Sum digits till Square

Perl 6, 60 bytes

{$/=[$^x,*.polymod($^y xx*).sum*($y-1)...($y-1)²];$/-1,|$/}

Expanded:

{    # bare block lambda with placeholder parameters ｢$x｣ ｢$y｣

  $/ = [          # store in ｢$/｣ ( so that we don't have to declare it )

    # generate a sequence

    $^x,          # declare first parameter, and seed sequence generator

    # Whatever lambda

    *\            # the parameter to this lambda

    .polymod(     # broken down with a list of moduli

      $^y         # declare second parameter of the outer block lambda
      xx *        # an infinite list of copies of it

    )
    .sum
    *
    ( $y - 1 )

    # end of Whatever lambda

    ...           # repeat until it reaches

    ( $y - 1 )²
  ];

  # returns
  $/ - 1,         # count of values minus one
  |$/             # Slip ｢|｣ the list into the result
}

Usage:

# store it in the lexical namespace so that it is easier to understand
my &code = {$/=[$^x,*.polymod($^y xx*).sum*($y-1)...($y-1)²];$/-1,|$/}

say code  739,  7; # (2 739 42 36)
say code 1712, 19; # (3 1712 360 648 324)

Jelly, 14 13 bytes

-1 byte by printing as it loops (Ṅ replacing a chain separation, µ and concatenation ;)

Ṅb⁹S×⁹’¤µÐĿL’

TryItOnline!

How?

Ṅb⁹S×⁹’¤µÐĿL’ - Main link: x, y
        µÐĿ   - loop monadically until results are no longer unique and collect
Ṅ             - print z (initially x), then result of previous loop and return z
  ⁹           -     right argument (y, even though monadic)
 b            -     left to base right
   S          -     sum (the result was a list of base y digits)
       ¤      -     nilad followed by link(s) as a nilad
     ⁹’       -         y decremented
    ×         -     multiply
           L  - length(z)
            ’ - decrement
              - implicit print

The alternative 13 byter prints each input to the loop plus a line feed (Ṅ), and finally implicitly prints the decremented count of the collected results, removing the need for a monadic chain separation (µ) and concatenation (;).

C, 116 113 bytes

-3 bytes for recalculating square each time

s,t,i;f(x,y){s=y-(i=1);while(x-s*s){t=0;++i;printf("%d ",x);while(x)t+=x%y,x/=y;x=t*y-t;}printf("%d %d ",x,i-1);}

Ungolfed and usage:

s,t,i;
f(x,y){
 s=y-(i=1);
 while(x-s*s){
  t=0;
  ++i;
  printf("%d ",x);
  while(x)
   t+=x%y,    //add the base y digit
   x/=y;      //shift x to the right by base y
  x=t*y-t;
 }
 printf("%d %d ",x,i-1);
}

main(){
 f(739,7);puts("");
 f(1712,19);puts("");
}