Nintendo 64 Specifications

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N64TEK
Nintendo 64 - Technical Info - Last Update: 31/01/08

N64 Reference

Overview
Technical Data
Memory Map Overview
Memory Map Detailed

Hardware Programming
SP Registers
DP Command Registers
DP Span Registers
MIPS Interface Registers
Video Interface Registers

Other
Cartridges

CPU Reference

General Information
CPU Register Set

The Instruction Set
MIPS Instruction Set

About N64TEK
About this Document

Technical Data

Processors

  64bit MIPS Risc CPU, 93.75 MHz (R4300i series)
  64bit MIPS Risc Co-Processor, 62.5 MHz (RCP)
    Built-in Audio/Video Vector Processor (RSP)
    Built-in Pixel Drawing Processor (RDP)

Memory

  4.5 MB Rambus DRAM (36 megabits)
  Rambus DRAM subsystem
  Custom 9-bit Rambus Bus (to the DRAM)

Video

  Resoloutions: 256x224 to 640x480. PAL also 768x576
  Video Output: RF, Stereo A/V, S-Video
  Colour:       21-bit colour video output, 32-bit RGPA, pixel colour frame buffer support

Audio

  Digital Sound
  Wavetable Synthesis

Dimensions

  Width:  260mm (10.23")
  Depth:  190mm (7.48")
  Height: 73mm (2.87")
  Weight: 1.1kg (2.42 lb.)

Memory Map Overview

Memory Map

  00000000-03EFFFFF   RDRAM Memory
  03F00000-03FFFFFF   RDRAM Registers
  04000000-040FFFFF   SP Registers
  04100000-041FFFFF   DP Command Registers
  04200000-042FFFFF   DP Span Registers
  04300000-043FFFFF   MIPS Interface (MI) Registers
  04400000-044FFFFF   Video Interface (VI) Registers
  04500000-045FFFFF   Audio Interface (AI) Registers
  04600000-046FFFFF   Peripheral Interface (PI) Registers
  04700000-047FFFFF   RDRAM Interface (RI) Registers
  04800000-048FFFFF   Serial Interface (SI) Registers
  04900000-04FFFFFF   Unused
  05000000-05FFFFFF   Cartridge Domain 2 Address 1
  06000000-07FFFFFF   Cartridge Domain 1 Address 1
  08000000-0FFFFFFF   Cartridge Domain 2 Address 2
  10000000-1FBFFFFF   Cartridge Domain 1 Address 2
  1FC00000-1FC007BF   PIF Boot ROM
  1FC007C0-1FC007FF   PIF RAM
  1FC00800-1FCFFFFF   Reserved
  1FD00000-7FFFFFFF   Cartridge Domain 1 Address 3
  80000000-FFFFFFFF   External SysAD Device

Memory Map Detailed

RDRAM Memory

  0x00000000  ..   R/W  RDRAM range 0 (2 MB)
  0x00200000  ..   R/W  RDRAM range 1 (2 MB)
  0x00400000       -    Unused

RDRAM Registers

  0x03F00000  4    R/W  RDRAM_CONFIG_REG or RDRAM_DEVICE_TYPE_REG
  0x03F00004  4    R/W  RDRAM_DEVICE_ID_REG
  0x03F00008  4    R/W  RDRAM_DELAY_REG
  0x03F0000C  4    R/W  RDRAM_MODE_REG
  0x03F00010  4    R/W  RDRAM_REF_INTERVAL_REG
  0x03F00014  4    R/W  RDRAM_REF_ROW_REG
  0x03F00018  4    R/W  RDRAM_RAS_INTERVAL_REG
  0x03F0001C  4    R/W  RDRAM_MIN_INTERVAL_REG
  0x03F00020  4    R/W  RDRAM_ADDR_SELECT_REG
  0x03F00024  4    R/W  RDRAM_DEVICE_MANUF_REG
  0x03F00028       -    Unknown

SP Registers

  0x04000000  ..   R/W  SP_DMEM read/write (4 KB)
  0x04001000  ..   R/W  SP_IMEM read/write (4 KB)
  0x04002000  -    -    Unused
  0x04040000  4    R/W  SP_MEM_ADDR_REG   Master, SP memory address
  0x04040004  4    R/W  SP_DRAM_ADDR_REG  Slave, SP DRAM DMA address
  0x04040008  4    R/W  SP_RD_LEN_REG     SP read DMA length
  0x0404000C  4    R/W  SP_WR_LEN_REG     SP write DMA length
  0x04040010  4    R/W  SP_STATUS_REG     SP status
  0x04040014  4    R    SP_DMA_FULL_REG   SP DMA full
  0x04040018  4    R    SP_DMA_BUSY_REG   SP DMA busy
  0x0404001C  4    R/W  SP_SEMAPHORE_REG  SP semaphore
  0x04040020  -    -    Unused
  0x04080000  4    R/W  SP_PC_REG         SP PC
  0x04080004  4    R/W  SP_IBIST_REG      SP IMEM BIST REG
  0x04080008  -    -    Unused

SP Registers

0x04040000 - SP_MEM_ADDR_REG - Master, SP memory address (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-11  DMEM/IMEM address
  12    0=DMEM,1=IMEM

0x04040004 - SP_DRAM_ADDR_REG - Slave, SP DRAM DMA address (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-23  RDRAM address

0x04040008 - SP_RD_LEN_REG - SP read DMA length (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-11  length
  12-19 count
  20-31 skip

direction: I/DMEM <- RDRAM

0x0404000C - SP_WR_LEN_REG - SP write DMA length (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-11  length
  12-19 count
  20-31 skip

direction: I/DMEM to RDRAM

0x04040010 - SP_STATUS_REG - SP status (Read/Write)

Write:
  Bit   Expl.
  0     clear halt
  1     set halt
  2     clear broke
  3     clear intr
  4     set intr
  5     clear sstep
  6     set sstep
  7     clear intr on break
  8     set intr on break
  9     clear signal 0
  10    set signal 0
  11    clear signal 1
  12    set signal 1
  13    clear signal 2
  14    set signal 2
  15    clear signal 3
  16    set signal 3
  17    clear signal 4
  18    set signal 4
  19    clear signal 5
  20    set signal 5
  21    clear signal 6
  22    set signal 6
  23    clear signal 7
  24    set signal 7

Read:
  Bit   Expl.
  0     halt
  1     broke
  2     dma busy
  3     dma full
  4     io full
  5     single step
  6     interrupt on break
  7     signal 0 set
  8     signal 1 set
  9     signal 2 set
  10    signal 3 set
  11    signal 4 set
  12    signal 5 set
  13    signal 6 set
  14    signal 7 set

0x04040014 - SP_DMA_FULL_REG - SP DMA full (Read)

  Bit   Expl.
  0     valid bit

dma full

0x04040018 - SP_DMA_BUSY_REG - SP DMA busy (Read)

  Bit   Expl.
  0     valid bit

dma busy

0x0404001C - SP_SEMAPHORE_REG - SP semaphore (Read/Write)

Write:
  Bit   Expl.
  -     clear semaphore flag

Read:
  Bit   Expl.
  0     semaphore flag (set on read)

0x04080000 - SP_PC_REG - SP PC (Read/Write)

Write:
  Bit   Expl.
  0     BIST check
  1     BIST go
  2     BIST clear

Read:
  Bit   Expl.
  0     BIST check
  1     BIST go
  2     BIST done
  3-6   BIST fail

0x04080004 - SP_IBIST_REG - SP IMEM BIST REG (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-11  program counter

DP Command Registers

0x04100000 - DPC_START_REG - DP CMD DMA start (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-23  DMEM/RDRAM start address

0x04100004 - DPC_END_REG - DP CMD DMA end (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-23  DMEM/RDRAM end address

0x04100008 - DPC_CURRENT_REG - DP CMD DMA end (Read)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-23  DMEM/RDRAM current address

0x0410000C - DPC_STATUS_REG - DP CMD status (Read/Write)

Write:
  Bit   Expl.
  0     clear xbus_dmem_dma
  1     set xbus_dmem_dma
  2     clear freeze
  3     set freeze
  4     clear flush
  5     set flush
  6     clear tmem ctr
  7     clear pipe ctr
  8     clear cmd ctr
  9     clear clock ctr

Read:
  Bit   Expl.
  0     xbus_dmem_dma
  1     freeze
  2     flush
  3     start gclk
  4     tmem busy
  5     pipe busy
  6     cmd busy
  7     cbuf ready
  8     dma busy
  9     end valid
  10    start valid

0x04100010 - DPC_CLOCK_REG - DP clock counter (Read)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-23  clock counter

0x04100014 - DPC_BUFBUSY_REG - DP buffer busy counter (Read)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-23  clock counter

0x04100018 - DPC_PIPEBUSY_REG - DP pipe busy counter (Read)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-23  clock counter

0x0410001C - DPC_TMEM_REG - DP TMEM load counter (Read)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-23  clock counter

DP Span Registers

0x04200000 - DPS_TBIST_REG - DP tmem bist (Read/Write)

Write:
  Bit   Expl.
  0     BIST check
  1     BIST go 
  2     BIST clear

Read:
  Bit   Expl.
  0     BIST check
  1     BIST go
  2     BIST done
  3-10  BIST fail

0x04200004 - DPS_TEST_MODE_REG - DP span test mode (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0     Span buffer test access enable

0x04200008 - DPS_BUFTEST_ADDR_REG - DP span buffer test address (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-6   bits

0x0420000C - DPS_BUFTEST_DATA_REG - DP span buffer test data (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-31  span buffer data

MIPS Interface (MI) Registers

0x04300000 - MI_INIT_MODE_REG or MI_MODE_REG - MI init mode (Read/Write)

Write:
  Bit   Expl.
  0-6   init length
  7     clear init mode
  8     set init mode
  9     clr ebus test mode
  10    set ebus test mode
  11    clear DP interrupt
  12    clear RDRAM reg
  13    set RDRAM reg mode

Read:
  Bit   Expl.
  0-6   init length
  7     init mode
  8     ebus test mode
  9     RDRAM reg mode

0x04300004 - MI_VERSION_REG or MI_NOOP_REG - MI version (Read)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-7   io
  8-15  rac
  16-23 rdp
  24-31 rsp

Project64 (1.4): 0x02020102

0x04300008 - MI_INTR_REG - MI interrupt (Read)

  Bit   Expl.
  0     SP intr
  1     SI intr
  2     AI intr
  3     VI intr
  4     PI intr
  5     DP intr

0x0430000C - MI_INTR_MASK_REG - MI interrupt mask (Read/Write)

Write:
  Bit   Expl.
  0     clear SP mask
  1     set SP mask
  2     clear SI mask
  3     set SI mask
  4     clear AI mask
  5     set AI mask
  6     clear VI mask
  7     set VI mask
  8     clear PI mask
  9     set PI mask
  10    clear DP mask
  11    set DP mask

Read:
  Bit   Expl.
  0     SP intr mask
  1     SI intr mask
  2     AI intr mask
  3     VI intr mask
  4     PI intr mask
  5     DP intr mask

Video Interface (VI) Registers

0x04400000 - VI_STATUS_REG or VI_CONTROL_REG - VI status/control (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-1   Type (Pixel Size) (0-3, see below)
         0 = blank    (no data, no sync)
         1 = reserved
         2 = 5/5/5/3  ("16" bit)
         3 = 8/8/8/8  (32 bit)
  2     Gamma Dither Enable (normally on, unless "special effect")
  3     Gamma Enable (normally on, unless MGEG/JPEG)
  4     DIVOT Enable (normally on if antialiased unless decal lines)
  5     reserved - always off
  6     serrate (always on if interlaced, off if not)
  7     reserved - diagnostics only
  8-9   anti-alias (aa) mode
         0 = aa & resamp (always fetch extra lines)
		 1 = aa & resamp (fetch extra lines if needed)
		 2 = resamp only (treat as all fully covered)
		 3 = neither (replicate pixels, no interpolate)
  11    reserved - diagnostics only
  12-15 reserved

0x04400004 - VI_ORIGIN_REG or VI_DRAM_ADDR_REG - VI origin (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-23  frame buffer origin in bytes

0x04400008 - VI_WIDTH_REG or VI_H_WIDTH_REG - VI width (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-11  frame buffer line width in pixels

0x0440000C - VI_INTR_REG or VI_V_INTR_REG - VI vertical intr (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-9   interrupt when current half-line = V_INTR

0x04400010 - VI_CURRENT_REG or VI_V_CURRENT_LINE_REG - VI current vertical line (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-9   current half line, sampled once per line - Writes clears interrupt line

current half line, sampled once per line (the lsb of V_CURRENT is constant within a field, and interlaced modes gives the field number - which is constant for non-interlaced modes) - Any write to this register will clear interrupt line

0x04400014 - VI_BURST_REG or VI_TIMING_REG - VI video timing (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-7   horizontal sync width in pixels
  8-15  color burst width in pixels
  16-19 vertical sync width in half lines
  20-29 start of color burst in pixels from h-sync

0x04400018 - VI_V_SYNC_REG - VI vertical sync (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-9   number of half-lines per field

0x0440001C - VI_H_SYNC_REG - VI horizontal sync (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-11  total duration of a line in 1/4 pixel
  16-20 a 5-bit leap pattern used for PAL only (h_sync_period)

0x04400020 - VI_LEAP_REG or VI_H_SYNC_LEAP_REG - VI horizontal sync leap (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-11  identical to h_sync_period
  16-27 identical to h_sync_period

0x04400024 - VI_H_START_REG or VI_H_VIDEO_REG - VI horizontal video (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-9   end of active video in screen pixels
  16-25 start of active video in screen pixels

0x04400028 - VI_V_START_REG or VI_V_VIDEO_REG - VI vertical video (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-9   end of active video in screen half-lines
  16-25 start of active video in screen half-lines

0x0440002C - VI_V_BURST_REG - VI vertical burst (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-9   end of color burst enable in half-lines
  16-25 start of color burst enable in half-lines

0x04400030 - VI_X_SCALE_REG - VI x-scale (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-11  1/horizontal scale up factor (2.10 format)
  16-27 horizontal subpixel offset (2.10 format)

0x04400034 - VI_Y_SCALE_REG - VI y-scale (Read/Write)

  Bit   Expl.
  0-11  1/vertical scale up factor (2.10 format)
  16-27 vertical subpixel offset (2.10 format)

Cartridges

Rom
Cartridge Header

Cartridge Header

Header Overview

  Address Bytes Expl.
  0x0000  1     initial PI_BSB_DOM1_LAT_REG value (0x80)
  0x0001  1     initial PI_BSB_DOM1_PGS_REG value (0x37)
  0x0002  1     initial PI_BSB_DOM1_PWD_REG value (0x12)
  0x0003  1     initial PI_BSB_DOM1_PGS_REG value (0x40)
  0x0004  4     ClockRate
  0x0008  4     Program Counter (PC)
  0x000C  4     Release
  0x0010  4     CRC1
  0x0014  4     CRC2
  0x0018  8     Unknown (0x0000000000000000)
  0x0020  20    Image Name
  0x0034  4     Unknown (0x00000000)
  0x0038  4     Manufacturer ID
  0x003C  2     Cartridge ID
  0x003E  2     Country Code
  0x0040  4032  Boot Code

0x0020 - Image Name, Ascii, max. 20 characters
Space for the game title. Padded with 0x00 or spaces (0x20).

0x003E - Country Code, 2 characters

  Value  Expl.
  0x3700 Beta ('7')
  0x4100 ??? ('A')
  0x4400 Germany ('D')
  0x4500 USA ('E')
  0x4600 French ('F')
  0x4900 Italian ('I')
  0x4A00 Japan ('J')
  0x5000 Europe ('P')
  0x5300 Spanish ('S')
  0x5500 Australia ('U')
  0x5800 PAL ('X')
  0x5900 PAL ('Y')

CPU Register Set

The R4300i CPU provides sixty-four 64-bit wide registers. Thirty-two of these registers, referred to as General Purpose Register (GPRs), are reserved for integer operations while the other thirty-two register, referred to as Floating Point General Purpose Register (FGRs), are reserved for floating point operations.

General Purpose Registers (GPRs)

  Register     Name
  r0           r0
  r1           at
  r2           v0
  r3           v1
  r4           a0
  r5           a1
  r6           a2
  r7           a3
  r8           t0
  r9           t1
  r10          t2
  r11          t3
  r12          t4
  r13          t5
  r14          t6
  r15          t7
  r16          s0
  r17          s1
  r18          s2
  r19          s3
  r20          s4
  r21          s5
  r22          s6
  r23          s7
  r24          t8
  r25          t9
  r26          k0
  r27          k1
  r28          gp
  r29          sp
  r30          s8
  r31          ra

R0 Register (R0)
R0 is hardwired to a value of zero, and can be used as the target register for any instruction whose result is to be discarded. R0 can also be used as a source when a zero value is needed.

R29 Register (SP)
R29 is generally used as the stack pointer, but it can be used for other thing, too.

R31 Register (RA)
R31 is the link register used by Jump and Link instructions. It should not be used by other instructions.

FP General Purpose Registers (FGRs)

  Register     Name
  FGR0         f0
  FGR1         f1
  FGR2         f2
  FGR3         f3
  FGR4         f4
  FGR5         f5
  FGR6         f6
  FGR7         f7
  FGR8         f8
  FGR9         f9
  FGR10        f10
  FGR11        f11
  FGR12        f12
  FGR13        f13
  FGR14        f14
  FGR15        f15
  FGR16        f16
  FGR17        f17
  FGR18        f18
  FGR19        f19
  FGR20        f20
  FGR21        f21
  FGR22        f22
  FGR23        f23
  FGR24        f24
  FGR25        f25
  FGR26        f26
  FGR27        f27
  FGR28        f28
  FGR29        f29
  FGR30        f30
  FGR31        f31

The width of these registers depends on the mode of operation. In 32-bit mode, they are treated as 32 bits wide. In 64-bit mode, they are treated as 64 bits wide.

The R4300i also contains six special registers: the program counter (PC), multiply/divide result Hi and Lo, Load/Link (LL) bit, and floating point Implementation and Control registers FCR0 and FCR31. The program counter register contains the address of the current instruction. The multiply/divide registers store the result of integer multiply operations and the quotient and remainder of integer divide operations. The load/link bit is dedicated for load-link and store-conditional instructions which can be used to perform SYNC operations. The two floating point control registers, FCR0 and FCR31, provide the implementation/revision information and control/status of the floating point coprocessor (CP1).

Special Registers

  Register Size  Name
  -------------------------------------------------
  Program Counter:
  PC        64   Program Counter

  Multiply/Divide Registers:
  MultHI    64   MultHI
  MultLO    64   MultLO

  Floating Point:
  FCR0      32   Implementation/Revision Information
  FCR31     32   Control/Status

  Load/Link Bit:
  LLBit     1    Load/Link Bit

MIPS Instruction Set

Summary
MIPS Instruction Summary

MIPS Instruction Summary

Arithmetic Operations

  Instruction        Bit Format Expl.
  ADD    Rd,Rs,Rt     32  R   Rd=Rs+Rt
  ADDI   Rt,Rs,Imm    32  I   Rt=Rs+nn
  ADDIU  Rt,Rs,UImm   32  I   Rt=Rs+nn
  ADDU   Rd,Rs,URt    32  R   Rd=Rs+Rt
  AND    Rd,Rs,Rt     --  R   Rd=Rs AND Rt
  ANDI   Rt,Rs,Imm    --  I   Rt=Rs AND nn
  DADD   Rd,Rs,Rt     64  R   Rd=Rs+Rt
  DADDI  Rt,Rs,Imm    64  I   Rt=Rs+nn
  DADDIU Rt,Rs,UImm   64  I   Rt=Rs+nn
  DADDU  Rd,Rs,Rt     64  R   Rd=Rs+Rt
  DDIV   Rs,Rt        64      LO=rs/rt, HI=rs%rt
  DDIVU  Rs,URt       64      LO=rs/rt, HI=rs%rt

MIPS Binary Opcode Format

 Type|31__26|25_21|20_16|15_11|10__6|5____0|
 _I__|__Op__|_Rs__|_Rt__|____Immediate_____|Immediate
 _J__|__Op__|____________Target____________|Jump
 _R__|__Op__|_Rs__|_Rt__|_Rd__|_Sa__|_Func_|Register

About this Document

About
N64TEK written 2007 by Julian Brehmer.

Sources
http://www.answers.com/topic/nintendo-64