diff --git a/src/meta/debug.h b/src/meta/debug.h
index eab96fc8..94291bf4 100644
--- a/src/meta/debug.h
+++ b/src/meta/debug.h
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ extern const struct opcode_struct *opcodes;
 void c_interface_debugging();
 #endif
 
+void debugger_setInputText(const char *text);
 void c_debugger_go(void);
 bool c_debugger_should_break(void);
 void c_debugger_set_timeout(const unsigned int secs);
diff --git a/src/meta/debugger.c b/src/meta/debugger.c
index 74fd6c75..3c7069c0 100644
--- a/src/meta/debugger.c
+++ b/src/meta/debugger.c
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
 
 const struct opcode_struct *opcodes;
 
+static char input_str[1024] = { 0 }; // ASCII values
+
 static stepping_struct_t stepping_struct = { 0 };
 static unsigned int stepping_timeout = 0;
 
@@ -1153,16 +1155,12 @@ static int begin_cpu_stepping() {
             ERRLOG("pthread_cond_wait : %d", err);
         }
 
-#if TESTING
-#warning FIXME TODO : this is mis-named now ... GLVideo pushes sync state so we do not need to force poll ... but we need this to type the testing strings ... should refactor to leverage a common codepath, preferablly using the 'typing' mechanism here...
-        extern void testing_video_sync();
-        testing_video_sync();
-#elif defined(INTERFACE_CLASSIC)
+#if defined(INTERFACE_CLASSIC)
         if ((ch = c_mygetch(0)) != -1) {
             break;
         }
 #endif
-        if ( (stepping_struct.step_type != TYPING) && (idx > textlen) ) {
+        if ( (stepping_struct.step_type == TYPING) && (idx > textlen) ) {
             break; // finished typing
         }
         if (stepping_timeout && (stepping_struct.timeout < time(NULL))) {
@@ -1495,9 +1493,19 @@ void c_interface_debugging() {
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------------
     debugger testing-driven API
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+void debugger_setInputText(const char *text) {
+    strcat(input_str, text);
+}
+
+void c_debugger_go(void) {
+    void *buf = NULL;
+    if (strlen(input_str)) {
+        buf = STRDUP(input_str);
+        input_str[0] = '\0';
+    }
 
-void c_debugger_go() {
     stepping_struct_t s = (stepping_struct_t){
+        .step_text = buf,
         .step_type = GOING,
         .timeout = time(NULL) + stepping_timeout
     };
@@ -1507,6 +1515,8 @@ void c_debugger_go() {
 
     debugger_go(s);
 
+    FREE(buf);
+
     is_debugging = false;
     num_buffer_lines = 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/test/testcommon.c b/src/test/testcommon.c
index 69d208df..20b7db76 100644
--- a/src/test/testcommon.c
+++ b/src/test/testcommon.c
@@ -11,58 +11,18 @@
 
 #include "testcommon.h"
 
-#define TESTBUF_SZ 1024
-
 bool test_do_reboot = true;
 char mdstr[(SHA_DIGEST_LENGTH*2)+1];
 
-static char input_str[TESTBUF_SZ]; // ASCII
-static unsigned int input_length = 0;
-static unsigned int input_counter = 0;
-
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-void test_common_setup() {
-    input_counter = 0;
-    input_length = 0;
-    input_str[0] = '\0';
-}
-
-// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// test video functions and stubs
-
-void testing_video_sync() {
-
-    if (!input_length) {
-        input_length = strlen(input_str);
-    }
-
-    if (input_counter >= input_length) {
-        return;
-    }
-
-    uint8_t ch = (uint8_t)input_str[input_counter];
-    if (ch == '\n') {
-        ch = '\r';
-    }
-
-    if ( (apple_ii_64k[0][0xC000] & 0x80) || (apple_ii_64k[1][0xC000] & 0x80) ) {
-        // last character typed not processed by emulator...
-        return;
-    }
-
-    apple_ii_64k[0][0xC000] = ch | 0x80;
-    apple_ii_64k[1][0xC000] = ch | 0x80;
-
-    ++input_counter;
+void test_common_setup(void) {
 }
 
 void test_type_input(const char *input) {
-    strcat(input_str, input);
+    debugger_setInputText(input);
 }
 
-// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
 void test_breakpoint(void *arg) {
     fprintf(GREATEST_STDOUT, "DISPLAY NOTE: busy-spinning in test_breakpoint(), needs gdb/lldb intervention to continue...\n");
     volatile bool debug_continue = false;
@@ -72,9 +32,7 @@ void test_breakpoint(void *arg) {
     }
 }
 
-// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-void test_common_init() {
+void test_common_init(void) {
     GREATEST_SET_BREAKPOINT_CB(test_breakpoint, NULL);
 
     do_logging = false;// silence regular emulator logging