BBC Microcomputer Service Manual Oct 1985 Section 1 BBC Micro ...
BBC Microcomputer Service Manual Oct 1985 Section 1 BBC Micro ...
BBC Microcomputer Service Manual Oct 1985 Section 1 BBC Micro ...
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There are two 6522 versatile interface adaptors (VIA) on the PCB (one<br />
on the model A), the first being used mainly for internal control and<br />
the second for external interfacing. VIA-A is used both for control of<br />
internal hardware and also for generating interrupts from various<br />
devices such as the ADC and the keyboard. Of its two internal timers,<br />
the first is used for generating regular interrupts at one centisecond<br />
intervals and the second is used occasionally by the operating system.<br />
[See section 3.6]<br />
Of the two ports on this VIA, PA is used to provide a slow (1 MHz) data<br />
bus for the sound and speech chips and also for the keyboard, whilst PB<br />
is used to provide control lines for various functions throughout the<br />
circuit board. The sound is produced by a four-channel sound generator<br />
chip (SN76489) whilst the speech is produced by a TMS 5220 which can<br />
get its data either from RAM through VIA-A or from a serial ROM, the<br />
TMS 6100. This facility for accessing serial ROMs is also used to<br />
provide an external serial ROM facility on the keyboard. [See sections<br />
3.7 and 3.8]<br />
Moving down to the SW corner we have the disc controller interface<br />
based on an 8271 floppy-disc controller. This is responsible for<br />
sending out the command signals for a floppy disk drive, and for<br />
reading and writing the data from and to the disk drive. [See section<br />
3.10]<br />
The next device is VIA-B, referred to as the external VIA, which is<br />
used to provide interfaces for a printer and user applications. It also<br />
has two timers which are available to the user for his own applications<br />
programs. [See section 3.11]<br />
The last two sections of the circuit board are the 1 MHz extension bus<br />
and the TUBE. These provide two different ways of accessing various<br />
external devices. The 1 MHz bus is available for more general use but<br />
works at the slower speed of 1 MHz, whilst the TUBE works at the full 2<br />
MHz but is only intended for use with second processors. [See section<br />
3.13]<br />
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