The information contained in this document is extracted from an old PanDoc file called GBspec.txt or something
similar. I removed the things I thought were already covered in the other file (the Pan docs file, as can be
found in
the navigation frame)
so there might be elements that you already read somewhere.
Still, I have the impression that this file does cover some ground not present in the other file.
Echo of 8kB Internal RAM
The addresses E000-FE00 appear to access the internal RAM the same as C000-DE00. (i.e. If you write a byte to address E000 it will appear at C000 and E000. Similarly, writing a byte to C000 will appear at C000 and E000.)
User I/O
There are no empty spaces in the memory map for implementing input ports except the switchable RAM bank area (not an option on the Super Smart Card since it's RAM bank is always enabled).
An output only port may be implemented anywhere between A000-FDFF. If implemented in a RAM area care should be taken to use an area of RAM not used for anything else. (FE00 and above can't be used because the CPU doesn't generate an external /WR for these locations.)
If you have a cart with an MBC1, a ROM 4Mbit or smaller, and a RAM 8Kbyte or smaller (or no RAM) then you can use pins 6 & 7 of the MBC1 for 2 digital output pins for whatever purpose you wish. To use them you must first put the MBC1 into 4MbitROM/32KbyteRAM mode by writing 01 to 6000. The two least significant bits you write to 4000 will then be output to these pins.
Reserved Memory Locations
The following is a table of reserved memory addresses in ROM space. If you need either interrupt to be serviced, here are the entry points for the possible interrupt sources.
| Address | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 0000 | Restart $00 Address (RST $00 calls this address.) |
| 0008 | Restart $08 Address (RST $08 calls this address.) |
| 0010 | Restart $10 Address (RST $10 calls this address.) |
| 0018 | Restart $18 Address (RST $18 calls this address.) |
| 0020 | Restart $20 Address (RST $20 calls this address.) |
| 0028 | Restart $28 Address (RST $28 calls this address.) |
| 0030 | Restart $30 Address (RST $30 calls this address.) |
| 0038 | Restart $38 Address (RST $38 calls this address.) |
| 0040 | Vertical Blank Interrupt Start Address |
| 0048 | LCDC Status Interrupt Start Address |
| 0050 | Timer Overflow Interrupt Start Address |
| 0058 | Serial Transfer Completion Interrupt Start Address |
| 0060 | High-to-Low of P10-P13 Interrupt Start Address |
An internal information area is located at 0100-014F in each cartridge. It contains the following values:
| Address | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 0100-0103 | This is the begin code execution point in a cart. Usually there is a NOP and a JP instruction here but not always. |
| 0104-0133 |
Scrolling Nintendo graphic:
CE ED 66 66 CC 0D 00 0B 03 73 00 83 00 0C 00 0D
00 08 11 1F 88 89 00 0E DC CC 6E E6 DD DD D9 99
BB BB 67 63 6E 0E EC CC DD DC 99 9F BB B9 33 3E
(PROGRAM WON'T RUN IF CHANGED!!!)
|
| 0134-0142 | Title of the game in UPPER CASE ASCII. If it is less than 16 characters then the remaining bytes are filled with 00's. |
| 0143 | $80 = Color GB, $00 or other = not Color GB |
| 0144 | Ascii hex digit, high nibble of licensee code (new). |
| 0145 | Ascii hex digit, low nibble of licensee code (new). (These are normally $00 if [$014B] # $33.) |
| 0146 | GB/SGB Indicator (00 = GameBoy, 03 = Super GameBoy functions) (Super GameBoy functions won't work if # $03.) |
| 0147 |
Cartridge type:
0 - ROM ONLY 12 - ROM+MBC3+RAM
1 - ROM+MBC1 13 - ROM+MBC3+RAM+BATT
2 - ROM+MBC1+RAM 19 - ROM+MBC5
3 - ROM+MBC1+RAM+BATT 1A - ROM+MBC5+RAM
5 - ROM+MBC2 1B - ROM+MBC5+RAM+BATT
6 - ROM+MBC2+BATTERY 1C - ROM+MBC5+RUMBLE
8 - ROM+RAM 1D - ROM+MBC5+RUMBLE+SRAM
9 - ROM+RAM+BATTERY 1E - ROM+MBC5+RUMBLE+SRAM+BATT
B - ROM+MMM01 1F - Pocket Camera
C - ROM+MMM01+SRAM FD - Bandai TAMA5
D - ROM+MMM01+SRAM+BATT FE - Hudson HuC-3
F - ROM+MBC3+TIMER+BATT FF - Hudson HuC-1
10 - ROM+MBC3+TIMER+RAM+BATT
11 - ROM+MBC3
|
| 0148 |
ROM size:
0 - 256Kbit = 32KByte = 2 banks
1 - 512Kbit = 64KByte = 4 banks
2 - 1Mbit = 128KByte = 8 banks
3 - 2Mbit = 256KByte = 16 banks
4 - 4Mbit = 512KByte = 32 banks
5 - 8Mbit = 1MByte = 64 banks
6 - 16Mbit = 2MByte = 128 banks
$52 - 9Mbit = 1.1MByte = 72 banks
$53 - 10Mbit = 1.2MByte = 80 banks
$54 - 12Mbit = 1.5MByte = 96 banks
|
| 0149 |
RAM size:
0 - None
1 - 16kBit = 2kB = 1 bank
2 - 64kBit = 8kB = 1 bank
3 - 256kBit = 32kB = 4 banks
4 - 1MBit = 128kB = 16 banks
|
| 014A |
Destination code:
0 - Japanese
1 - Non-Japanese
|
| 014B |
Licensee code (old):
33 - Check 0144/0145 for Licensee code.
79 - Accolade
A4 - Konami
Super GameBoy function won't work if # $33.
|
| 014C | Mask ROM Version number (Usually $00) |
| 014D | Complement check. PROGRAM WON'T RUN ON GB IF NOT CORRECT!!! It will run on Super GB, however, if incorrect. |
| 014E-014F | Checksum (higher byte first) produced by adding all bytes of a cartridge except for two checksum bytes and taking two lower bytes of the result. (GameBoy ignores this value.) |
Cartridge Types
The following define the byte at cart location 0147:
| MBC type | Comments |
|---|---|
| ROM ONLY | This is a 32kB (256kb) ROM and occupies 0000-7FFF. |
| MBC1 |
MBC1 has two different maximum memory modes:
The MBC1 defaults to 16 Mbit ROM / 8 KByte RAM mode on power up. Writing a value (0000000S - S = Memory model select) into 6000-7FFF area will select the memory model to use. S = 0 selects 16/8 mode. S = 1 selects 4/32 mode. Writing a value (000BBBBB - B = bank select bits) into 2000-3FFF area will select an appropriate ROM bank at 4000-7FFF. Values of 00000 and 00001 do the same thing and point to ROM bank 1. ROM bank 0 is not accessible from 4000-7FFF and can only be read from 0000-3FFF.
If memory model is set to 4/32: Writing a value (000000BB - B = bank select bits) into 4000-5FFF area will
select an appropriate RAM bank at A000-C000. Before you can read or write to a RAM bank you have to enable
it by writing a 00001010 into 0000-1FFF area*.
(NOTE: Nintendo suggests values $0A to enable and $00 to disable RAM bank!!) If memory model is set to 16/8 mode: Writing a value (000000BB - B = bank select bits) into 4000-5FFF area will set the two most significant ROM address lines. * NOTE: The Super Smart Card doesn't require this operation because it's RAM bank is ALWAYS enabled. Include this operation anyway to allow your code to work with both. |
| MBC2 |
This memory controller works much like the MBC1 controller with the following exceptions:
|
| MBC3 |
This controller is similar to MBC1 except it accesses all 16 Mbits of ROM without requiring any writes to
the 4000-5FFF area. Writing a value (0BBBBBBB - B = bank select bits) into 2000-3FFF area will select an
appropriate ROM bank at 4000-7FFF.
Also, this MBC has a built-in battery-backed Real Time Clock (RTC) not found in any other MBC. Some MBC3 carts do not support it (WarioLand II non-color version) but some do (Harvest Moon/Japanese version.) |
| MBC5 |
This controller is the first MBC that is guaranteed to run in GameBoy Color double-speed mode but it
appears the other MBC's run fine in GBC double-speed mode as well.
Writing a value (0000BBBB - B = bank select bits) into 4000-5FFF area will select an appropriate RAM bank
at A000-BFFF if the cart contains RAM. Ram sizes are 64 Kbit, 256 Kbit and 1 Mbit.
|
| Rumble Carts |
Rumble carts use an MBC5 memory bank controller. Rumble carts can only have up to 256 Kbits of RAM. The
highest RAM address line that allows 1 Mbit of RAM on MBC5 non-rumble carts is used as the motor on/off for
the rumble cart.
Writing a value (0000MBBB - M = motor, B = bank select bits) into 4000-5FFF area will select an appropriate RAM bank at A000-BFFF if the cart contains RAM. RAM sizes are 64 Kbit or 256 Kbit. To turn the rumble motor on set M = 1, M = 0 turns it off. |
| HuC1 | This controller (Memory Bank / Infrared Controller) made by Hudson Soft appears to be very similar to an MBC1 with the main difference being that it supports InfraRed LED input / output. The Japanese cart "Fighting Phoenix" (internal cart name: SUPER B DAMAN) is known to contain this chip. |
Stop Mode
The STOP command halts the GameBoy processor and screen until any button is pressed. The GB and GBP screen goes white with a single dark horizontal line. The GBC screen goes black.
Low-Power Mode
It is recommended that the HALT instruction be used whenever possible to reduce power consumption and extend the life of the batteries. This command stops the system clock reducing the power consumption of both the CPU and ROM.
The CPU will remain suspended until an interrupt occurs at which point the interrupt is serviced and then the instruction immediately following the HALT is executed. If interrupts are disabled (DI) then halt doesn't suspend operation but it does cause the program counter to stop counting for one instruction on the GB, GBP and SGB as mentioned below.
Depending on how much CPU time is required by a game, the HALT instruction can extend battery life anywhere from 5 to 50% or possibly more.
EXAMPLES from Martin Korth who documented this problem: (assuming interrupts disabled for all examples)
76 halt
3C inc a
76 halt
FA 34 12 ld a,(1234)
is effectively executed as
76 halt
FA FA 34 ld a,(34FA)
12 ld (de),a
76 halt
76 halt
This combination hangs the cpu. The first HALT causes the second HALT to be repeated, which therefore causes
the following command (=itself) to be repeated - again and again. Placing a NOP between the two halts would
cause the NOP to be repeated once, the second HALT wouldn't lock the cpu.
; **** Main Game Loop ****
Main:
halt ; stop system clock
; return from halt when interrupted
nop ; (See WARNING above.)
ld a,(VblnkFlag)
or a ; V-Blank interrupt ?
jr z,Main ; No, some other interrupt
xor a
ld (VblnkFlag),a ; Clear V-Blank flag
call Controls ; button inputs
call Game ; game operation
jr Main
; **** V-Blank Interrupt Routine ****
Vblnk:
push af
push bc
push de
push hl
call SpriteDma ; Do sprite updates
ld a,1
ld (VblnkFlag),a
pop hl
pop de
pop bc
pop af
reti
Video
The main GameBoy screen buffer (background) consists of 256x256 pixels or 32x32 tiles (8x8 pixels each). Only 160x144 pixels can be displayed on the screen. Registers SCROLLX and SCROLLY hold the coordinates of background to be displayed in the left upper corner of the screen. Background wraps around the screen (i.e. when part of it goes off the screen, it appears on the opposite side.)
An area of VRAM known as Background Tile Map contains the numbers of tiles to be displayed. It is organized as 32 rows of 32 bytes each. Each byte contains a number of a tile to be displayed. Tile patterns are taken from the Tile Data Table located either at $8000-8FFF or $8800-97FF. In the first case, patterns are numbered with unsigned numbers from 0 to 255 (i.e. pattern #0 lies at address $8000). In the second case, patterns have signed numbers from -128 to 127 (i.e. pattern #0 lies at address $9000). The Tile Data Table address for the background can be selected by setting the LCDC register.
There are two different Background Tile Maps. One is located from $9800-9Bff. The other from $9C00-9FFF. Only one of these can be viewed at any one time. The currently displayed background can be selected by setting the LCDC register.
Besides background, there is also a "window" overlaying the background. The window is not scrollable i.e. it is always displayed starting from its left upper corner. The location of a window on the screen can be adjusted via WNDPOSX and WNDPOSY registers. Screen coordinates of the top left corner of a window are WNDPOSX-7, WNDPOSY. The tile numbers for the window are stored in the Tile Data Table. None of the windows tiles are ever transparent. Both the Background and the window share the same Tile Data Table.
Both background and window can be disabled or enabled separately via bits in the LCDC register.
If the window is used and a scan line interrupt disables it (either by writing to LCDC or by setting WX > 166) and a scan line interrupt a little later on enables it then the window will resume appearing on the screen at the exact position of the window where it left off earlier. This way, even if there are only 16 lines of useful graphics in the window, you could display the first 8 lines at the top of the screen and the next 8 lines at the bottom if you wanted to do so.
WX may be changed during a scan line interrupt (to either cause a graphic distortion effect or to disable the window (WX > 166) ) but changes to WY are not dynamic and won't be noticed until the next screen redraw.
The tile images are stored in the Tile Pattern Tables. Each 8x8 image occupies 16 bytes, where each 2 bytes represent a line:
Tile: Image:
.33333.. .33333.. -> 01111100 -> $7C
22...22. 01111100 -> $7C
11...11. 22...22. -> 00000000 -> $00
2222222. <-- digits 11000110 -> $C6
33...33. represent 11...11. -> 11000110 -> $C6
22...22. color 00000000 -> $00
11...11. numbers 2222222. -> 00000000 -> $00
........ 11111110 -> $FE
33...33. -> 11000110 -> $C6
11000110 -> $C6
22...22. -> 00000000 -> $00
11000110 -> $C6
11...11. -> 11000110 -> $C6
00000000 -> $00
........ -> 00000000 -> $00
00000000 -> $00
As it was said before, there are two Tile Pattern Tables at $8000-8FFF and at $8800-97FF. The first one can be
used for sprites, the background, and the window display. Its tiles are numbered from 0 to 255. The second
table can be used for the background and the window display and its tiles are numbered from -128 to 127.
Sprites
GameBoy video controller can display up to 40 sprites either in 8x8 or in 8x16 pixels. Because of a limitation
of hardware, only ten sprites can be displayed per scan line. Sprite patterns have the same format as tiles,
but they are taken from the Sprite Pattern Table located at $8000-8FFF and have unsigned numbering. Sprite
attributes reside in the Sprite Attribute Table (OAM - Object Attribute Memory) at $FE00-FE9F. OAM is divided
into 40 4-byte blocks each of which corresponds to a sprite.
In 8x16 sprite mode, the least significant bit of the sprite pattern number is ignored and treated as 0.
When sprites with different x coordinate values overlap, the one with the smaller x coordinate (closer to the left) will have priority and appear above any others.
When sprites with the same x coordinate values overlap, they have priority according to table ordering. (i.e.
$FE00 - highest, $FE04 - next highest, etc.)
Please note that Sprite X = 0, Y = 0 hides a sprite. To display a sprite use the following formulas:
SpriteScreenPositionX (Upper left corner of sprite) = SpriteX - 8 SpriteScreenPositionY (Upper left corner of sprite) = SpriteY - 16To display a sprite in the upper left corner of the screen set sprite X = 8, Y = 16.
Only 10 sprites can be displayed on any one line. When this limit is exceeded, the lower priority sprites (priorities listed above) won't be displayed. To keep unused sprites from affecting onscreen sprites set their Y coordinate to Y = 0 or Y >= 144 + 16. Just setting the X coordinate to X = 0 or X >= 160 + 8 on a sprite will hide it but it will still affect other sprites sharing the same lines.
Blocks have the following format:
| Byte0 | Y position on the screen | ||||||||||||
| Byte1 | X position on the screen | ||||||||||||
| Byte2 | Pattern number 0-255 (Unlike some tile numbers, sprite pattern numbers are unsigned. LSB is ignored (treated as 0) in 8x16 mode.) | ||||||||||||
| Byte3 |
Flags:
|
Sprite RAM Bug
There is a flaw in the GameBoy hardware that causes trash to be written to OAM RAM if the following commands are used while their 16-bit content is in the range of $FE00 to $FEFF:
inc rp (rp = bc, de, or hl)
dec rp
ldi a, (hl)
ldd a, (hl)
ldi (hl), a
ldd (hl), a
Only sprites 1 & 2 ($FE00 & $FE04) are not affected by these instructions.
Sound
There are two sound channels connected to the output terminals SO1 and SO2. There is also a input terminal Vin connected to the cartridge. It can be routed to either of both output terminals. GameBoy circuitry allows producing sound in four different ways:
Under the following situations the Sound ON flag is reset and the sound output stops:
NOTE: During the all sound off mode, GB power consumption drops by 16% or more! While your programs aren't using sound then set the all sound off flag to 0. It defaults to 1 on reset.
These tend to be the two most important equations in converting between Hertz and GB frequency registers: (Sounds will have a 2.4% higher frequency on Super GB.)
gb = 2048 - (131072 / Hz) Hz = 131072 / (2048 - gb)
Timer
Sometimes it's useful to have a timer that interrupts at regular intervals for routines that require periodic or percise updates. The timer in the GameBoy has a selectable frequency of 4096, 16384, 65536, or 262144 Hertz. This frequency increments the Timer Counter (TIMA). When it overflows, it generates an interrupt. It is then loaded with the contents of Timer Modulo (TMA). The following are examples:
;This interval timer interrupts 4096 times per second
ld a,-1
ld ($FF06),a ;Set TMA to divide clock by 1
ld a,4
ld ($FF07),a ;Set clock to 4096 Hertz
;This interval timer interrupts 65536 times per second
ld a,-4
ld ($FF06),a ;Set TMA to divide clock by 4
ld a,5
ld ($FF07),a ;Set clock to 262144 Hertz
Serial I/O
The serial I/O port on the Gameboy is a very simple setup and is crude compared to standard RS-232 (IBM-PC) or
RS-485 (Macintosh) serial ports. There are no start or stop bits so the programmer must be more creative when
using this port.
During a transfer, a byte is shifted in at the same time that a byte is shifted out. The rate of the shift is
deter- mined by whether the clock source is internal or external. If internal, the bits are shifted out at a
rate of 8192Hz (122 microseconds) per bit. The most significant bit is shifted in and out first.
When the internal clock is selected, it drives the clock pin on the game link port and it stays high when not used. During a transfer it will go low eight times to clock in/out each bit.
A programmer initates a serial transfer by setting bit 7 of $FF02. This bit may be read and is automatically set to 0 at the completion of transfer. After this bit is set, an interrupt will then occur eight bit clocks later if the serial interrupt is enabled. If internal clock is selected and serial interrupt is enabled, this interrupt occurs 122*8 microseconds later. If external clock is selected and serial interrupt is enabled, an interrupt will occur eight bit clocks later.
Initiating a serial transfer with external clock will wait forever if no external clock is present. This
allows a certain amount of synchronization with each serial port.
The state of the last bit shifted out determines the state of the output line until another transfer takes
place.
If a serial transfer with internal clock is performed and no external GameBoy is present, a value of $FF will
be received in the transfer.
The following code causes $75 to be shifted out the serial port and a byte to be shifted into $FF01:
ld a,$75
ld ($FF01),a
ld a,$81
ld ($FF02),a
Interrupt Procedure
The IME (interrupt master enable) flag is reset by DI and prohibits all interrupts. It is set by EI and acknowledges the interrupt setting by the IE register.
During the interrupt, pushing of registers to be used should be performed by the interrupt routine.
Once the interrupt service is in progress, all the interrupts will be prohibited. However, if the IME flag and
the IE flag are controlled, a number of interrupt services can be made possible by nesting.
Return from an interrupt routine can be performed by either RETI or RET instruction.
The RETI instruction enables interrupts after doing a return operation.
If a RET is used as the final instruction in an interrupt routine, interrupts will remain disabled unless a EI
was used in the interrupt routine or is used at a later time.
The interrupt will be acknowledged during opcode fetch period of each instruction.
Interrupt Descriptions
The following interrupts only occur if they have been enabled in the Interrupt Enable register ($FFFF) and if the interrupts have actually been enabled using the EI instruction.
| V-Blank | The V-Blank interrupt occurs ~59.7 times a second on a regular GB and ~61.1 times a second on a Super GB (SGB). This interrupt occurs at the beginning of the V-Blank period. During this period video hardware is not using video ram so it may be freely accessed. This period lasts approximately 1.1 milliseconds. |
| LCDC Status | There are various reasons for this interrupt to occur as described by the STAT register ($FF40). One very popular reason is to indicate to the user when the video hardware is about to redraw a given LCD line. This can be useful for dynamically controlling the SCX / SCY registers ($FF43 / $FF42) to perform special video effects. |
| Timer Overflow | This interrupt occurs when the TIMA register ($FF05) changes from $FF to $00 |
| Serial Transfer Completion |
This interrupt occurs when a serial transfer has completed on the game link port. |
| High-to-Low of P10-P13 |
This interrupt occurs on a transition of any of the keypad input lines from high to low. Due to the fact that keypad "bounce"* is virtually always present, software should expect this interrupt to occur one or more times for every button press and one or more times for every button release. |
Bounce tends to be a side effect of any button making or breaking a connection. During these periods, it is very common for a small amount of oscillation between high & low states to take place.
I/O Registers
FF00
Name - P1
Contents - Register for reading joy pad info and determining system type. (R/W)
Bit 7 - Not used
Bit 6 - Not used
Bit 5 - P15 out port
Bit 4 - P14 out port
Bit 3 - P13 in port
Bit 2 - P12 in port
Bit 1 - P11 in port
Bit 0 - P10 in port
This is the matrix layout for register $FF00:
P14 P15
| |
P10-------O-Right----O-A
| |
P11-------O-Left-----O-B
| |
P12-------O-Up-------O-Select
| |
P13-------O-Down-----O-Start
| |
Example code:
Game: Ms. Pacman
Address: $3b1
LD A, $20 <- bit 5 = $20
LD ($FF00), A <- select P14 by setting it low
LD A, ($FF00)
LD A, ($FF00) <- wait a few cycles
CPL <- complement A
AND $0F <- get only first 4 bits
SWAP A <- swap it
LD B, A <- store A in B
LD A, $10
LD ($FF00), A <- select P15 by setting it low
LD A, ($FF00)
LD A, ($FF00)
LD A, ($FF00)
LD A, ($FF00)
LD A, ($FF00)
LD A, ($FF00) <- Wait a few MORE cycles
CPL <- complement (invert)
AND $0F <- get first 4 bits
OR B <- put A and B together
LD B, A <- store A in D
LD A, ($FF8B) <- read old joy data from ram
XOR B <- toggle w/current button bit
AND B <- get current button bit back
LD ($FF8C),A <- save in new Joydata storage
LD A, B <- put original value in A
LD ($FF8B), A <- store it as old joy data
LD A, $30 <- deselect P14 and P15
LD ($FF00), A <- RESET Joypad
RET <- Return from Subroutine
The button values using the above method are such:
$80 - Start $8 - Down
$40 - Select $4 - Up
$20 - B $2 - Left
$10 - A $1 - Right
Let's say we held down A, Start, and Up. The value returned in accumulator A would
be $94
FF01
Name - SB
Contents - Serial transfer data (R/W)
8 Bits of data to be read/written
FF02
Name - SC
Contents - SIO control (R/W)
Bit 7 - Transfer Start Flag
0: Non transfer
1: Start transfer
Bit 0 - Shift Clock
0: External Clock (500KHz Max.)
1: Internal Clock (8192Hz)
Transfer is initiated by setting the Transfer Start Flag. This bit may be
read and is automatically set to 0 at the end of Transfer.
Transmitting and receiving serial data is done simultaneously. The
received data is automatically stored in SB.
FF04
Name - DIV
Contents - Divider Register (R/W)
This register is incremented 16384 (~16779 on SGB) times a second. Writing
any value sets it to $00.
FF05
Name - TIMA
Contents - Timer counter (R/W)
This timer is incremented by a clock frequency specified by the TAC
register ($FF07). The timer generates an interrupt when it overflows.
FF06
Name - TMA
Contents - Timer Modulo (R/W)
When the TIMA overflows, this data will be loaded.
FF07
Name - TAC
Contents - Timer Control (R/W)
Bit 2 - Timer Stop
0: Stop Timer
1: Start Timer
Bits 1+0 - Input Clock Select
00: 4.096 KHz (~4.194 KHz SGB)
01: 262.144 KHz (~268.4 KHz SGB)
10: 65.536 KHz (~67.11 KHz SGB)
11: 16.384 KHz (~16.78 KHz SGB)
FF0F
Name - IF
Contents - Interrupt Flag (R/W)
Bit 4: Transition from High to Low of Pin number P10-P13
Bit 3: Serial I/O transfer complete
Bit 2: Timer Overflow
Bit 1: LCDC (see STAT)
Bit 0: V-Blank
The priority and jump address for the above 5 interrupts are:
Interrupt Priority Start Address
V-Blank 1 $0040
LCDC Status 2 $0048 - Modes 0, 1, 2
LYC=LY coincide (selectable)
Timer Overflow 3 $0050
Serial Transfer 4 $0058 - when transfer is complete
Hi-Lo of P10-P13 5 $0060
* When more than 1 interrupts occur at the same time only the interrupt with the
highest priority can be acknowledged. When an interrupt is used a '0' should be
stored in the IF register before the IE register is set.
FF10
Name - NR 10
Contents - Sound Mode 1 register, Sweep register (R/W)
Bit 6-4 - Sweep Time
Bit 3 - Sweep Increase/Decrease
0: Addition (frequency increases)
1: Subtraction (frequency decreases)
Bit 2-0 - Number of sweep shift (n: 0-7)
Sweep Time: 000: sweep off - no freq change
001: 7.8 ms (1/128Hz)
010: 15.6 ms (2/128Hz)
011: 23.4 ms (3/128Hz)
100: 31.3 ms (4/128Hz)
101: 39.1 ms (5/128Hz)
110: 46.9 ms (6/128Hz)
111: 54.7 ms (7/128Hz)
The change of frequency (NR13,NR14) at each shift is calculated by the
following formula where X(0) is initial freq & X(t-1) is last freq:
X(t) = X(t-1) +/- X(t-1)/2^n
FF11
Name - NR 11
Contents - Sound Mode 1 register, Sound length/Wave pattern duty (R/W)
Only Bits 7-6 can be read.
Bit 7-6 - Wave Pattern Duty
Bit 5-0 - Sound length data (t1: 0-63)
Wave Duty: 00: 12.5% ( _--------_--------_-------- )
01: 25% ( __-------__-------__------- )
10: 50% ( ____-----____-----____----- ) (default)
11: 75% ( ______---______---______--- )
Sound Length = (64-t1)*(1/256) seconds
FF12
Name - NR 12
Contents - Sound Mode 1 register, Envelope (R/W)
Bit 7-4 - Initial volume of envelope
Bit 3 - Envelope UP/DOWN
0: Attenuate
1: Amplify
Bit 2-0 - Number of envelope sweep (n: 0-7) (If zero, stop envelope
operation.)
Initial volume of envelope is from 0 to $F. Zero being no sound.
Length of 1 step = n*(1/64) seconds
FF13
Name - NR 13
Contents - Sound Mode 1 register, Frequency lo (W)
Lower 8 bits of 11 bit frequency (x). Next 3 bit are in NR 14 ($FF14)
FF14
Name - NR 14
Contents - Sound Mode 1 register, Frequency hi (R/W)
Only Bit 6 can be read.
Bit 7 - Initial (when set, sound restarts)
Bit 6 - Counter/consecutive selection
Bit 2-0 - Frequency's higher 3 bits (x)
Frequency = 4194304/(32*(2048-x)) Hz
= 131072/(2048-x) Hz
Counter/consecutive Selection
0 = Regardless of the length data in NR11 sound can be produced
consecutively.
1 = Sound is generated during the time period set by the length data in
NR11. After this period the sound 1 ON flag (bit 0 of NR52) is reset.
FF16
Name - NR 21
Contents - Sound Mode 2 register, Sound Length; Wave Pattern Duty (R/W)
Only bits 7-6 can be read.
Bit 7-6 - Wave pattern duty
Bit 5-0 - Sound length data (t1: 0-63)
Wave Duty: 00: 12.5% ( _--------_--------_-------- )
01: 25% ( __-------__-------__------- )
10: 50% ( ____-----____-----____----- ) (default)
11: 75% ( ______---______---______--- )
Sound Length = (64-t1)*(1/256) seconds
FF17
Name - NR 22
Contents - Sound Mode 2 register, envelope (R/W)
Bit 7-4 - Initial volume of envelope
Bit 3 - Envelope UP/DOWN
0: Attenuate
1: Amplify
Bit 2-0 - Number of envelope sweep (n: 0-7)
(If zero, stop envelope operation.)
Initial volume of envelope is from 0 to $F. Zero being no sound.
Length of 1 step = n*(1/64) seconds
FF18
Name - NR 23
Contents - Sound Mode 2 register, frequency lo data (W)
Frequency's lower 8 bits of 11 bit data (x). Next 3 bits are in NR 14
($FF19).
FF19
Name - NR 24
Contents - Sound Mode 2 register, frequency hi data (R/W)
Only bit 6 can be read.
Bit 7 - Initial (when set, sound restarts)
Bit 6 - Counter/consecutive selection
Bit 2-0 - Frequency's higher 3 bits (x)
Frequency = 4194304/(32*(2048-x)) Hz
= 131072/(2048-x) Hz
Counter/consecutive Selection
0 = Regardless of the length data in NR21 can be produced consecutively.
1 = Sound is generated during the time period the length data in NR21.
After this period the sound 2 ON flag (bit 1 of NR52) is reset.
FF1A
Name - NR 30
Contents - Sound Mode 3 register, Sound on/off (R/W)
Only bit 7 can be read
Bit 7 - Sound OFF
0: Sound 3 output stop
1: Sound 3 output OK
FF1B
Name - NR 31
Contents - Sound Mode 3 register, sound length (R/W)
Bit 7-0 - Sound length (t1: 0 - 255)
Sound Length = (256-t1)*(1/2) seconds
FF1C
Name - NR 32
Contents - Sound Mode 3 register, Select output level (R/W)
Only bits 6-5 can be read
Bit 6-5 - Select output level
00: Mute
01: Produce Wave Pattern RAM Data as it is (4 bit length)
10: Produce Wave Pattern RAM data shifted once
to the RIGHT (1/2) (4 bit length)
11: Produce Wave Pattern RAM data shifted twice
to the RIGHT (1/4) (4 bit length)
* - Wave Pattern RAM is located from $FF30-$FF3f.
FF1D
Name - NR 33
Contents - Sound Mode 3 register, frequency's lower data (W)
Lower 8 bits of an 11 bit frequency (x).
FF1E
Name - NR 34
Contents - Sound Mode 3 register, frequency's higher data (R/W)
Only bit 6 can be read.
Bit 7 - Initial (when set, sound restarts)
Bit 6 - Counter/consecutive flag
Bit 2-0 - Frequency's higher 3 bits (x).
Frequency = 4194304/(64*(2048-x)) Hz
= 65536/(2048-x) Hz
Counter/consecutive Selection
0 = Regardless of the length data in NR31 sound can be produced consecutively.
1 = Sound is generated during the time period set by the length data in NR31.
After this period the sound 3 ON flag (bit 2 of NR52) is reset.
FF20
Name - NR 41
Contents - Sound Mode 4 register, sound length (R/W)
Bit 5-0 - Sound length data (t1: 0-63)
Sound Length = (64-t1)*(1/256) seconds
FF21
Name - NR 42
Contents - Sound Mode 4 register, envelope (R/W)
Bit 7-4 - Initial volume of envelope
Bit 3 - Envelope UP/DOWN
0: Attenuate
1: Amplify
Bit 2-0 - Number of envelope sweep (n: 0-7)
(If zero, stop envelope operation.)
Initial volume of envelope is from 0 to $F. Zero being no sound.
Length of 1 step = n*(1/64) seconds
FF22
Name - NR 43
Contents - Sound Mode 4 register, polynomial counter (R/W)
Bit 7-4 - Selection of the shift clock frequency of the polynomial counter
Bit 3 - Selection of the polynomial counter's step
Bit 2-0 - Selection of the dividing ratio of frequencies
Selection of the dividing ratio of frequencies:
000: f * 1/2^3 * 2
001: f * 1/2^3 * 1
010: f * 1/2^3 * 1/2
011: f * 1/2^3 * 1/3
100: f * 1/2^3 * 1/4
101: f * 1/2^3 * 1/5
110: f * 1/2^3 * 1/6
111: f * 1/2^3 * 1/7 f = 4.194304 Mhz
Selection of the polynomial counter step:
0: 15 steps
1: 7 steps
Selection of the shift clock frequency of the polynomial counter:
0000: dividing ratio of frequencies * 1/2
0001: dividing ratio of frequencies * 1/2^2
0010: dividing ratio of frequencies * 1/2^3
0011: dividing ratio of frequencies * 1/2^4
: :
: :
: :
0101: dividing ratio of frequencies * 1/2^14
1110: prohibited code
1111: prohibited code
FF23
Name - NR 44
Contents - Sound Mode 4 register, counter/consecutive; inital (R/W)
Only bit 6 can be read.
Bit 7 - Initial (when set, sound restarts)
Bit 6 - Counter/consecutive selection
Counter/consecutive Selection
0 = Regardless of the length data in NR41 sound can be produced consecutively.
1 = Sound is generated during the time period set by the length data in NR41.
After this period the sound 4 ON flag (bit 3 of NR52) is reset.
FF24
Name - NR 50
Contents - Channel control / ON-OFF / Volume (R/W)
Bit 7 - Vin->SO2 ON/OFF
Bit 6-4 - SO2 output level (volume) (# 0-7)
Bit 3 - Vin->SO1 ON/OFF
Bit 2-0 - SO1 output level (volume) (# 0-7)
Vin->SO1 (Vin->SO2)
By synthesizing the sound from sound 1 through 4, the voice input from Vin
terminal is put out.
0: no output
1: output OK
FF25
Name - NR 51
Contents - Selection of Sound output terminal (R/W)
Bit 7 - Output sound 4 to SO2 terminal
Bit 6 - Output sound 3 to SO2 terminal
Bit 5 - Output sound 2 to SO2 terminal
Bit 4 - Output sound 1 to SO2 terminal
Bit 3 - Output sound 4 to SO1 terminal
Bit 2 - Output sound 3 to SO1 terminal
Bit 1 - Output sound 2 to SO1 terminal
Bit 0 - Output sound 1 to SO1 terminal
FF26
Name - NR 52 (Value at reset: $F1-GB, $F0-SGB)
Contents - Sound on/off (R/W)
Bit 7 - All sound on/off
0: stop all sound circuits
1: operate all sound circuits
Bit 3 - Sound 4 ON flag
Bit 2 - Sound 3 ON flag
Bit 1 - Sound 2 ON flag
Bit 0 - Sound 1 ON flag
Bits 0 - 3 of this register are meant to be status bits to be read.
Writing to these bits does NOT enable/disable sound.
If your GB programs don't use sound then write $00 to this register to
save 16% or more on GB power consumption.
FF30 - FF3F
Name - Wave Pattern RAM
Contents - Waveform storage for arbitrary sound data
This storage area holds 32 4-bit samples that are played back upper 4 bits
first.
FF40
Name - LCDC (value $91 at reset)
Contents - LCD Control (R/W)
Bit 7 - LCD Control Operation *
0: Stop completely (no picture on screen)
1: operation
Bit 6 - Window Tile Map Display Select
0: $9800-$9BFF
1: $9C00-$9FFF
Bit 5 - Window Display
0: off
1: on
Bit 4 - BG & Window Tile Data Select
0: $8800-$97FF
1: $8000-$8FFF <- Same area as OBJ
Bit 3 - BG Tile Map Display Select
0: $9800-$9BFF
1: $9C00-$9FFF
Bit 2 - OBJ (Sprite) Size
0: 8*8
1: 8*16 (width*height)
Bit 1 - OBJ (Sprite) Display
0: off
1: on
Bit 0 - BG Display
0: off
1: on
* - Stopping LCD operation (bit 7 from 1 to 0) must be performed during V-blank
to work properly. V-blank can be confirmed when the value of LY is greater
than or equal to 144.
FF41
Name - STAT
Contents - LCDC Status (R/W)
Bits 6-3 - Interrupt Selection By LCDC Status
Bit 6 - LYC=LY Coincidence (Selectable)
Bit 5 - Mode 10
Bit 4 - Mode 01
Bit 3 - Mode 00
0: Non Selection
1: Selection
Bit 2 - Coincidence Flag
0: LYC not equal to LCDC LY
1: LYC = LCDC LY
Bit 1-0 - Mode Flag
00: During H-Blank
01: During V-Blank
10: During Searching OAM-RAM
11: During Transfering Data to LCD Driver
STAT shows the current status of the LCD controller.
Mode 00: When the flag is 00 it is the H-Blank period and the CPU can access the display RAM
($8000-$9FFF).
Mode 01: When the flag is 01 it is the V-Blank period and the CPU can access the display RAM
($8000-$9FFF).
Mode 10: When the flag is 10 then the OAM is being used ($FE00-$FE9F). The CPU cannot access
the OAM during this period
Mode 11: When the flag is 11 both the OAM and display RAM are being used. The CPU cannot
access either during this period.
The following are typical when the display is enabled:
Mode 0 000___000___000___000___000___000___000________________
Mode 1 _______________________________________11111111111111__
Mode 2 ___2_____2_____2_____2_____2_____2___________________2_
Mode 3 ____33____33____33____33____33____33__________________3
The Mode Flag goes through the values 0, 2, and 3 at a cycle of about 109uS. 0 is
present about 48.6uS, 2 about 19uS, and 3 about 41uS. This is interrupted every
16.6ms by the VBlank (1). The mode flag stays set at 1 for about 1.08 ms. (Mode 0
is present between 201-207 clks, 2 about 77-83 clks, and 3 about 169-175 clks. A
complete cycle through these states takes 456 clks. VBlank lasts 4560 clks. A
complete screen refresh occurs every 70224 clks.)
FF42
Name - SCY
Contents - Scroll Y (R/W)
8 Bit value $00-$FF to scroll BG Y screen position.
FF43
Name - SCX
Contents - Scroll X (R/W)
8 Bit value $00-$FF to scroll BG X screen position.
FF44
Name - LY
Contents - LCDC Y-Coordinate (R)
The LY indicates the vertical line to which the present data is transferred
to the LCD Driver. The LY can take on any value between 0 through 153. The
values between 144 and 153 indicate the V-Blank period. Writing will reset
the counter.
FF45
Name - LYC
Contents - LY Compare (R/W)
The LYC compares itself with the LY. If the values are the same it causes
the STAT to set the coincident flag.
FF46
Name - DMA
Contents - DMA Transfer and Start Address (W)
The DMA Transfer (40*28 bit) from internal ROM or RAM ($0000-$F19F) to the OAM
(address $FE00-$FE9F) can be performed. It takes 160 microseconds for the transfer.
40*28 bit = #140 or #$8C. As you can see, it only transfers $8C bytes of data. OAM
data is $A0 bytes long, from $0-$9F.
But if you examine the OAM data you see that 4 bits are not in use.
40*32 bit = #$A0, but since 4 bits for each OAM is not used it's 40*28 bit.
It transfers all the OAM data to OAM RAM.
The DMA transfer start address can be designated every $100 from address $0000-$F100.
That means $0000, $0100, $0200, $0300....
As can be seen by looking at register $FF41 Sprite RAM ($FE00 - $FE9F) is not always
available. A simple routine that many games use to write data to Sprite memory is
shown below. Since it copies data to the sprite RAM at the appro- priate times it
removes that responsibility from the main program.
All of the memory space, except high ram ($FF80-$FFFE), is not accessible during DMA.
Because of this, the routine below must be copied & executed in high ram. It is
usually called from a V-blank Interrupt.
Example program:
org $40
jp VBlank
org $ff80
VBlank:
push af <- Save A reg & flags
ld a, BASE_ADRS <- transfer data from BASE_ADRS
ld ($ff46), a <- put A into DMA registers
ld a, 28h <- loop length
Wait: <- We need to wait 160 microseconds.
dec a <- 4 cycles - decrease A by 1
jr nz, Wait <- 12 cycles - branch if Not Zero to Wait
pop af <- Restore A reg & flags
reti <- Return from interrupt
FF47
Name - BGP
Contents - BG & Window Palette Data (R/W)
Bit 7-6 - Data for Dot Data 11 (Normally darkest color)
Bit 5-4 - Data for Dot Data 10
Bit 3-2 - Data for Dot Data 01
Bit 1-0 - Data for Dot Data 00 (Normally lightest color)
This selects the shade of grays to use for the background (BG) & window
pixels. Since each pixel uses 2 bits, the corresponding shade will be
selected from here.
FF48
Name - OBP0
Contents - Object Palette 0 Data (R/W)
This selects the colors for sprite palette 0. It works exactly as BGP
($FF47) except each each value of 0 is transparent.
FF49
Name - OBP1
Contents - Object Palette 1 Data (R/W)
This Selects the colors for sprite palette 1. It works exactly as OBP0
($FF48). See BGP for details.
FF4A
Name - WY
Contents - Window Y Position (R/W)
0 <= WY <= 143
WY must be greater than or equal to 0 and must be less than or equal to
143 for window to be visible.
FF4B
Name - WX
Contents - Window X Position (R/W)
0 <= WX <= 166
WX must be greater than or equal to 0 and must be less than or equal to
166 for window to be visible.
WX is offset from absolute screen coordinates by 7. Setting the window to
WX=7, WY=0 will put the upper left corner of the window at absolute screen
coordinates 0,0.
Lets say WY = 70 and WX = 87. The window would be positioned as so:
0 80 159
______________________________________
0 | |
| | |
| |
| Background Display |
| Here |
| |
| |
70 | - +------------------|
| | 80,70 |
| | |
| | Window Display |
| | Here |
| | |
| | |
143 |___________________|__________________|
OBJ Characters (Sprites) can still enter the window. None of the window colors
are transparent so any background tiles under the window are hidden.
FFFF
Name - IE
Contents - Interrupt Enable (R/W)
Bit 4: Transition from High to Low of Pin
number P10-P13.
Bit 3: Serial I/O transfer complete
Bit 2: Timer Overflow
Bit 1: LCDC (see STAT)
Bit 0: V-Blank
0: disable
1: enable
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