| Cartridges |
Let's first look at what you've got to play with as far as extra RAM, how it's done, and what kind of problems you can run into: No matter how much memory is installed in your computer, the 6502 can never access an address outside the range 0-65535 (64k). With BASIC off, this limits normal RAM to 48k as the Operating System (OS) and hardware chips take up the last 16k. With BASIC on, or a cartridge installed, you lose yet another 8k.
Software like SpartaDOS and Turbo BASIC utilize another 14k of RAM by deselecting the OS. As far as I know, nobody ever produced 6, 14, or 62k chips so there has to be another 2k of RAM in there. But, unfortunately, the only way you can deselect the hardware registers is with the power switch.
Since the 6502 can't "see" extra memory, you have to trick the computer into believing it's not seeing what it is, which is how all software that uses extra RAM works. It operates by "bank switching", a concept more understandable with a memory map so here's a rough picture of the 64k address range in your computer broken up into four 16k "banks":
|---------------------------------------------------------------| | Bank Address Range | | Num. Dec Hex Usage | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | 0 00000 to $0000 to RAM for OS, DOS, | | 16383 $3FFF and user programs. | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | 1 16384 to $4000 to User RAM. Some ROM | | 32767 $7FFF if selftest enabled. | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | 2 32768 to $8000 to User RAM, screen RAM. Top half is | | 49151 $BFFF ROM if BASIC on or cartridge used. | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | 3 49152 to $C000 to OS ROM and i/o chips. | | 65535 $FFFF User RAM if os off | |---------------------------------------------------------------|Usage indicates the only bank which is almost always all RAM and can safely be switched in or out is number 1, which is exactly how the 130XE is designed. Its extra RAM is divided into four 16k banks, each of which can replace normal memory in bank 1. In effect, the 130 memory map looks like this:
Main Extended Memory
|----|
| m0 |
|----|--------------------
| m1 | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 |
|----|--------------------
| m2 |
|----|
| m3 |
|----|
Compatible memory upgrades are mapped in the same way. The only
difference is that there are more extended banks - up to 64 with 1
meg. Each bank when switched in, appears to the computer as main
bank 1. The diagram is slightly misleading in that it implies the
extra banks sort of slide into place one after another - they don't.
Any one can be selected in any order you wish.
Switching RAMs and ROMs is physically simple. Almost all control is handled by a single hardware address known as PORTB (54017 or $D301). The bits in PORTB have the following functions on a 130XE:
--------------------------------------------
| Bit # 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 |
| --------------------------------- |
| Usage | t | y | x | e | j | i | b | o | |
| --------------------------------- |
| Hex. $80 40 20 10 08 04 02 01 |
| Dec. 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 |
--------------------------------------------
Bit 0 (o) if high enables the OS ROM
Bit 0 is used by Sparta and Turbo to toggle between RAM and ROM to make use of that hidden 14k. This requires a juggling act since the OS interrupt handlers are in ROM and must be re-enabled, 60 times per second, to avoid a crash, or else the program must provide its own interrupt handlers. Additionally, since Antic updates the screen before the 6502 gets to process the interrupt, it is necessary to use an alternate character set in lower memory or to copy the ROM one into RAM at the same address.
Bit 1 (b) if low enables the BASIC ROM
To figure values in PORTB you add the decimal values under each bit to be set to 1. Since, with all bits set, the total is 255, it's often simpler to subtract. PEEK (54017) in BASIC will produce 253 meaning everything's high except bit 1. The same PEEK with Turbo gives 255 as the BASIC ROM is off. This is the only bit you normally see change.
Bit 7 (t) if low enables Self Test ROM
As with RAM, there has to be 2k of ROM left over. There is, and it's used for part of the Self Test routines. When bit 7 is low, it's enabled. Since hardware registers can't be deselected, this portion of ROM deselects and replaces RAM from $5000-$57FF in bank 1. Unless you're really into listening to simple music, a really slow and incomplete RAM test, or watching keys flash on an image of a 1200XL keyboard, you can consider this 2k of ROM to be free space if designing an OS upgrade.
Bit 4 (e) if low enables extra RAM
Bit 4 is the master switch for extra memory. No matter what values are in the other bits, the 6502 will always use normal memory when this bit is high.
Bits 3 and 2 (ji) select one of four 16k banks
These bits together determine which one of the four 16k banks is enabled. They simply count from 0 to 3 in binary where, if j is set you add 2, and if i is set you add 1:
j i bank
0 0 00
0 1 01
1 0 02
1 1 03
Here's what the memory map would look like with bits 3 and 4 low
(remember the 6502 only "sees" the RAM in the "Main" column):
Main Extended Memory
|----|
| m0 |
|----|--------------------
| x1 | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 |
|----|--------------------
| m2 | Note: main bank 1 doesn't move
|----| anywhere, it just disappears
| m3 | until you deselect extra RAM.
|----|
Bit 5 (x) enables Antic access
On a 130XE, each of the four extra banks can be assigned individually to either Antic or the 6502 or to both, a setup that is rarely used--forget about them if you only have a 130. On the 130 these bits are normally set to one.
y x 64k Block Available On
1 1 00 (130XE) All
1 0 01 All
0 1 02 Bucholz/Peterson/Rambo
0 0 03 Newell
Main
|---| ---------------- 64k blocks--------------------
|m00| 00 | 01 | 02 |
|---|------------------------------------------------
|m00|x00|x01|x02|x03|x04|x05|x06|x07|x08|x09|x0A|x0B|
|---|------------------------------------------------
|m02| Extended RAM Banks (hex)
|---|
|m03|
|---|
Obviously, this is a prelude to disaster as trying to write to bank
x08 will overwrite DOS or the OS low RAM storage. Similarly,
attempting to write to bank B could write to the hardware chips.
With the Newell upgrade, wrong bit patterns enable Antic access to
the extra RAM which should be harmless as the display list and
screen RAM are rarely in this address range. It still however,
restricts extra RAM usage to 128k.
So if you're having RAMdisk problems with a 256XL, odds are you're using the wrong software. ICD put out separate versions of their RD handler to address this and you need to obtain the correct one. With MYDOS you won't have a problem if you use the default RD configuration (menu item "O") but if you select a custom sequence or enter one manually, you must be aware of which banks are available.
If you've been keeping count, you can see there's no more bits available in PORTB. To get past 256k, the designers decided to take over the BASIC bit, and to go to a meg, the Self Test bit.
b if 0 enables the second 256k
t if 0 enables the second 512k
If both of these are high, you're in the first 256k. If bit 7 is
low and bit 1 high, you're in first half of the second 512k (third
256k), etc.
RAM BANK ACCESS TABLE 64-1024K
PORTB Available on Type
E3,E7,EB,EF 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
C3,C7,CB,CF 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
A3,A7,AB,AF 2, 4,5,6,7
83,87,8B,8F 3,4,5,6,7
E1,E5,E9,ED 5,6,7
C1,C5,C9,CD 5,6,7
A1,A5,A9,AD 5,6,7,8
81,85,89,8D 5,6,7,8
63,67,6B,6F 6,7
43,47,4B,4F 6,7
23,27,2B,2F 6,7
03,07,0B,0F 6,7
61,65,69,6D 7
41,45,49,4D 7
21,25,29,2D 7
01,05,09,0D 7
Type Upgrade Mapping
1 = 130 XE
2 = 256 XL Bucholz/Peterson/Rambo
3 = 256 XL Newell
4 = 320 XE Peterson
5 = 576 XE "
6 = 832 XE "
7 = 1088 XE "
8 = 832k+ " (BASIC on)
9 = 576 XE " " "
Note 1: The documentation by Scott Peterson on his upgrades
indicates that only 128k is available in XE-compatible mode (Types
8/9 above). Two more 64k blocks are available as indicated with 832
or 1088k machines though not all RD handlers will find and use
them.
Note 2: Based on an article by Jeff McWilliams in the April 1993 edition of AC, it appears the Newell 1-meg upgrade is mapped similarly to the Peterson.
Note 3: With version 2.1 of the SpartaDOS Wedge, Ed Bachman describes a simple fix for Peterson upgrades to reenable Antic access to extended RAM. It is definitely worth checking out, even if you don't use SpartaDOS.
With a 512k+ upgrade this means the instant you enable extra RAM by dropping bit 4 in PORTB, you're in the second 256k instead of the first. If you use your extra memory only as a RAMdisk this mixup might not cause a problem depending on the handler code. But unless it's fixed, before using any other program which accesses extra RAM, 99% of them will trash your RD if they don't completely crash the computer.
I always build in a test routine to programs which are going to manipulate RAM or ROM to ensure that BASICF and PORTB are correctly set if BASIC is off or absent. In addition, I search for and correct the stack in Sparta. BobTerm 1.22 corrects the Sparta stack for version 3.2d or f but, as it uses absolute addressing, this might lead to problems with different Sparta versions. So, if you have a problem with BobTerm and Sparta, the answer might be to switch to version 3.2d/f.
The way I find the stack in Sparta is to look for a LDA PORTB instruction, followed by a STA ADDRESS,X where ADDRESS will be the address of the stack. With version 3.2+ you should find it on page 7; with version 2.3 it's on page 9. Once found, it's a simple matter to set bit 1 in each of the eight values correctly.
Note that all following references to a cartridge being "present" imply that it is turned on--if it's plugged in but turned off, consider it "absent". You may always consider the RT8 to be absent unless you're actually trying to access it. First let's look at the addresses used for, or in conjunction with, auxiliary ROM/RAM control.
PORTB has already been covered; just keep in mind the function of the BASIC bit.
BASICF is a flag in low memory to tell the OS, on system reset, how to set bit 1 of PORTB. If this flag contains any non-zero value the BASIC ROM will be disabled.
TRIG3 is an address on the GTIA chip which was used for joystick trigger #3 on the 400/800. On the XL/XE it is a cartridge status indicator; if a cartridge is present it reads 1, otherwise it will be 0. There is no other possible reading at this address.
GINTLK is set, on boot, by the OS and is a copy of TRIG3. The OS compares GINTLK with TRIG3 during the deferred vertical blank interrupt and, if the two don't match, goes into a "soft" lockup (i.e. a reset will re-boot).
CARTCK holds a checksum, calculated on boot, by the OS. On a reset, if a cartridge is present as signalled by TRIG3, the OS re-calculates the sum and compares it with CARTCK. If the two don't match, the OS assumes you've pulled or inserted a cartridge and immediately re-boots. Note that Mapping the Atari is vague on this: it applies to all XL/XE's, not just the 1200.
CARTCK, TRIG3 and GINTLK are effective for all cartridges except (in part) the RT8. One other important thing to note is that the TRIG3/GINTLK comparison occurs during the deferred vertical blank. This means you can fool around with a cartridge to your heart's content as long as the stage two vblank doesn't occur and you don't hit Reset. You can prohibit vblank2 in any of three ways: disable all NMI's, set CRITIC to a non-zero value or, most simply, use a SEI opcode.
The hardware address range for all cartridge control is $D500-$D5FF. Within that page, OSS cartridges use $D500-$D50F, the CSS MUX OS uses $D570-$D57F, the RT8 uses $D5B8-$D5B9, and SDX uses $D5E0-$D5EF. This sounds straightforward; unfortunately it isn't.
To enable an OSS cartridge bank, add the bank number to $D500 and access that address (i.e. for bank n, STA $D50n, LDA $D50n, STA $D500,X where the x register holds n, etc.) In theory, a cartridge should be able to contain up to sixteen 8k banks and still allow you to turn it off. In practice, they contain two or three switchable 4k banks and one "master" 4k bank.
For OSS cartridges, the ROM bank number is found at location $AFFF. Valid values at $AFFF are 0, 3 and 4 for Action! and 0, 1 and 9 for MAC/65. Other bank values produce varying results. MAC/65 ignores bits 1 and 2 so any value from 0 to 7 results in selection of either the odd or even bank. With Action! attempts to select other bank numbers result in selection of one of the real ones or in selection of nothing i.e. a monitor shows a pile of $AF's in the $AF page just as when you examine page $D7 and get $D7 at all addresses. BASIC XE has banks 0, 1 and 9 but bank 9 is RAM. In bank 9, the BXE cartridge is off but TRIG3 stays high; a sneaky way to avoid having to worry about GINTLK while using the RAM under the cartridge.
There are two constants for cartridges: Addressing bit 3 alone turns cartridge ROM off and, bank 0 is the bank in which the cartridge boots and initializes. Here are "maps" of the banks in two cartridges:
MAC/65 0123456789ABCDEF: Bank Selection rrrrrrrr r r r r: r=rom, empty=ram 01010101 9 9 9 9: bank # 01 9 : valid rom banks Action! 0123456789ABCDEF: Bank Selection rrrrrr r : r=rom, empty=ram 000340 3 : bank # 0 34 : valid rom banks
WARMST = $08 BOOT? = $09 CRITIC = $42 RAMTOP = $6A COLDST = $0244 CARTCK = $03E8 BASICF = $03F8 GINTLK = $03FA TRIG3 = $D013 PORTB = $D301 NMIEN = $D40E EDITRV = $E400Here's the simplest: turn off a cartridge and enable BASIC assuming both are actually present.
SEI Kill stage 2 vblank STA $D508 Kill any cartridge LDA PORTB AND #$FD Drop basic bit STA PORTB LDA TRIG3 This should be 0 STA BASICF Flag it and STA GINTLK correct the cart shadow CLI Enable stage 2 vblank Now let's access RAM under a cartridge: SEI Kill stage 2 vblank LDA PORTB PHA Save Portb ORA #$02 Kill basic rom STA PORTB LDA #$08 Assume no cartridge. LDX TRIG3 Check assumption. BEQ GOTBNK Go if none or off, LDA $AFFF else get the bank GOTBNK PHA Save cartridge bank. STA $D508 Kill any OSS cartridge LDA TRIG3 Set the shadow before STA GINTLK the stage 2 vblank! CLI Enable stage 2 vblank Do whatever in the RAM, then restore the previous status: SEI Kill stage 2 vblank PLA Recover cartridge bank TAX and restore the cart STA $D500,X to it's prior status LDA TRIG3 Reset Gintlk to STA GINTLK correct status PLA Restore prior Basic STA PORTB rom status CLI Enable stage 2 vblank Just turning a cartridge off is simple: SEI Kill vblank 2 STA $D508 LDA TRIG3 Make sure it went STA GINTLK off and flag it CLI Enable stage 2 vblank Cold-starting an OSS cartridge is only slightly more complex: SEI Kill vblank 2 STA $D500 Enable cart bank 0 LDA TRIG3 Set the shadow STA GINTLK correctly LDA PORTB PHA ORA #$01 STA PORTB Ensure OS is on CLC Calculate the LDX #0 checksum TXA for reset. CSLOOP ADC $BFF0,X Note the sum INX includes the BNE CSLOOP first 240 bytes STA CARTCK of the OS ROM. PLA Restore any RAM STA PORTB OS (or Sparta) CLI Enable stage 2After cold-starting an OSS cartridge or BASIC, set WARMST to 0 to flag a boot so that the buffer pointers are cleared (if you don't, you can, for example enter BASIC, type LIST and get an endless display of zeros and/or a lockup). Then initialize the ROM. With Action! and BASIC this doesn't matter as the initialization routines just RTS; with BASIC XE I'm not sure; with MAC/65 it's required. To initialize any cartridge:
LDX #$FF Say we're on a boot STX COLDST and make sure all INX flags reflect this STX WARMST INX STX BOOT? JSR INIT Go do it LDX #$FF Say we're back to STX WARMST normal status, i.e. INX what happens on Reset. STX COLDST Note that some or all INX carts play with some STX BOOT? of these flags! RTS INIT JMP ($BFFE) Cartridge init vectorAfter enabling or disabling a cartridge or BASIC, you also have to ensure top of RAM and screen pointers are correct. To do this, execute a "GRAPHICS 0". In machine language terms, you set RAMTOP and then close and re-open channel 0 to the "E:" device. You can do this in the traditional manner via CIOV or more simply by calling the following subroutine with the accumulator holding $C0 if turning ROM off and $A0 if turning it on.
GRAPH0 STA RAMTOP Either $A0 or $C0 LDX #0 Indicate channel 0 LDY #2 Point to Close vector JSR EDO LDY #0 and now to Open vector EDO LDA EDITRV+1,Y PHA LDA EDITRV,Y PHA RTSBe aware that turning off BASIC XE does not free up the RAM under the cartridge if you intend to later restore the cartridge. BXE uses that RAM as well as that under the OS floating point routines and also (undocumented) sets an interrupt vector in the last page of RAM ($FFFx).
One final note on turning ROM off or on: following the Graphics 0, an RTS under Sparta will usually lock up the keyboard requiring a reset. Sparta installs its own E: handler so when you use the OS handler to reopen E: Sparta's vectors are no longer valid. The simple way around this is to exit via a JMP (DOSVEC). This is probably a good idea with any command-processor FMS where you can use a batch file instead of an autorun to set things up.
The following code will leave the currently selected bank in the Y register with version 4.20. With other versions, you're on your own.
LDA $A004 LDY #7 LOOP CMP XBANK,Y BEQ GOTIT DEY BPL LOOP LDY #$01 Can't figure, make it 1 GOTIT RTS XBANK .BYTE $32,$1F,$02,$1D .BYTE $D4,$1C,$61,$56The ROMdisk directory is at the beginning of bank 2 and follows normal Sparta format except that the address of the first sector map is the actual starting location in ROM of the stored program. The first two entries look like this:
.BYTE $08 Status: In use .WORD 16384 Start: Bank 2 Offset 0 .WORD 598 Length .BYTE 0 Length (high byte) .BYTE "MAIN " .BYTE 1,1,70 Date .BYTE 251,0,0 Time ; .BYTE $08 Status: In use .WORD 16982 Start: Bank 2 Offset 598 .WORD 7288 Length .BYTE 0 Length (high byte) .BYTE "SPARTA SYS" .BYTE 6,2,89 Date .BYTE 15,28,40 Time ;To convert the starting address to a bank and offset within the bank:
bank = int(address/$2000) and
offset = address-$2000*bank
CAR.COM uses the following combinations to control all three ROMs
in the cartridge area. The values under "SDX" and "OSS" are offsets
from $D5E0 and $D500 respectively and those under BAS are the value
in bit 1 of PORTB. The "on" under the OSS column is the value found
at $AFFF before the cartridge was last turned off and used to
reenable it. The $0C value for SDX is what causes it to latch any
cartridge off and the $08 makes it transparent so that the
cartridge ROM is accessible.
SDX OSS BAS OPERATING CONDITION
$01 $08 1 in DOS or low RAM
$0C $08 1 in high RAM (X.COM)
$0C $08 0 in BASIC
$08 on 1 in cartridge
If you're going to play with SDX banks remember that any read or
write to a $D5Ex address will affect an OSS cartridge and TRIG3.
Since TRIG3 is affected, GINTLK and CARTCK also come into play. So
the example given of how to access RAM under a cartridge needs to
be modified if SDX is present. Let's look at a subroutine to access
RAM in the cartridge space taking in the possibility of the
presence of BASIC, SDX, or an OSS cartridge.
ROMCTL LDA PORTB PHA ORA #$02 Any Basic rom off STA PORTB LDA RAMTOP This might be easy CMP #$A0+1 BCC NOLUCK Not quite. PLA See note a. following STA BASICF for an explanation JMP DOSTUFF NOLUCK LDA TRIG3 Is a cart present? BNE CART Yes, go. JSR DOSTUFF Still fairly easy PLA STA PORTB RTS CART PLA See note a. following STA BASICF for an explanation. SEI Kill stage 2 vblank LDA $AFFF Get OSS bank number PHA Save it STA $D5E8 Turn off both carts JSR DOSTUFFWe know a cartridge was on. Now we have to restore it correctly.
PLA Recover bank number CMP #$10 Valid for OSS? (note c.) BCS SDX No, must be SDX TAY STA $D500,Y Restore OSS cart bank BCC CARXIT Go always SDX STA $D5E1 Enable SDX normal bank STA $D508 Kill OSS cart (note b.) CARXIT CLI RTSa. The reason for discarding the PORTB entry value is to allow for 512k+ RAM expansions. As mentionned previously, the OS doesn't know extra RAM exists and has no way of knowing BASIC may not exist on large upgrades. As a result, it sets PORTB and BASICF based solely on the Option key at boot and uses BASICF to determine which status to restore on a reset. On large RAM upgrades this leads to major problems for programs using extra RAM as the program can end up in the wrong 256k bank. Unless BASIC is actually on, it is always advisable to flag it off and to set its bit high in PORTB.
b. We knew a cartridge was on or we never would have got to that portion of the code. As it wasn't the OSS cartridge, it had to be SDX. But, because the dumb OSS cartridge reacts to the $D5E1 address, we had to turn it off again after enabling SDX. For the same reason, a single access of $D5E8 was sufficient to turn both off.
c. The comparison of the bank number to 16 to determine its validity as an OSS bank number is that used by ICD in the code for the RT8 handler. The test is, I believe, made on the assumption that the X cartridge is in bank 1 where the value at $AFFF is 87 for version 4.20. There are two SDX banks where values less than 16 are found at $AFFF, namely 0 (value 7) and 4 (value 3).
The RT8 has seven internal registers which work in binary coded decimal. Starting from #0 they are: seconds, minutes, hour, day of month, month, year, and day of the week (#6). Seconds and minutes range from 0-59, hours from 0-23, day from 1-31, month from 1-12, year from 0-99. Day of the week ranges from 0 (Saturday) to 6 (Friday). When you read or write one of these registers the sequence is always the same:
1. Wait until the RT8 is not busy.
2. Store a value from 0 to 6 into $D5B8 or $D5B9 indicating the register you wish to address.
3. Read/write the same address to get/set the most significant digit (the low four bits are the valid data).
4. Read/write the same address to get/set the least signifigant digit (the low four bits are the valid data).
The source code released by ICD indicates that reading a register should be repeated up to three times accepting two values that match or, failing a match, the first one. When setting a register, it recommends reading it immediately afterward to ensure the value was really accepted and allowing 10 tries.
Here's one way to read and write RT8 registers without worrying about an OSS cartridge. Much of this is from the source released by ICD. In this example, the buffer is set up in the same order as the RT8 registers. With Sparta, you would have to cross refer to the order in which DOS saves time and date and keep a separate byte for day of the week.
*= $F0 Floating point zero page TEMP1 *= *+1 TEMP2 *= *+1 RETRY *= *+1 BUFFER *= *+1 Seconds *= *+1 Minutes *= *+1 Hours *= *+1 Day of month *= *+1 Month *= *+1 Year *= *+1 Day of week *= WHEREVER SEI Kill vblank2 LDA $AFFF Get any cart bank CMP #$10 Is it valid? BCC SAVBNK Yes go, else use LDA #$08 the "off" value. SAVBNK PHA Save cart bank Verify rt8 present and working JSR READ Get seconds CMP #60 BCS GLITCH if >59 then error STA TEMP1 LDA RTCLOK+2 ADC #90 WAIT CMP RTCLOK+2 Wait about 1.5" BNE WAIT JSR READ Read again CMP TEMP1 Same as last? BEQ GLITCH Yes, not working SEC SBC TEMP1 Ensure <3 BCS CHECK3 It is ADC #60 else did it roll over? CHECK3 CMP #3 BCC RT8OK Yes, rt8 is ok GLITCH LDA # <RT8ERR Set for error message LDX # >RT8ERR EXIT STA ICBAL STX ICBAH LDA #9 Print to eol STA ICCOM STA ICBLH Plenty of length PLA TAX Restore cart bank STA $D500,X CLI restore vblank2 LDX #0 Select channel 0 JMP CIOV Exit with message First read the clock regs into the buffer RT8OK LDX #6 Point to day of week RCLOOP JSR READ DEX BPL RCLOOP Change values you want in the buffer and then write it back to the clock LDX #6 RCLOOP JSR WRITE BNE GLITCH Exit if write failed DEX BPL RCLOOP else do all 7 LDA # <RT8SET Set success message LDX # >RT8SET BNE EXIT Branch always RT8ERR .BYTE "RT8 Error",155 RT8ERR .BYTE "RT8 Set",155 ; Subroutine: wait til clock is ; not busy or exit on time out. ; Enter: x=clock reg to access (0-6) ; Exit: x unchanged, clock ready, ; and clock register selected WAITCL LDY #$FF Timeout value WAITC LDA $D5B8 AND #$0F If low nybble=0 BEQ READY clock not busy DEY BNE WAITC Else time out READY STX $D5B8 Set reg #x to read/wrt RTS ; Subroutine: read rt8 reg once ; In x=reg# ; Out a=byte x=reg# READ1 JSR WAITCL LDA $D5B8 Get high byte LDY $D5B8 Get low byte AND #$0F Convert bcd to hex STA TEMP1 ASL A Clears carry ASL A ADC TEMP1 ASL A STA TEMP1 Temp1=(high*10) TYA Add in low byte AND #$0F ADC TEMP1 Return byte in a RTS Note c=0 x=x y=trig3 ; Subroutine: read a clock register ; and accept best 2 of 3 readings ; or the first if none match. ; in: x=reg# ; out: a=value(} READ JSR READ1 STA TEMP1 JSR READ1 CMP TEMP1 BEQ REXIT STA TEMP2 JSR READ1 CMP TEMP2 BEQ REXIT LDA TEMP1 REXIT RTS ; Subroutine: write clock register ; with value stored in buffer offset ; by x. Allow 10 tries. ; in: x=reg# ; out: x=reg#, z flag set if ok WRITE LDA #9 STA RETRY WRT2 LDA BUFFER,X LDY #$FF Convert to bcd SEC SUB10 INY SBC #10 BCS SUB10 ADC #10 PHA low byte TYA PHA high byte JSR WAITCL y=trig3 PLA High byte STA $D5B8 PLA STA $D5B8 Low byte JSR READ Verify it set CMP BUFFER,X correctly BEQ WRTXIT It did! DEC RETRY BPL WRT2 Never 0 if failed WRTXIT RTS
While I have managed to work around an SDX cartridge and an RT8 in controlling BASIC, OSS cartridges, and even Atari cartridges (with SDX present), I can see no way of doing so with the MUX OS. I believe the idea with the MUX is that once the plug's in the port, you can't use a cartridge anyway. That's kind of unfortunate as it denies you use of a cartridge and access to the built-in monitor. As I don't have a MUX to experiment with, I leave that to someone else.
On boot the OS calculates ROM checksums and compares them to ones stored in the OS itself. If these don't match, boot doesn't happen; you end up staring at the Self Test screen and a red bar under the heading "ROM". This can easily occur on a system with a PD because cold starting the computer does not cold start the PD any more than it does a cartridge. If PD ROM is enabled, as for a modem handler on a BBS, and you attempt to cold start, you will inevitably end up in Self Test because the ROM checksum will fail. It is supposed to include the floating point ROM at $D800, but instead gets a bank of the PD ROM.
Finally, if you're just going to warm start, decide whether or not you want to emulate a press of the Reset key. Jumping to the warm start vector at $E474 is not the same as pressing the key; the vector points past the hardware initialization routines. If you want to ensure you clear out all garbage (left over player missiles, keypress, etc.) you have to use the chip reset vector.
The following routine has varying results dependant on the entry point. To enable SDX, enter at XCART. To enable an OSS cart alone, enter at CART. To just cold start without touching the cartridges, enter at COLD. To simulate a press of Reset, enter at WARM.
XCART SEI Always before $D5xx access STA $D5E0 Enable SDX CART SEI Again, dependant on entry STA $D500 Enable OSS cart COLD DEC COLDST Force a boot WARM SEI Just in case LDX #0 STX NMIEN Ditto STX $D1FF Enable floating point STX $D1E2 Kill MIO RAM (this and DEX following just in case) STX $D1BC turn off BlackBox RAM STX PORTB Ensure ROM OS is on to go JMP ($FFFC) through chip reset vectorI won't go any further on this as the Black Box and MIO are, unlike Atari and OSS products, fairly well documented. Whew, when I started this I never thought it would turn into such a monster nor did I think it would take so long to come up with all the ins and outs. Now that you know how easy it is to make use of the RAM under cartridges, under the OS and in extra memory, I look forward to seeing some practical utilities. Here's few suggestions:
"Pop-up" help screens for use in MAC/65, Action! or BASIC.
An 8k RAM cache.
A "pop-up" calculator.
A resident DUP.SYS.
As a final addition to this text, I've tacked on part 4 which is MAC/65 source code to produce two simple COM files to dump cartridges to disk for examination. The programs are not sophisticated but will do the trick.
Revision: 16 Feb 96
Addr: $D500 $D501 $D509 $D508
$A000 ------ ------ ------ ------
| c0 | | c1 | | c9 | |RAM |
$AFFF ------ ------ ------ ------
$B000 ------ ------ ------ ------
| cc | | cc | | cc | |RAM |
$BFFF ------ ------ ------ ------
Where: "Addr" is the access address used to enable the configuration,
"c0" etc. is the switchable 4k bank and "cc" is the common 4k bank.
Substituting "3" and "4" for "1" and "9" above would produce a map
of the Action! cartridge.
Back (c) 1998-2004 Jindroush Last modified: Mon Mar 18 13:31:20 2002