; mesh pipelines by default). That file stays in the build directory:
`nx2navi.exe --warm-shaders` and `--prepare-pipelines` build from it again after an update or a new driver.
A driver whose shader compiler crashes on a variant crashes on it in every run (NVIDIA 615.78.08 on an RTX 5080, issue
#30). The translations and shader-prepared.bin are written by then, and the journal the run leaves names the variants
the driver was building (vk_pipeline.c skip_init), so only the driver step runs again (`nx2navi.exe --warm-shaders`), up to
RETRIES times, and skips them.
Game-derived output stays in the build directory (ignored). The list is read at preparation time from tools/data/shader_list.tsv when that file exists (the installer archive
bundles it; it stays out of the repository), else from refs/ through git with the rows its history dropped
(tools/shader_list.py); nothing of it is copied into the repository. Needs Python 3.14 (compression.zstd), so run it in .venv-py314 or the embeddable 3.14:
.venv-py314\\Scripts\\python tools\\prepare_shaders.py build\\v121 [--version v121] [--list <tsv>] [--no-run]
[--romfs DIR --exefs DIR] # instead of build\\extracted\\<version>
"""
import argparse
import hashlib
import json
import os
import struct
import subprocess
import sys
import time
from pathlib import Path
ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
while not (ROOT / 'tools' / 'shader_census.py').is_file() and ROOT != ROOT.parent:
ROOT = ROOT.parent
sys.path.insert(0, str(ROOT / 'tools'))
import pipeline_list # noqa: E402
import shader_list # noqa: E402
from shader_census import inventory # noqa: E402
STAGES = {'vs': 0, 'ps': 4, 'cs': 5, 'ts': 6, 'ms': 7} # runtime/gfx.h GFX_STAGE_*
TEX = [None, '1d', '1darray', 'buffer', '2d', '2darray', '2dms', '2dmsarray', '3d', 'cube', 'cubearray']
FMT = [None, 'R8Unorm', 'R8Snorm', 'R8Uint', 'R8Sint', 'R16Float', 'R16Unorm', 'R16Snorm', 'R16Uint', 'R16Sint',
'R32Float', 'R32Uint', 'R32Sint', 'R8G8Unorm', 'R8G8Snorm', 'R8G8Uint', 'R8G8Sint', 'R16G16Float', 'R16G16Unorm',
'R16G16Snorm', 'R16G16Uint', 'R16G16Sint', 'R32G32Float', 'R32G32Uint', 'R32G32Sint', 'R8G8B8A8Unorm',
'R8G8B8A8Snorm', 'R8G8B8A8Uint', 'R8G8B8A8Sint', 'R16G16B16A16Float', 'R16G16B16A16Unorm', 'R16G16B16A16Snorm',
'R16G16B16A16Uint', 'R16G16B16A16Sint', 'R32G32B32A32Float', 'R32G32B32A32Uint', 'R32G32B32A32Sint',
'R10G10B10A2Unorm', 'R10G10B10A2Uint', 'R11G11B10Float'] # gfx_shader.c fmt_names
TYPES = {'float': 0, 'sint': 1, 'uint': 2}
DEFAULT = {'tex': {str(slot): '2d' for slot in range(32)}} # answers outside a shader's use mask are dropped
CONTROL = 0x880
ANS_REC = 4 + 32 + 32 + 147 + 1
DEFAULT_FLAG = 0x80 # pad byte: a default variant, its answers refined from its first translation (gfx_shader_guess.c)
# Default variants left out unless --all-shaders: the larger compute programs of two of Ocarina's three NDSR upscaler
# packages. The translator turns their 20-47 KB of code into 3-12.6 MB of SPIR-V, which the GPU driver took 34 s to
# 44 min each to build (RTX 5090, driver 621.01): 35 programs, the 24 that translate took 19,400 of the 21,750 s
# every compute variant together took. Play sessions met none of them that was slow to build (one 20.8 KB program built in 0.2 s), while all five
# agl_ndsr_vr_light.pck programs play met took 77-153 s each, so that package stays whole. A program play does meet
# here is translated and built at its first use, as before the NDSR packages were read at all.
SLOW_UNUSED = (('/agl_ndsr.pck', 16 << 10), ('/agl_ndsr_vr.pck', 16 << 10)) # (source suffix, code bytes above which)
def slow_unused(s):
return any(s['source'].endswith(suffix) and len(s['code']) > limit for suffix, limit in SLOW_UNUSED)
JOURNAL = 'shader-prepare-journal.bin' # vk_pipeline.c skip_init: a 64-byte slot per worker, input id first
RETRIES = 3
BUNDLED_LIST = ROOT / 'tools' / 'data' / 'shader_list.tsv' # the installer archive carries a copy (no git, no refs/)
if not BUNDLED_LIST.is_file():
BUNDLED_LIST = ROOT / 'data' / 'shader_list.tsv' # release folder layout (tools/make_release.py)
BUNDLED_PIPELINES = ROOT / 'tools' / 'data' / 'pipeline_list.bin' # as BUNDLED_LIST: out of the repository
if not BUNDLED_PIPELINES.is_file():
BUNDLED_PIPELINES = ROOT / 'data' / 'pipeline_list.bin'
SEED_KEYS = 'seed-pipeline-keys.bin'
LIST_PRIORITY = 1 # a pipeline list variant's seed priority: with the warm-up rows
def read_pipeline_list(path):
"""(answers records, pipeline-keys.bin image) of the pipeline list at path, or of the bundled one; None without
a list. A file that is not a list stops the run: a release that names one must not go on without it."""
p = Path(path) if path else BUNDLED_PIPELINES
if not p.is_file():
if path:
sys.exit(f'prepare_shaders: no pipeline list at {p}')
return None
got = pipeline_list.unpack(p.read_bytes())
if got is None:
sys.exit(f'prepare_shaders: {p} is not a pipeline list (tools/pipeline_list.py merge writes one)')
return got
def list_variants(answers_recs, have, seen):
"""Seed records for the pipeline list's shader variants: those whose shader (runtime code hash) is in `have` and
whose (hash, answers) the seed does not hold yet. The input id is left zero, as for every seed record: the runtime
finds it, and finds the id the list's key records name, since it depends on the code and the answers alone."""
out, absent = [], 0
for a in answers_recs:
h, packed = a[4:36], a[68:68 + 147]
if h not in have:
absent += 1
continue
if (h, packed) in seen:
continue
seen.add((h, packed))
out.append(a[:36] + bytes(32) + packed + bytes([LIST_PRIORITY]))
return out, absent
def read_list(path):
if path:
return Path(path).read_text(encoding='utf-8')
if BUNDLED_LIST.is_file():
return BUNDLED_LIST.read_text(encoding='utf-8')
return shader_list.history(ROOT / 'refs' / 'MacNativeGames')
def pipeline_variants(key):
"""The vertex and fragment variant names of an R/B row's pipeline key. Since its revision of 2026-10-28 the
list keeps keys packed, "<vs variant>:<fs variant>:<the rest in hex>"; older revisions and contribution files
hold the whole key in hex, "<vs variant>\\0<fs variant>\\0" + a Metal descriptor."""
if ':' in key:
return key.split(':', 2)[:2]
return [n.decode('ascii', 'replace') for n in bytes.fromhex(key).split(b'\0')[:2]]
def parse_list(text):
"""V rows as (key, deps); priority per shader key from the warm rows (variant names start with the key)."""
variants, prio = [], {}
def warm(key, flags):
p = 0 if 't' in flags else 1
prio[key] = min(prio.get(key, 2), p)
for line in text.splitlines():
f = line.split('\t')
if f[0] == 'V' and len(f) == 3:
variants.append((f[1], json.loads(f[2])))
elif f[0] == 'S' and len(f) == 4:
warm(f[1][:64], f[3])
elif f[0] == 'C' and len(f) == 3:
warm(f[1][:64], f[2])
elif f[0] in ('R', 'B') and len(f) >= 3:
for n in pipeline_variants(f[1]):
if len(n) >= 64:
warm(n[:64], f[-1])
return variants, prio
def answers(deps, stage, control):
"""GfxShaderAnswers in gfx_shader.c pack_answers layout (147 bytes) from the list's deps JSON."""
tex, img, fmt, attr, fout = bytearray(32), bytearray(32), bytearray(32), bytearray(32), bytearray(8)
for slot, t in deps.get('tex', {}).items():
t = t.removesuffix('_depth')
tex[int(slot)] = TEX.index('2d' if t == '*' else t) # "*": any kind, translated as the plain 2D it stands for
for slot, o in deps.get('img', {}).items():
img[int(slot)] = TEX.index(o['type'])
fmt[int(slot)] = FMT.index(o['fmt']) if o.get('fmt') in FMT else 0
for loc, t in deps.get('attr', {}).items():
attr[int(loc)] = TYPES[t]
for idx, t in deps.get('fout', {}).items():
fout[int(idx)] = TYPES[t]
local = [0, 0, 0] # vk_exec_draw.c answers_for: zero for vertex and fragment programs (they are in the input id)
if stage not in (STAGES['vs'], STAGES['ps']):
# compute, task and mesh: the three words at the control section's local size (NVN2 at +0x58), 0 read as 1,
# each cut to 16 bits as answers_for stores them (task and mesh programs keep other fields there)
local = struct.unpack_from('<III', control, 0x58 if nvn2(control) else 0x748)
local = [(v or 1) & 0xffff for v in local]
packed = bytes(tex + img + fmt + attr + fout) + struct.pack('<HHHIB', *local, 0, 0)
assert len(packed) == 147
return packed
def nvn2(control):
"""An NVN2 (Switch 2) control section as shader_census.nvn2_stages keeps it: 0xe0 bytes, zeros to 0x880."""
return control[:4] == bytes.fromhex('34127698') and not any(control[0xe0:0x880])
def bounds(control, code):
"""(c1 offset, length) as runtime/gfx_shader.c req_init takes them.
NVN2: play hands req_init the code size of runtime/vk_exec_draw.c ctl_stage_len, which reaches the end of the c1
constants only when there are some (+0x40 below +0x44). With an empty c1 range past the code the length is the code
size alone; cutting at the range's end (as shader_census does) seeded most of Ocarina's vertex programs under keys
play never asks for."""
if nvn2(control):
size, c1_start, c1_end = struct.unpack_from('<III', control, 0x38)[0], *struct.unpack_from('<II', control, 0x40)
code_size = c1_end if c1_start >= size and c1_end > c1_start and c1_end - size < 1 << 20 else size
if c1_start >= size and c1_end >= c1_start and c1_end <= min(code_size, len(code)):
return c1_start, c1_end
return min(size, len(code)), min(size, len(code))
return struct.unpack_from('<II', control, 0x700)
def code_hash(stage, control, code, length, c1):
"""gfx_shader.c build_code_hash."""
return hashlib.sha256(struct.pack('<I', stage) + control + struct.pack('<Q', length) + code[:length] +
struct.pack('<I', len(c1)) + c1).digest()
def driver_crashed(out):
"""nx2navi died while the graphics driver built variants: the journal it left names at least one."""
p = out / JOURNAL
data = p.read_bytes() if p.is_file() else b''
return any(any(data[i:i + 32]) for i in range(0, len(data), 64))
def main():
ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__.splitlines()[0])
ap.add_argument('build', type=Path, help='build directory holding nx2navi.exe (build\\v121)')
ap.add_argument('--version', default='v121', help='build/extracted/<version>')
ap.add_argument('--romfs', type=Path, help='RomFS directory (default build/extracted/<version>/romfs)')
ap.add_argument('--exefs', type=Path, help='ExeFS directory (default build/extracted/<version>/exefs)')
ap.add_argument('--list', help='a shader_list.tsv instead of tools/data/shader_list.tsv or refs/MacNativeGames')
ap.add_argument('--no-run', action='store_true', help='write the seed files only')
ap.add_argument('--no-list', action='store_true', help='default variants only, without a shared shader list')
ap.add_argument('--pipeline-list', help='a pipeline list instead of tools/data/pipeline_list.bin (tools/pipeline_list.py)')
ap.add_argument('--no-pipeline-list', action='store_true', help='no shared pipeline list, also when one is bundled')
ap.add_argument('--all-shaders', action='store_true',
help='also the default variants SLOW_UNUSED leaves out (an hour more of GPU driver builds)')
ap.add_argument('--exe', default='nx2navi.exe' if os.name == 'nt' else 'nx2navi',
help='the game executable in the build directory that runs --prepare-shaders')
a = ap.parse_args()
t0 = time.monotonic()
variants, prio = parse_list('' if a.no_list else read_list(a.list))
extracted = ROOT / 'build' / 'extracted' / a.version
listed = len(variants)
shaders, _ = inventory(a.romfs or extracted / 'romfs', a.exefs or extracted / 'exefs', everything=False)
# A missing list row says nothing about the walk: the list covers several versions, and 1.1.0 holds 17,587 of its
# 41,414 rows, so most rows are absent because the game does not have them, not because the walk missed them. A walk
# that found next to nothing does say something: the shader directories have moved.
if len(shaders) < max(64, listed // 20):
print(f'only {len(shaders)} shaders found of the {listed} listed variants: reading every RomFS file instead',
flush=True)
shaders, _ = inventory(a.romfs or extracted / 'romfs', a.exefs or extracted / 'exefs')
t1 = time.monotonic()
progs, recs, seen, skipped = {}, [], set(), {'not in this version': 0, 'stage': 0}
left_out = 0 if a.all_shaders else sum(1 for s in shaders.values() if slow_unused(s))
variants += [(key, DEFAULT) for key in sorted(shaders) if a.all_shaders or not slow_unused(shaders[key])]
for key, deps in variants:
s = shaders.get(key)
if not s:
skipped['not in this version'] += 1
continue
stage = STAGES.get(s['stage'])
if stage is None:
skipped['stage'] += 1
continue
control, code = s['control'][:CONTROL], s['code']
c1_off, length = bounds(control, code)
c1 = code[c1_off:length]
if key not in progs:
h = code_hash(stage, control, code, length, c1)
progs[key] = (h, struct.pack('<III', stage, length, len(c1)) + h + control + code[:length] + c1)
h = progs[key][0]
default = deps is DEFAULT
packed = answers({} if default and stage == STAGES['cs'] else deps, stage, control)
if (h, packed) in seen: # a list row of the default bind state
continue
seen.add((h, packed))
rec = struct.pack('<I', stage) + h + bytes(32) + packed + bytes([prio.get(key, 2) | (DEFAULT_FLAG if default else 0)])
assert len(rec) == ANS_REC
recs.append((prio.get(key, 2), rec))
out = a.build.resolve()
plist = None if a.no_pipeline_list else read_pipeline_list(a.pipeline_list)
(out / SEED_KEYS).unlink(missing_ok=True) # a list this build no longer has
if plist:
extra, absent = list_variants(plist[0], {h for h, _ in progs.values()}, seen)
recs += [(LIST_PRIORITY, r) for r in extra]
(out / SEED_KEYS).write_bytes(plist[1])
n_keys = len(pipeline_list.read_keys(plist[1])[3])
print(f'pipeline list: {n_keys} pipelines; of the {len(plist[0])} shader variants they name, {len(extra)} join the '
f'seed, {absent} are of shaders {a.version} does not have, the others are in it already', flush=True)
recs.sort(key=lambda r: r[0]) # stable: list order within a priority
with open(out / 'seed-programs.bin', 'wb') as f:
f.write(b'NX2NSPRG' + struct.pack('<II', 1, 0))
for _, body in progs.values():
f.write(body)
with open(out / 'seed-answers.bin', 'wb') as f:
f.write(b'NX2NSANS' + struct.pack('<II', 1, ANS_REC))
for _, rec in recs:
f.write(rec)
by = [sum(1 for p, _ in recs if p == i) for i in range(3)]
print(f'{listed} listed variants and {len(shaders)} default ones: {len(recs)} of {len(progs)} shaders in {a.version} '
f'(priority t {by[0]}, warm {by[1]}, rest {by[2]}), skipped {skipped}, {left_out} slow unused default variants '
f'left out (SLOW_UNUSED); inventory {t1 - t0:.1f} s, '
f'seed written in {time.monotonic() - t0:.1f} s', flush=True)
if a.no_run:
return 0
exe = out / a.exe
r = subprocess.run([str(exe), '--prepare-shaders'], cwd=str(out))
for _ in range(RETRIES):
if not r.returncode or not driver_crashed(out):
break
print(f'prepare_shaders: the graphics driver crashed while building shaders (rc={r.returncode}); building them '
'again without the variants it was building (nx2navi.exe --warm-shaders)', flush=True)
r = subprocess.run([str(exe), '--warm-shaders'], cwd=str(out))
print(f'{a.exe} --prepare-shaders: rc={r.returncode}; total {time.monotonic() - t0:.1f} s')
return r.returncode
if __name__ == '__main__':
sys.exit(main())