Amiga Hardware Manual (1984) - Wiki Page

THE AMIGA PERSONAL COMPUTER

Draft of April 30th, 1985

1. INTRODUCTION

2. FEATURES SUMMARY (PHYSICAL HARDWARE MODULES)

3. MOTOROLA 68000 PROCESSOR

• 3.1 ACTUAL OPERATING SPEED OF THE 68000

4. FUNCTIONAL BLOCK DIAGRAM

5. READ/WRITE CARTRIDGE SLOT (missing)

6. EXPANSION SLOT (missing)

7. CUSTOM GRAPHICS CHIP

• 7.1. THE PLAYFIELDS

• 7.2. THE SPRITES

8. CUSTOM ANIMATION CHIP

• 8.1. THE BLITTER

• 8.2. THE COPPER

9. CUSTOM SOUND/PERIPHERALS CHIP

• 9.1. SERIAL PORT

• 9.2. BUILT-IN 300 BAUD MODEM (missing)

• 9.3. STEREO AUDIO CHANNELS

• 9.4. MOUSE CONTROLLER

• 9.5. RECONFIGURABLE JOYSTICK PORTS

• 9.6. FLOPPY DISK DRIVE

10. PERIPHERAL INTERFACE CHIPS

• 10.1. DETACHED KEYBOARD

• 10.2. PARALLEL PRINTER INTERFACE

11. RGB AND NTSC CONNECTIONS

12. LASER DISK INTERFACE (missing)

13. GRAPHIC PRESENTATION: SYSTEM FEATURES

PLAYFIELD HARDWARE

1. INTRODUCTION

2. PLAYFIELD RESOLUTION

• 2.1. NORMAL RESOLUTION MODE
• 2.2. HIGH RESOLUTION MODE
• 2.3. NON-INTERLACE MODE
• 2.4. INTERLACE MODE
• 2.5. TEXT ON A GRAPHICS SCREEN
• 2.6. CONTROL REGISTERS WHICH SELECT PLAYFIELD RESOLUTION

3. HOW TO SELECT THE COLOR OF PLAYFIELD ELEMENTS

• 3.1. EXAMPLE ONE: COLOR SELECTION USING ONE BIT-PLANE
  

• 3.2. HOW THE BITS OF THE COLOR REGISTERS ARE INTERPRETED
• 3.2.1. BITS WHICH CONTROL COLOR BIT INTERPRETATION

• 3.2.2. HOW THE COLOR BITS ARE INTERPRETED

• 3.3. MULTI-BIT-PLANE COLOR SELECTION
• 3.4. EXAMPLE TWO: TWO BIT-PLANES SELECTING A COLOR
• 3.5. EXAMPLE THREE: HOW 5 BIT-PLANES SELECT A COLOR

4. SELECTING COMBINATIONS OF BIT-PLANES

• 4.1. SELECTING HOW MANY BIT-PLANES TO USE

• 4.2. SELECTING HOW BIT-PLANES ARE GROUPED
• 4.2.1. COLOR INTERPRETATION FOR PLAYFIELD 1
• 4.2.2. COLOR INTERPRETATION FOR PLAYFIELD 2

• 4.3. HOLD & MODIFY MODE
• 4.3.1. REGISTER BIT THAT SELECTS THIS MODE

5. HOW BIT-PLANE DATA IS STORED IN MEMORY

6. WHERE IS THE BIT-PLANE DATA STORED

• 6.1. EXAMPLE ONE: PICTURE/DISPLAY SAME SIZE
• 6.2. EXAMPLE TWO: PICTURE TWICE THE SIZE OF DISPLAY
• 6.3. EXAMPLE THREE: INTERLACED PICTURE

7. HOW TO CONTROL THE SIZE OF THE DISPLAY

• 7.1. CONTENTS OF DISPLAY WINDOW START REGISTER
• 7.2. CONTENTS OF DISPLAY WINDOW STOP REGISTER

8. DETERMINING HOW MUCH DISPLAY MEMORY IS NEEDED

9. SCROLLING THE PLAYFIELDS

• 9.1. VERTICAL SCROLLING
• 9.2. HORIZONTAL SCROLLING
• 9.2.1. REGISTERS WHICH AFFECT HORIZONTAL SCROLLING

10. INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER ELEMENTS

• 10.1. VIDEO PRIORITIES

11. PLAYFIELD SELECTION COLOR CHARTS

SPRITE HARDWARE

1. INTRODUCTION

2. HOW WIDE IS A SPRITE

3. HOW TALL IS A SPRITE

4. HOW IS THE SPRITE POSITION DEFINED

5. WHAT CAUSES A SPRITE TO APPEAR ONSCREEN

6. MODES OF OPERATION

• 6.1. MANUAL MODE
• 6.2. AUTOMATIC MODE

7. MOVING AN AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED SPRITE

8. REUSING SPRITES

9. HOW TO SELECT SPRITE COLORS

10. HOW SPRITES CAN BE COMBINED

11. HOW TO ATTACH SPRITES

12. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SPRITES ARE ATTACHED

• 12.1. SELECTING THE COLORS FOR ATTACHED SPRITES

13. SPRITE REGISTERS

14. SPRITE INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER SYSTEM ELEMENTS

THE AUDIO CHANNELS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. HOW THE CHANNELS ARE CONNECTED

3. HOW THE SAMPLING RATE IS CONTROLLED

4. HOW THE SAMPLING RATE RELATES TO OUTPUT FREQUENCY

5. HOW THE VOLUME IS CONTROLLED

6. USING AUTOMATIC SOUND GENERATION

• 6.1. HOW THE SYSTEM RETRIEVES THE DATA
• 6.2. HOW IS THE SOUND DATA ORGANIZED

7. SAMPLING RATE LIMITATIONS

8. HOW TO START OR STOP EACH AUDIO CHANNEL

9. AUDIO CHANNEL MODULATION

• 9.1. WHERE ARE THE ATTACH BITS LOCATED
• 9.2. EFFECTS OF THE MODULATION

10. AUDIO INTERRUPTS

• 10.1. WHEN DO INTERRUPTS OCCUR

11. DIRECT (NON-DMA) AUDIO OUTPUT

12. AUDIO CHANNEL SPECIFICATIONS & LIMITATIONS

BLITTER HARDWARE

1. INTRODUCTION

2. HARDWARE-ASSISTED LINE DRAWING

• 2.1. HOW TO USE HARDWARE LINE-DRAW

3. COPYING DATA USING THE BLITTER

• 3.1. WHEN SOURCE AND DESTINATION OVERLAP
• 3.1.1. HOW TO DETERMINE BLITTER DIRECTION
• 3.1.2. ASCENDING OR DESCENDING MODE
• 3.2 WHEN DATA STORAGE LAYOUT DIFFERS
• 3.3 WHEN A DATA SHIFT IS REQUIRED
• 3.3.1. HOW THE SOURCE DATA SHIFT WORKS
• 3.3.2. SIZE OF MOVE IF DATA IS SHIFTED
• 3.4 WHEN A DATA MOVE IS SIMPLE OR COMPLEX
• 3.4.1. LOGIC COMBINATION OF DATA SOURCES
• 3.4.2. SELECTING THE MINTERMS
• 3.4.3. EXAMPLE OF VENN DIAGRAM INTERPRETATION
• 3.4.4. TABLE OF COMMONLY USED MINTERMS
• 3.4.5. EQUATION TO MINTERM CONVERSION
• 3.5 WHEN A FILL OPERATION IS NEEDED
• 3.5.1. HOW THE BLITTER FILLS AN AREA

4. BLITTER OPERATIONS AND SYSTEM DMA

• 4.1 BLITTER DMA PRIORITY
• 4.2 DMA TIME SLOT ALLOCATION
• 4.3 BIT-PLANE/PROCESSOR BUS SHARING
• 4.4 EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT DISPLAY SIZES
• 4.5 EFFECTS OF BLITTER OPERATION
• 4.6 BLITTER OPERATIONAL BLOCK DIAGRAM
• 4.7 BLITTER REGISTERS

5. BLITTER DATA MOVE EXAMPLES

• 5.1 EXAMPLE ONE: WORD-ALIGNED BLOCK-MOVE
• 5.2 EXAMPLE TWO: NON-ALIGNED SOURCE OBJECT
• 5.3 EXAMPLE THREE: COOKIE CUT, BACKGROUND SAVE/FIX
• 5.3.1. FORMING THE MASK FOR THE OBJECT
• 5.3.2. USING THE OBJECT OUTLINE AS A COOKIE-CUTTER
• 5.3.3. USING THE OUTLINE TO PLACE THE OBJECT
• 5.3.4. USING THE OUTLINE TO REPLACE THE BACKGROUND
• 5.3.5. ISSUES IN BACKGROUND MANIPULATION
• 5.4 EXAMPLE FOUR: SHIFTING A CONTINUOUS BIT-STREAM
• 5.5 EXAMPLE FIVE: TESTING FOR BITS PRESENT IN AN AREA
  

SYSTEM CONTROL HARDWARE

1. VIDEO PRIORITIES

• 1.1. FIXED SPRITE PRIORITIES
• 1.2. HOW SPRITES ARE GROUPED
• 1.3. UNDERSTANDING VIDEO PRIORITIES
• 1.4. CONTENTS OF THE PRIORITY CONTROL REGISTER

2. COLLISION DETECTION

• 2.1. HOW ARE COLLISIONS DETERMINED
• 2.2. HOW TO INTERPRET THE COLLISION DATA
• 2.3. HOW COLLISION DETECTION IS CONTROLLED

3. BEAM POSITION DETECTION

• 3.1. BEAM POSITION REGISTERS

4. INTERRUPTS

• 4.1. NON-MASKABLE INTERRUPT
• 4.2. MASKABLE INTERRUPTS
• 4.3. USER INTERFACE TO THE INTERRUPT SYSTEM
• 4.4. INTERRUPT CONTROL REGISTERS
• 4.4.1. SETTING AND CLEARING BITS
• 4.4.2. MASTER SET/CLEAR INTERRUPT
• 4.4.3. EXTERNAL INTERRUPTS
• 4.4.4. VERTICAL BLANKING INTERRUPT
• 4.4.5. COPROCESSOR INTERRUPTS
• 4.4.6. AUDIO INTERRUPTS
• 4.4.7. BLITTER INTERRUPT
• 4.4.8. DISK INTERRUPTS

5. DMA CONTROL

TALKING TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD

1. INTRODUCTION

2. CONTROLLER PORT INTERFACE

3. HOW TO READ THE CONTROLLER PORT

• 3.1. MOUSE/TRACKBALL CONTROLLERS
• 3.1.1. HOW TO READ THE COUNTERS
• 3.1.2. MOUSE/TRACKBALL BUTTONS
• 3.2. JOYSTICK CONTROLLERS
• 3.3. PROPORTIONAL CONTROLLERS
• 3.4. LIGHT PEN
• 3.4.1. HOW TO READ THE LIGHT PEN REGISTERS

4. THE DISK CONTROLLER

• 4.1. DISK SELECTION, CONTROL AND SENSING
• 4.2. DISK DMA CHANNEL CONTROL
• 4.3. INTERRUPTS

5. THE KEYBOARD

• 5.1. HOW THE KEYBOARD DATA IS RECEIVED
• 5.2. WHAT TYPE OF DATA IS RECEIVED
• 5.3. LIMITATIONS OF THE KEYBOARD

6. PARALLEL INPUT/OUTPUT INTERFACE

7. SERIAL INTERFACE

• 7.1. SERIAL PORT PIN ASSIGNMENTS
• 7.2. RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF SERIAL INTERFACE
• 7.3. INTRODUCTION TO SERIAL CIRCUITRY
• 7.3.1. SETTING THE BAUD RATE
• 7.3.2. SETTING THE RECEIVE MODE
• 7.3.3. CONTENTS OF THE RECEIVE DATA REGISTER
• 7.3.4. HOW OUTPUT DATA IS TRANSMITTED

8. BUILT-IN MODEM INTERFACE (missing)

• 8.1. CONTROL CIRCUITRY FOR THE MODEM

9. EXPANSION BUS AND GAME SLOT CONNECTIONS (missing)

10. AUDIO OUTPUT CONNECTIONS

11. DISPLAY OUTPUT CONNECTIONS

Figures

Errata

ERRATA Sheet for the March Version of the AMIGA HARDWARE MANUAL

The following is a list of changes that you may use to update your copy of the hardware manual:

What Has Changed in the Hardware?

There are four changes to the hardware configuration described in the December 26, 1984 notice.

1) Omit the sentence in the paragraph following the first hardware change that says, "The signals on the new drive are directly compatible allowing an external disk to be either 3 1/2 or 5 1/4 inch." Substitute the following: "Up to 3 external drives can be connected via daisy chain. The external drive can be either 3 1/2 or 5 1/4 inch."

2) Replace the second paragraph beginning with "The base machine includes" with the following: "The base machine includes 192K of ROM and 256K of RAM. An additional 256K of display RAM expansion is available for user upgrade using a snap off replacement front panel."

3) In the last sentence of the third paragraph, replace "expansion slot" with "expansion connector."

4) Replace the fourth paragraph with the following: "The connector may or may not be passed on by expansion devices to allow daisy chaining. This depends on whether or not independent manufacturers elect to pass the connector on."

Contents of the Update Package:

The new appendix D (described in the page about the update package contents) contains a separate addendum with details on the 8520 register allocations, not the 6526 register allocations as stated in paragraph "b".

Similarly, the new appendix F contains details about the 8520 (not the 6526) chips described in paragraph "d"

Omit the following sections from the "Amiga Personal Computer Table of Contents" of the manual:

1) Section 5: "Read/Write Cartridge Slot"

2) Section 9.2 "Built-In 300 Baud Modem"

The "Laser Disk Interface" described in Section 12 has a new name: "GENLOCK".

Omit the following sections and topics from the "Chapter 7, "Talking to the Outside World" Table of Contents" of the manual:

1) Section 8 "Built-In Modem Interface"

2) Section 8.1 "Control Circuitry for the Modem"

In the second paragraph of the Introduction on p. 1-1, change the reference from "arcade quality to "high quality".

In the "Features Summary" topic on p. 1-1 of the Introduction, omit the following:

1) Read/Write Cartridge Slot

2) 300 Baud Modem

In the "Features Summary" topic on p. 1-1 of the introduction, change the following:

1) The built-in 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive is now a 3 1/2 inch floppy disk drive.

2) The laser disk interface has a new name: GENLOCK

All the changes below are in the "Introduction to the Amiga Personal Computer".

On p. 1-2 of the Introduction, change the following:

1) In the first paragraph of section 3.1, change the first sentence as follows: "The 68000 shares the display memory with 25 (including Refresh) DMA channels that are contained in the special purpose chips."

2) In topic 3.1, add this sentence: "When Sprites or certain combinations of display planes are used, there is also a processor slowdown.

3) In topic 4, the "Functional Block Diagram," in the second paragraph, change the first sentence, beginning "Onboard RAM" to read as follows: "Onboard RAM (the only RAM accessible to special purpose hardware), is currently configured as 256K bytes, organized as 128K 16-bit words." Omit the sentences beginning "The memory consists of two banks..." and "Address decoding is already in place." Replace those sentences with the following: "An additional 256K expansion is available."

4) On p. 1-4, omit topic 5, "Read/Write Cartridge Slot".

5) On p. 1-4, in topic 6, "Expansion Slot", the location of the expansion slot is not at the top of the base unit. Rather it is located on the right hand side. Omit the rest of paragraphs 1 and 2 of that section.

6) On p. 1-4, in topic 7, "Custom Graphics Chip", the code name of one of the three custom chips appears as "DAPHNE". Replace "DAPHNE" with "DENISE".

7) On p. 1-5, in topic 7-1, "The Playfields," make the following change and addition to the first sentence of the first paragraph: "Each of two separately controllable playfields can be formed as a combination of up to 3 individual bit-planes, or a single playfield can be formed as a combination of up to 5 individual bit planes."

8) On p. 1-6, still in topic 7-1, change the second sentence in the paragraph about Chapter 2. Hold and Modify mode no longer lets you display 3616 colors. The sentence should now read "This mode lets you display up to 4096 colors while hardly using the power of the 68000 processor. Omit the sentence that begins "Note that is same feature allows..."

9) On p. 1-9, in the topic 8.5, "Serial Port," omit the sentence in the first paragraph that refers to the built-in modem, "The functions of the serial port are shared with the built-in 300 baud modem."

10) On p. 1-9, omit the entire topic 8.6, "Built-In 300 Baud Modem."

11) On p. 1-10 in topic 9.2, "The Copper," replace the last sentence, which begins "The Copper is intended..." with "The Copper is one of the main mechanisms for controlling graphics and sound chips."

12) On p. 1-10, in section 10, "Peripheral Interface Chips," change the reference to 6522's to 8520. The interface chips are no longer known as 6522's. In the second sentence, which begins "The include..." change "modem" controls to "serial" controls. Similarly in the second paragraph of this section, change 6522 to 8520.

13) On p. 1-10 in section 10.1, "Detached Keyboard," change the reference to 6522's to 8520's.

14) On p. 1-11 in Section 11, "RGB and NTSC Connections," omit the entire paragraph beginning "A fifteen pin connector..."

15) On p. 1-11 in Section 12, the Laser Disk Interface has a new name: GENLOCK. To the first sentence, add "video tape player" as another external source to the Amiga.

16) In the illustration page that begins with the drawing of the The Amiga Personal Computer, omit the drawing of the Expansion Box. Omit the cartridge slot.

17) In Figure 4-1, "The Amiga Personal Computer Functional Block Diagram," change "READ-ONLY MEMORY" from 64K bytes to 192K BYTES. Also change RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY from 128K Bytes (64K words) to 256K. Change the custom chip 2 code name from "DAPHNE" to "DENISE". Change the custom chip 3 code name from "PORTIA" to "PAULA".

All the following changes are in Chapter 2, "The Playfield Hardware."

1) On p. 2 in Section 2.1, "Normal Resolution Mode," in the third paragraph, change the second sentence to read as follows: "This mode, shown later in this chapter, lets you write up to 4096 colors on the screen at the same time."

2) On p. 3 in Section 2.2, "High Resolution Mode," omit the entire second paragraph, which begins "High resolution pictures are normally..."

3) On p. 4 in topic 2.4, "Interlace Mode", change the references from "frame" to "field" throughout.

4) On p. 9, in Section 3.2.1, "Bits Which Control Color Bit Interpretation," omit the first paragraph and replace it with: "The bit is BPLCON0 that defines the operating mode for color bit interpretation is:" Omit all references to RGB. This includes omitting the entry of RGB in the initial bulleted list. Omit the entire second paragraph that begins "When HIRES and RGB are both zero..." Change the third paragraph as follows: "The 12 bits are interpreted as:

11-8 7-4 3-0 R G B

where R, G and B stand for Red, Green, and Blue electron intensity levels." Omit the entire contents of p. 10, 11, and 11A. This includes the remainder of Section 3.2.1, all of Section 3.2.2, "How Color Bits Are Interpreted", and Figure 3-2 "NTSC Color Vectors and QIY/RGB Equations."

4) On p. 15, in Section 4.2, change the reference "DOUPF" to "DBLPF" as the acronym for dual-playfield bit.

5) Likewise, on p. 19 in Section 4.3.1, change the reference "DOUPF" to "DBLPF". Also in the last paragraph on p. 19, change the second sentence to read as follows: "For example, you might draw, on screen, a set of 16 vases, each a different color (the color palette has been initialized to contain 16 different colors)."

6) Still in Section 4.31, but on p. 20, make the following three changes: In the third paragraph, which begins: "If the 6-5 combination is 0-1," rewrite the sentence to read as follows: "However, the bit combinations from planes 4-1 are used to REPLACE the 4 B bits (RGB)." That is, remove all references to "Y" bits. In the fourth paragraph, which begins "If the 6-5 combination is 10," change the second half of the sentence to read "but the bits from planes 4-1 REPLACE the 4 R bits (RGB)." That is, remove the reference to Q bits and change "G" to R. In the fifth paragraph, which begins "If the 6-5 combination is 11," change the second half of the sentence to read "but the bits from planes 4-1 REPLACE the 4 G bits (RGB)." In other words, remove the NTSC reference to I bits and replace "R" with G.

7) On p. 26 in Section 6-2 change "blaninking" to blanking".

8) On pp. 26 and 27, in Section 6.3, change all references from "frame" to "field" throughout.

9) On p. 40, in Section 9.2.1, "Registers Which Affect Horizontal Scrolling," in the fourth paragraph, which describes BPLCON0, replace with the following: "BPLCON1, bits 3-0 - Playfield 1 Delay" "BPLCON2, bits 4-4 - Playfield 2 Delay"

On p. 44 in Table 11-1: "Color Selection - Single Playfield", make the following changes:

1) Change the title of the table to "Color Selection - Low Resolution Playfield".

2) In the box in the upper right hand corner of the page entitled the "Contents of Each Register", make the following changes:

Bits 11-8 are RED, and Bits 3-0 are BLUE.

3) In the box directly above the Figure title at the bottom the page, called "$ NOTE:", make the following changes:

Replace the line that begins "Hold G & B..." with "Hold G & R -> B = BP4-1 contents"

Replace the line that begins "Hold G & R..." with "Hold G & B -> R = BP4-1 contents"

On page 45 in Table 11-2, make the following changes:

1) Change the title to "Color Selection - High Resolution Playfields".

2) In the box in the upper right hand corner called "Contents of Each Register, replace lines 3, and 4 with the following:

Bits 11-8 RED

Bits 7-4 GREEN

Bits 3-0 BLUE

3) Omit the following material near the middle of the page directly above the box entitled

Note: + 3 2 1 0 bits

mr b g r

See Section 3.2.1

4) Omit the entire box called NOTE: that describes HIRES.

In the chapter on "SPRITE REGISTERS" on p. 21, make these changes:

1) In the list of Bit Position Definitions, omit the line "Bit 7-4 - reserved for future use."

2) Change the line "Bit 3 - Attach" to "Bit 7 - Attach".

3) Add the following line in the list of bit definitions that directly follows the third paragraph, which ends in "another": "bit 6-3 reserved for future use."

Updates

Caveats

Preface

Note

Introduction

Talking to the Outside World

Appendices

Connectors