System Monitor
From: tdiaz-a(in_a_circle)-apple2-dotsero-org (Tony Diaz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2,comp.answers,news.answers
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
Followup-To: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: comp.sys.apple2 Apple II System Monitor CMD Reference
Archive-name: apple2/faq/sysmon
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: October 11 2007
Version: 0.54
URL: http://wiki.apple2.org/index.php?title=System_Monitor
The next section is the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) posting of the comp.sys.apple2 newsgroup. Copyright (c) 2007 by Tony Diaz (email: tdiaz-a(in_a_circle)-apple2-dotsero-org), all rights reserved. This document can be freely copied so long as 1) it is not sold, 2) any sections reposted elsewhere from it are credited back to this FAQ with the FAQ's copyright info and official WWW location ( http://wiki.apple2.org/index.php?title=System_Monitor) left in place.
This may not be the latest version of this FAQ-- this is an archived copy. For that, drop by http://wiki.apple2.org/index.php?title=System_Monitor
This FAQ may not be sold, bundled on disks or CD-ROMs, reprinted in magazines, books, periodicals, or the like without prior consent from the maintainer, Tony Diaz. Exceptions are explicitly granted for Juiced.GS and _The_Lamp. Email me for permission otherwise.
Big thanks to Nathan Mates, the previous maintainer of this comp.sys.apple2 FAQ, for allowing it to live on after his departure and anyone who took up that mantle before him.
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Apple II System Monitor command reference
NOTE: this reference is in beta form, and is still being written. Expect a few minor continuing changes in its layout, content, and correctness. Most info should be correct-- I'd like to be notified of any problems noted in here.
Table of Contents
Section 1: General Intro to this FAQ and its conventions
Section 2: System monitor commands listed by system:
2.1 How to enter the System Monitor
2.2 Commands in all System Monitor ROMs
2.3 GS Extensions to the System Monitor
Section 3: The Miniassembler
Contents
General Intro to this reference and System Monitor
This FAQ attempts to be a reference for the commands supported by the inbuilt System Monitor contained in the ROM of all Apple II models. As there were a number of versions of the System Monitor, I've attempted to delineate which features are available depending on which model of the Apple II is present.
Warning: the System Monitor allows you to change blocks or bytes of RAM at will. You are advised that any manipulations of your Apple II's memory may cause your Apple II to crash or worse. You have been warned of the possibility of causing any damage to your system integrity, and by following any commands listed below, you accept responsibility for what you do.
This reference is one of a series of references that have been written detailing the Apple II. You may also want to read the Applesoft Basic FAQ, the DOS & Commands FAQ, or the comp.sys.apple2 FAQ.
Conventions used by this FAQ: Commands are given in double quotes, but those are not to be typed. <return> is the return key on the keyboard, and should be the last thing typed on a line to be parsed. "^C" (or any other letter) is shorthand for Control-C, i.e. hold down the control key and press C. 'Address', 'Address1', 'Address2' are valid addresses for your system-- either 16 bits or 24 for regular Apple II or GS. 'Val', 'Val2' ... are valid bytes to store in memory or registers. All addresses, values, etc are hex unless explicitly stated otherwise. In addition, leading 0s from addresses and values can be omitted.
System monitor commands listed by system
How to enter the System Monitor
The system monitor is identified with an asterisk ('*') for a prompt. If you have one of the earliest versions of the Apple II ROM, you will be placed in the monitor immediately on powerup. However, later ('Autostart') versions look for disks to boot first. From all Apple IIs at the Basic (either Applesoft or Integer) prompt, "CALL -151" will enter the monitor. ProDOS's BASIC.SYSTEM version 1.4 and up added the "MTR" command to do the same thing.
GSs with a ROM 01 or 3 have a "Visit Monitor" CDA (Classic Desk Accessory-- accessible from most programs by pressing Control-OpenApple-Escape at once) that is builtin, but not always enabled. To enable this CDA, the easiest way is to go to the "SetStart" Graphical Control Panel, and make sure "Enable Programmer CDAs" is selected, than reboot.
Commands in all System Monitor ROMs
Exiting the monitor:
From within the monitor, the easiest ways to get out are either "^B" or "^C" (don't forget to hit <return> at the end of your line), which return you to either Applesoft or Integer Basic. ^B zaps any program and variables in memory, while ^C preserves them. If you entered the GS's monitor through the "Visit Monitor" CDA, DO NOT use this method to exit to Basic; instead use ^Y as is printed when you enter the monitor-- your system will tend to crash as you attempt to exit.
Examining Memory
"Address" will dump the byte at that address; after that, if <return> is pressed again on a blank line, up to 8 bytes (16 if on a GS in 80-column mode) will be printed in continuing order.
"Address1.Address2" will dump all the memory between the two at up to 8/16 bytes per line. [If Address2 is less than Address1, only the byte at Address1 will be printed.] While doing a memory dump, ^S (no <return> needed) will pause, ^X will stop the dump.
Disassembling Memory
"AddressL" will disassemble 20 lines worth of "instructions" starting at that address; "L" by itself will continue on from wherever the previous "L" ended. Note that there is no effective difference between code and data in terms of the actual bytes in memory, so if the disassembly makes no sense, it may not be of executable code.
Setting Memory
"
" sets one or more bytes of memory. There is a practical limit of the number of bytes you can set at once due to the ~255 character limit of the command line, but whatever you type will be set. "
" continues setting memory from where the last memory set ended, allowing you to continue without retyping the starting address. If you try to mix examining and setting memory, setting reverts to the last explicitly specified address, not whatever was last displayed. For example,
Moving and comparing memory
"
This is more of a copy than move, as the source memory is not modified if the destination range does not overlap the source. The copy is done in increasing order from Address2 to Address3.
"Simple math
"To set the registers, immediately after a ^E, type
"Cassette I/O
If your Apple II supports this (Apple ][, ][+ and //e only), you can read and write programs to a cassette interface attached to your computer's ports. To write a block of memory out, type
"DOS I/O
Assuming that you have booted and entered the Monitor from DOS 3.x or ProDOS's BASIC.SYSTEM, you can execute all normal legal DOS commands just by typing them. This is because the OS intercepts the I/O vectors, and gets commands first before passing them on to whatever else is running. For a full list of commands, see the DOS & Commands FAQ at DOS
Misc I/O command
"GS Extensions to the System Monitor
Note that the following are in addition to the normal features of the Apple II System Monitor as detailed above, except for the obvious lack of cassette tape support.
If you're doing extensive GS programming work, you may find the combination of the GSBug init and the Nifty List CDA to be invaluable and far more useful and powerful than the builtin monitor. GSBug is available from Apple's FTP site; Niftylist is on the usual legitimate Apple II ftp sites, such as:
ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/pub/apple2/addons/cda/niftylist34.shk
Extended syntax
As the 65816 in the GS can address memory 24 bits wide, addresses can now have a third byte in them. They must be specified with a '/' after the bank byte, i.e. "AB/CDEF". Banks specified simply by themself (such as "AB/") are sticky; i.e. if the bank is omitted after that, the last set bank is used.
Searching Memory
"specified pattern. The pattern can be a set of bytes, or a string enclosed in "s.
Extended register examining and setting "The ROM 3 does it right, but may still need to be told what mode to start disassembling in. "^R" resets registers to a "default" state of mostly all 0.
Extended running programs
"Extended math and conversions
Math operations can now take up to 32-bit operands as input. Multiplication is implemented as '*', and integer division is implemented as '_'. The result of addition/subtraction is reported as a 32-bit number; multiplication has a 64-bit result. Division has a 32-bit remainder and quotient reported. Conversions between hexadecimal and decimal is now possible; use "hexval=" to convert to decimal and "=decval" to convert to hex.
Random other GS stuff
"The Miniassembler
The miniassembler is aptly named-- it supports going from assembly mnemonic to the hex form one instruction at a time, no support for labels, inserting code, or anything else. It is mostly useful for quick tests of code.
The miniassembler is accessible from most but not all Apple IIs. From ][s and ][+s with Integer Basic in ROM, type 'In the miniassembler, the first instruction is entered as follows: "Address: opcode [data]". If there are any errors in a line, the speaker beeps, and a ^ is placed under the first location where it thinks there is an error. Continuing lines can be entered as follows: " opcode [data]" (note leading space on line).
To exit the miniassembler, simply hit return on a blank line. In the GS, the miniassembler does not keep track of register sizes; if you want to use a 16-bit value, you must provide 3 or 4 digits, padding it with leading 0s on the left to make that many digits.