Find a 256-byte-row image at the start of the sky region

Range measured: level 0, 2192576..2615232, the 422,656-byte sky region.
Periodicity start and end located by sliding an 8 KB window in 256-byte steps
through the region and measuring the 256-stride match rate.

Method: autocorrelation, then a periodicity scan. A random control of the
same size reads flat at 0.0000 for every stride tested.

The peak stride in the first 64 KB is 256 at a 0.772 match rate. Strides 255,
257 and 4 score nearly as high, which is what a genuine period looks like when
sampled rather than assumed -- a useful contrast with the 148-byte "stride"
that held for eight values and then broke.

Across levels the peak is 256 on 21, 512 on 5 and 128 on 1. 512 and 128 are a
harmonic and a sub-multiple of 256, so the fundamental period is 256 bytes.

Within level 0 the periodicity holds from +0 to about +60160 and then stops:
236 rows of 256 bytes, i.e. a 256-wide by 236-tall image at one byte per
pixel. The remaining ~362,240 bytes -- 86% of the region -- are not
256-periodic and stay unidentified. That is presumably what the layer offset
table at +0x20 points into.

The sky region is therefore not one thing. Its first ~60 KB is an image and
is the tractable half; the rest is still open, as is the non-uniform header
where level 2 differs from every other level.
This commit is contained in:
2026-10-11 03:32:37 +02:00
parent d397a1ee34
commit 10f797dcdc
+26
View File
@@ -242,3 +242,29 @@ index, rather than with a fixed-layout record.
**So the 368 stride stands and the records remain unidentified.** The shrub **So the 368 stride stands and the records remain unidentified.** The shrub
method failed here not because it was the wrong tool but because it needs method failed here not because it was the wrong tool but because it needs
something constant to latch onto, and there is nothing. something constant to latch onto, and there is nothing.
## Sky opens with a 256-byte-row image
**Range measured:** level 0, `2192576 .. 2615232` (the sky region, 422,656
bytes). Periodicity start and end located by sliding an 8 KB window in 256-byte
steps through the region and measuring the 256-stride match rate.
**Method:** autocorrelation as above, then a periodicity scan. A random
control of the same size reads flat at 0.0000 for every stride tested.
**Result:**
- Peak stride in the first 64 KB is **256** at a 0.772 match rate, against a
flat random control. Strides 255, 257 and 4 score nearly as high, which is
what a true period looks like smeared by sampling.
- Across levels the peak is 256 on 21, 512 on 5 and 128 on 1. 512 and 128 are
a harmonic and a sub-multiple, so the fundamental period is **256 bytes**.
- The periodicity holds from `+0` to about `+60160` and then stops: **236 rows
of 256 bytes**, i.e. a 256-wide, 236-tall image at one byte per pixel.
- The remaining ~362,240 bytes of the sky region are *not* 256-periodic and
remain unidentified. That is 86% of the region, and it is where the offset
table seen at `+0x20` earlier points.
So the sky region is not one thing. Its first ~60 KB is an image; the rest is
whatever the layer offsets address. Both halves still need work, and the
image is the tractable one.