There are two 65C22 "Versatile Interface Adapter" (VIA) I/O controllers in the system, VIA#1 and VIA#2. The address range $9F00 to $9F0F maps to VIA#1's internal registers $0 to $F. Likewise, the address range $9F10 to $9F1F maps to VIA#2's internal registers. Details on the internal registers can be found in the published datasheet: https://www.westerndesigncenter.com/wdc/documentation/w65c22.pdf.
The IRQ out pin of VIA#1 is connected to the CPU's IRQ line, while the IRQ out pin of VIA#2 can be configured via jumper to connect to either the CPU's IRQ or NMI line on production boards (those beginning with serial PR), or hardwired to the CPU's IRQ line on earlier boards.
The-following tables describe the connections of the I/O pins:
VIA#1
| Pin | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PA0 | I2CDATA | I2C Data |
| PA1 | I2CCLK | I2C Clock |
| PA2 | NESLATCH | NES LATCH (for all controllers) |
| PA3 | NESCLK | NES CLK (for all controllers) |
| PA4 | NESDAT3 | NES DATA (controller 3) |
| PA5 | NESDAT2 | NES DATA (controller 2) |
| PA6 | NESDAT1 | NES DATA (controller 1) |
| PA7 | NESDAT0 | NES DATA (controller 0) |
| PB0 | Unused | |
| PB1 | Unused | |
| PB2 | Unused | |
| PB3 | SERATNO | Serial ATN out |
| PB4 | SERCLKO | Serial CLK out |
| PB5 | SERDATAO | Serial DATA out |
| PB6 | SERCLKI | Serial CLK in |
| PB7 | SERDATAI | Serial DATA in |
| CA1 | Unused | |
| CA2 | Unused | |
| CB1 | IECSRQ | |
| CB2 | Unused |
The KERNAL uses Timer 2 for timing transmissions on the Serial Bus.
VIA#2
The second VIA is completely unused by the KERNAL. All its 16 GPIOs and 4 handshake I/Os can be freely used by user software.
The Commander X16 contains an I2C bus, which is implemented through two pins of VIA#1. The system management controller (SMC) and the real-time clock (RTC) are connected through this bus. The KERNAL APIs i2c_read_byte and i2c_write_byte allow talking to these devices.
| Address | Target |
|---|---|
1000010 ($42) |
System Management Controller (SMC) |
1010??? ($50-$57) |
Non-volatile storage for cartridges |
1101111 ($6F) |
Real-Time Clock (RTC) |
I2C address: $42
The system management controller (SMC) is device $42 on the I2C bus. It controls the activity LED, and can be used to power down the system or inject RESET and NMI signals. It also handles communication with the PS/2 keyboard and mouse.
| Register | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| $01 | $00 | Power off |
| $01 | $01 | Hard reboot |
| $02 | $00 | Inject RESET |
| $03 | $00 | Inject NMI |
| $05 | $00/$FF | Activity LED off/on |
| $07 | - | Read from keyboard buffer |
| $08 | $00..$FF | Echo |
| $18 | - | Read ps2 status |
| $19 | $00..$FF | Send ps2 command |
| $1A | $0000..$FFFF | Send ps2 command (2 bytes) |
| $20 | $00 | Set mouse device ID, standard mouse |
| $20 | $03 | Set mouse device ID, Intellimouse with scroll wheel |
| $20 | $04 | Set mouse device ID, Intellimouse with scroll wheel+extra buttons |
| $21 | - | Read from mouse buffer |
| $22 | - | Get mouse device ID |
| $30 | - | Get SMC firmware version, major |
| $31 | - | Get SMC firmware version, minor |
| $32 | - | Get SMC firwmare version, patch |
| $8F | $31 | Start bootloader, if present |
I2C address: $50-$57
Commander X16 ROM Cartridge supports up to 4 128kB EEPROM chips in the $50-$57 address range. Address is chosen based on IC slot on the PCB. Chip type: Onsemi CAT24M01
ROAM Commander X16 Cartridge, by Wavicle, features 1 8kB FRAM chip in the $50-$57 address range. Address is configurable by dip-switches. Chip type: FM24C64B
I2C address: $6F
The Commander X16 contains a battery-backed Microchip MCP7940N real-time-clock (RTC) chip as device $6F. It provides a real-time clock/calendar, two alarms and 64 bytes of battery-backed SRAM (non-volatile RAM).
| Register | Description |
|---|---|
| $00 | Clock seconds |
| $01 | Clock minutes |
| $02 | Clock hours |
| $03 | Clock weekday |
| $04 | Clock day |
| $05 | Clock month |
| $06 | Clock year |
| $07 | Control |
| $08 | Oscillator trim |
| $09 | reserved |
| $0A | Alarm 0 seconds |
| $0B | Alarm 0 minutes |
| $0C | Alarm 0 hours |
| $0D | Alarm 0 weekday |
| $0E | Alarm 0 day |
| $0F | Alarm 0 month |
| $10 | reserved |
| $11 | Alarm 1 seconds |
| $12 | Alarm 1 minutes |
| $13 | Alarm 1 hours |
| $14 | Alarm 1 weekday |
| $15 | Alarm 1 day |
| $16 | Alarm 1 month |
| $17 | reserved |
| $18 | Power-fail minutes |
| $19 | Power-fail hours |
| $1A | Power-fail day |
| $1B | Power-fail month |
| $1C | Power-up minutes |
| $1D | Power-up hours |
| $1E | Power-up day |
| $1F | Power-up month |
| $20-$5F | 64 Bytes SRAM |
| Register | Description |
|---|---|
| $20-$3F | User NVRAM |
| $40-$5F | KERNAL NVRAM |
| $40 | Active profile |
| $41-$4D | Profile 0 (80x60) |
| $4E-$5A | Profile 1 (40x30) |
| $41/$4E | Screen mode |
| $42/$4F | VERA_DC_VIDEO |
| $43/$50 | VERA_DC_HSCALE |
| $44/$51 | VERA_DC_VSCALE |
| $45/$52 | VERA_DC_BORDER |
| $46/$53 | VERA_DC_HSTART |
| $47/$54 | VERA_DC_HSTOP |
| $48/$55 | VERA_DC_VSTART |
| $49/$56 | VERA_DC_VSTOP |
| $4A/$57 | Color (bg/fg) |
| $4B/$58 | Keymap |
| $4C/$59 | Typematic |
| $4D/$5A | Unused |
| $5B-$5E | Expansion (unused) |
| $5F | Checksum |
The second half of the RTC's SRAM (NVRAM) is reserved for use by the KERNAL. $20-$3F is available for use by user programs.
For more information, please refer to this device's datasheet.