Rpcs3: Write Color Buffers regression caused by #5115

[stride21]

Since #5115 was merged, Motorstorm no longer goes ingame when using Write Color Buffers.

[weter11]

NieR Replicant [BLJM60223] also regressed. Huge performance drop, also this game never looks like on real PS3. There are some problems with something like HDR on RPCS3.
7377

7388

7390

The problem with the stuttering sound, when WCB is on is old.

[stride21]

@weter11 Thats an unrelated issue. If your actually seeing a performance loss report it here #5175.

[weter11]

Ok, but performance regressed before #5175 was merged. Also 5175 is closed. Difference between 7388 & 7390 is only graphics is restored and looks like it was before.

[ruipin]

@weter11 Please bisect the PRs to figure out which one reduced performance. I have my doubts it was my PR that reduced performance (in fact, it increases performance in many games), and since the graphics issue is not related to #5115 I'm going to assume the performance loss was also caused by a different PR until you confirm otherwise.

Try the PR before #5115, I am aware that it reduced performance in P5 so wouldn't be surprised if the same happened to Nier.

@stride21 I'll try and reproduce the Motorstorm crash once I have time (probably work on it this weekend). Have you confirmed that it is my PR and not the one before it?

[weter11]

Sorry, but I thought that it is caused by #5115, but can't test. I'm on linux and don't have any binary after 7377 and before 7388 to understand which commit introduce performance drop. Excuse me.

[AniLeo]

https://rpcs3.net/cdn/builds/rpcs3-v0.0.5-7377-b7e010bb_linux64.AppImage
https://rpcs3.net/cdn/builds/rpcs3-v0.0.5-7380-06572c60_linux64.AppImage
https://rpcs3.net/cdn/builds/rpcs3-v0.0.5-7385-35139ebf_linux64.AppImage
https://rpcs3.net/cdn/builds/rpcs3-v0.0.5-7387-a3d44b5e_linux64.AppImage
https://rpcs3.net/cdn/builds/rpcs3-v0.0.5-7388-dab30c00_linux64.AppImage

[stride21]

@ruipin Can confirm it did. @Xcedf also reported having a similar issue with Heavy Rain.

[ruipin]

@weter11

Sorry, but I thought that it is caused by #5115, but can't test. I'm on linux and don't have any binary after 7377 and before 7388 to understand which commit introduce performance drop. Excuse me.

Sorry if I came off too strong, but you have to realize you posted a graphical/performance issue with Nier (apparently with the graphical issue having already been fixed on the latest master) on a completely unrelated issue about how a different game (Motorstorm) crashes (i.e. nothing to do with graphics issues or performance) when you open it with WCB enabled since #5115. In addition, you provided none of the necessary information to debug this issue, not even a log file.

If I looked into every single random report people post on unrelated threads I would spend all my time trying to reproduce bugs that don't exist or have nothing to do with my code.

Anyway, @AniLeo kindly posted the builds you need above. Please test for the first one with the performance loss and any remaining graphical issues (though the graphical issues should be fixed on master, so make sure to confirm that first). Once you know which build it is, open a new issue, describe the bug you are seeing, tell us which is the first build where you see it (and whether master is any better), and upload a log file (preferably two: one with the build before the issue occurs, and one with the build that caused the issue).

[ruipin]

@stride21 Can I get a log file of Motorstorm when the crash occurs? And if possible one before my build (i.e. where it does not crash)?

I will try to take a look this weekend. I'll see if I can try out Heavy Rain as well.

[weter11]

7380: graphics distorted,but performance is ok; 7385: graphics distorted and performance drop from 34fps to 21fps. Always clean cache before tests.
RPCS3_7380.log.gz
RPCS3_7385.log.gz

[ruipin]

@weter11 Ok, that is better. Please open a separate issue about performance regressions after #5115 (build 7385) so we can track that issue better. And please provide log files for both 7380 and 7385 (so we have one from before the regression, and one from after).

[stride21]

@ruipin I just wanted to let you know that Motorstorm doesn't consistently go ingame even with the previous master, using PPU fast helps but it can still crash on the main menu. Also, the first race causes a crash when selected, both the 2nd and 3rd races work.

[ruipin]

I did not manage to reproduce the issue in Motorstorm. Or to be exact, it crashes for me every time with WCB even before my PR.

I'll try Heavy Rain later...

[elhaya]

I did not manage to reproduce the issue in Motorstorm. Or to be exact, it crashes for me every time with WCB even before my PR.

I'll try Heavy Rain later...

yeah with heavy rain it happens every time you set WCB. unfortunately the game is no longer playable because without it the gfx are all messed up.
i'll be happy to help with logs if you need me to..

[stride21]

I did not manage to reproduce the issue in Motorstorm. Or to be exact, it crashes for me every time with WCB even before my PR.

I'll try Heavy Rain later...

@ruipin It can be hard to get ingame but it does go ingame with the PR before your build.

[stride21]

@ruipin #5265 fixes the race condition for Motorstorm, so you shouldn't have the issues with crashing when trying to test. The 2nd and 3rd race are the ones that regressed, the first race can go ingame even with WCB enabled with Elad's PR.

[ruipin]

I didn't look further into these crashes yet (and probably won't for a while), but debugged driver crashes introduced by my PR (although caused in part by a bug that was already present before) that caused e.g. TLOU to sometimes crash before the menu on my system.

The fix however makes the Nier performance regression worse (everything is connected!), so I won't be submitting a PR with it until I fix the Nier issues, which are relatively complex/annoying (hopefully will finish that this weekend, been quite busy lately IRL).

Might be worth giving my WIP fixes a try: https://github.com/ruipin/rpcs3/commits/wip-texture-cache-pr2

Should also fix most of the ridiculous VRAM leaks we were seeing in some games (the driver crashes were another symptom of the cause of the VRAM leaks), although there is at least one situation left that I know could leak that I can't fix until the Nier performance regressions are resolved without tanking performance in that game even further...

[ruipin]

Oops, I just noticed I had not pushed the last change I did a week or so ago, the branch above has now been updated. Just in case you downloaded a build, you probably should download it again.

[ruipin]

Please test #5276

[stride21]

Fixed with #5427