5 Aug
2006
5 Aug
'06
4:26 p.m.
I know how the CPU works and runs everything
, in theory, but I can't program in machine
language yet.
As for how the CPU and everything else works
physically, I don't really know anything, but
There are, unfortunaely, very few books that
actually explain how the CPU
works. Most introductory hardware books explain
things like the AND and
OR gats and flip-flops (don't worry if these terms
mean nothing to you,
they're just the basic building blocks of computer
circuits), and then
tell you the CPU exists. It's almost as if the CPU
runs on some kind of
magic.
I can assure you that it doesn't, and that
many
older, simpler CPUs are
understandable at the gate level (or even the
transistor level).
I know how _I_ learnt this stuff. I had already
understood how to use
gates, flip-flops, etc. I mamaged to get the servi
ce
manuals for an old
minicomputer, and I sat down for a couple of
_months_ until I understood
it all. Of course back then there was no classiccm
p
list, I didn't have
anyone to ask. I was very much on my own.
Perhaps there are service manuals for the
Amiga??
I know I wanted to get my hands on the Amiga
RKRM's (Rom Kernel Reference Manuals), but
they will be hard to find in paper form.
I have one of the official Amiga manials, on hardware. It gives pinouts
and descriptions of the custom chips, and has been very useful in tracing
faults. But there is (as expected) no real internal description of the ICs.
-tony