Difference between revisions of "Historic Documents"

Revision as of 18:04, 20 July 2025

Historic Technical Documents

This collection of historical documents centers on the Atari 7800 and its hardware, with many originating from the late Atari historian Curt Vendel. Some materials were publicly available through his Atari Museum website, while others have been preserved from his private archives and are now being shared more widely.

In no particular order:

7800_Maria_Specs.pdf

A five-page document outlining Maria's technical specs and architecture. This appears to be a high-level introduction to the Maria chip for customers. (October 1984)

• Note 1: Page 1 mentions a version of Maria (number 1722) intended for 680X0 series processors.
• Note 2: Page 5 notes that the CTRL register's test/forbidden DMA mode “Does not assert HALT,” a detail not known to be documented elsewhere.

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TIA-Maria_Gate-Level_Logic_Diagrams.pdf

This document contains gate level diagrams for the different sections of the planned TIA-Maria hybrid chip. (April 1984)

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GCC_MARIA_Chip_Layout_and_Netlist_Artifacts.zip

The files in this archive appear to represent layout and mask preparation data from various development stages and regional variants of the MARIA chip, including what may be NTSC and PAL configurations. (August 1983)

• Note 1: While some files use the `.GDS` extension, only the "example.gds" file conforms to the standard GDSII (Calma Stream) layout format. See the contained README.txt for more information.

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3600_software_guide.pdf

A document covering programming the 7800, before the 3600 was renamed to the 7800. (October 1983)

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Minnie Subsystem Top-Level Specification – GCC-1730

The top-level specification for the planned "Minnie" in-cart sound chip.

→ See: The 7800 Minnie sound chip

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MiniGumby Sound Synthesis – Analog Output Section Specification – GCC-1730

The analog output section specification for the same planned "Minnie" chip.

→ See: The 7800 Minnie sound chip