[yabanana]

What

Add the public SDK's unchanged pad_input as the next runnable native Apple ARM64 consumer. Its seven functions are compiled AOT from an x86-64 ELF and linked to the shared runtime. The build uses #4396's provider catalog and matching DWARF candidates instead of a handwritten list of C function signatures and frame objects.

The acceptance target compares the independently source-compiled ARM64 program and the AOT program across button edges, intercepted input, OPTIONS, read failure, user/initialization/open errors and the 625-iteration timeout. Test adapters publish state through the existing Pad implementation and count sleeps. A separate production-provider smoke preserves all 625 real 16 ms sleeps. Input buffers, notifications, return codes, closure and teardown are checked. Binary/object/runtime hashes bind the reports to the tested artifacts.

Also include a reproducible transfer probe using the unchanged public ps5-payload-dev/sdk hello_world source at f5d40f02770e9b0001dd9e18056eca70b3da8b40. Its three known provider contracts transfer without changing the generic mechanism. The old-style main() remains a recovery obligation and is qualified in an explicit source profile. The original source/license is supplied separately, not vendored into this PR. This probe uses declaration-only cross headers and the verified ps5link CRT, so it does not validate that SDK's original loader.

Stacked on #4396 and its prerequisites, based on main c36fd0a0e. Review the incremental consumer change. Keep this draft while the in-tree direction is being decided.

Tested

Latest integration checkpoint (12 October): aligned with main 2f4cc8983, including the new component technical-debt layout. The final combined stack with the separate C++ follow-up #4718 passed 588 compiler/relinker/runtime checks and 26 native integrations on Apple Silicon. Rebuilt cube AOT/reference still match all eight RGB frames after 600 flips each; controller and typed module-bundle acceptance pass. These are local results; hosted CI is running on the updated head. Full Linux/Windows builds still require maintainer dispatch.

Integration checkpoint, 12 October: merged main fe66af13e through the dependency stack and requalified affected provider identities after reviewing their implementations. The final combined stack passed 526 compiler/relinker/runtime cases, 26 native integration cases, the rebuilt graphics pair (600 flips each, teardown, eight exact RGB frames), controller O2 and SHA/memcmp O0/O2 checks on Apple Silicon. Hosted checks refer to the new head and remain separate from these local results. Full Linux/Windows builds require maintainer dispatch.

Apple ARM64, current head:

• 475 compiler/relinker/runtime checks passed, plus the new native_aot_pad_input_compile check. The new compile check is registered in the existing Apple AOT CI lane; it does not require the graphics dependencies.
• 20 native integration tests passed, including the six controller scenarios and direct-memory alias regression inherited from feat(aot): run source-built graphics on native Apple ARM64 #3891.
• native_pad_input_check: both native binaries agree in all six scenarios. The production-provider run completed its original delay and teardown in about 12 seconds.
• Independent-source transfer: both ARM64 binaries produced Hello, world!, returned zero and completed teardown.
• Graphics regression on the rebuilt shared runtime: 600 flips per executable and all eight 1920x1080 RGB comparisons exact.
• Conventions, diff and test-registration checks passed. New hosted CI is pending. Full Linux/Windows Build jobs still require maintainer dispatch; skipped jobs are not passes.

Reproduce after configuring the native graphics runtime as in BUILD.md:

cmake --build build --target native_pad_input_check --parallel 6

BUILD.md contains the independent-source probe command as well.

Limits: the x86 controller input uses an O0 fixed-frame debug profile; this is not optimized or stripped-input recovery. Four C signatures and 26 frame objects are recovered, but seven of the ten catalog entries were newly qualified for this consumer. Native-pointer lifetimes, CRT initialization and constant-10 division safety remain explicit source facts. Physical controller acquisition/event pumping, console behavior, game compatibility and performance gains are not established by these tests. The startup and host string bindings in the transfer probe remain explicit qualifications.

Checklist

• Based on current main; no other open PR implements the same functions

• One topic per PR; reusable mechanisms are in feat(aot): qualify provider contracts and recover bounded debug facts #4396

• No comments added in code

• Unsupported or unqualified inputs reject; simulated providers are test-only

• No private notes, logs, images or third-party fixture binaries added

• Existing pinned SDK submodule reused; no new third-party dependency

• Shared runtime behavior; source-specific assumptions stay in examples

• Depends on: feat(aot): qualify provider contracts and recover bounded debug facts #4396, feat(aot): derive guard sites from qualified image recipes #4156, feat(aot): run source-built graphics on native Apple ARM64 #3891, feat(aot): discuss native ARM64 compiler architecture and integration #1835

• AI-assisted: yes

• Unblocks: none

[yabanana]

Superseded by #5021, which now contains the consolidated native ARM64 AOT implementation and verified consumers. #1835 remains the architecture discussion. Closing this stacked PR to keep one implementation review; its branch and review history are retained. This is not a merge into main.