Proving two simulator builds do identical model work when only the trace backend differs: compare disassembly of non-trace functions, not .o hashes

When benchmarking two waveform trace backends in the same simulator (e.g. two Verilator trace writers swapped by a shim header), you want to show the model compute is identical so the CPU difference is the backend alone. A byte-equal hash of the model object files usually fails even when the code is the same, because a different header on the include path changes debug info, string tables or symbol order. Compare instead: for every function not in the trace code, the disassembly (objdump -d --no-show-raw-insn, normalised addresses) must be identical between builds. Expect the trace objects to differ, since that's what you're measuring. Pair it with a fixed protocol: overhead = (traced CPU - untraced CPU) / untraced CPU, paired per rep, plus absolute CPU-s and ns per stored change. Time the file write-back too (inside the run or a separate sync). Make every untraced run last at least about 5 s so the percentage isn't noise. Check page-cache residency (fincore) before cold and warm reads, and treat a failed check as an invalid rep, not a retry.