Date   : Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:38:44 +1100
From   : msmcdoug@... (Mark McDougall)
Subject: Text screen?

Hi,

I'm a complete newbie to the BBC-micro. I'm looking at emulating the BBC in 
an FPGA, and have a few basic questions about the machine. I've perused the 
MESS driver, the service manual and the advanced user guide, but the answers 
I'm looking for aren't immediately apparent.

* When the BASIC ROM boots, what mode is the machine running in? Mode 7? I 
suspect this is the case because the screen text appears at $3C00...

* When *not* running in mode 7, how is the text generated? IIUC non-mode7 
displays are basically just bit-mapped displays - yes? Does the BASIC ROM 
draw text characters on the bitmap from data embedded in the ROM?

Thanks, and sorry if this information is readily available, I _did_ look for it.

Regards,

-- 
|              Mark McDougall                | "Electrical Engineers do it
|  <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug>   |   with less resistance!"