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Satanic Rites 4
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Satanic Rites - Issue 4 (1993-05-29)(Destiny).adf
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1990-01-05
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111 lines
}0a0000m8eb0n8de0ofcb0ld34
{g -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-{g
-== ==-
-== {fWhere's the Info. ? ? {g==-
-== ==-
-== {f Also titled :- {g ==-
-== ==-
-== {aSHH! {fDon't tell the{g ==-
-== {fDevelopers ! {g ==-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
{a Have you searched for some obscure information for hours, looking through
dozens of large books with words like {l"{nHARDWARE{l"{a or {l"{fSYSTEM{l"{a in their title?
If so, the chances are that you are an annoyed coder who is being deprived
of information which you can't seem to get anywhere.
It is only through exploration and testing that you will find out what
certain things do.
It seems that the people who write these manuals either don't want to tell
anyone about certain things or they don't know themselves because the
information simply isn't accessible to the everyday user.
If you are wondering what sort of information I am talking about, I refer
you to page {n294 {aof the {mHarware Refernce manual. {l No!! {a Don't hop out and buy
it, I've reproduced the details here:
Page 294 of the Hardware reference manual (Appenix D - System Memory Map)
{e$100000 {a- {e$1FFFFF {a- {fReserved. Do not use.
{e$A00000 {a- {e$BEFFFF {a- {fReserved. Do not use.
{e$D80000 {a- {e$DBFFFF {a- {fReserved. Do not use.
{e$E00000 {a- {e$E7FFFF {a- {fReserved. Do not use.
{e$F00000 {a- {e$FBFFFF {a- {fReserved. Do not use.
Okay, that is just one example.
The question I am asking is... {fWHY? {a Why shouldn't we use these addresses?
What are they reserved for?
The ideal text would read as ...
{e$100000 {a- {e$1FFFFF {a- {fReserved for multiplexed dongle matrix (Or whatever){a
... and so on and so forth ...
Another problem is the way in which these books are written.
There are two types of people who are interested in books of this nature.
{l1) {mSystem programmers
{l2) {mHardware Designers
{a Most people fall into the first catagory and therefore are quite happy with
the information with which they have been provided.
{mHowever, {a if you intend to build your own hardware, you will find that these
manuals fall short of completion.
If you want in depth information on the pin outs of for example the 86 pin
expansion connector, you are in for a disappointment.
The authors have tried to cater for both needs but sadly, they have missed
out information which both parties need.
The ideal solution would have been to write two books, one for each type of
subject, but in their infinite wisdom, they decided that one "Definitive" book
would be enough. {e(NOT!){a
For example, Say you wanted to know what the 20th Byte of the gfxbase
structure contained. Where would you look ?
{nHardware Reference Manual ?
{nSystem Programmers Guide ?
{nAdvanced System Programmers Guide ?
{nMapping the Amiga ?
{a Well, If you chose one of the last two, you would be correct.
The first two manuals (Which are acclaimed to be {f"{nDefinitive{f"{a guides) hold
no in depth information on many things.
Another well mapped (haha) area of the amiga's memory are the CIA's Out of
the above four books, only 1 contains a bit by bit explanation of the CIA
addresses.
New developments are another case of the {f"{mHide the info{f"{a syndrome.
Remember when ECS first came out ?
No one knew what the new registers did until some months later, {nCommodore{a
published a revised hardware reference manual.
The same problem has now happened with the arrival of the A1200
Nobody knew anything about the new hardware registers until {kSatanic Rites{a
helped them out,
It is only through Scene magazines that a lot of information has been
revealed to the masses.
What the Amiga needs is a REAL {l"{nDefinitive{l"{a book documenting {gEVERYTHING{a But
until someone writes one, all we can do is continue to distribute this sort of
{l"{nSecret Information{l"{a in disk mags etc.
{eRemember :{a
{g Information is Power!! - Support Satanic Rites !!