Bought two books
 

One is "Mastering Amiga AMOS" the other is "Amiga Machine Language" by Abacus.

Now... I kinda wanted the asm-book because it looks clever to code in assembler....

This book mentions three assembler programmes, ASSEM (From the Amiga's developement package), AssemPro (The Abacus assembler) and K-Seka

I realise that the book is from 1998 and thus mainly for the A500/A2000 models, however, I thought I could use it to get a basic knowlegde and expand to the A1200 from there. Although, I'll prolly need to use WinUAE if I "need" to code under 1.x because of the book.. no big deal.

However: since the book mentions these three, is there any way of obtaining either? I tried AsmPro and AsmOne on the A1200 yesterday, but it seems these doesn't want to follow the code examples in the book(giving me "illegal instruction in line xx), so I kinda thought the older assemblers could be worth a try, if that makes sense?

Cheers, Doc

are you sure it's from 1998?

He probably means 1989. The Abacus books are "not exactly good" anyway. ;D

All of the assemblers you mention will assemble any valid 68000 opcodes with no problems.

At a guess I'd say it's most likely that the "invalid instruction" stuff you're getting is from using directives that aren't supported by the assemblers you've tried.

For example, the assembler I use (Devpac) will accept dcb.x but doesn't like the equivalent that some other assemblers use of blk.x

You could try using an assembler that supports both forms - I think PhxAss does IIRC.

Are you formatting the lines correctly? What I mean is, they usually have the format:

label: opcode.extension register/value ;line comment

Failing that, post what you're having problems assembling and I'll try to help you. :)

Instruction I got problems with is move.l #1,d0

And I can't figure excactly *why* becuase I'm sure it's a valid instruction

And the book is from 1988 ;)

You're right - move.l #1,d0 is most definitely a valid instruction!

It shouldn't matter what assembler you're using - they will all handle that one. :D

To start with, I'd reiterate what I said previously - make sure you format the line correctly. Type:

<tab> move.l <tab> #1,d0

and try to assemble.

Is it neccessary to have a start label? (A friend of mine always had "S:" as his main routine)

Nope, not needed.

No, it shouldn't be necessary to have a start label but it won't do any harm.

You should be able to assemble:

start: <tab> move.l <tab> #1,d0

just as well as:

<tab> move.l <tab> #1,d0

To help you, I've attached a .zip file with a disk image inside. It's a bootable disk that will load up a Workbench screen. Open the Devpac drawer and double click the Devpac icon. This will start up the Devpac assembler.

The program will open in an editor window. Type in your command:

<tab> move.l <tab> #1,d0

and then, from the menus at the top choose Program --> Assemble

It will assemble with no problems, I know cos I just tested it. ;)

EDIT: Attachment removed as no longer needed by DM.

cheers, PMC ^^

*sigh* I kinda wish I wasn't working nights.... when me GF wakes me up in the afternoon (around 5-ish) I kinda want to spend time with untill I have to leave for work.... which makes learning coding and stuff kinda awkward as I only have mondy and tuesday off of work :(

I retried the move-command in AsmOne and it works as I thought it should from the start. So now to plow through the book before I start updating AMOSPro :P

No worries man.

As you will have probably read - enough people around here have helped me with all manner of things when I get stuck.

I need to return the favour and help others to keep my karma in balance. :D

It's tough sometimes to get time for coding - normal life gets in the way - but stick with it, you'll find it rewarding and enjoyable too. :great

If you want a really good guide to learning 68000 stuff then buy this book second hand:

68000, 68010, 68020 Primer by Stan Kelly-Bootle & Bob Fowler. ISBN:0672224054

It's *really* clear and helpful. :great

Oh and get a copy of the Hardware Reference Manual too. :)

Updating Amos Pro? How? Why?

Well, AMOS source code is available for download from the original creators. See here: http://www.clickteam.com/eng/downloadcenter.php?i=37 Maybe Doc Mindie has plans to modify the code?

Though quirky, I always loved AMOS and its great IDE. It's one of those languages where you can turn ideas into working code immediately.

Edwin

@Doc Mindie

You're not the only one wanting to come out with an updated version of AmosPro. :)

@wolfchild

That's the Amos: the Creator source code. AmosPro's source isn't available. He could write extensions for them though.

Yes, I understand Doc Mindie wants to maybe modify the code or create an extension, but why? I am not saying there is no reason to do it, in fact there are plenty of reasons, but I am just curious what he/she may be trying to accomplish.

@Doc Mindie, you are probably already aware of the Amos Factory website, but if not, join the site and come have a chat.
http://amos.pspuae.com

The only books you really need (to code directly for the hardware) is HRM and a book from Motorola on the 68000 [series], like the Programmer's Reference Manual. That gives you the truth directly from the source. :)

For deep-down libraries programming you need some big thick books :P, and if you want tutorials/examples specifically for Amiga, hardware or libs, there's System Programmer's Guide and a bunch more...

I was acyually joking about updating AmosPro meself... ;)

However it IS in need of some serious updating... to take advantage of AGA is just one thing.

There is an extension which allows the use of AGA. You could probably find it at the Amos Factory website. ;)