D011 - The synthetic error code is 0xDEADBEEF, returned unmodified

decided · 2026-08-19

The host stubs return a value that can never be mistaken for a real platform error code. Real ones begin 0x80 or 0x81.

Recorded because the first attempt was wrong in an instructive way. It defined 0x7F000001 - high bit deliberately clear - and returned the negation of it, reasoning that a clear high bit meant the value could not be confused with a real error. Negating it produces 0x80FFFFFF, which is precisely the shape of a real error code. The mistake was visible in the very first host run and invisible in the source.

The value a caller observes is what matters, not the value written in the source.