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Supplemental Reference Documents

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

For information about older models of Macintosh computers, refer to the developer notes archive at:

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/HardwareDrivers/index.html

In this section:

Apple Technical Notes
3D Graphics
PowerPC G4 Microprocessor
Velocity Engine (AltiVec)
Mac OS X
Open Firmware
RAM Expansion Modules
ATA Interface
USB Interface
FireWire 400 Interface
Wireless Networks
Bluetooth

Apple Technical Notes

Apple Technical Notes answer many specific questions about the operation of Macintosh computers and the Mac OS. The technotes are available on the Technical Note website at

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

3D Graphics

Developers of 3D graphics for games should know about OpenGL for Macintosh, a new version of SGI’s application programming interface (API) and software library for 3D graphics.

Information is available on the World Wide Web at

http://www.apple.com/opengl

Developer support and documentation is available at

http://developer.apple.com/opengl/

PowerPC G4 Microprocessor

Information about the PowerPC G4 microprocessor is available on the World Wide Web at

http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/homepage.jsp?nodeId=0162468rH3bTdG

Velocity Engine (AltiVec)

Velocity Engine is Apple’s name for the AltiVec vector processor in the PowerPC G4 microprocessor. Apple provides support for developers who are starting to use the Velocity Engine in their applications. Documentation, development tools, and sample code are now available on the World Wide Web, at

http://developer.apple.com/hardwaredrivers/ve/index.html

and

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Performance/Conceptual/vDSP/vDSP_Library.pdf

AltiVec Technology Programming Environments Manual (AltiVec PEM) is a reference guide for programmers. It contains a description for each instruction and information to help in understanding how the instruction works. You can obtain a copy of the AltiVec PEM through the Motorola AltiVec site on the World Wide Web, at

http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/overview.jsp?nodeId=02VS0l81285Nf2

Mac OS X

Mac OS X version 10.2.3 is installed by default on the iMac computer. For access to Apple’s developer documentation for Mac OS X, see the Apple Developer Connection (ADC) website at

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

O'Reilly & Associates publishes a series of books about Mac OS X development. The books in this series have been technically reviewed by Apple engineers and are recommended by the Apple Developer Connection.

Open Firmware

The software architecture implemented on current Macintosh computers follows the standard defined by the Open Firmware IEEE 1274-1994 specification. Three Technical Notes provide an introduction to Open Firmware on the Macintosh platform. They are:

TN1061: Open Firmware, Part I, available at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1061.html

TN1062: Open Firmware, Part II, available at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1062.html

TN1044: Open Firmware, Part III, available at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1044.html

Other Technical Notes provide additional information about Open Firmware on the Macintosh.

TN2000: PCI Expansion ROMs and You, at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2000.html

TN2001: Running Files from a Hard Drive in Open Firmware, at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2001.html

TN2004: Debugging Open Firmware Using Telnet, available at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2004.html

RAM Expansion Modules

The 15” iMac uses a 168-pin SDRAM DIMM and a 144-pin SO-DIMM (PC133) for memory expansion. The 17” iMac uses a 184-pin, 8-byte, DDR266B (PC2100) SO-DIMM.

The mechanical characteristics of the DIMM are given in the JEDEC specification numberr JESD-95. The specification can be found by using the search string JESD-95 on the Electronics Industry Association’s website at

http://www.jedec.org/DOWNLOAD/default.cfm

The electrical characteristics of the DIMM and the SO-DIMM are given in JEDEC Standard 21-C, release 7 (JESD-21C). The specification can be found by using the search string JESD21-C on the Electronics Industry Association’s website at

http://www.jedec.org/DOWNLOAD/default.cfm

Information about the PC133 specification is available from Intel’s web site, at

http://developer.intel.com/technology/memory/

ATA Interface

ATA (AT Attachment), also referred to as integrated drive electronics (IDE), is a standard interface used with storage devices such as hard disk drives. For more information on ATA, refer to the following Apple website at

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Hardware/DeviceManagers/ata/ata.html

ATA Manager 4.0 supports driver software for internal IDE drives and includes DMA support. For the latest information about ATA Manager 4.0, see Technical Note TN1098, ATA Device Software Guide Additions and Corrections, available on the world wide web at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1098.html

The web page for Technical Note TN1098 includes a link to a downloadable copy of ATA Device Software Guide.

Information about the ATA standards is available at the Technical Committee T13 AT Attachment website, at

http://www.t13.org/

USB Interface

For more information about USB on Macintosh computers, refer to Apple Computer’s Mac OS USB DDK API Reference. Information is also available on the World Wide Web, at

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Hardware/DeviceManagers/usb/usb.html

USB game controllers are supported by the InputSprocket component of the Apple Games Sprockets software architecture. InputSprocket software and information about the InputSprocket API can be found at

http://developer.apple.com/games/

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

http://www.usb.org/developers/docs

FireWire 400 Interface

For additional information about the FireWire 400 IEEE 1394a interface and the Apple APIs for FireWire 400 software, refer to the resources available on the Apple FireWire web site at:

http://developer.apple.com/hardwaredrivers/firewire/

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

http://shop.ieee.org/store/

You may also find useful information at the 1394 Trade Association’s web site:

http://www.1394ta.org/

Wireless Networks

More information about Wi-Fi and wireless networks using the IEEE 802.11 standard is available on the website of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, at

http://www.wirelessethernet.org/OpenSection/

Bluetooth

For more information regarding Bluetooth technology, refer to the following locations on the World Wide Web.

Bluetooth specification:

http://www.bluetooth.com/

Bluetooth SIG:

http://www.bluetooth.org

Bluetooth developer tools on the Apple web site at:

http://developer.apple.com/hardwaredrivers/bluetooth/

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