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Compatibility and repair attempt log

This log records each material experiment made while repairing the patcher. It is based on the current installed state observed on 2026-09-08. Inputs and installed files are kept recoverable; private logs and proprietary binaries remain under the ignored artifacts directory.

2026-09-08

Attempt 1: scoped Mono.Cecil Core rewrite

  • Tried: rewrite only GetExtensionSubscriptions and GetExtensionSubscriptionsIds in the installed Core shape, scoped to the Outplayed extension ID and legacy plan 61.
  • Result: offline staging and synthetic execution passed.
  • Failure: the rewrite removed the Overwolf Authenticode signature. Overwolf 0.309.0.14 rejected the installed candidate before Outplayed startup with Refusing to start - deployed assembly failed verification.
  • Evidence: docs/compatibility-investigation-report.md, docs/compatibility-test-battery.md, and artifacts/diagnostics/failed-scoped-test-20260908.
  • Recovery: the clean Core hash was restored and verified as 9DA15E0CACF446E59B3F728BA78F5CC8F0EC6D6616BB0F490BF90ABD21EF098E.

Attempt 2: no-op rewrite signature control

  • Tried: Mono.Cecil read/write round-trip without semantic changes.
  • Result: method bodies compared equal across the inspected assembly.
  • Failure: the resulting file still failed the exact embedded WinTrust predicate used by the launcher, proving that reducing the IL change cannot preserve the publisher signature.
  • Recovery: no installed file was changed.

Attempt 3: alternate Locales probing path

  • Tried: on a disposable full installation clone, put the candidate Core under 0.309.0.14\Locales and remove the active-version Core so the existing Overwolf.exe.config probing order would select the candidate.
  • Result: the clone process exited with code -2146232797 before a usable application session or fresh app log was produced.
  • Failure: the candidate did not provide a working loader path. The live installation was never modified because the sandbox account could not write Program Files.
  • Recovery: the clone was restored to its clean Core layout.

Attempt 4: process-start in-memory runtime redirect (initial test)

  • Tried: load a custom .NET Framework AppDomainManager before Main, then redirect the two subscription methods to generated in-memory methods while retaining a fallback delegate for other app IDs.
  • Result: the detailed-plan method redirected in the synthetic test.
  • Failure: the synthetic ID method was small enough for its caller to inline before the runtime redirect, so that call returned the original plan IDs. This is a test-order/inlining failure, not evidence that the early-load path fails for the real complex Core methods.
  • Recovery: no installed files or processes were changed. The test will mark fixture methods NoInlining and verify the AppDomainManager child path.

Further attempts will be appended here with their exact result and recovery status.

Attempt 5: managed MethodInfo fallback delegate

  • Tried: retain the original method for other app IDs with an open delegate created directly from the target MethodInfo before redirecting its method table entry.
  • Result: both target methods could be redirected when the synthetic methods were marked NoInlining.
  • Failure: the saved delegate followed the redirected MethodInfo entry instead of retaining the old implementation. The nonmatching-app fallback recursively called the replacement and terminated the test process with a StackOverflowException.
  • Recovery: no installed files were changed. The fallback implementation is being changed to bind to the target's raw pre-redirect function pointer.

Attempt 6: generic raw-pointer fallback delegate

  • Tried: bind the saved pre-redirect method pointer with Marshal.GetDelegateForFunctionPointer using a closed Func<,> type.
  • Failure: .NET Framework rejects generic delegate types for this API with ArgumentException: The specified type must not be a generic type definition.
  • Recovery: no installed files were changed. The runtime now generates a non-generic delegate class with the exact receiver and return types.

Attempt 7: generated delegate class for managed array returns

  • Tried: generate a non-generic MulticastDelegate with the exact target signature and use Marshal.GetDelegateForFunctionPointer for the original method entry.
  • Failure: .NET Framework rejected the managed array return type with MarshalDirectiveException: invalid managed/unmanaged type combination.
  • Recovery: no installed files were changed. The fallback is being emitted as a managed calli against the saved JIT entry pointer instead of using unmanaged marshaling.

Attempt 8: calli fallback using the original method pointer

  • Tried: emit a replacement method that calls the saved original method pointer directly, preserving behavior for other app IDs without a managed delegate.
  • Failure: the first implementation passed System.Reflection.CallingConventions to DynamicILInfo.EmitCalli, which requires System.Runtime.InteropServices.CallingConvention; the runtime project did not compile.
  • Recovery: no installed files were changed. The call will use the correct interop calling-convention enum before runtime evaluation.

Attempt 9: unmanaged ThisCall fallback

  • Tried: compile and prepare the emitted calli replacement with CallingConvention.ThisCall so it could invoke the saved JIT entry pointer.
  • Failure: the assembly built, but .NET Framework threw InvalidProgramException while preparing the generated replacement method; the unmanaged call signature is invalid for this managed method shape.
  • Recovery: no installed files were changed. This fallback will be replaced by a managed IL copy or another CLR-safe way to retain the original behavior.