Second measurement of the same recording family (ty-20261112-1133-701-0000-2.mp4):
wall clock (audio start -> audio stop) 6.477 s
video: 386 frames 6.455 s correct
audio: 294 packets 6.252 s 226 ms SHORT
Same magnitude as the original bug, opposite sign — the clock fixed the tick-rate error and
exposed the next one underneath. Audio started 49 ms before the pump, ffmpeg connected ~80 ms
after, and every chunk written in that window was dropped (dropped writes 27). The loop still
counted those frames as produced, so the track lost exactly that much time.
Now: the clock does not start until the pipe is connected, and AudioClock.Advance counts a
frame only when its write reached the pipe. A dropped write stays owed and is paid off on the
next tick, so a start-up gap costs content (silence, which there was anyway) instead of
length.
Two measurements, two different signs, one lesson: the audio track's LENGTH has to be the
clock's, and anything that removes samples without removing time — a fast tick, a dropped
write — shows up as drift no static offset can fix.
674 tests (one notification-timing flake under full-suite load; passes alone), 0 warnings.
The recorded audio is full-length silent AAC (−91dB, 1124 frames/23.95s) —
the named pipe carried ~9.1MB of zeros the entire take. The mixer's loop
ran, the pipe connected, ffmpeg read it, and the file is full-length
silence. Sources started fine ('Audio: using system default mic...' logged),
no failure callbacks fired, and the existing integration test
(Mix_WithFiltersDuckAndGain_Lands_On_AudioPipe) proves the loop→pipe path
carries real audio when fed — the fault is capture-side.
Added permanent per-5s live-loop telemetry to startup.log so the next take
names the exact stage without new code:
Audio live: pipe connected= dropped writes= micLevel= loopLevel= drained
N/N samples peakMix N (per 5s)
- AudioMixer.FillAndMix now returns (MicRms, MicDrained, LoopDrained) for
the accumulation; StartLive/StopLive log start/stop lines.
- NamedPipeAudioWriter.DroppedWrites: nonzero = audio dropped before ffmpeg
connected (names 'pipe never connected' stage).
Likely root cause: WASAPI loopback captures the default render endpoint —
if audio plays on a non-default device the recording is silently silent.
The fix requires device enumeration + selection (slice 13 candidate).
Suite 290/291 — same sole pre-existing compositor pixel failure.
gramps