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Memory Management

(Someone please integrate the texts on this page into one…)

Without Cartridges

The low 3 bits of $01 control the mapping of specific regions of memory. The rules are kind of fiddly:

Name Bit Region 0 1 Notes
LORAM0$A000-BFFFRAMBASICIf KERNAL isn't mapped in, then BASIC won't map in either and this region stays mapped to RAM.
HIRAM1$E000-FFFFRAMKERNAL
CHAREN2$D000-DFFFCHARROMI/OIf HIRAM and LORAM are both set to 0, then this bit is ignored and the area also maps to RAM. This allows for 3 mappings of this region: RAM, CHARROM, or I/O.
  • All other memory locations ($0000-9FFF, $C000-CFFF) always map to RAM.
  • Writes to a ROM-mapped region are applied to the underlying RAM at the same address.
  • I/O includes the registers for the VIC-II, SID, and CIA chips; color RAM; and two external I/O pages that reach out the expansion port.
  • The VIC-II always sees the CHARROM at $1000-1FFF and $9000-9FFF, and RAM everywhere else, regardless of these bits.

The mappings from combining these 3 bits are listed below. Higher bits of location $01 are used for other purposes and default to %00110xxx.

$01 value $A000-BFFF $D000-DFFF $E000-FFFF Notes
$30 +48 %000 RAM RAM RAM
$31 +49 %001 RAM CHARROM RAM
$32 +50 %010 RAM CHARROM KERNAL
$33 +51 %011 BASIC CHARROM KERNAL
$34 +52 %100 RAM RAM RAM
$35 +53 %101 RAM I/O RAM
$36 +54 %110 RAM I/O KERNAL
$37 +55 %111 BASIC I/O KERNALDefault

The cartridge port also has the GAME and EXROM pins, which meddle with the memory map even further. See the Programmer's Reference Guide for that.

- White Flame

Related: from Graham's page

In the C64/C128 series of computers, slightly modified versions of the 6502 were used. The modifications did not affect the functional part of the processor itself. Only a so-called processor port was added. This port, in combination with an external PLA, was used to map ROM and I/O areas into the 64KB RAM of the C64. Also, some bits of the port were used for the legendary Datasette.

The port can be accessed through memory adresses $0000 and $0001, while $0001 is the port itself, and $0000 is the data direction register for it.

Explanation for the bits of $0001:

7 - unused (Flash 8: 0=8MHz/1=1MHz)
6 - unused (C128: ASCII/DIN sense/switch (1=ASCII/0=DIN))
5 - Cassette motor control (0 = motor on)
4 - Cassette switch sense (0 = PLAY pressed)
3 - Cassette write line
2 - CHAREN (0=Character ROM instead of I/O area)
1 - HIRAM ($E000-$FFFF)
0 - LORAM ($A000-$BFFF)

If HIRAM or LORAM is set, the I/O area is mapped to $D000-$DFFF.

$0000 should always be set to $2F (%00101111)

Note to bit 6: This bit is used to select either the ASCII or the DIN character ROM of a C128. When data direction is set to INPUT, the charset is selected externally with the ASCII/DIN key.

From C64 Programmers Reference Manual

The following is a Chapter from the C64 Programmers Reference Manual, can be found at the external Link Section.

  MEMORY MANAGEMENT ON THE
  COMMODORE 64

    The Commodore 64 has 64K bytes of RAM. It also has 20K bytes of ROM,
  containing BASIC, the operating system, and the standard character set.
  It also accesses input/output devices as a 4K chunk of memory. How is
  this all possible on a computer with a 16-bit address bus, that is
  normally only capable of addressing 64K?
    The secret is in the 6510 processor chip itself. On the chip is an
  input/output port. This port is used to control whether RAM or ROM or I/O
  will appear in certain portions of the system's memory. The port is also
  used to control the Datassette(TM), so it is important to affect only the
  proper bits.
    The 6510 input/output port appears at location 1. The data direction
  register for this port appears at location 0. The port is controlled like
  any of the other input/output ports in the system... the data direction
  controls whether a given bit will be an input or an output, and the
  actual data transfer occurs through the port itself. The lines in the
  6510 control port are defined as follows:


  +---------+---+------------+--------------------------------------------+
  |  NAME   |BIT| DIRECTION  |                 DESCRIPTION                |
  +---------+---+------------+--------------------------------------------+
  |  LORAM  | 0 |   OUTPUT   | Control for RAM/ROM at $A000-$BFFF         |
  |  HIRAM  | 1 |   OUTPUT   | Control for RAM/ROM at $E000-$FFFF         |
  |  CHAREN | 2 |   OUTPUT   | Control for I/O/ROM at $D000-$DFFF         |
  |         | 3 |   OUTPUT   | Cassette write line                        |
  |         | 4 |   INPUT    | Cassette switch sense (0=play button down) |
  |         | 5 |   OUTPUT   | Cassette motor control (0=motor spins)     |
  +---------+---+------------+--------------------------------------------+


    The proper value for the data direction register is as follows:

                              BITS 5 4 3 2 1 0
                              ----------------
                                   1 0 1 1 1 1

  (where 1 is an output, and 0 is an input).





    This gives a value of 47 decimal. The Commodore 64 automatically sets
  the data direction register to this value.
    The control lines, in general, perform the function given in their descriptions.
  However, a combination of control lines are occasionally used
  to get a particular memory configuration.
    LORAM (bit 0) can generally be thought of as a control line which banks
  the 8K byte BASIC ROM in and out of the microprocessor address space.
  Normally, this line is HIGH for BASIC operation. If this line is
  programmed LOW, the BASIC ROM will disappear from the memory map and be
  replaced by 8K bytes of RAM from $A000-$BFFF.
    HIRAM (bit 1) can generally be thought of as a control line which banks
  the 8K byte KERNAL ROM in and out of the microprocessor address space.
  Normally, this line is HIGH for BASIC operation. If this line is
  programmed LOW, the KERNAL ROM will disappear from the memory map and be
  replaced by 8K bytes of RAM from $E000-$FFFF.
    CHAREN (bit 2) is used only to bank the 4K byte character generator ROM
  in or out of the microprocessor address space. From the processor point
  of view, the character ROM occupies the same address space as the I/O
  devices ($D000-$DFFF). When the CHAREN line is set to 1 (as is normal),
  the I/O devices appear in the microprocessor address space, and the
  character ROM is not accessable. When the CHAREN bit is cleared to 0, the
  character ROM appears in the processor address space, and the I/O devices
  are not accessible. (The microprocessor only needs to access the
  character ROM when downloading the character set from ROM to RAM. Special
  care is needed for this... see the section on PROGRAMMABLE CHARACTERS in
  the GRAPHICS chapter). CHAREN can be overridden by other control lines in
  certain memory configurations. CHAREN will have no effect on any memory
  configuration without I/O devices. RAM will appear from $D000-$DFFF
  instead.

  +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
  | NOTE: In any memory map containing ROM, a WRITE (a POKE) to a ROM     |
  | location will store data in the RAM "under" the ROM. Writing to a ROM |
  | location stores data in the "hidden" RAM. For example, this allows a  |
  | hi-resolution screen to be kept underneath a ROM, and be changed      |
  | without having to bank the screen back into the processor address     |
  | space. Of course a READ of a ROM location will return the contents of |
  | the ROM, not the "hidden" RAM.                                        |
  +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+






  COMMODORE 64 FUNDAMENTAL MEMORY MAP


                                 +----------------------------+
                                 |       8K KERNAL ROM        |
                      E000-FFFF  |           OR RAM           |
                                 +----------------------------+
                      D000-DFFF  | 4K I/O OR RAM OR CHAR. ROM |
                                 +----------------------------+
                      C000-CFFF  |           4K RAM           |
                                 +----------------------------+
                                 |    8K BASIC ROM OR RAM     |
                      A000-BFFF  |       OR ROM PLUG-IN       |
                                 +----------------------------+
                                 |            8K RAM          |
                      8000-9FFF  |       OR ROM PLUG-IN       |
                                 +----------------------------+
                                 |                            |
                                 |                            |
                                 |          16 K RAM          |
                      4000-7FFF  |                            |
                                 +----------------------------+
                                 |                            |
                                 |                            |
                                 |          16 K RAM          |
                      0000-3FFF  |                            |
                                 +----------------------------+



  I/O BREAKDOWN

    D000-D3FF   VIC (Video Controller)                     1 K Bytes
    D400-D7FF   SID (Sound Synthesizer)                    1 K Bytes
    D800-DBFF   Color RAM                                  1 K Nybbles
    DC00-DCFF   CIA1 (Keyboard)                            256 Bytes
    DD00-DDFF   CIA2 (Serial Bus, User Port/RS-232)        256 Bytes
    DE00-DEFF   Open I/O slot #l (CP/M Enable)             256 Bytes
    DF00-DFFF   Open I/O slot #2 (Disk)                    256 Bytes






    The two open I/O slots are for general purpose user I/O, special pur-
  pose I/O cartridges (such as IEEE), and have been tentatively designated
  for enabling the Z-80 cartridge (CP/M option) and for interfacing to a
  low-cost high-speed disk system.
    The system provides for "auto-start" of the program in a Commodore 64
  Expansion Cartridge. The cartridge program is started if the first nine
  bytes of the cartridge ROM starting at location 32768 ($8000) contain
  specific data. The first two bytes must hold the Cold Start vector to be
  used by the cartridge program. The next two bytes at 32770 ($8002) must
  be the Warm Start vector used by the cartridge program. The next three
  bytes must be the letters, CBM, with bit 7 set in each letter. The last
  two bytes must be the digits "80" in PET ASCII.


  COMMODORE 64 MEMORY MAPS

    The following table lists the various memory configurations available
  on the COMMODORE 64, the states of the control lines which select each
  memory map, and the intended use of each map.
    The leftmost column of the table contains addresses in hexadecimal
  notation. The columns aside it introduce all possible memory
  configurations. The default mode is on the left, and the absolutely most
  rarely used Ultimax game console configuration is on the right. Each
  memory configuration column has one or more four-digit binary numbers as
  a title. The bits, from left to right, represent the state of the /LORAM,
  /HIRAM, /GAME and /EXROM lines, respectively. The bits whose state does
  not matter are marked with "X". For instance, when the Ultimax video game
  configuration is active (the /GAME line is shorted to ground, /EXROM kept
  high), the /LORAM and /HIRAM lines have no effect.
















           LHGE   LHGE   LHGE   LHGE   LHGE   LHGE   LHGE   LHGE   LHGE

           1111   101X   1000   011X   001X   1110   0100   1100   XX01
  10000  default                00X0                             Ultimax
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
   F000
          Kernal  RAM    RAM   Kernal  RAM   Kernal Kernal Kernal ROMH(*
   E000
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
   D000    IO/C   IO/C  IO/RAM  IO/C   RAM    IO/C   IO/C   IO/C   I/O
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
   C000    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM     -
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
   B000
          BASIC   RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM   BASIC   ROMH   ROMH    -
   A000
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
   9000
           RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    ROML   RAM    ROML  ROML(*
   8000
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
   7000

   6000
           RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM     -
   5000

   4000
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
   3000

   2000    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM     -

   1000
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
   0000    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM    RAM
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------

     NOTE: (1)    (2)    (3)    (4)    (5)    (6)    (7)    (8)    (9)

    *) Internal memory does not respond to write accesses to these areas.


  264   BASIC TO MACHINE LANGUAGE
~


    Legend: Kernal      E000-FFFF       Kernal ROM.

	    IO/C        D000-DFFF       I/O address space or Character
					generator ROM, selected by -CHAREN.
					If the CHAREN bit is clear,
					the character generator ROM is
					chosen. If it is set, the
					I/O chips are accessible.

	    IO/RAM      D000-DFFF       I/O address space or RAM,
					selected by -CHAREN.
					If the CHAREN bit is clear,
					the character generator ROM is
					chosen. If it is set, the
					internal RAM is accessible.

	    I/O         D000-DFFF       I/O address space.
					The -CHAREN line has no effect.

	    BASIC       A000-BFFF       BASIC ROM.

	    ROMH        A000-BFFF or    External ROM with the -ROMH line
			E000-FFFF       connected to its -CS line.

	    ROML        8000-9FFF       External ROM with the -ROML line
					connected to its -CS line.

	    RAM         various ranges  Commodore 64's internal RAM.

	    -           1000-7FFF and   Open address space.
			A000-CFFF       The Commodore 64's memory chips
					do not detect any memory accesses
					to this area except the VIC-II's
					DMA and memory refreshes.













        (1)   This is the default BASIC memory map which provides
              BASIC 2.0 and 38K contiguous bytes of user RAM.

        (2)   This map provides 60K bytes of RAM and I/O devices.
              The user must write his own I/O driver routines.

        (3)   The same as 2, but the character ROM is not
              accessible by the CPU in this map.

        (4)   This map is intended for use with softload languages
              (including CP/M), providing 52K contiguous bytes of
              user RAM, I/O devices, and I/O driver routines.

        (5)   This map gives access to all 64K bytes of RAM. The
              I/O devices must be banked back into the processor's
              address space for any I/O operation.

        (6)   This is the standard configuration for a BASIC system
              with a BASIC expansion ROM. This map provides 32K
              contiguous bytes of user RAM and up to 8K bytes of
              BASIC "enhancement".

        (7)   This map provides 40K contiguous bytes of user RAM
              and up to 8K bytes of plug-in ROM for special ROM-
              based applications which don't require BASIC.

        (8)   This map provides 32K contiguous bytes of user RAM
              and up to 16K bytes of plug-in ROM for special
              applications which don't require BASIC (word
              processors, other languages, etc.).

        (9)   This is the ULTIMAX video game memory map. Note that
              the 2K byte "expansion RAM" for the ULTIMAX, if
              required, is accessed out of the COMMODORE 64 and
              any RAM in the cartridge is ignored.
base/memory_management.1527574720.txt.gz · Last modified: 2018-05-29 08:18 by white_flame