Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!oliveb!amiga!cbmvax!grr
From: grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: OVL line in Amiga 2000
Message-ID: <7709@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 19 Aug 89 08:25:52 GMT
References: <8908181206.AA07159@jade.berkeley.edu> <2559@trantor.harris-atd.com>
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 29

In article <2559@trantor.harris-atd.com> laprade@trantor.harris-atd.com (Ken Laprade) writes:
> In article <8908181206.AA07159@jade.berkeley.edu> U211344@HNYKUN11.BITNET (Olaf 'Rhialto' Seibert) writes:
> > ...
> >This makes me wonder. The 2000 doesn't need a boot rom, does it? ...
> 
> A related question: Is the kickstart disk (for 1000's) an exact image
> of the ROM version?  Does it have the exact same startup code (including 
> reset vector) as the 1000 boot PROMs?  I.e., can I just blow PROMs from
> the kickstart disk and install them in the 1000 (with appropriate changes
> to disable the kickstart RAM)?

The kickstart disk is the same as the ROM image for the system ROM's, though
normally we make ROM's by loading the diskette the software types provide
into an A1000 type machine, and then use an emulator to generate S-record
"memory dump" files which are burned into (multiple) PROM's which are sent
to the ROM vendor.  Somewhat round-about, but it does (theoretically) yield
ROMS which are the same as the kickstart image...

The ROM's / Kickstart image contains it's own startup code that is supposed
to be completely independent of the code in the A1000 "Boot ROMs".  The
boot roms, are responsible for getting the WCS loaded, then jump to the
beginning the same as a reset would.  If you happen to have both boot roms
and system roms, the boot roms perceive that the ROM/WCS area is alreadly
loaded, and skip the attempt to load it from disk...

-- 
George Robbins - now working for,	uucp: {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
but no way officially representing	arpa: cbmvax!grr@uunet.uu.net
Commodore, Engineering Department	fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)