[alt.msdos.programmer] Frequently asked questions ?

otto@tukki.jyu.fi (Otto J. Makela) (01/30/91)

I haven't noticed a FAQ listing for comp.os.msdos.programmer, have you ?
If there isn't any, here's a starter with the three most common questions
I've seen in this newsgroup...  If there is, maybe this could be merged
into it ?

I'd like some more info on literature for the 3rd question.
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The three most commonly asked questions on {alt,comp.os}.msdos.programmer:
1. How do I reboot the machine with a program ?
2. What are the proper IRQ settings for serial ports ?
3. Where can I find information on programming the VGA/serial ports etc. ?
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1. How do I reboot the machine with a program ?

In the following examples, jump to "warm" to produce a warm boot, and "cold"
to produce a cold boot (memory tests and all).

DEBUG assembler (for example MASM won't compile this):
WARM:	MOV	AX,0040
	MOV	DS,AX
	MOV	AX,1234
	MOV	[0072],AX
COLD:	JMP	FFFF:0000

C (for example Turbo C):
warm:	*( (unsigned short int (far *)) 0x00400072L ) = 0x1234;
cold:	( (void (far *)() ) 0xFFFF0000L )();

Who says C is a high-level language ?  :-)
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2. What are the proper IRQ and I/O address settings for serial ports ?

The only ones that are really standard are COM1 and COM2:
	Port	IRQ	I/O
	COM1	 4	03F8h
	COM2	 3	02F8h
one common way of setting COM3 and COM4 are:
	COM3	 4	03E8h
	COM4	 3	02E8h
but also both on IRQ5 is common.  Or other on IRQ2, other on IRQ5.

See below for more information.
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3. Where can I find information on programming the VGA/serial ports etc. ?

First, a plug for Ralph Brown's excellent INTER list, which is free and
available from BBSs and ftp sites near you.  Two common ftp sites are
wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (for US users, file pd:<msdos.info>inter191.zip)
and nic.funet.fi (for European users, file pub/msdos/info/inter191.lzh),
remember to set tenex mode before transferring.  The list gets updated
frequently, so check if the version 1/91 is already old by the time you
read this...

Here is a collection of common hardware/software/hardware-oriented books:

Author				Book
Peter Norton & ?		Peter Norton's Guide to the PC
Winn Rosch			Winn Rosch's Hardware Bible
Forester ?			The Programmer's guide to EGA and VGA ?
?				The Programmer's guide to SuperVGA ?
?				The PC listbook?
--
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