[The Real Slim Shady]

Well, I'm just taking a wild stab in the dark here...

But in the example that you say works, You have: \xef\xeb\xad\xde

In the example that you say doesn't work, You have: \xef\xbe\xad\xde

So of course they're going to have different results. You've provided different inputs.

But what I find odd - is that the one you say doesn't work, is the correct way to express 0xdeadbeef where as the one you say does work should be outputting 0xdeadebef

So you really should pay greater attention to detail - as as far as I am concerned, the one you say that doesn't work should work, and the one you say does work, should not work - as there is an obvious mistake.