From 30ee3e2b8647d80a48ce823a75ea3facf60f60af Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: MiTHRAL <mithral@mithral.local>
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 2026 23:46:03 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] netcode-revival: force the frontend 'enter online flow' gate
 (sub_82703960)

create-party (sub_82A1B8E0) is only reached through the frontend online
flow, gated by sub_82703960 which requires: online latch 0x830670C8 == 0,
frontend-mode byte obj@*(0x8306707C)+194 != 0, XamUserGetSigninInfo.unk08==1
(already), and a mode check. Force the two state inputs and log the gate
inputs in the periodic dump so we can see exactly which check blocks.
---
 src/system/xnet_transport.cpp | 29 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 29 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/system/xnet_transport.cpp b/src/system/xnet_transport.cpp
index babadfa..6f0ac6c 100644
--- a/src/system/xnet_transport.cpp
+++ b/src/system/xnet_transport.cpp
@@ -186,6 +186,13 @@ void XNetTransport::ForceLiveFlag() {
     REXLOG_INFO("xnet trace: party state={} eaip=0x{:08X} b417={} b421={} b423={}",
                 rd32(0x82FD98A0), rd32(0x82FD98A8), rd8(0x82FD98F1), rd8(0x82FD98F5),
                 rd8(0x82FD98F7));
+    // The frontend 'enter online flow' gate (sub_82703960) that leads to
+    // create-party: latch byte 0x830670C8 must be 0, and the frontend-mode
+    // byte at obj@*(0x8306707C)+194 must be non-zero.
+    uint32_t* mode_obj = REX_KERNEL_MEMORY()->TranslateVirtual<uint32_t*>(0x8306707C);
+    REXLOG_INFO("xnet trace: online latch={} mode_obj={} mode_byte={}", rd8(0x830670C8),
+                mode_obj != nullptr ? *mode_obj : 0,
+                (mode_obj != nullptr && *mode_obj != 0) ? rd8(*mode_obj + 194) : -1);
   }
   // The flag is the LIVE USER INDEX (not a boolean). The profile lives in
   // slot 0, so force 0 (any slot answers after the shim fix, but 0 is the
@@ -222,6 +229,28 @@ void XNetTransport::ForceLiveFlag() {
   force_byte(0x82FD98F1, "party+417 (EA-Nation flag)");
   force_byte(0x82FD98F5, "party+421 (online flag)");
   force_byte(0x82FD98F7, "party+423 (EA connected)");
+  // The frontend 'enter online flow' gate (sub_82703960) blocks the path to
+  // create-party unless the online latch (0x830670C8) is 0 and the
+  // frontend-mode byte (obj@*(0x8306707C)+194) is non-zero. Force both.
+  {
+    uint8_t* latch = REX_KERNEL_MEMORY()->TranslateVirtual<uint8_t*>(0x830670C8);
+    if (latch != nullptr && *latch != 0) {
+      if (!rate) {
+        REXLOG_INFO("xnet trace: forcing online latch 0x830670C8 = 0");
+      }
+      *latch = 0;
+    }
+    uint32_t* mode_obj = REX_KERNEL_MEMORY()->TranslateVirtual<uint32_t*>(0x8306707C);
+    if (mode_obj != nullptr && *mode_obj != 0) {
+      uint8_t* mode = REX_KERNEL_MEMORY()->TranslateVirtual<uint8_t*>(*mode_obj + 194);
+      if (mode != nullptr && *mode == 0) {
+        if (!rate) {
+          REXLOG_INFO("xnet trace: forcing frontend mode byte = 1");
+        }
+        *mode = 1;
+      }
+    }
+  }
   // Broadcast the Live signin-changed event a few times at startup so the
   // game's sign-in manager runs and designates the profile as the live user
   // (it only does this when it processes a real signin notification, which