Re: 6502 Assembler books

[Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net>]

In article <41c82533$0$8344$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk>,
 Alistair Ross <removemeajross@atxboltdot.net> wrote:

> >>I've downloaded various other assembly tutorials and skimmed over them, 
> >>but what I appear to be lacking is the actual Apple hooks - the 
> >>locations in memory that I should be using to get the speaker to 
> >>operate, or text to appear on the screen, for graphics to be used etc. I 
> >>can't seem to find anything that says - these are the addresses of the 
> >>hooks (and even better, this is how you would use them).
> >>
> >>Anybody know where Apple II hooks are listed? I've found a few lists of 
> >>what look like hooks but they are all for PEEK and POKE, so not much use 
> >>to me in an assembler.
> > 
> > 
> > What you need now are the Apple references - The monitor ROM listing, 
> > plus the docs on the softswitches and such that live at $C000-CFFF. "The 
> > Apple II reference manual" would be a prime item for you to be looking 
> > for.
> > 
> 
> I have the original "Red Book" - Apple II Reference Manual 1978, and 
> thanks to Craig Bower I now have the slightly more modern version of it 
> in JPEG format. However, Although I appreciate that the Monitor code 
> listing and other various parts of machine code listings which reside in 
> it are useful from a 'stand back and go -- oooh so that's what that 
> does" point of view - it doesn't give me what I need - a complete 
> listing of all the things that make the Apple II the Apple II - I need a 
> list of the things like $FDED = print stuff on the screen. There are a 
> few minimal pages which 'help you start' in the reference guide, but not 
> an exhaustive list. As for the softswitches that you refer to, I don't 
> know what they are, and I can't find them in either copy of the 
> reference manual, am I missing something?

Did I say "The Red Book"? No, I didn't.  The Red Book is a great item to 
have, no question, but it's not what I told you you need - I said you 
need "The Apple II Reference Manual". That book, all by itself, will 
tell you *EVERYTHING* you have any need of knowing about the Apple II's 
ROMs. In 6 pages, it contains *THE* definitive listing, direct from 
Apple, of what all the "legal" ROM entry points are, what they do, and 
how to properly set up to call them. If it doesn't appear in that 
listing, you're not supposed to be making a call to it, period.

As a beginner, the Red Book is beyond your skill and knowledge level for 
the moment, so you need to shove it back onto the shelf and ignore it 
until you reach that level of expertise. Otherwise, you're going to be 
nothing but frustrated. At this stage, you're much like a kid who is 
just learning that one plus one equals two - You've got the basic idea, 
but don't have the "higher level" knowledge. Just like the kid is going 
to look at a college calculus book and go "huh?!?!?", you're at the 
stage where the Red Book is going to make you do the same: Sit there 
going "huh?!?!?" because it assumes you already know the "supporting" 
information.

Look for the book I told you to ("Apple II Reference Manual (For IIe 
only)", Apple part number 030-0357-A - if it has an ISBN, I can't find 
it) and you'll have everything - and then some - that you're asking 
about at your fingertips. Including info about the softswitches I 
mentioned.

-- 
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
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