cpct_removeInterruptHandler.s

Summary

cpct_removeInterruptHandler.s
Functions
cpct_disableFirmware	Disables Amstrad CPC firmware, preventing it from being executed at every CPU interrupt.
cpct_removeInterruptHandler	Sets nothing as interrupt handler (returns every time it is called).

Functions

cpct_disableFirmware

Disables Amstrad CPC firmware, preventing it from being executed at every CPU interrupt.

C Definition

u16 cpct_disableFirmware ()

Assembly call

call cpct_disableFirmware_asm

Return value

<u16>

Pointer to present interrupt handler (normally, pointer to firmware ROM code). This value should be stored to restore it later, if required.

Details

This function is exactly the same as cpct_removeInterruptHandler, as firmware is executed as an interrupt handler, and disabling them is nothing more than removing it. For more details on how it works, see cpct_removeInterruptHandler

Disabling the firmware is useful for several reasons

Firmware code gets executed 6 times per frame (1 at each interrupt) when is active. If you turn it off, you win CPU clock cycles for your program, because firmware will not execute anymore.
Most of CPCtelera’s functions talk directly to hardware, no to firmware. They are faster, but they do not change firmware variables. As a result, firmware can revert changes made by CPCtelera’s functions when active. For instance, if you change to video mode 0 using CPCtelera’s functions, firmware will see that the video mode is different from what it should be (attending to its own variables) and will change it again to 1. This happens with video modes and palette values mainly.
Also, firmware uses part of the RAM to store its variables (from 0xA6FC to 0xBFFF). If you accidentaly overwrite anything there with firmware being active, unpredictable things will happen, even hanging the computer. Moreover, disabling firmware lets you use this part of the RAM for your own uses.

Destroyed Register values

Required memory

16 bytes

Time Measures

Case | microSecs (us) | CPU Cycles
--------------------------------------
Any  |      22        |     88
--------------------------------------

Credits

This function was initially based on cpc_disableFirmware function from CPCRSLib by Raul Simarro.

cpct_removeInterruptHandler

Sets nothing as interrupt handler (returns every time it is called). It returns previous interrupt handler for restoration purposes.

C Definition

u16 cpct_removeInterruptHandler ()

Assembly call

call cpct_removeInterruptHandler_asm

Return value

(u16, HL)

Previous interrupt code pointer located at 0x0039.

Details

This function sets Interrupt Mode to 1 (call 0x0038 every time a maskable interrupt happens) and then writes assembly instructions EI : RET at 0x0038. (0xC9FB --> 0xFB = EI, 0xC9 = RET). This makes the CPU directly return every time an interrupt creates a jump to 0x0038 (6 times per frame, 300 times per second).

This function retrieves previous interrupt handler before setting it. This previous interrupt handler is returned. You may store it as a 16-bits value and use it again to restore it later on if you wanted.

Modifying the interrupt vector, this function also disables firmware, as firmware will not be called again. Firmware routines are executed as a interrupt handler and the ROM entry point is stored at 0x0039 (a 16-bit address where the firmware code starts).

Before inserting 0xC9FB at 0x0038, the 2 bytes lying at 0x0039 are saved into DE. These 2 bytes are returned to the caller, to let them be stored and restored later on, if normal firmware operation (or previous interrupt handler) is required again. cpct_reenableFirmware may be used for this restoring operation.

Destroyed Register values

Required memory

16 bytes

Time Measures

Case | microSecs (us) | CPU Cycles
-------------------------------------
Any  |     22         |     88
-------------------------------------