fix: a clock glitch is bridged and a channel is known by name, so a capture keeps its t0

Two defects behind one report ("a trigger during a capture overrides the first,
and the hold-off does not apply"); the second is also what made a spike in one
channel look like the acquisition resetting.

The trigger engine keyed its invalidation on the trigger channel's *index*, which
every rebuild of the channel list renumbers -- enabling a signal that sorts before
it is enough. Any rebuild therefore abandoned an open capture and set no hold-off,
so the next edge inside the post window became t0. It keys on the channel's name
now, which changes only when the source genuinely does.

A packet whose stamps jump more than 256 packet spans ahead is now rejected as a
fault and *bridged* at the declared cadence, instead of poisoning the monotonic
mark (which pinned every later packet flat at the glitched value) and condemning
the next good packet. Only four consecutive failures abandon the declared time
signal, and that fallback no longer wipes the rings: the arrival clock is anchored
to continue from the monotonic mark, so the history is still on one timeline --
the wipe is what made one glitching packet look like the stream restarting from 0.
The declared unit is resolved before those checks, since they weigh the stamps
against a cadence in seconds.

Guards: UDPSCOPE_PROBE_TRIGRENUM_MS prints t0_held=1 through the real widgets,
and the mock's --time-glitch-at/--time-glitch-by injects the clock fault.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

README.md

@@ -488,6 +488,37 @@ fallback when the stream provides no usable time signal (it is then the sample's
 via the arrival estimate); it is never used when the stream's own time signal
 carries a span.
 
+**One bad packet is bridged; only a run of them changes the clock.** A real device's
+clock glitches, and a packet whose stamps jump far ahead of the previous packet's last
+is a fault rather than a gap — so a jump of more than **256 packet spans** is rejected
+alongside the three checks that were always there (a stamp that is not finite, a packet
+with no span at all, a packet that does not advance past the previous one). A rejected
+packet is **bridged**: its stamps are replaced by a continuation of the accepted timeline
+at the declared cadence, so the next good packet is weighed against an un-poisoned
+anchor and is accepted normally. Only **four consecutive** rejected packets abandon the
+declared time signal for the arrival clock, because that is what a signal which is not a
+time base at all looks like. The declared unit (`ns`, `us`, `ms`) is resolved *before*
+these checks rather than after, since they weigh the stamps against a cadence in seconds.
+
+Believing a glitch instead is what produced *"a big spike in one channel and the
+acquisition seems to reset"*. The stamps pass through a monotonic clamp, so a glitched
+value poisoned the mark and pinned every later packet flat at it — the stream froze at one
+x and never recovered — and the glitch also condemned the *next*, perfectly good packet
+(now below the poisoned anchor, so it failed the advance test), which threw the whole
+stream onto the arrival clock. `tools/mock_udpstreamer.py --time-glitch-at <s>
+--time-glitch-by <s>` injects the fault; with a 10 s hold-off the two latches either side
+of it are 11.2 s apart, where before the fix they were 1.2 s apart.
+
+**Switching to the arrival clock does not drop history.** `arrival_epoch_` is derived from
+the monotonic mark, so the arrival clock *continues* from it and the two timelines share a
+zero by construction — the recorded stamps are therefore still on one timeline and are
+kept. They used to be wiped on the reasoning that the old stamps belonged to a dead clock;
+they do not, and that wipe is what made a single glitching packet look like *"the live
+stream restarts from 0 with no change from the user"*. The same continuity is why
+`TriggerEngine` needs no rebase across the switch: it holds four absolute stamps
+(hold-off, pending edge, last trigger, last sample) and they stay valid. Anything that
+makes the clock genuinely *discontinuous* would break that and would have to reset them.
+
 **Trigger: what freezes is the view, not acquisition.** `TriggerEngine` runs the
 edge/hold-off/normal-single state machine on the selected channel, and once the
 requested post-trigger share of the *event span* (the event-window control, not the
@@ -577,6 +608,23 @@ after a rebuild — a CONFIG, enabling the signal, or a calibration change all d
 history — which is exactly when the first event used to latch on an almost empty pre
 window and draw half a plot.
 
+**The engine identifies its trigger channel by name, never by index**, and that is what
+makes the hold-off hold. `TriggerEngine::configure()` drops an open capture when the
+trigger moves to a different channel, and it is re-called on *every* packet. The config's
+channel field is an index into the channel list, and that index is not stable: every
+rebuild of the list renumbers it — enabling a signal that sorts before the trigger's own
+is enough — and the model then re-resolves the trigger by name and writes the new index
+back. Keying the reset on the index therefore made any such rebuild abandon the capture
+**and set no hold-off**, so the next edge inside the post window became t0: with a 1 s
+window, a 10 % pre share and a 10 s hold-off, an edge 0.6 s into a capture stole it. That
+needed no glitch and no user action beyond enabling a channel. A deliberate re-point still
+resets, because the name changes with the source. Since the rebuild also replaces the
+buffer, the surviving capture's pre side is short and the snapshot reports its own `pre_s`
+— which may be **negative** when the new ring starts after the edge. That is a faithful
+reading rather than a defect: `[-pre_s, post_s]` still describes the samples the snapshot
+holds. `UDPSCOPE_PROBE_TRIGRENUM_MS` drives the whole sequence through the real widgets
+and prints `t0_held=1` as the assertion.
+
 The event is published on the sample that latched it, but only after every channel of
 that sample has reached its ring: the cut is clamped to the shortest value ring, so
 publishing from the middle of the channel loop dropped the newest sample — the very one
@@ -1833,13 +1881,15 @@ now — they are listed so they are not mistaken for anything else:
 - **The time reference is the first *enabled* channel's signal.** A CONFIG whose
   time signal belongs to a signal that is disabled contributes no stream time, and
   the app falls back to arrival-based timing (with a warning on stderr).
-- **The choice of time source is sticky, and a change of source empties the rings.**
+- **The choice of time source is sticky.** It is decided once (and re-decided on a
-  It is decided once (and re-decided on a CONFIG) and then kept: choosing per frame
+  CONFIG) and then kept: choosing per frame let a stream whose declared time signal
-  let a stream whose declared time signal fails one check and passes the next
+  fails one check and passes the next alternate between two timelines, so one ring held
-  alternate between two timelines, so one ring held stamps from both and the x axis,
+  stamps from both and the x axis, the crosshair and an export read nonsense — a plateau
-  the crosshair and an export read nonsense — a plateau of one timestamp, then a jump
+  of one timestamp, then a jump to another epoch. The switch keeps the recorded history,
-  to another epoch. On the switch the recorded history is dropped rather than left
+  because the arrival clock is anchored to continue from the monotonic mark and the two
-  half on each clock. The stamps themselves are spaced by the stream's *measured*
+  timelines therefore share a zero (see "Switching to the arrival clock does not drop
+  history" above); it used to empty the rings, which is a worse reading of the same
+  concern. The stamps themselves are spaced by the stream's *measured*
   arrival cadence whenever the declared rate disagrees with it, because a CONFIG's
   rate is a claim the stream may not keep (one that declared 1 MS/s and delivered a
   hundred samples every fifth of a second made every frame span microseconds while

docs/claude/invariants-data-path.md

@@ -36,6 +36,36 @@ Part of [CLAUDE.md](../../CLAUDE.md). These are rules that cost a defect to lear
   length. The LOD min/max pyramid still preserves the extremes *of what is stored*; a spike
   narrower than a group is now filtered away rather than aliased, which is the correct
   trade and is why the status line's `rate` field is worth reading.
+- **One bad packet is bridged; only a run of them changes the time source.** The stream-time
+  checks in `build_stamps()` reject three things: stamps that are not finite, a packet with no
+  span at all, and a packet whose stamps do not advance past the previous packet's last. A
+  fourth was added because a real device's clock glitches: a packet whose stamps jump **more
+  than 256 packet spans** ahead is a fault, not a gap, and must be rejected — letting it
+  through poisons `last_stamp_`, and the monotonic clamp (`max(stamps[k] - epoch,
+  last_stamp_)`) then pins every later packet flat at the glitched value, so the whole stream
+  freezes at one x and never recovers. A rejected packet is **bridged**: its stamps are
+  replaced by a continuation of the accepted timeline at the declared cadence, so neither the
+  monotonic mark nor `last_stream_anchor_` is poisoned and the next good packet is accepted
+  normally. Believing the glitch instead is what condemned the *next*, perfectly good packet
+  (it now sits below the poisoned anchor, so it fails the advance test) and threw the whole
+  stream onto the arrival clock. Only **four consecutive** rejected packets abandon the
+  declared time signal, because that is what a signal which is not a time base at all looks
+  like; a first packet with nothing to bridge from still falls back immediately. The unit
+  scale ('ns', 'us', 'ms') is therefore resolved **before** these checks rather than after:
+  they weigh the stamps against a cadence in seconds, and on a 'ns' stream an unscaled
+  comparison is off by 1e9, so every packet would read as an implausible jump. The guard is
+  `tools/mock_udpstreamer.py --time-glitch-at`/`--time-glitch-by` (see
+  [verification.md](verification.md)).
+- **The arrival-clock fallback does not drop history.** `arrival_epoch_` is derived from
+  `last_stamp_`, so the arrival clock *continues* from the monotonic mark and the two
+  timelines share a zero by construction — the recorded stamps are therefore still on one
+  timeline and are kept. The fallback used to call `reset_live_history_locked()` on the
+  reasoning that the old stamps belonged to a dead clock; they do not, and that wipe is what
+  made a single glitching packet look like "the live stream restarted from 0 with no action
+  from the user". The continuity is also what makes a rebase of `TriggerEngine` unnecessary:
+  the engine holds four absolute stamps (`holdoff_until_s_`, `pending_start_s_`,
+  `last_trigger_s_`, `last_t_s_`) and they stay valid across the change. Anything that makes
+  the clock *discontinuous* breaks that and has to reset them.
 - **The trigger sees the stored (filtered) signal, not the wire signal.** `engine.process()`
   is fed the averaged value, inside the `if` that pushes it. An edge found on a sample that
   is not in the buffer would be cut from data that does not contain it.

docs/claude/invariants-trigger-and-pinning.md

@@ -30,6 +30,21 @@ Part of [CLAUDE.md](../../CLAUDE.md). These are rules that cost a defect to lear
   out empty: any stream whose time signal advances in large steps drove it to its
   1 S/s floor, the count came out as 1, and the engine latched on the edge sample
   itself. **Do not reintroduce a rate estimate on this path.**
+- **The engine identifies its channel by *name*, never by index.** `TriggerEngine::configure()`
+  drops an open capture when the trigger moves to a different channel, and it is re-called from
+  `Acquisition::on_data()` on **every packet** out of `model_.trigger()`. `TriggerConfig::channel`
+  is an index into `channels()`, and that index is not stable: every rebuild of the channel list
+  renumbers it — enabling a signal that sorts before the trigger's own is enough — and
+  `ScopeModel::set_signal_enabled()` re-resolves the trigger by name and writes the *new* index
+  back. Keying the reset on the index therefore made any such rebuild abandon the capture **and
+  set no hold-off**, so the next edge inside the post window became t0: that is the "the trigger
+  re-triggers during a capture and the hold-off does not apply" defect, and it needed no glitch
+  and no user action beyond enabling a channel. The name changes when the source genuinely
+  changes, so a deliberate re-point still resets. The rebuild also replaces the `BufferStore`, so
+  the surviving capture's pre side is short and the snapshot reports its own `pre_s` — which may
+  be **negative** when the new ring starts after the edge. That is a faithful reading, not a
+  defect: `[-pre_s, post_s]` still describes the samples the snapshot holds. The guard is
+  `UDPSCOPE_PROBE_TRIGRENUM_MS`, whose `t0_held=1` is the assertion.
 - **A pinned window is *clamped* into the event every frame, and a zoom in is allowed.**
   While an event is held, a capture is filling, or the view is paused, `tick()` calls
   `RowSet::hold_pinned_window()`, which caps the span at `[-pinned_pre_, +pinned_post_]`'s and

docs/claude/probe-readings.md

@@ -94,6 +94,20 @@ Two lines of the self-check output are assertions in disguise:
   `events` does not move**: no event fired, so the partial publish deliberately leaves
   `trigger_latches()` alone — which is also what keeps the `trigger events: N total, M at
   the disarm` line in the dump meaning what it says.
+- `[trigrenum-probe] window=W event_span=S pre_pct=P post=O holdoff=H level=L edge=E mode=M
+  enabled=1 armed=1 ch=C channels=N`, then `capture open: t0=T ch=C -- enabling signal 1 now`,
+  `after enable: trigger ch=C' channels=N'`, and `latched t0=T' opened on T t0_held=D` (stderr,
+  `UDPSCOPE_PROBE_TRIGRENUM_MS`) — the first line is the geometry the real widgets produced
+  (`window=1.0000 event_span=1.0000 pre_pct=10.0 post=0.9000` for the reported setup); it is
+  context, not the assertion. The third must show the index **actually moving** (`ch=0` →
+  `ch=1`), or the probe tested nothing — the sine has to be a channel that sorts before the
+  square. **`t0_held=1` is the assertion**: the capture that opened on `T` latched on `T`, so the
+  renumber neither abandoned it nor let a later edge inside the post window become t0. With the
+  engine's invalidation keyed on the channel's index instead of its name this read `t0_held=0`,
+  with `pending` back to 0 and `holdoff_until` *behind* `now_t` on the engine line — i.e. no
+  hold-off was set at all, which is the whole defect. The `[udpscope] trigger: edge at ... got
+  [--0.0199..0.9000]` beside it is expected: the rebuild replaces the `BufferStore`, so the
+  surviving capture has no pre side left and reports a negative `pre_s`.
 - `[export-probe] mode=.. axis=[a..b] rows=N cols=M time=[c..d] abs=[..]` (stderr,
   `UDPSCOPE_EXPORT_MS`) — **`time=` must equal `axis=`** and **`rows=` must be the
   span times the stream's real rate, plus one** (2 s at 10 kS/s is 20001). The export

docs/claude/verification.md

@@ -44,6 +44,13 @@ precedent, not an exception.
   `UDPSCOPE_TRIG_TRACE_MS` — schedule individual probes. `UDPSCOPE_PROBE_DISARM_MS` only
   *starts* its sequence: it switches the trigger on and then polls for a capture to open,
   so the Disarm lands ~300 ms into one rather than wherever a fixed delay happened to fall.
+- `UDPSCOPE_PROBE_TRIGRENUM_MS` — the trigger's capture must survive a **renumbering of its own
+  channel**. It sets the reported geometry through the real widgets (1 s window, 10 % pre share,
+  hold-off from `--holdoff`) on the mock's *square* alone, polls for a capture to open, and then
+  enables the sine — which sorts before the square and so moves the trigger channel's index under
+  the engine. Its three lines are in [probe-readings.md](probe-readings.md); **`t0_held=1` is the
+  assertion**. Run it with `--holdoff 10`, which makes the stolen-t0 reading unmistakable: a second
+  latch barely a second after the first cannot be a hold-off that applied.
 - `UDPSCOPE_PROBE_FIELDS_MS` — change the trigger panel's edge and Normal/Single
   dropdowns. As much a crash test as a state check (see the GTK signal-signature invariant
   below), so time it inside a capture: `[fields-probe] ... capturing=1` followed by no
@@ -170,6 +177,33 @@ precedent, not an exception.
   `/tmp/udpscope-export`) — collect the export table and write it both ways, skipping
   only the file chooser.
 
+The mock also carries one **fault injection** that no probe schedules, because what it exercises is
+the ingest rather than the UI: `--time-glitch-at <stream seconds> --time-glitch-by <seconds>` makes
+**one** packet's time signal jump ahead and then carries on from where the true timeline was, which
+is what a device whose clock glitches puts on the wire. Run it with the trigger armed, e.g.
+
+```sh
+xvfb-run -a env UDPSCOPE_ENABLE_ALL_MS=400 UDPSCOPE_ARM_TRIGGER_MS=700 UDPSCOPE_EXIT_AFTER_MS=22000 \
+  ./build/udpscope --server 127.0.0.1 --port 8000 --holdoff 10
+# mock: --rate 10000 --batch 100 --freq 5 --time-glitch-at 6.0 --time-glitch-by 10.0
+```
+
+Four readings, all off the once-a-second `[udpscope] trig engine:` line:
+
+- exactly one `warning: ... jumped implausibly far ahead of the previous packet (16.01..16.0199
+  against a previous 6.0099); bridging that packet ...` — the glitch was **caught**;
+- **no** `timing samples by arrival instead` — one bad packet must not change the time source;
+- `now_t` crosses the glitch continuously (`5.040 → 6.050 → 7.050`), and `history` keeps **growing**
+  (`1.01 … 23.15`) instead of collapsing — the ring was not wiped;
+- the latches stay a hold-off apart: `edge at 1.060 / latched at 2.060 / holdoff_until=12.060`, then
+  `edge at 12.260 / latched at 13.260 / holdoff_until=23.260` — **11.2 s** for a 10 s hold-off plus
+  a 0.9 s post window.
+
+Before the fix the same run read a fallback warning, `history` collapsing 4.03 → 0.95, `now_t`
+jumping 5.040 → 16.040, and two latches **1.2 s** apart. Note the window here comes from the saved
+session for that port; the figures above are the default 2 s window (50 % pre), so move
+`~/.config/udpscope/<host>_<port>.toml` aside to reproduce them.
+
 **Run one self-check at a time.** Two concurrent `xvfb-run -a` instances end up on the
 same display and the second gets no GL context — it dumps `layout over 0 frames` and
 `valid=-1`, which looks like a pipeline failure and is not one. `tools/mock_udpstreamer.py`

src/acquisition.cpp

@@ -208,47 +208,98 @@ std::uint32_t Acquisition::build_stamps(const udps_frame_t* frame, int time_sign
     }
   }
 
+  // A stream-time signal may be declared in a time unit rather than seconds ('ns' is
+  // the common one). The scale has to be known *here*, before the checks below, because
+  // they weigh the stamps' own spacing against the declared cadence, which is in
+  // seconds: on a 'ns' stream an unscaled comparison is off by a factor of 1e9, so
+  // every packet would read as an implausible jump.
+  double unit_scale = 1.0;
+  if (time_signal >= 0 && time_signal < static_cast<int>(model_.signals().size())) {
+    const std::string& unit = model_.signals()[static_cast<std::size_t>(time_signal)].unit;
+    if (unit == "ns") unit_scale = 1e-9;
+    else if (unit == "us" || unit == "\u00b5s" || unit == "\xce\xbc" "s") unit_scale = 1e-6;
+    else if (unit == "ms") unit_scale = 1e-3;
+  }
+
   if (used_stream_time && n > 0) {
+    // One sample's worth of the time signal's *own* unit, which is what a synthesised
+    // continuation has to be spaced by and what a jump is measured against.
+    const double step = cadence / unit_scale;
+    // How far a packet's stamps may run ahead of the previous packet's last stamp
+    // before the jump is read as a fault in the producer's clock rather than a gap in
+    // the stream. Counted in packets, because that is what a loss burst costs: 256
+    // packet spans in one go is an outage, not loss. Letting a real glitch through is
+    // unrecoverable -- the monotonic clamp below then pins every later packet flat at
+    // the glitched value, so the whole stream freezes at one x.
+    constexpr double kGlitchPackets = 256.0;
+    // How many packets in a row must fail before the declared time signal is abandoned
+    // for the arrival clock. A glitch is one packet; a signal that is not a time base
+    // at all fails every one of them.
+    constexpr unsigned kFailureLimit = 4;
+
     // A time signal that does not actually vary -- a vector time signal, whose
     // values the client reads one element at a time, or a producer that leaves it
     // zero -- would put every sample at one x and collapse the axis to a point.
     // The arrival estimate is a worse clock but a usable one; a degenerate one is
     // not a time base at all.
-    bool usable = std::isfinite(stamps_[0]);
+    const char* fault = nullptr;
     double lo = stamps_[0];
     double hi = stamps_[0];
-    for (std::uint32_t k = 1; usable && k < n; ++k) {
+    if (!std::isfinite(stamps_[0])) fault = "carries a stamp that is not finite";
+    for (std::uint32_t k = 1; fault == nullptr && k < n; ++k) {
       if (!std::isfinite(stamps_[k])) {
-        usable = false;
+        fault = "carries a stamp that is not finite";
         break;
       }
       lo = std::min(lo, stamps_[k]);
       hi = std::max(hi, stamps_[k]);
     }
-    if (usable && hi > lo) {
+    if (fault == nullptr && !(hi > lo)) fault = "carries no span (every stamp is equal)";
-      // The stamps must also ADVANCE across packets. A producer that restarts its
+    if (fault == nullptr && have_stream_anchor_) {
-      // stamps every packet (or a signal mislabelled as time) keeps handing back
+      // The stamps must also ADVANCE across packets, and by a plausible amount. A
-      // the same values; the max-clamp would then pin every sample at one x, and
+      // producer that restarts its stamps every packet (or a signal mislabelled as
-      // the trigger's hold-off clock with it -- the engine waited forever and no
+      // time) keeps handing back the same values; the max-clamp would then pin every
-      // second event ever fired.
+      // sample at one x, and the trigger's hold-off clock with it -- the engine waited
-      if (have_stream_anchor_ && !(stamps_[n - 1] > last_stream_anchor_)) {
+      // forever and no second event ever fired.
-        usable = false;
+      if (!(stamps_[n - 1] > last_stream_anchor_)) {
-      } else {
+        fault = "does not advance across packets";
+      } else if (stamps_[0] - last_stream_anchor_ > kGlitchPackets * double(n) * step) {
+        fault = "jumped implausibly far ahead of the previous packet";
+      }
+    }
+    if (fault == nullptr) {
+      stamp_failures_ = 0;
       last_stream_anchor_ = stamps_[n - 1];
       have_stream_anchor_ = true;
+    } else if (have_stream_anchor_ && ++stamp_failures_ < kFailureLimit) {
+      // A short run of bad packets is bridged rather than believed: the stamps are
+      // replaced by a continuation of the accepted timeline at the declared cadence,
+      // so neither the monotonic mark nor the anchor is poisoned, and the next good
+      // packet -- which carries on from where the true timeline was -- is accepted
+      // normally. Believing one glitching packet instead is what condemned the *next*,
+      // perfectly good one and threw the whole stream onto the arrival clock.
+      const double from = last_stream_anchor_;
+      for (std::uint32_t k = 0; k < n; ++k) stamps_[k] = from + double(k + 1) * step;
+      last_stream_anchor_ = stamps_[n - 1];
+      static bool bridged = false;
+      if (!bridged) {
+        bridged = true;
+        std::fprintf(stderr,
+                     "[udpscope] warning: the stream's time signal %s (%g..%g against a "
+                     "previous %g); bridging that packet at the declared cadence and "
+                     "keeping the stream clock.\n",
+                     fault, lo, hi, from);
       }
-    }
+    } else {
-    if (!usable || !(hi > lo)) {
+      used_stream_time = false;  // not a time base; fall back to arrival
-      used_stream_time = false;  // no span to time with; fall back to arrival
       static bool warned = false;
       if (!warned) {
         warned = true;
         std::fprintf(stderr,
-                     "[udpscope] warning: the stream's time signal carries no usable span "
+                     "[udpscope] warning: the stream's time signal %s (%g..%g); timing "
-                     "(%g..%g) or does not advance across packets; timing samples by "
+                     "samples by arrival instead. Check the time signal's mode and index "
-                     "arrival instead. Check the time signal's mode and index in the "
+                     "in the CONFIG dump above.\n",
-                     "CONFIG dump above.\n",
+                     fault, lo, hi);
-                     lo, hi);
       }
     }
   }
@@ -306,34 +357,26 @@ std::uint32_t Acquisition::build_stamps(const udps_frame_t* frame, int time_sign
   if (time_source_ == 0) {
     time_source_ = used_stream_time ? 1 : 2;
   } else if (time_source_ == 1 && !used_stream_time) {
-    // The declared time signal failed its checks: keep the arrival clock from here
+    // The declared time signal failed its checks for good: keep the arrival clock from
-    // on, discard the stamps already recorded on the old timeline, and make the
+    // here on, anchored so that it continues from the monotonic mark. The two timelines
-    // arrival clock continue from where the mark is, so the axis has no step.
+    // then share a zero *by construction*, which is the whole point of deriving the
+    // epoch from `last_stamp_` -- so the recorded history is still on one timeline and
+    // is kept. It used to be wiped here, on the reasoning that the old stamps belonged
+    // to a dead clock; they do not, and the wipe is what made a single glitching packet
+    // look like the stream restarting from zero.
     time_source_ = 2;
     const double end = frame->recv_time;
     arrival_epoch_ = end - (last_stamp_ + model_.epoch());
     arrival_prev_ = end;
-    last_stamp_ = 0.0;
-    history_reset_pending_ = true;
   }
 
-  // A stream-time signal may be declared in a time unit rather than seconds
+  // The declared unit, applied last so the x axis is in seconds either way. It applies
-  // ('ns' is the common one): scale it to seconds so the x axis is in seconds
+  // ONLY to stream time: the arrival fallback already produces seconds off the socket
-  // either way. The scale applies ONLY to stream time: the arrival fallback
+  // clock -- scaling those by the time signal's unit shrank the whole time base by 1e9
-  // already produces seconds off the socket clock -- scaling those by the time
+  // on 'ns' streams, which froze the trigger's hold-off clock and pinned the axis at ~0.
-  // signal's unit shrank the whole time base by 1e9 on 'ns' streams, which
+  if (used_stream_time && unit_scale != 1.0) {
-  // froze the trigger's hold-off clock and pinned the axis at ~0.
-  if (used_stream_time && time_signal >= 0 &&
-      time_signal < static_cast<int>(model_.signals().size())) {
-    double unit_scale = 1.0;
-    const std::string& unit = model_.signals()[static_cast<std::size_t>(time_signal)].unit;
-    if (unit == "ns") unit_scale = 1e-9;
-    else if (unit == "us" || unit == "\u00b5s" || unit == "\xce\xbc" "s") unit_scale = 1e-6;
-    else if (unit == "ms") unit_scale = 1e-3;
-    if (unit_scale != 1.0) {
     for (std::uint32_t k = 0; k < n; ++k) stamps_[k] *= unit_scale;
   }
-  }
 
   return n;
 }
@@ -371,12 +414,6 @@ void Acquisition::on_data(const udps_frame_t* frame) {
   }
   const std::uint32_t n = build_stamps(frame, time_signal);
   if (n == 0) return;
-  // A change of time source invalidated the recorded history: empty the rings before
-  // anything more goes in, so no reader can find two timelines under one index.
-  if (history_reset_pending_) {
-    history_reset_pending_ = false;
-    model_.reset_live_history_locked();  // this thread holds the model lock
-  }
 
   if (model_.epoch() == 0.0) {
     model_.set_epoch_if_unset(stamps_[0]);
@@ -427,7 +464,14 @@ void Acquisition::on_data(const udps_frame_t* frame) {
   const double post_want = tc.post_span_s(event_span);
   const double oldest_s =
       store.time().size() > 0 ? double(store.time()[0]) : last_stamp_;
-  engine.configure(tc, post_want, event_span - post_want, oldest_s);
+  // The channel's *name* goes with it, because that is what identifies it across a
+  // rebuild of the channel list (see `TriggerEngine::configure`).
+  static const std::string kNoTriggerChannel;
+  const std::string& trig_name =
+      trig_channel >= 0 && trig_channel < static_cast<int>(channels.size())
+          ? channels[static_cast<std::size_t>(trig_channel)].name
+          : kNoTriggerChannel;
+  engine.configure(tc, trig_name, post_want, event_span - post_want, oldest_s);
   // The engine's armed state follows the panel's, both ways: without the disarm
   // half, Disarm left the engine firing (its own `armed_` was only ever set), and
   // re-entering trigger mode kept the stale prev/edge/hold-off state.

src/acquisition.hpp

@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@ class Acquisition {
   /// included -- so the stream source is dropped in favour of arrival time.
   double last_stream_anchor_ = 0.0;
   bool have_stream_anchor_ = false;
+  /// Consecutive packets whose stream-time stamps failed those checks. A single bad
+  /// packet is a glitch in the producer's clock and is bridged at the declared cadence;
+  /// only a run of them means the declared signal is not a time base, and only then is
+  /// the arrival clock taken. Any accepted packet resets it.
+  unsigned stamp_failures_ = 0;
   /// Arrival-clock origin: the first packet's receive time, so arrival stamps are
   /// small seconds (the time ring stores f32, which cannot hold Unix epochs).
   double arrival_epoch_ = 0.0;
@@ -85,9 +90,6 @@ class Acquisition {
   /// signal carrying volt-like values, others from the arrival clock -- which is a
   /// time base no reader can make sense of (see `build_stamps`).
   int time_source_ = 0;
-  /// Set when the source changed under the recorded history: the rings have to be
-  /// emptied before more samples go in.
-  bool history_reset_pending_ = false;
   std::vector<double> stamps_;
   /// The decimation filter's state: a running sum per channel (and one for the shared
   /// clock) over the group of base samples that becomes one stored sample. A boxcar

src/model.cpp

@@ -501,20 +501,6 @@ void ScopeModel::live_window_locked(double lo_s, double hi_s, u64& first, u64& l
   if (last < first) last = first;
 }
 
-void ScopeModel::reset_live_history() {
-  std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(mutex_);
-  reset_live_history_locked();
-}
-
-void ScopeModel::reset_live_history_locked() {
-  BufferStore& src = live();
-  src.time().clear();
-  for (std::size_t c = 0; c < channels_.size(); ++c) {
-    src.values(c).clear();
-    src.channel(c).invalidate();
-  }
-}
-
 void ScopeModel::publish_pause_view(double lo_s, double hi_s, double x_offset) {
   // Timed from before the lock: the wait for it is part of what freezing a view costs the thread
   // doing it, and this one is the UI's.

src/model.hpp

@@ -285,20 +285,6 @@ class ScopeModel {
   /// is armed.
   BufferStore& live();
 
-  /// Forgets the live buffer's history: every ring is emptied and every channel's
-  /// published window is dropped, so the two stay index-aligned. Used when the
-  /// acquisition has to change time source (see `Acquisition::build_stamps`): the
-  /// stamps already recorded are on the old timeline, and a ring holding two
-  /// timelines is not a time base at all -- the x axis, the crosshair and an export
-  /// all read it by index.
-  ///
-  /// Takes `mutex()` itself: call it from the GTK thread. The acquisition thread
-  /// calls `reset_live_history_locked()` instead, already holding the lock (the
-  /// same split `publish_event()` follows).
-  void reset_live_history();
-  /// The body of the above for a caller that already holds `mutex()`.
-  void reset_live_history_locked();
-
   /// Builds the captured event from the slice of the live buffer covering
   /// `[edge - pre_s, edge + post_s]` in stream seconds, and publishes it atomically.
   /// The stamps are re-based so the edge sits at x = 0. The plot binds to this

src/trigger.cpp

@@ -12,9 +12,10 @@ double TriggerConfig::post_span_s(double buffer_span_s) const {
   return buffer_span_s * (1.0 - pre);
 }
 
-void TriggerEngine::configure(const TriggerConfig& cfg, double post_seconds,
+void TriggerEngine::configure(const TriggerConfig& cfg, const std::string& channel_name,
-                              double pre_seconds, double oldest_s) {
+                              double post_seconds, double pre_seconds, double oldest_s) {
-  const bool channel_changed = cfg.channel != cfg_.channel;
+  const bool channel_changed = channel_name != channel_name_;
+  if (channel_changed) channel_name_ = channel_name;
   cfg_ = cfg;
   post_seconds_ = post_seconds > 0.0 ? post_seconds : 0.0;
   pre_seconds_ = pre_seconds > 0.0 ? pre_seconds : 0.0;

src/trigger.hpp

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #include <cstdint>
+#include <string>
 
 namespace udpscope {
 
@@ -39,7 +40,16 @@ struct TriggerConfig {
 class TriggerEngine {
  public:
   /// Configures the channel and the post-trigger window. Resets the state when the
-  /// channel changes.
+  /// trigger moves to a different channel.
+  ///
+  /// `channel_name` is that channel's name, and it -- not `cfg.channel` -- is what
+  /// identifies it here. The index is not stable: every rebuild of the channel list
+  /// renumbers it (enabling a signal that sorts before the trigger's own is enough),
+  /// and the model re-resolves the trigger by name afterwards. Keying the reset on the
+  /// index therefore made any such rebuild abandon an open capture *and set no
+  /// hold-off*, so the next edge inside the post window became t0 -- which is the
+  /// "re-triggers mid-capture and ignores the hold-off" defect. Choosing a genuinely
+  /// different source still resets, because the name changes with it.
   ///
   /// `post_seconds` is the post-trigger window in **stream seconds**, the same clock
   /// `process()` is fed and the same clock the x axis reads, so the capture covers
@@ -57,8 +67,8 @@ class TriggerEngine {
   /// event cannot latch onto a half-filled pre window. `oldest_s` has to be the real
   /// buffer's, not a timer since arming -- the ring keeps filling with the trigger
   /// off, so the history is usually already there and waiting would be wrong.
-  void configure(const TriggerConfig& cfg, double post_seconds, double pre_seconds,
+  void configure(const TriggerConfig& cfg, const std::string& channel_name,
-                 double oldest_s);
+                 double post_seconds, double pre_seconds, double oldest_s);
   /// Disarms without forgetting the configuration.
   void disarm() noexcept { armed_ = false; pending_ = false; }
   void arm(double now_s) noexcept;
@@ -95,6 +105,7 @@ class TriggerEngine {
 
  private:
   TriggerConfig cfg_{};
+  std::string channel_name_;  ///< the trigger channel's stable identity (see `configure`).
   bool armed_ = false;
   bool have_prev_ = false;
   double prev_ = 0.0;

src/ui.cpp

@@ -8186,6 +8186,99 @@ gboolean arm_probe(gpointer user) {
   return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
 }
 
+/// The capture the renumber probe opened: the edge it opened on, and the latch count
+/// before it, so step 3 can tell a new latch from the one already on screen.
+double g_trigrenum_edge = 0.0;
+std::uint64_t g_trigrenum_latches = 0;
+
+/// Headless self-check, step 3: waits for the capture to latch and reports whether the
+/// edge it latched on is still the one it opened on.
+///
+/// `t0_held=1` is the reading. With the engine's invalidation keyed on the trigger
+/// channel's *index* rather than its name, step 2's renumber abandoned the capture and
+/// set no hold-off, so the next edge inside the post window became t0 and this read 0.
+gboolean trigrenum_probe_step3(gpointer user) {
+  App* a = static_cast<App*>(user);
+  if (a->window == nullptr) return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
+  if (a->model->trigger_latches().load(std::memory_order_relaxed) == g_trigrenum_latches)
+    return G_SOURCE_CONTINUE;
+  const double latched = a->model->trigger_time().load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
+  std::fprintf(stderr, "[trigrenum-probe] latched t0=%.4f opened on %.4f t0_held=%d\n", latched,
+               g_trigrenum_edge, int(std::fabs(latched - g_trigrenum_edge) < 1.0e-6));
+  std::fflush(stderr);
+  return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
+}
+
+/// Headless self-check, step 2: the moment a capture is open, enables a signal that sorts
+/// *before* the trigger's own -- which is what renumbers the trigger channel under the
+/// engine. Polls rather than times, so it lands inside the post window whatever the rate.
+gboolean trigrenum_probe_step2(gpointer user) {
+  App* a = static_cast<App*>(user);
+  if (a->window == nullptr) return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
+  if (!a->model->trigger_pending()) return G_SOURCE_CONTINUE;
+  g_trigrenum_edge = a->model->capture_edge();
+  g_trigrenum_latches = a->model->trigger_latches().load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
+  int ch = -1;
+  {
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(a->model->mutex());
+    ch = a->model->trigger().channel;
+  }
+  std::fprintf(stderr, "[trigrenum-probe] capture open: t0=%.4f ch=%d -- enabling signal 1 now\n",
+               g_trigrenum_edge, ch);
+  std::fflush(stderr);
+  a->model->set_signal_enabled(1, true);
+  {
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(a->model->mutex());
+    ch = a->model->trigger().channel;
+  }
+  std::fprintf(stderr, "[trigrenum-probe] after enable: trigger ch=%d channels=%zu\n", ch,
+               a->model->channel_count());
+  std::fflush(stderr);
+  g_timeout_add(25, trigrenum_probe_step3, a);
+  return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
+}
+
+/// Headless self-check, step 1: the reported geometry, driven through the real widgets --
+/// 1 s window, 10 % pre share, hold-off from `--holdoff` -- on the *square* alone, so that
+/// enabling the sine later moves the trigger channel's index.
+gboolean trigrenum_probe(gpointer user) {
+  App* a = static_cast<App*>(user);
+  if (a->window == nullptr || a->window_entry == nullptr) return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
+  gtk_drop_down_set_selected(GTK_DROP_DOWN(a->window_unit_drop), 2);
+  gtk_editable_set_text(GTK_EDITABLE(a->window_entry), "1");
+  on_window_entry_activate(GTK_ENTRY(a->window_entry), a);
+  // Signal 2 is the mock's square; signal 1 is its sine. Only the square to begin with.
+  a->model->set_signal_enabled(1, false);
+  a->model->set_signal_enabled(2, true);
+  a->model->set_signal_enabled(3, false);
+  if (a->model->channel_count() > 0) {
+    const ChannelInfo& c0 = a->model->channels()[0];
+    a->rows->assign(0, 0, c0.name, c0.name,
+                    signal_color_index(a->model->signals(), c0.signal));
+    a->relayout_pending = true;
+  }
+  gtk_spin_button_set_value(GTK_SPIN_BUTTON(a->trigger_pre_spin), 10.0);
+  gtk_spin_button_set_value(GTK_SPIN_BUTTON(a->trigger_level_spin), 0.0);
+  publish_trigger_fields(a);
+  if (a->trigger_toggle != nullptr)
+    gtk_toggle_button_set_active(GTK_TOGGLE_BUTTON(a->trigger_toggle), TRUE);
+  {
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(a->model->mutex());
+    const TriggerConfig& tc = a->model->trigger();
+    std::fprintf(stderr,
+                 "[trigrenum-probe] window=%.4f event_span=%.4f pre_pct=%.1f post=%.4f "
+                 "holdoff=%.4f level=%.4g edge=%d mode=%d enabled=%d armed=%d ch=%d "
+                 "channels=%zu\n",
+                 a->rows->time_window(), a->model->event_span(), tc.pretrigger_pct,
+                 tc.post_span_s(a->model->event_span()), tc.holdoff_s, tc.level, int(tc.edge),
+                 int(tc.mode), int(tc.enabled), int(tc.armed), tc.channel,
+                 a->model->channel_count());
+  }
+  std::fflush(stderr);
+  g_timeout_add(25, trigrenum_probe_step2, a);
+  return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
+}
+
 /// Headless self-check: changes the trigger panel's two dropdowns, which is what a user
 /// does to switch Normal/Single or the edge -- mid-capture, if the probe is timed into
 /// one. Reaching the dropdowns directly is the point: their `notify::selected` handler
@@ -9581,6 +9674,9 @@ int run_ui(int argc, char** argv, const Config& cfg, ScopeModel& model, Acquisit
   if (const char* env = g_getenv("UDPSCOPE_ARM_TRIGGER_MS")) {
     g_timeout_add(static_cast<guint>(std::atoi(env)), arm_probe, &app);
   }
+  if (const char* env = g_getenv("UDPSCOPE_PROBE_TRIGRENUM_MS")) {
+    g_timeout_add(static_cast<guint>(std::atoi(env)), trigrenum_probe, &app);
+  }
   if (const char* env = g_getenv("UDPSCOPE_PROBE_FIELDS_MS")) {
     g_timeout_add(static_cast<guint>(std::atoi(env)), fields_probe, &app);
   }

tools/mock_udpstreamer.py

@@ -67,8 +67,15 @@ def build_config(rate, time_mode=TIME_FULL_ARRAY, unit="V"):
     return header(PKT_CONFIG, 0, len(payload)) + payload
 
 
-def build_data(counter, t0, dt, batch, freq, time_mode=TIME_FULL_ARRAY, noise=0.0):
+def build_data(
+    counter, t0, dt, batch, freq, time_mode=TIME_FULL_ARRAY, noise=0.0, time_spike=0.0
+):
     stamps = [t0 + i * dt for i in range(batch)]
+    # `time_spike` models a device whose clock glitches for one packet: the stamps jump
+    # far ahead and then the next packet carries on from where it would have been. The
+    # waveforms are still computed from the *true* stamps, so only the time signal is
+    # wrong -- which is what a glitching clock looks like on the wire.
+    wire_stamps = [t + time_spike for t in stamps] if time_spike > 0.0 else stamps
     # The interferer is a tone at 100x the fundamental with a randomly scaled amplitude, which
     # is the shape that is hardest on anything counting crossings: near the sine's own mid level
     # the fundamental's slope is 2*pi*f while the interferer's is 100x that, so the signal
@@ -92,7 +99,9 @@ def build_data(counter, t0, dt, batch, freq, time_mode=TIME_FULL_ARRAY, noise=0.
     # signal in Accumulate mode still occupies `batch` slots on the wire (the client
     # reads `num_samples` values for any 1-element signal), so the anchor is repeated --
     # which is exactly the shape that made udpscope derive a step of zero.
-    wire_time = [t0] * batch if time_mode == TIME_FIRST_SAMPLE else stamps
+    wire_time = (
+        [wire_stamps[0]] * batch if time_mode == TIME_FIRST_SAMPLE else wire_stamps
+    )
     payload = struct.pack("<QI", int(t0 * 1e9), batch)
     for arr in (wire_time, sine, square, ramp):
         payload += struct.pack("<%dd" % batch, *arr)
@@ -154,6 +163,20 @@ def main():
         "grid, so the stream's timestamps wobble about one. Non-cumulative "
         "(the mean rate is unchanged); 0 = the ideal grid",
     )
+    ap.add_argument(
+        "--time-glitch-at",
+        type=float,
+        default=-1.0,
+        help="stream time (s) at which ONE packet's time signal jumps ahead by "
+        "--time-glitch-by and then carries on normally: a device whose clock "
+        "glitches. -1 = never",
+    )
+    ap.add_argument(
+        "--time-glitch-by",
+        type=float,
+        default=10.0,
+        help="how far ahead the glitching packet's stamps jump, in stream seconds",
+    )
     args = ap.parse_args()
 
     dt = args.stream_scale / args.rate  # stream seconds per sample
@@ -181,6 +204,7 @@ def main():
 
     peer = None
     counter = 1
+    glitched = False
     t_stream = 0.0
     started = None
     next_send = time.monotonic()
@@ -193,6 +217,7 @@ def main():
                 if magic == MAGIC and ptype == PKT_CONNECT:
                     peer = addr
                     counter = 1
+                    glitched = False
                     t_stream = 0.0
                     started = time.monotonic()
                     next_send = started
@@ -223,9 +248,25 @@ def main():
         pdt = dt
         if args.clock_jitter > 0.0:
             pdt = dt * (1.0 + random.uniform(-args.clock_jitter, args.clock_jitter))
+        spike = 0.0
+        if args.time_glitch_at >= 0.0 and not glitched and t_stream >= args.time_glitch_at:
+            spike = args.time_glitch_by
+            glitched = True
+            print(
+                "mock udpstreamer: time-signal glitch at t=%.3f, +%.3f s for one packet"
+                % (t_stream, spike),
+                flush=True,
+            )
         sock.sendto(
             build_data(
-                counter, t_stream, pdt, args.batch, args.freq, time_mode, args.noise
+                counter,
+                t_stream,
+                pdt,
+                args.batch,
+                args.freq,
+                time_mode,
+                args.noise,
+                spike,
             ),
             peer,
         )