Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!think!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!DCA-EMS.ARPA!goertzel From: goertzel@DCA-EMS.ARPA (Herbert Goertzel) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: TOS ROMS -- BLITTER VERSION Message-ID: <8708210113.AA20730@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Date: Thu, 20-Aug-87 17:33:46 EDT Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8708210113.AA20730 Posted: Thu Aug 20 17:33:46 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 22-Aug-87 15:55:40 EDT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Distribution: world Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 94 I downloaded the following from a local ST Bulletin board. It was attributed to Neil Harris and was supposedly downloaded from Compuserve. I cannot vouch for its authenticity, but it looks reasonable to me. Herb Goertzel TOS ROMS -- BLITTER VERSION The 1987 revision of TOS is scheduled for release in conjunction with the new "blitter" chip. The new TOS has been upgradd to include support for the hardware blit as well as retaining the software blit functions for full compatility with older software which relies on hardware timing (a definite no-no). Changes in the new ROMs are: RS232: The RS232 handler has been completely rewritten. RTS/CTS handshaking now works. Baud rates 50 and 75 now work. CLOCK: Support is now included for the Mega ST's built-in, battery- backer-up realtime clock. The realtime clock is automatically used by the XBIOS gettime and settime functions for the IKBD. The GEMDOS clock is reset from the realti clock at the termination of every program. STARTUP: Memory clear at system startup is much faster, improving performance on multi-megabyte systems. DESKTOP: The desktop now includes a control for deactivating/activating the blitter chip. Also, e Save Desktop and Print Screen selections will request confirmation. Spurious characters are no longer written to the DESKTOP.INF file.Doing a PRINT or SHOW from the desktop will now display characters with ASCII codes above 127. SHOW and PRINT use a larger buffer now. Single drive copies now require fewer disk swaps. CART: Cartridge handling has been revides, eliminating the need for "CARTSTART" code and allowing .TOS and .TTP programs. Lower case letters will now be accepted and passed to an application fm the "Open Application ... Parameter" box. AES: The AES will now send repeat clicks if the mse button is held down on the arrow or page controls of a window, which lets a window smth scroll. The AES underscore bug is now fixed. APPL_TPLAY and APPL_TRECORD now work. The limit of 30 characters on a line in an alert box inow rigidly enforced. MOUSE: The mouse redraw can now be set to XOR mode. The system will return after a single click if this is what was requested. DMA: The DMA bus can now have more than one device attached at powerup time, without any special software. FLOPPY: The floppy read/write code checks for more errors now. In prior versions, theystem would not report a CRC error under certain circumstances; now it will. This hurts some copy protection schemes. The format of the floy disk has been skewed from track to track to improve disk speed; the XBIOS supports this by using - 1 for the skew value and placing a pointer to a one word per sector skew table in the previously unused longword. VDI: The VDI will now draw arcs with small angles. BIOS: Character out routines are much faster. BLITTER: Automatic bler chip support is included in line-A and VDI calls. The extended inquire will report a larger performance factor than before, allowing applications to check for the presence of the blitter. A new XBIOS call has been added to check for the blitter and to activate or deactivate it. The blit is t reentrant -- line-A and VDI should not be called from within an interrupt. REGISTER:he registers D0, D1, D2, A0, A1, A2 have always been forfeit when a trap call was made. Now the demise of these occurs under more conditions than befor MEMORY: Slightly more RAM is used by the system. Programs that were close to the edge on a 520ST ma no longer fit. VARIABLE: Most undocumented system variables have been moved. You were warned! NTES AND WARNINGS: 1. Some programs depend on the OS always being at $FC0000. This is *not* cast in stone and will probably change soon. To find the OS header, use the pointer "sysbase" as documented. 2. Thegabyte ST puts the screen near the end of accessible RAM. Sloppy programs that have been writing past the end of the screen will give bus errors ifhey do so on the 4 meg ST.