ugfailau@sunybcs (Fai Lau) (01/10/88)
Hi, I'm looking for a bible for hacking IBM PC's.
I don't know which books are good so I need recommendations.
I saw Peter Norton's programmer's Guide for the IBM PC,
is that any good? I need a book that contains the entire
PC architect, the specifications, the system calls, the
memory map, the port designs, etc., including data
storage device, video adaptor, and in a word, everything.
It's ok not to have a circuits diagram, as I don't want
to hack down to the hardware level (soldering iron?).
But else I need something that's truly comprehensive.
Also, does anyone know of a good assembler?
I have the microsoft version, but that's about it.
Is there any dis-assembler in the market? How good is it?
Thanx for any recommendations!
Fai Lau
SUNY at Buffalo (The Arctic Wonderland)
UU: ..{rutgers,ames}!sunybcs!ugfailau
BI: ugfailau@sunybcs INT: ugfailau@joey.cs.buffalo.EDUjsm@vax1.UUCP (Jon Meltzer) (01/10/88)
In article <7734@sunybcs.UUCP> ugfailau@sunybcs.UUCP (Fai Lau) writes: > > Hi, I'm looking for a bible for hacking IBM PC's. >I don't know which books are good so I need recommendations. >I saw Peter Norton's programmer's Guide for the IBM PC, >is that any good? I need a book that contains the entire >PC architect, the specifications, the system calls, the >memory map, the port designs, etc., including data >storage device, video adaptor, and in a word, everything. >It's ok not to have a circuits diagram, as I don't want >to hack down to the hardware level (soldering iron?). >But else I need something that's truly comprehensive. Don't get Norton. The book you want is "Advanced MSDOS" by Ray Duncan (Microsoft Press) - the best coverage I've seen of DOS internals. Other books worth looking for - "Programmer's Reference Manual for IBM Personal Computers" by Armbrust and Forgeron (Dow-Jones-Irwin) "Programmer's Guide to PC and PS/2 Video Systems" by Richard Wilton (Microsoft Press) "Compute!s Mapping the IBM PC and PCjr " by Russ Davies (Compute! Books) - somewhat out of date (as you can tell by the title), but the only memory map book I've seen. Good luck ... -- Jon Meltzer Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, Cornell University "If you are not a myth, whose reality are you? " - Sun Ra
karthur@codas.att.com (Kurt_R_Arthur) (01/11/88)
In article <7734@sunybcs.UUCP> ugfailau@sunybcs (Fai Lau) writes: > > Hi, I'm looking for a bible for hacking IBM PC's. > I don't know which books are good so I need recommendations. > I saw Peter Norton's programmer's Guide for the IBM PC, > is that any good? I need a book that contains the entire > PC architect, the specifications, the system calls, the > memory map, the port designs, etc., including data > storage device, video adaptor, and in a word, everything. > It's ok not to have a circuits diagram, as I don't want > to hack down to the hardware level (soldering iron?). > But else I need something that's truly comprehensive. > Also, does anyone know of a good assembler? > I have the microsoft version, but that's about it. > Is there any dis-assembler in the market? How good is it? The ABSOLUTE bible for any machine is its Technical Refefernce Manual. I wholeheartedly recommend its purchase for (old PC) BIOS listings, etc (PS/2's do not have the BIOS listings in the Tech Ref). The assembler you have (if version 5.0) is the optimum assembler (read: best supported by third parties) for PCs. No need to change to another. Several disassemblers are available from BBS and through the "Shareware Lib- raries" that advertise in the various computer rags. I have used one called "asmgen" which works well. If you are looking for a really cheap disassembler, you already own a couple in "debug" and "codeview" (or symdeb if MASM 3.0). There are several commercial disassemblers on the market, but I am unfamiliar with their prices, attributes, etc. Kurt Arthur Software Services of Florida, Inc.