[comp.sys.amiga.hardware] Hardware Reference

dlou@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Dennis Lou) (04/02/91)

What do you hardware types out there use for reference?

My room mate's Commodore supplied Amiga Hardware Reference Manual is
a joke (it's the old white one).  I opened it expecting to find
pinouts, bus timing specs, interface details, etc.  Instead, I find
such oddities as chapter 8 where 8.1 tells you that the chapter
deals with the game connector, RAM expansion, video interface,
serial interface, parallel interface, etc.  Instead, the game
connector section gives 1 lousy chart with obscure names of pins
with no explanation of what does what.  The video interface section
told you where the connectors were, the parallel port section was 3
sentences long, and the RAM expansion section was completely
non-existent!

I'm used to the IBM's PC Tech Ref where it told you EVERYTHING, even
stuff you'd never ever use, and had schematics for EVERYTHING to
boot!

-- 
Dennis Lou             |
dlou@ucsd.edu          | "But Yossarian, what if everyone thought that way?"
[backbone]!ucsd!dlou   | "Then I'd be crazy to think any other way!"

daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) (04/02/91)

In article <17917@sdcc6.ucsd.edu> dlou@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Dennis Lou) writes:

>What do you hardware types out there use for reference?

What you want is the A500/A2000 Technical Reference Manual, which is 
available directly from Commodore.  They post details on how to order this
around here every so often, but I don't have them handy.  It's about $40.
This includes Zorro II specifications, examples designs, schematics, bridge
card stuff, and lots of various notes.  Not as organized as the Addison
Wesley books, but What You Need for hardware hacking.  Mine is quite used
and abused.

>My room mate's Commodore supplied Amiga Hardware Reference Manual is
>a joke (it's the old white one).  

The original Hardware Reference Manual is essentially a hardware manual for
software people.  This contains many of the details lots of manufacturers
prefer to hide from you, but it's absolutely not for building hardware.  I
hope someday they include real hardware information in this book, or perhaps
release another hardware book.  You should be able to get the hardware info
down at your local book store rather than having to order it from C=.

-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests"
   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh      PLINK: hazy     BIX: hazy
      "That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight" -R.E.M.