Supplemental Reference Documents

For more information about the technologies mentioned in this developer note, you may wish to consult some of the references listed in the following sections.

PowerPC Microprocessor

For more information about the PowerPC 750 microprocessor used in the Power Macintosh G3 computer, you may wish to refer to the standard reference, PowerPC 740/750 Microprocessor Implementation Definition Book IV. Information about the PowerPC 750 microprocessor is also available on the World Wide Web at

http://www.mot.com/SPS/PowerPC/index.html

and

http://www.chips.ibm.com/products/ppc/overview

Mac OS

For a description of the version of the Mac OS that comes with the new models, refer to the Apple Technical Note for Mac OS 8.5. The Technote is available on the Technote Web site at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/index.html

You should also have copies of the relevant books describing the system software for Macintosh computers available in technical bookstores and on the World Wide Web at

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/macos8/mac8.html

Open Firmware

The NewWorld software architecture implemented on the Power Macintosh G3 computer follows some of the standards defined by the Open Firmware IEEE 1274-1995 specification and the CHRP binding.

The primary Open Firmware reference is the IEEE 1275-1994 Standard for Boot (Initialization, Configuration) Firmware: Core Requirements and Practices. You can order that document electronically from the IEEE Standards Department web site at

http://standards.ieee.org/catalog/bus.html

or you can order it by mail from

IEEE Standards Department 445 Hoes Lane, P. O. Box 1331 Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331 Telephone 800-678-4333 (US), 908-562-5432 (International)

The basis for the bootinfo file format and its use are described the document PowerPC Microprocessor Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP ) System binding to: IEEE Std 1275-1994 Standard for Boot (Initialization, Configuration) Firmware. A bootinfo file contains Open Firmware script, a description, information for individual operating systems, and icons, along with other information.

An introduction to Open Firmware as used with PCI expansion cards on the Macintosh computer is given in Designing PCI Cards and Drivers for Power Macintosh Computers.

Three Apple Technical Notes provide additional information about Open Firmware on the Macintosh computer. They are

PCI Cards

For information about PCI expansion cards, refer to Designing PCI Cards and Drivers for Power Macintosh Computers. The Power Macintosh G3 computer supports version 2.1 of the PCI standard.

If you're interested in taking advantage of the 3D graphics acceleration features available on the PCI graphics card, you should have a copy of 3D Graphics Programming With QuickDraw 3D.

USB Devices

For more information about the Universal Serial Bus (USB) on the Macintosh computer, refer to Apple Computer's USB DDK API Reference. Information is also available on the World Wide Web, at

http://developer.apple.com/hardware/usb/

For full specifications of the Universal Serial Bus, developers should refer to the USB Implementation Forum on the World Wide Web, at

http://www.usb.org/developers/index.html

FireWire Interface

For additional information about the FireWire IEEE 1394 interface and the Apple APIs for FireWire software, refer to the resources available on the Apple FireWire Web site at

http://www.apple.com/firewire/

The IEEE 1394-1995 standard is available from the IEEE. Ordering information can be found on the World Wide Web at

http://www.ieee.org

You may also find useful information at the 1394 trade association's Web site at

http://www.1394ta.org/