Gameswitcher often shows Om Os, going to game and backing out fix it

[aloven]

Checklist

• I am reporting a bug in the Onion OS - Any issues with the closed source frontend (MainUI), or RetroArch or any of the cores should be directed to their respective repositories
• I have reviewed the Onion Docs and did not find the answer
• I have searched the existing (open and closed) issues to ensure I do not log a duplicate

Onions OS Version

4.4.0 beta 01182026

Miyoo Firmware Version

Newest MMP

Provide a clear and concise description of the issue

Sometimes Gameswitcher shows 0m 0s when I first view it from a newly loaded game. Going back in and out fixes it.
My play_activity is over 900 hours, and a large file; i suspect a race condition. I was able to add some waiting logic in gameswitcher code to fix it but I wanted to report this as a mainline issue since it crept back while testing the newest beta.

Steps to Reproduce

Load game
Open gameswitcher
Expected to see 12h+ on game, see 0m 0s
Enter game
Gameswitcher again
Now correct time logged appears.

Provide any additional context or information that may help us investigate your issue

Can provide my play_activity file if necessary

[Denellyne]

I cant reproduce ur issue with the playactivity can you send me your play time file and the exact steps to reproduce please?

[aloven]

Attached (as well as the recentlists that you might need to have Gameswitcher pull in)

playactivity0.zip

Replicating reliably is tricky - I have been playing games with mGBA and occasionally my first invocation of Gameswitcher on that game will show 0m 0s. It's been happening more often as of late.

I also attached the code I applied to fix it below (it creates a placeholder when it loads 0m 0s and then tries to load play_activity again. the thought is that there are moments where play_activity is still being written while Gameswitcher is trying to pull from it)

// In gs_model.h, add a flag to the Game_s struct:
typedef struct {
    // ... existing fields ...
    char totalTime[100];
    bool totalTimeValid;  // Add this flag
    // ... rest of fields ...
} Game_s;

// In gs_history.h, in setEntryDefaultValues function:
void setEntryDefaultValues(Game_s *game, int index)
{
    // ... existing code ...
    game->totalTime[0] = '\0';
    game->totalTimeValid = false;  // Initialize the flag
    // ... rest of function ...
}

Then in gs_render.h:

void renderHeader(AppState *state, int battery_percentage)
{
    char title_str[STR_MAX] = "GameSwitcher";
    Game_s *game = &game_list[state->current_game];

    if (state->show_time && game_list_len > 0) {
        // Always retry if we don't have valid data yet
        if (!game->totalTimeValid) {
            int play_time = play_activity_get_play_time(game->recentItem.rompath);
            
            if (play_time == 0) {
                strcpy(title_str, "--:--");
                // Don't set totalTimeValid, so we keep retrying
            } else {
                str_serializeTime(game->totalTime, play_time);
                game->totalTimeValid = true;  // Mark as valid
                strcpy(title_str, game->totalTime);
            }
        } else {
            strcpy(title_str, game->totalTime);
        }

        if (state->show_total) {
            // Use a static flag for total time
            static bool totalTimeValid = false;
            
            if (!totalTimeValid) {
                int total_time = play_activity_get_total_play_time();
                
                if (total_time == 0) {
                    sprintf(title_str + strlen(title_str), " / --:--");
                } else {
                    str_serializeTime(sTotalTimePlayed, total_time);
                    totalTimeValid = true;
                    sprintf(title_str + strlen(title_str), " / %s", sTotalTimePlayed);
                }
            } else {
                sprintf(title_str + strlen(title_str), " / %s", sTotalTimePlayed);
            }
        }
    }
    
    // Rest of function...
}

This way:

• Games showing --:-- will keep retrying every time you navigate back to them
• Once a game gets valid data, it stops querying the database
• Each game independently tracks whether it has valid data
• You can navigate away and back, and it will retry getting the correct time

[Denellyne]

Ill check later your play activity but personally don't like your fix.
It might be a race condittion and theres clearly better ways to solve this, ill check this later