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UpdatedApril 19, 2026 at 15:59

Complete Game Boy DMG hardware reference — all registers, timing, opcodes, PPU modes, APU circuits, MBC banking. Authoritative inline spec for emulator implementation.

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Related occupationsSOC

Based on SOC occupation classification

Software DevelopersComputer and Mathematical Occupations·SOC 15-1252

SKILL.md

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SPECS (DMG)

CPU: SM83 (8080-like), 4.194304 MHz master clock, system clock = master/4
WRAM: 8 KiB; VRAM: 8 KiB; LCD: 160×144; OBJ: 8×8 or 8×16, max 40/screen 10/line
Palettes (DMG): BG 1×4, OBJ 2×3; Colors: 4 shades of green; Vsync: 59.73 Hz
APU: 4 channels, stereo output; Sound: DMG 4 channels
Frame: ~16.74 ms (NOT exactly 60 Hz — 0.45% slow); 1 dot = 1 T-cycle = 2^22 Hz ≈ 4.194 MHz

MEMORY MAP

Range	Description
$0000–$3FFF	ROM bank 00 (fixed)
$4000–$7FFF	ROM bank 01–NN (switchable via MBC)
$8000–$9FFF	VRAM (8 KiB)
$A000–$BFFF	External RAM (cartridge)
$C000–$CFFF	WRAM bank 0 (4 KiB)
$D000–$DFFF	WRAM bank 1 (4 KiB)
$E000–$FDFF	Echo RAM (mirror of C000–DDFF, prohibited)
$FE00–$FE9F	OAM (40 entries × 4 bytes)
$FEA0–$FEFF	Prohibited (DMG: reads trigger OAM corruption during mode 2, else $00)
$FF00–$FF7F	I/O Registers
$FF80–$FFFE	HRAM
$FFFF	IE (Interrupt Enable)

Echo RAM: E000–FDFF mirrors C000–DDFF (only lower 13 address bits connected). Same effect as C000–DDFF reads/writes. Prohibited by Nintendo.

Jump vectors: RST = $0000,$0008,$0010,$0018,$0020,$0028,$0030,$0038; Interrupts = $0040,$0048,$0050,$0058,$0060

VRAM layout: 384 tiles × 16 bytes = $8000–$97FF (tile data); two 32×32 tile maps at $9800–$9BFF and $9C00–$9FFF

HARDWARE REGISTERS

Addr	Name	R/W	Description
$FF00	P1/JOYP	Mixed	Joypad
$FF01	SB	R/W	Serial transfer data
$FF02	SC	Mixed	Serial transfer control
$FF04	DIV	R/W	Divider (write resets to $00)
$FF05	TIMA	R/W	Timer counter
$FF06	TMA	R/W	Timer modulo
$FF07	TAC	R/W	Timer control
$FF0F	IF	R/W	Interrupt flag
$FF10–$FF26	NR10–NR52	Mixed	Audio
$FF30–$FF3F	Wave RAM	R/W	CH3 waveform
$FF40	LCDC	R/W	LCD control
$FF41	STAT	Mixed	LCD status
$FF42	SCY	R/W	BG viewport Y
$FF43	SCX	R/W	BG viewport X
$FF44	LY	R	LCD Y coordinate
$FF45	LYC	R/W	LY compare
$FF46	DMA	R/W	OAM DMA source/start
$FF47	BGP	R/W	BG palette (DMG only)
$FF48	OBP0	R/W	OBJ palette 0 (DMG only)
$FF49	OBP1	R/W	OBJ palette 1 (DMG only)
$FF4A	WY	R/W	Window Y position
$FF4B	WX	R/W	Window X position +7
$FF50	BANK	W	Boot ROM disable
$FFFF	IE	R/W	Interrupt enable

CPU

Registers

16-bit	Hi	Lo	Purpose
AF	A	—	Accumulator & Flags
BC	B	C	General purpose
DE	D	E	General purpose
HL	H	L	General purpose / indirect
SP	—	—	Stack Pointer
PC	—	—	Program Counter

Flags (lower byte of AF)

Bit	Flag	Set when
7	Z	Result = 0
6	N	Subtraction (BCD)
5	H	Half-carry (BCD)
4	C	Carry / borrow / shift-out 1

Carry set: 8-bit add > $FF, 16-bit add > $FFFF, sub/cmp < 0, rotate/shift outputs 1. BCD flags (N,H) used only by DAA.

Instruction Encoding

Placeholders: r8 = B/C/D/E/H/L/[HL]/A (0–7); r16 = BC/DE/HL/SP; r16stk = BC/DE/HL/AF; r16mem = BC/DE/HL+/HL-; cond = nz/z/nc/c; b3 = bit index 0–7; tgt3 = RST target/8; imm8/imm16 = following bytes (little-endian)

Block 0: nop; ld r16,imm16; ld [r16mem],a; ld a,[r16mem]; ld [imm16],sp; inc/dec r16; add hl,r16; inc/dec r8; ld r8,imm8; rlca/rrca/rla/rra/daa/cpl/scf/ccf; jr imm8; jr cond,imm8; stop

Block 1: ld r8,r8 — except ld [hl],[hl] = halt ($76)

Block 2: add/adc/sub/sbc/and/xor/or/cp a,r8

Block 3: add/adc/sub/sbc/and/xor/or/cp a,imm8; ret cond; ret; reti; jp cond,imm16; jp imm16; jp hl; call cond,imm16; call imm16; rst tgt3; pop/push r16stk; $CB prefix; ldh [c],a; ldh [imm8],a; ld [imm16],a; ldh a,[c]; ldh a,[imm8]; ld a,[imm16]; add sp,imm8; ld hl,sp+imm8; ld sp,hl; di; ei

Invalid opcodes (hard-lock CPU): $D3,$DB,$DD,$E3,$E4,$EB,$EC,$ED,$F4,$FC,$FD

$CB prefix: rlc/rrc/rl/rr/sla/sra/swap/srl r8; bit/res/set b3,r8

STOP: 2-byte instruction; second byte not always ignored. On DMG, must disable LCD before entering STOP or risk hardware damage (black line burned in). Terminated by P10–P13 low (button press).

SM83 vs Z80 differences

No IX/IY registers; no DD/FD/ED prefixes; no second register set; no dedicated I/O bus (use LDH instead); parity/sign/overflow flags removed; RETI replaces EXX ($D9); SWAP replaces SLL ($CB3x); ADD SP,dd replaces RET M; autoincrement HL access added; all timings multiple of 4 T-cycles. Approx speed of 4 MHz Z80.

Opcode	Z80	SM83
$08	EX AF,AF	LD (nn),SP
$10	DJNZ	STOP
$22	LD (nn),HL	LDI (HL),A
$2A	LD HL,(nn)	LDI A,(HL)
$32	LD (nn),A	LDD (HL),A
$3A	LD A,(nn)	LDD A,(HL)
$D9	EXX	RETI
$E0	RET PO	LD (FF00+n),A
$E2	JP PO,nn	LD (FF00+C),A
$E8	RET PE	ADD SP,dd
$EA	JP PE,nn	LD (nn),A
$F0	RET P	LD A,(FF00+n)
$F2	JP P,nn	LD A,(FF00+C)
$F8	RET M	LD HL,SP+dd
$FA	JP M,nn	LD A,(nn)
$CB3x	SLL	SWAP

HALT

halt pauses CPU until IE & IF != 0. IME must be set for interrupt to be serviced after wake.

halt bug: When IME=0 and IE & IF != 0 at time of halt: halt exits immediately, but PC is not incremented — the byte after halt is read twice.

If halt immediately after ei (IME still 0): interrupt serviced, handler returns to halt, waits again.
If halt immediately before rst: RST return address points to RST itself (not byte after it).
If ei before halt AND rst after halt: ei case wins.

INTERRUPTS

IME (Interrupt Master Enable) — write-only, internal flag

ei: IME=1 (effect delayed one instruction)
di: IME=0
reti: IME=1 + return
Entering handler: IME=0

ei effect delayed by one instruction: ei followed immediately by di allows no interrupt.

FF0F — IF: Interrupt Flag | $FFFF — IE: Interrupt Enable

Both same bit layout:

Bit	Source	Vector
0	VBlank	$0040
1	STAT/LCD	$0048
2	Timer	$0050
3	Serial	$0058
4	Joypad	$0060

Bit 0 = highest priority. IF bit set = interrupt requested. Serviced only when IME=1 AND matching IE bit set.

Interrupt Dispatch (5 M-cycles total)

Reset IF bit and IME
2 wait states (2 M-cycles)
Push current PC to stack (2 M-cycles)
Set PC to handler address (1 M-cycle)

Interrupt Sources

VBlank ($0040): Fires when PPU enters VBlank (LY=144), ~59.7 Hz. VRAM freely accessible during VBlank (~1.1 ms).
STAT ($0048): Rising edge on shared STAT interrupt line (OR of enabled sources: mode 0/1/2, LYC=LY). STAT blocking: if line already high, no interrupt fires for subsequent sources.
Timer ($0050): Fires when TIMA overflows ($FF→$00+interrupt).
Serial ($0058): Fires on completion of 8-bit serial transfer.
Joypad ($0060): Fires when P10–P13 go high→low (button pressed). Switch bounce common. Useful mainly to exit STOP mode.

TIMER

Registers

$FF04 DIV: Increments at 16384 Hz. Write any value → reset to $00. Also reset by stop. DIV is the visible upper 8 bits of the 16-bit system counter.
$FF05 TIMA: Incremented at rate set by TAC. On overflow: reset to TMA, request timer interrupt.
$FF06 TMA: Reload value for TIMA on overflow.
$FF07 TAC:
- Bit 2: Timer enable (TIMA; DIV always counts)
- Bits 1–0 clock select:
  - 00: every 256 M-cycles → 4096 Hz
  - 01: every 4 M-cycles → 262144 Hz
  - 10: every 16 M-cycles → 65536 Hz
  - 11: every 64 M-cycles → 16384 Hz

Obscure Behavior (DMG)

System counter (full 16-bit) drives timer via falling-edge detector on selected bit:

Writing DIV (resets counter to 0) can instantly trigger a timer tick if selected bit was 1.
Changing TAC clock select from a set bit to a clear bit sends a timer tick.
On DMG: disabling timer while selected bit is set sends one tick.
TIMA overflow behavior: TIMA=0 for one M-cycle (cycle A), then TMA copied and IF set (cycle B).
- Writing TIMA during cycle A cancels the overflow (no TMA copy, no IF set).
- Writing TIMA during cycle B is ignored (TMA wins).
- Writing TMA during cycle B: same value copies to TIMA on same cycle.
DIV-APU: APU events triggered by falling edge on bit 4 of system counter (512 Hz).

PPU / GRAPHICS

PPU Modes (per scanline, 456 dots total)

Mode	Action	Duration	CPU VRAM access	CPU OAM access
2	OAM scan	80 dots	Yes	No
3	Pixel transfer	172–289 dots	No	No
0	HBlank	376 - mode3 dots	Yes	Yes
1	VBlank	4560 dots (lines 144–153)	Yes	Yes

Frame: 154 scanlines × 456 dots = 70224 dots total.

Mode 3 Length Penalties

Default minimum: 172 dots (160px + 12 fixed). Penalties lengthen Mode 3, shorten Mode 0:

SCX % 8 extra dots at start (pixel discard)
+6 dots for window activation
Per-object: 6–11 dots each (see OBJ penalty algorithm)
OBJ at X=0: always 11 dots regardless of SCX

OBJ penalty algorithm: For each OBJ's leftmost pixel ("The Pixel"):

Find which BG/window tile contains The Pixel.
If tile not yet seen by prior OBJ: penalty = max(0, pixels_right_of_Pixel_in_tile - 2) dots.
+6 flat dots (OBJ tile fetch).

FF40 — LCDC

Bit	Function	0	1
7	LCD+PPU enable	Off	On
6	Window tile map	$9800	$9C00
5	Window enable	Off	On
4	BG+Window tile data	$8800 ($9000 base, signed)	$8000 (unsigned)
3	BG tile map	$9800	$9C00
2	OBJ size	8×8	8×16
1	OBJ enable	Off	On
0	BG+Window enable (DMG)	White (off)	On

LCDC.7: Disable only during VBlank — disabling during active display burns hardware. Screen blank (white) while disabled; first frame after re-enable is blank.

LCDC.4 (BG/Win tile addressing):

Mode 1 ($8000 method): tiles 0–127 in block 0 ($8000–$87FF), 128–255 in block 1 ($8800–$8FFF). Unsigned.
Mode 0 ($8800 method): tiles 0–127 in block 2 ($9000–$97FF), 128–255 in block 1. $9000 = signed base.
OBJ always use $8000 method.

LCDC.0 (DMG): Clears both BG and Window (white); LCDC.5 ignored. Objects can still show.

FF41 — STAT

Bit	Field	R/W
6	LYC int select	R/W
5	Mode 2 int select	R/W
4	Mode 1 int select	R/W
3	Mode 0 int select	R/W
2	LYC == LY	R
1–0	PPU mode	R

Spurious STAT (DMG only): Writing to STAT during OAM scan/HBlank/VBlank/LYC=LY triggers LCD interrupt as if $FF written for one M-cycle.

FF44 — LY (read-only)

Current scanline 0–153. 144–153 = VBlank.

FF45 — LYC

Compared with LY each dot; match sets STAT bit 2 and (if enabled) fires STAT interrupt.

VRAM Tile Data ($8000–$97FF)

Three blocks of 128 tiles each:

Block 0: $8000–$87FF (IDs 0–127 for OBJ/$8000 mode)
Block 1: $8800–$8FFF (IDs 128–255 for OBJ/$8000 mode; IDs 128–255/-128-(-1) for $8800 mode)
Block 2: $9000–$97FF (IDs 0–127 for $8800 mode)

Tile format: 16 bytes per tile, 2 bytes per row. Byte 1 = LSB of color IDs, byte 2 = MSB. Bit 7 = leftmost pixel. Color = {byte2_bit, byte1_bit} per pixel. Range 0–3. Color 0 in OBJ = transparent.

VRAM Tile Maps ($9800–$9FFF)

Two 32×32 = 1024 byte maps. Each byte = tile index. Map address = $9800 or $9C00 per LCDC.3/6. Tile address = entry Y * 32 + entry X. BG viewport: 160×144 window into 256×256 map, wraps around.

OAM ($FE00–$FE9F): 40 entries × 4 bytes

Byte	Content
0	Y position + 16 (Y=16 → top of screen; Y=0 or Y≥160 → hidden)
1	X position + 8 (X=0 or X≥168 → hidden but still counts toward 10/line limit)
2	Tile index (8×8: full byte; 8×16: bit 0 ignored, top tile = idx&$FE, bottom = idx\|$01)
3	Attributes

Byte 3 attributes:

Bit	Name	0	1
7	BG priority	OBJ on top	BG color 1–3 over OBJ
6	Y flip	Normal	Vertical mirror
5	X flip	Normal	Horizontal mirror
4	DMG palette	OBP0	OBP1

OBJ selection priority: PPU scans OAM $FE00→$FE9F, selects first 10 with Y overlapping LY. Off-screen Y still counts!

OBJ drawing priority (DMG): Lower X wins. Tie: lower OAM index wins.

DMA recommended approach: Write to WRAM buffer, then OAM DMA. Direct OAM write only during mode 0–1.

FF46 — OAM DMA

Write high byte of source address ($00–$DF). Copies $XX00–$XX9F → $FE00–$FE9F. Takes 160 M-cycles. CPU can only access HRAM during DMA (DMG). Run from HRAM, wait loop:

run_dma:
    ld a, HIGH(src)
    ldh [$FF46], a
    ld a, 40
.wait: dec a / jr nz,.wait / ret

DMA during mode 2: OBJ seen as off-screen. DMA during mode 3: PPU reads corrupt word being written.

VRAM / OAM Access Restrictions

VRAM accessible: modes 0, 1, 2 (not 3)
OAM accessible: modes 0, 1 (not 2, 3)
During LCD off: both accessible
Reads during inaccessible period return $FF; writes ignored

Scrolling

$FF42 SCY, $FF43 SCX: BG viewport top-left. Values 0–255. Wraps. Bottom = (SCY+143)%256, Right = (SCX+159)%256.

SCX% 8 read only at scanline start; tile X re-read each tile fetch.

$FF4A WY, $FF4B WX: Window top-left = (WX-7, WY). Window visible: WX=0..166, WY=0..143. WX=0 and WX=166 have hardware bugs. Window internal Y counter increments only when window renders on scanline; reset to 0 during VBlank.

Window conditions for scanline: WY==LY must have been true this frame (checked at mode 2 start) AND WX condition triggered AND LCDC.5 set.

Palettes (DMG)

$FF47 BGP: Color for IDs 0–3. Bits 7–6 = color for ID3, ..., 1–0 = color for ID0. Values: 0=white, 1=light gray, 2=dark gray, 3=black.

$FF48 OBP0, $FF49 OBP1: Same format, but lower 2 bits ignored (ID0 = transparent).

Pixel FIFO

Two FIFOs (BG and OBJ), each up to 16 pixels. Only active during mode 3. Each pixel has: color (0–3), palette, sprite priority, BG priority.

Fetcher steps (BG/Window pixels):

Get Tile (2 dots): determine tile from tilemap using SCX/SCY or window coords. X = ((SCX/8)+fetcherX)&$1F; Y = (LY+SCY)&$FF. Window overrides when in window region.
Get Tile Data Low (2 dots): fetch low byte of tile row (checks LCDC.4).
Get Tile Data High (2 dots): fetch high byte; also attempts push to BG FIFO.
Sleep (2 dots): nothing.
Push: push 8 pixels to BG FIFO only if FIFO empty.

VRAM reads blocked → returns $FF. VRAM blocked at: LCD off, mode 3→0 switch. Restored at: mode 2→3 switch.

OBJ fetching: When OBJ's X reached during mode 3, fetcher paused until step 5 or FIFO non-empty. OBJ tile fetched; pixels merged into OBJ FIFO (non-transparent from higher-priority OBJ wins).

Pixel rendering: Pop one from each FIFO. OBJ pixel wins if non-transparent (color≠0) AND LCDC.1=1. BG priority flag checked. DMG: color from BGP/OBP0/OBP1.

Window start resets BG FIFO and fetcher to step 1.

OAM Corruption Bug (DMG only, not CGB)

Triggered when: 16-bit register $FE00–$FEFF used in specific instructions during PPU mode 2.

Affected operations: inc/dec rr, ld a,[hli/hld], ld [hli/hld],a (when rr in OAM range). Also: pop, ret, push, call, rst, interrupt handling, executing from OAM.

Objects 0 and 1 ($FE00 and $FE04) never affected.

Write corruption (of currently-scanned OAM row, not first row): First word = ((a^c)&(b^c))^c (a=original word, b=first word previous row, c=third word previous row). Last three words copied from previous row.

Read corruption: First word = b|(a&c).

AUDIO (APU)

4 channels: CH1 (pulse+sweep), CH2 (pulse), CH3 (wave), CH4 (noise). APU fully synced to master clock. APU timing unaffected by CGB double speed.

NR52 bit 7 off: APU powered off, all registers cleared and read-only (except NR52 and wave RAM). ~16% power saving.

DAC: Channel x DAC enabled iff NRx2 & $F8 != 0. Exception: CH3 DAC = NR30 bit 7. DAC off → digital 0 maps to analog 1 (inverted!). Disabled DAC fades to analog 0 ("digital 7.5"). Channel ON reports in NR52 bits 0–3 (not DAC state).

Trigger (write NRx4 bit 7 = 1): enables channel if DAC on; resets length timer if expired; reloads period divider; resets envelope timer; sets volume from NRx2 initial.

DIV-APU

Counter increments when DIV bit 4 goes 1→0 (512 Hz). Writing DIV while bit 4=1 advances counter early.

Event	Every N ticks	Frequency
Envelope sweep	8	64 Hz
Sound length	2	256 Hz
CH1 freq sweep	4	128 Hz

Length Timer

Counts up at 256 Hz from initial value. CH1/2/4: stops at 64. CH3: stops at 256. Channel turns off when expired (if length enabled in NRx4).

Envelope (CH1, CH2, CH4)

Ticks at 64 Hz. Every pace ticks, volume ±1 (direction from NRx2 bit 3). Pace=0 disables. Volume 0 does NOT turn channel off.

Global Registers

$FF26 NR52: Bit 7 = APU on/off (R/W); bits 3–0 = CH4–CH1 on (read-only).

$FF25 NR51: Panning. Bits 7–4 = CH4–1 left; bits 3–0 = CH4–1 right. 1=channel sent to that output.

$FF24 NR50: Bits 6–4 = left volume (0→vol 1, 7→vol 8); bits 2–0 = right volume. Bits 7/3 = VIN panning (external audio, unused in practice).

High-pass filter: Applied to each analog output. Removes DC offset from DAC biasing. DMG capacitor factor ≈ 0.999958 at 4194304 Hz. Implementation:

double capacitor = 0.0;
double high_pass(double in, bool dacs_enabled) {
    double out = 0.0;
    if (dacs_enabled) { out = in - capacitor; capacitor = in - out * 0.999958; }
    return out;
}

Audio pops occur when: DAC toggled, channel added/removed from NR51, NR50 volume changed.

CH1 — Pulse + Sweep ($FF10–$FF14)

$FF10 NR10: Bits 6–4 = sweep pace (128 Hz ticks, 0=disabled but overflow check still runs); bit 3 = direction (0=increase, 1=decrease); bits 2–0 = step.

New period formula: L_t+1 = L_t ± (L_t >> step). On overflow (>$7FF) in addition mode: channel off. Overflow check runs even with pace=0. Period=0 → sweep never changes it.

Sweep internals on trigger: shadow register ← period; sweep timer reset; enabled flag set if pace≠0 OR step≠0; if step≠0, frequency calc and overflow check run immediately.

$FF11 NR11: Bits 7–6 = duty cycle (00=12.5%, 01=25%, 10=50%, 11=75%; 25% and 75% sound identical); bits 5–0 = initial length timer (write-only).

$FF12 NR12: Bits 7–4 = initial volume; bit 3 = env direction (0=decrease); bits 2–0 = sweep pace. NR12&$F8=0 → DAC off.

$FF13 NR13: Low 8 bits of 11-bit period (write-only). Period divider: up-counter, overflows at $7FF → reload from NR13/NR14. Higher period value = lower period = higher frequency. Pulse clock: 1048576 Hz (once per 4 dots). Sample rate = 1048576/(2048-period). Tone freq = 131072/(2048-period) Hz.

$FF14 NR14: Bit 7 = trigger (write-only); bit 6 = length enable (R/W); bits 2–0 = period high 3 bits (write-only). Period changes take effect after current sample ends.

Duty step: Internal counter 0–7 indexes waveform. Resets only when APU off. Retriggering resets the step TIMER (not the step itself), potentially stalling step advance.

CH2 — Pulse ($FF16–$FF19)

Same as CH1 but no sweep. NR21=$FF16, NR22=$FF17, NR23=$FF18, NR24=$FF19.

CH3 — Wave ($FF1A–$FF1E, $FF30–$FF3F)

$FF1A NR30: Bit 7 = DAC on/off.

$FF1B NR31: 8-bit initial length timer (write-only). Length timer goes to 256.

$FF1C NR32: Bits 6–5 = output level: 00=mute, 01=100%, 10=50% (shift right 1), 11=25% (shift right 2).

$FF1D NR33: Low 8 bits of period (write-only). Wave clock: 2097152 Hz (once per 2 dots). Sample rate = 2097152/(2048-period). Tone freq = 65536/(2048-period) Hz. (Half that of pulse channel.) Period changes after next wave RAM read.

$FF1E NR34: Same layout as NR14.

$FF30–$FF3F Wave RAM: 16 bytes, 32 4-bit samples. Read left→right, upper nibble first. First sample played after trigger = index 1 (lower nibble of $FF30), NOT index 0.

On trigger: sample index reset but last sample in buffer NOT cleared. That last sample emitted until channel reads next one.

Wave RAM access while CH3 active (DMG): Only accessible on same cycle CH3 reads. Otherwise reads $FF, writes ignored.

DMG retriggering corruption: If CH3 retriggers while reading a byte from wave RAM, wave RAM corrupted: if reading first 4 bytes → first byte rewritten with current read byte; if reading bytes 4–15 → first 4 bytes overwritten with the 4 aligned bytes being read. Fix: write 0 then $80 to NR30 before retrigger.

CH4 — Noise ($FF20–$FF23)

$FF20 NR41: Bits 5–0 = initial length timer (write-only). Length 64.

$FF21 NR42: Same as NR12.

$FF22 NR43: Bits 7–4 = clock shift; bit 3 = LFSR width (0=15-bit, 1=7-bit); bits 2–0 = clock divider (0 treated as 0.5). LFSR frequency = 262144/(divider × 2^shift) Hz. Shift 14 or 15 → no clocking.

$FF23 NR44: Bit 7 = trigger; bit 6 = length enable.

LFSR: 16 bits (15 state + 1 temp). On each tick: bit15 = XNOR(bit0, bit1); if 7-bit mode: bit15 also copied to bit7; shift right. Bit 0 selects between 0 and current volume. Reset to 0 on trigger.

LFSR lock-up: If lower 7 bits all 1 when switching to 7-bit mode → LFSR generates only 1s → silence. Fix: retrigger CH4.

APU Obscure Behavior

Envelope/sweep timers: period 0 treated as 8.
CH1/CH2 first duty step after first trigger: always output digital 0.
CH1/CH2 duty cycle clocking disabled until first trigger.
CH3 trigger: first sample = previous buffer content (high nibble); second sample = index 1 from wave RAM. First wave RAM nibble skipped until loop.
CH1/CH2 trigger: low 2 bits of frequency timer NOT modified.
Extra length clocking: Writing NRx4 when next DIV-APU step won't clock length: if length was disabled→enabled AND length non-zero → decrement. If hits 0 and trigger clear → channel off.
If triggered when next DIV-APU step won't clock length AND length enabled AND length was 0 (now 64/256): actually set to 63/255.
If triggered when next DIV-APU step WILL clock envelope: envelope timer loaded with value+1.
CH1: Clearing sweep direction bit (NR10) after subtraction sweep iteration → channel immediately disabled.
Zombie mode (volume write while playing): If old envelope period=0 and still auto-updating → vol+1; if decrease mode → vol+2. If mode changed → vol = 16-vol. Keep only lower 4 bits. Consistent use: write $08 to NRx2 to increment vol by 1 on all models.

JOYPAD

$FF00 P1/JOYP:

Bit	Function
5	Select buttons (0=select)
4	Select d-pad (0=select)
3	Start / Down
2	Select / Up
1	B / Left
0	A / Right

Bits 0–3 are read-only. Pressed = 0 (active low). If neither bit 4 nor 5 selected → reads $F. Read multiple times (debounce), use last value only.

SERIAL

$FF01 SB: Transfer data. MSB shifted out first, incoming bit shifted in from right.

$FF02 SC: Bit 7 = transfer enable/in-progress; bit 0 = clock select (0=external/slave, 1=internal/master).

Master: load SB, write $81 to SC. Transfer complete: SC bit 7 cleared + serial interrupt. Slave: load SB, write $80 to SC.

Internal clock (DMG): 8192 Hz (~1 KB/s). Disconnected: master reads $FF (incoming bits = 1).

CARTRIDGE HEADER ($0100–$014F)

Addr	Field
$0100–$0103	Entry point (typically nop + jp $0150)
$0104–$0133	Nintendo logo (must match exactly or boot ROM locks; CGB only checks first half)
$0134–$0143	Game title (uppercase ASCII, zero-padded; later carts: 11 or 15 chars + manufacturer + CGB flag)
$013F–$0142	Manufacturer code (newer carts, 4 chars)
$0143	CGB flag: $80=CGB+DMG, $C0=CGB only
$0144–$0145	New licensee code (if old=$33)
$0146	SGB flag ($03=SGB supported)
$0147	Cartridge type (see below)
$0148	ROM size: 32KiB × (1 << value)
$0149	RAM size: 0=none, $02=8KiB, $03=32KiB, $04=128KiB, $05=64KiB
$014A	Destination: $00=Japan, $01=Overseas
$014B	Old licensee code ($33=use new)
$014C	Mask ROM version (usually $00)
$014D	Header checksum: sum of $0134–$014C using `chk = chk - rom[addr] - 1`. Boot ROM verifies.
$014E–$014F	Global checksum (16-bit big-endian, sum of all ROM bytes except this; not verified by boot ROM)

Cartridge type codes: $00=ROM ONLY; $01=MBC1; $02=MBC1+RAM; $03=MBC1+RAM+BATTERY; $05=MBC2; $06=MBC2+BATTERY; $0F=MBC3+TIMER+BATTERY; $10=MBC3+TIMER+RAM+BATTERY; $11=MBC3; $12=MBC3+RAM; $13=MBC3+RAM+BATTERY; $19=MBC5; $1A=MBC5+RAM; $1B=MBC5+RAM+BATTERY; $1C=MBC5+RUMBLE; $FE=HuC3; $FF=HuC1+RAM+BATTERY

ROM size values: $00=32KiB(2banks), $01=64KiB(4), $02=128KiB(8), $03=256KiB(16), $04=512KiB(32), $05=1MiB(64), $06=2MiB(128), $07=4MiB(256), $08=8MiB(512)

RAM size values: $00=0, $02=8KiB(1bank), $03=32KiB(4banks), $04=128KiB(16banks), $05=64KiB(8banks). MBC2 built-in RAM not listed here.

MBCs

MBC chips on cartridge (not in GB) handle bank switching via writes to ROM address space. Unmapped RAM bank access wraps: addr = ((addr-$A000) + bank*$2000) % max_ram_size.

No MBC

ROM-only ≤32KiB directly mapped $0000–$7FFF. Optional 8KiB RAM at $A000–$BFFF.

MBC1 (max 2MiB ROM / 32KiB RAM)

Default: 512KiB ROM / 32KiB RAM. Carts ≥1MiB: 2-bit register wired as upper ROM bits (not RAM), supports up to 2MiB ROM / 8KiB RAM only.

All registers default $00 on power-up. ROM bank register 0 → treated as 1.

Range	Register	Notes
$0000–$1FFF	RAM Enable (W)	Write $xA → enable; anything else → disable
$2000–$3FFF	ROM Bank (W)	5-bit ($01–$1F); 0→1; masked to needed bits
$4000–$5FFF	RAM Bank / Upper ROM bits (W)	2-bit; selects RAM bank 0–3 OR ROM upper bits
$6000–$7FFF	Banking Mode (W)	0=simple (default): $0000–$3FFF and $A000–$BFFF locked to bank 0; 1=advanced: allow bank switching in all regions

Banks $20/$40/$60 inaccessible in 4000–7FFF (lower 5 bits=0 → treated as 1); use mode 1 + $0000 region to access. MBC1M (multi-cart): 4-bit main register, 2-bit register = bits 4–5 of bank number, selects $00/$10/$20/$30 in mode 1.

MBC2 (max 256KiB ROM / 512×4bits RAM)

RAM built into MBC chip. Only lower 4 bits of A000–A1FF valid; upper 4 undefined. A200–BFFF echoes A000–A1FF (9-bit address).

Range	Register	Notes
$0000–$3FFF	RAM Enable OR ROM Bank (W)	Determined by address bit 8

Address bit 8 (LSB of high address byte): 0 = RAM enable ($xA enables, else disable); 1 = ROM bank select (low 4 bits, 0→1).

MBC3 (max 2MiB ROM / 32KiB RAM + RTC)

7-bit ROM bank register; all 128 banks accessible (unlike MBC1, no gaps at $20/$40/$60). Requires 32.768 kHz crystal + battery for RTC.

Range	Register	Notes
$0000–$1FFF	RAM+Timer Enable (W)	$0A=enable, $00=disable
$2000–$3FFF	ROM Bank (W)	7-bit, 0→1
$4000–$5FFF	RAM Bank / RTC Select (W)	$00–$07=RAM bank; $08–$0C=RTC register
$6000–$7FFF	Latch Clock (W)	Write $00 then $01 to latch RTC into registers

RTC registers (accessible via $A000–$BFFF when selected):

$08 = seconds (0–59)
$09 = minutes (0–59)
$0A = hours (0–23)
$0B = day counter low 8 bits
$0C = day counter high: bit 0=day MSB, bit 6=halt (1=stop), bit 7=carry (overflow)

Set halt flag before writing RTC. Day counter 0–511; overflow sets carry (stays set until program clears). Wait 4 µs between RTC accesses.

BOOT ROM / POWER-UP

CPU starts at $0000 (boot ROM mapped over cartridge). Boot ROM:

Scrolls Nintendo logo (reads from cartridge header).
Plays "ba-ding!" sound.
Checks logo matches hardcoded copy → lockup if fail.
Checks header checksum ($014D) → lockup if fail.
Writes to $FF50 (BANK register) to unmap boot ROM.
First cartridge instruction at $0100.

DMG register state at $0100: A=$01, F=Z=1 N=0 H=? C=?(based on header checksum), B=$00, C=$13, D=$00, E=$D8, H=$01, L=$4D, SP=$FFFE, IE=$00, IF=$E1.

OBP0 and OBP1 are uninitialized — always set these before displaying OBJs.

Key hardware register states (DMG): LCDC=$91, BGP=$FC, SCY/SCX=$00, LYC=$00, DIV=$AB, TAC=$F8, NR50=$77, NR51=$F3, NR52=$F1.

HALT / STOP (Power Saving)

HALT: CPU pauses until IE&IF≠0. Best used while waiting for VBlank:

halt  ; CPU sleeps, wakes on any enabled interrupt

Extends battery life 5–50%.

STOP: Very low power standby. DMG: disable LCD first (or hardware damage). Terminated by button press. Configure P1 to enable desired buttons before STOP. No licensed ROM uses STOP outside CGB speed switching.

APU off: Write $00 to NR52 → ~16% power saving. Re-enable: write $80, then re-initialize all sound registers.

$ARGUMENTS

name	gameboy-docs
description	Complete Game Boy DMG hardware reference — all registers, timing, opcodes, PPU modes, APU circuits, MBC banking. Authoritative inline spec for emulator implementation.
argument-hint	optional topic: cpu\|ppu\|apu\|mbc\|timer\|interrupts\|memory\|joypad\|serial\|boot

SPECS (DMG)

CPU: SM83 (8080-like), 4.194304 MHz master clock, system clock = master/4
WRAM: 8 KiB; VRAM: 8 KiB; LCD: 160×144; OBJ: 8×8 or 8×16, max 40/screen 10/line
Palettes (DMG): BG 1×4, OBJ 2×3; Colors: 4 shades of green; Vsync: 59.73 Hz
APU: 4 channels, stereo output; Sound: DMG 4 channels
Frame: ~16.74 ms (NOT exactly 60 Hz — 0.45% slow); 1 dot = 1 T-cycle = 2^22 Hz ≈ 4.194 MHz

MEMORY MAP

Range	Description
$0000–$3FFF	ROM bank 00 (fixed)
$4000–$7FFF	ROM bank 01–NN (switchable via MBC)
$8000–$9FFF	VRAM (8 KiB)
$A000–$BFFF	External RAM (cartridge)
$C000–$CFFF	WRAM bank 0 (4 KiB)
$D000–$DFFF	WRAM bank 1 (4 KiB)
$E000–$FDFF	Echo RAM (mirror of C000–DDFF, prohibited)
$FE00–$FE9F	OAM (40 entries × 4 bytes)
$FEA0–$FEFF	Prohibited (DMG: reads trigger OAM corruption during mode 2, else $00)
$FF00–$FF7F	I/O Registers
$FF80–$FFFE	HRAM
$FFFF	IE (Interrupt Enable)

Echo RAM: E000–FDFF mirrors C000–DDFF (only lower 13 address bits connected). Same effect as C000–DDFF reads/writes. Prohibited by Nintendo.

Jump vectors: RST = $0000,$0008,$0010,$0018,$0020,$0028,$0030,$0038; Interrupts = $0040,$0048,$0050,$0058,$0060

VRAM layout: 384 tiles × 16 bytes = $8000–$97FF (tile data); two 32×32 tile maps at $9800–$9BFF and $9C00–$9FFF

HARDWARE REGISTERS

Addr	Name	R/W	Description
$FF00	P1/JOYP	Mixed	Joypad
$FF01	SB	R/W	Serial transfer data
$FF02	SC	Mixed	Serial transfer control
$FF04	DIV	R/W	Divider (write resets to $00)
$FF05	TIMA	R/W	Timer counter
$FF06	TMA	R/W	Timer modulo
$FF07	TAC	R/W	Timer control
$FF0F	IF	R/W	Interrupt flag
$FF10–$FF26	NR10–NR52	Mixed	Audio
$FF30–$FF3F	Wave RAM	R/W	CH3 waveform
$FF40	LCDC	R/W	LCD control
$FF41	STAT	Mixed	LCD status
$FF42	SCY	R/W	BG viewport Y
$FF43	SCX	R/W	BG viewport X
$FF44	LY	R	LCD Y coordinate
$FF45	LYC	R/W	LY compare
$FF46	DMA	R/W	OAM DMA source/start
$FF47	BGP	R/W	BG palette (DMG only)
$FF48	OBP0	R/W	OBJ palette 0 (DMG only)
$FF49	OBP1	R/W	OBJ palette 1 (DMG only)
$FF4A	WY	R/W	Window Y position
$FF4B	WX	R/W	Window X position +7
$FF50	BANK	W	Boot ROM disable
$FFFF	IE	R/W	Interrupt enable

CPU

Registers

16-bit	Hi	Lo	Purpose
AF	A	—	Accumulator & Flags
BC	B	C	General purpose
DE	D	E	General purpose
HL	H	L	General purpose / indirect
SP	—	—	Stack Pointer
PC	—	—	Program Counter

Flags (lower byte of AF)

Bit	Flag	Set when
7	Z	Result = 0
6	N	Subtraction (BCD)
5	H	Half-carry (BCD)
4	C	Carry / borrow / shift-out 1

Carry set: 8-bit add > $FF, 16-bit add > $FFFF, sub/cmp < 0, rotate/shift outputs 1. BCD flags (N,H) used only by DAA.

Instruction Encoding

Block 1: ld r8,r8 — except ld [hl],[hl] = halt ($76)

Block 2: add/adc/sub/sbc/and/xor/or/cp a,r8

Invalid opcodes (hard-lock CPU): $D3,$DB,$DD,$E3,$E4,$EB,$EC,$ED,$F4,$FC,$FD

$CB prefix: rlc/rrc/rl/rr/sla/sra/swap/srl r8; bit/res/set b3,r8

STOP: 2-byte instruction; second byte not always ignored. On DMG, must disable LCD before entering STOP or risk hardware damage (black line burned in). Terminated by P10–P13 low (button press).

SM83 vs Z80 differences

Opcode	Z80	SM83
$08	EX AF,AF	LD (nn),SP
$10	DJNZ	STOP
$22	LD (nn),HL	LDI (HL),A
$2A	LD HL,(nn)	LDI A,(HL)
$32	LD (nn),A	LDD (HL),A
$3A	LD A,(nn)	LDD A,(HL)
$D9	EXX	RETI
$E0	RET PO	LD (FF00+n),A
$E2	JP PO,nn	LD (FF00+C),A
$E8	RET PE	ADD SP,dd
$EA	JP PE,nn	LD (nn),A
$F0	RET P	LD A,(FF00+n)
$F2	JP P,nn	LD A,(FF00+C)
$F8	RET M	LD HL,SP+dd
$FA	JP M,nn	LD A,(nn)
$CB3x	SLL	SWAP

HALT

halt pauses CPU until IE & IF != 0. IME must be set for interrupt to be serviced after wake.

halt bug: When IME=0 and IE & IF != 0 at time of halt: halt exits immediately, but PC is not incremented — the byte after halt is read twice.

If halt immediately after ei (IME still 0): interrupt serviced, handler returns to halt, waits again.
If halt immediately before rst: RST return address points to RST itself (not byte after it).
If ei before halt AND rst after halt: ei case wins.

INTERRUPTS

IME (Interrupt Master Enable) — write-only, internal flag

ei: IME=1 (effect delayed one instruction)
di: IME=0
reti: IME=1 + return
Entering handler: IME=0

ei effect delayed by one instruction: ei followed immediately by di allows no interrupt.

FF0F — IF: Interrupt Flag | $FFFF — IE: Interrupt Enable

Both same bit layout:

Bit	Source	Vector
0	VBlank	$0040
1	STAT/LCD	$0048
2	Timer	$0050
3	Serial	$0058
4	Joypad	$0060

Bit 0 = highest priority. IF bit set = interrupt requested. Serviced only when IME=1 AND matching IE bit set.

Interrupt Dispatch (5 M-cycles total)

Reset IF bit and IME
2 wait states (2 M-cycles)
Push current PC to stack (2 M-cycles)
Set PC to handler address (1 M-cycle)

Interrupt Sources

VBlank ($0040): Fires when PPU enters VBlank (LY=144), ~59.7 Hz. VRAM freely accessible during VBlank (~1.1 ms).
STAT ($0048): Rising edge on shared STAT interrupt line (OR of enabled sources: mode 0/1/2, LYC=LY). STAT blocking: if line already high, no interrupt fires for subsequent sources.
Timer ($0050): Fires when TIMA overflows ($FF→$00+interrupt).
Serial ($0058): Fires on completion of 8-bit serial transfer.
Joypad ($0060): Fires when P10–P13 go high→low (button pressed). Switch bounce common. Useful mainly to exit STOP mode.

TIMER

Registers

$FF04 DIV: Increments at 16384 Hz. Write any value → reset to $00. Also reset by stop. DIV is the visible upper 8 bits of the 16-bit system counter.
$FF05 TIMA: Incremented at rate set by TAC. On overflow: reset to TMA, request timer interrupt.
$FF06 TMA: Reload value for TIMA on overflow.
$FF07 TAC:
- Bit 2: Timer enable (TIMA; DIV always counts)
- Bits 1–0 clock select:
  - 00: every 256 M-cycles → 4096 Hz
  - 01: every 4 M-cycles → 262144 Hz
  - 10: every 16 M-cycles → 65536 Hz
  - 11: every 64 M-cycles → 16384 Hz

Obscure Behavior (DMG)

System counter (full 16-bit) drives timer via falling-edge detector on selected bit:

Writing DIV (resets counter to 0) can instantly trigger a timer tick if selected bit was 1.
Changing TAC clock select from a set bit to a clear bit sends a timer tick.
On DMG: disabling timer while selected bit is set sends one tick.
TIMA overflow behavior: TIMA=0 for one M-cycle (cycle A), then TMA copied and IF set (cycle B).
- Writing TIMA during cycle A cancels the overflow (no TMA copy, no IF set).
- Writing TIMA during cycle B is ignored (TMA wins).
- Writing TMA during cycle B: same value copies to TIMA on same cycle.
DIV-APU: APU events triggered by falling edge on bit 4 of system counter (512 Hz).

PPU / GRAPHICS

PPU Modes (per scanline, 456 dots total)

Mode	Action	Duration	CPU VRAM access	CPU OAM access
2	OAM scan	80 dots	Yes	No
3	Pixel transfer	172–289 dots	No	No
0	HBlank	376 - mode3 dots	Yes	Yes
1	VBlank	4560 dots (lines 144–153)	Yes	Yes

Frame: 154 scanlines × 456 dots = 70224 dots total.

Mode 3 Length Penalties

Default minimum: 172 dots (160px + 12 fixed). Penalties lengthen Mode 3, shorten Mode 0:

SCX % 8 extra dots at start (pixel discard)
+6 dots for window activation
Per-object: 6–11 dots each (see OBJ penalty algorithm)
OBJ at X=0: always 11 dots regardless of SCX

OBJ penalty algorithm: For each OBJ's leftmost pixel ("The Pixel"):

Find which BG/window tile contains The Pixel.
If tile not yet seen by prior OBJ: penalty = max(0, pixels_right_of_Pixel_in_tile - 2) dots.
+6 flat dots (OBJ tile fetch).

FF40 — LCDC

Bit	Function	0	1
7	LCD+PPU enable	Off	On
6	Window tile map	$9800	$9C00
5	Window enable	Off	On
4	BG+Window tile data	$8800 ($9000 base, signed)	$8000 (unsigned)
3	BG tile map	$9800	$9C00
2	OBJ size	8×8	8×16
1	OBJ enable	Off	On
0	BG+Window enable (DMG)	White (off)	On

LCDC.7: Disable only during VBlank — disabling during active display burns hardware. Screen blank (white) while disabled; first frame after re-enable is blank.

LCDC.4 (BG/Win tile addressing):

Mode 1 ($8000 method): tiles 0–127 in block 0 ($8000–$87FF), 128–255 in block 1 ($8800–$8FFF). Unsigned.
Mode 0 ($8800 method): tiles 0–127 in block 2 ($9000–$97FF), 128–255 in block 1. $9000 = signed base.
OBJ always use $8000 method.

LCDC.0 (DMG): Clears both BG and Window (white); LCDC.5 ignored. Objects can still show.

FF41 — STAT

Bit	Field	R/W
6	LYC int select	R/W
5	Mode 2 int select	R/W
4	Mode 1 int select	R/W
3	Mode 0 int select	R/W
2	LYC == LY	R
1–0	PPU mode	R

Spurious STAT (DMG only): Writing to STAT during OAM scan/HBlank/VBlank/LYC=LY triggers LCD interrupt as if $FF written for one M-cycle.

FF44 — LY (read-only)

Current scanline 0–153. 144–153 = VBlank.

FF45 — LYC

Compared with LY each dot; match sets STAT bit 2 and (if enabled) fires STAT interrupt.

VRAM Tile Data ($8000–$97FF)

Three blocks of 128 tiles each:

Block 0: $8000–$87FF (IDs 0–127 for OBJ/$8000 mode)
Block 1: $8800–$8FFF (IDs 128–255 for OBJ/$8000 mode; IDs 128–255/-128-(-1) for $8800 mode)
Block 2: $9000–$97FF (IDs 0–127 for $8800 mode)

VRAM Tile Maps ($9800–$9FFF)

Two 32×32 = 1024 byte maps. Each byte = tile index. Map address = $9800 or $9C00 per LCDC.3/6. Tile address = entry Y * 32 + entry X. BG viewport: 160×144 window into 256×256 map, wraps around.

OAM ($FE00–$FE9F): 40 entries × 4 bytes

Byte	Content
0	Y position + 16 (Y=16 → top of screen; Y=0 or Y≥160 → hidden)
1	X position + 8 (X=0 or X≥168 → hidden but still counts toward 10/line limit)
2	Tile index (8×8: full byte; 8×16: bit 0 ignored, top tile = idx&$FE, bottom = idx\|$01)
3	Attributes

Byte 3 attributes:

Bit	Name	0	1
7	BG priority	OBJ on top	BG color 1–3 over OBJ
6	Y flip	Normal	Vertical mirror
5	X flip	Normal	Horizontal mirror
4	DMG palette	OBP0	OBP1

OBJ selection priority: PPU scans OAM $FE00→$FE9F, selects first 10 with Y overlapping LY. Off-screen Y still counts!

OBJ drawing priority (DMG): Lower X wins. Tie: lower OAM index wins.

DMA recommended approach: Write to WRAM buffer, then OAM DMA. Direct OAM write only during mode 0–1.

FF46 — OAM DMA

Write high byte of source address ($00–$DF). Copies $XX00–$XX9F → $FE00–$FE9F. Takes 160 M-cycles. CPU can only access HRAM during DMA (DMG). Run from HRAM, wait loop:

run_dma:
    ld a, HIGH(src)
    ldh [$FF46], a
    ld a, 40
.wait: dec a / jr nz,.wait / ret

DMA during mode 2: OBJ seen as off-screen. DMA during mode 3: PPU reads corrupt word being written.

VRAM / OAM Access Restrictions

VRAM accessible: modes 0, 1, 2 (not 3)
OAM accessible: modes 0, 1 (not 2, 3)
During LCD off: both accessible
Reads during inaccessible period return $FF; writes ignored

Scrolling

$FF42 SCY, $FF43 SCX: BG viewport top-left. Values 0–255. Wraps. Bottom = (SCY+143)%256, Right = (SCX+159)%256.

SCX% 8 read only at scanline start; tile X re-read each tile fetch.

Window conditions for scanline: WY==LY must have been true this frame (checked at mode 2 start) AND WX condition triggered AND LCDC.5 set.

Palettes (DMG)

$FF47 BGP: Color for IDs 0–3. Bits 7–6 = color for ID3, ..., 1–0 = color for ID0. Values: 0=white, 1=light gray, 2=dark gray, 3=black.

$FF48 OBP0, $FF49 OBP1: Same format, but lower 2 bits ignored (ID0 = transparent).

Pixel FIFO

Two FIFOs (BG and OBJ), each up to 16 pixels. Only active during mode 3. Each pixel has: color (0–3), palette, sprite priority, BG priority.

Fetcher steps (BG/Window pixels):

Get Tile (2 dots): determine tile from tilemap using SCX/SCY or window coords. X = ((SCX/8)+fetcherX)&$1F; Y = (LY+SCY)&$FF. Window overrides when in window region.
Get Tile Data Low (2 dots): fetch low byte of tile row (checks LCDC.4).
Get Tile Data High (2 dots): fetch high byte; also attempts push to BG FIFO.
Sleep (2 dots): nothing.
Push: push 8 pixels to BG FIFO only if FIFO empty.

VRAM reads blocked → returns $FF. VRAM blocked at: LCD off, mode 3→0 switch. Restored at: mode 2→3 switch.

OBJ fetching: When OBJ's X reached during mode 3, fetcher paused until step 5 or FIFO non-empty. OBJ tile fetched; pixels merged into OBJ FIFO (non-transparent from higher-priority OBJ wins).

Pixel rendering: Pop one from each FIFO. OBJ pixel wins if non-transparent (color≠0) AND LCDC.1=1. BG priority flag checked. DMG: color from BGP/OBP0/OBP1.

Window start resets BG FIFO and fetcher to step 1.

OAM Corruption Bug (DMG only, not CGB)

Triggered when: 16-bit register $FE00–$FEFF used in specific instructions during PPU mode 2.

Affected operations: inc/dec rr, ld a,[hli/hld], ld [hli/hld],a (when rr in OAM range). Also: pop, ret, push, call, rst, interrupt handling, executing from OAM.

Objects 0 and 1 ($FE00 and $FE04) never affected.

Read corruption: First word = b|(a&c).

AUDIO (APU)

4 channels: CH1 (pulse+sweep), CH2 (pulse), CH3 (wave), CH4 (noise). APU fully synced to master clock. APU timing unaffected by CGB double speed.

NR52 bit 7 off: APU powered off, all registers cleared and read-only (except NR52 and wave RAM). ~16% power saving.

Trigger (write NRx4 bit 7 = 1): enables channel if DAC on; resets length timer if expired; reloads period divider; resets envelope timer; sets volume from NRx2 initial.

DIV-APU

Counter increments when DIV bit 4 goes 1→0 (512 Hz). Writing DIV while bit 4=1 advances counter early.

Event	Every N ticks	Frequency
Envelope sweep	8	64 Hz
Sound length	2	256 Hz
CH1 freq sweep	4	128 Hz

Length Timer

Counts up at 256 Hz from initial value. CH1/2/4: stops at 64. CH3: stops at 256. Channel turns off when expired (if length enabled in NRx4).

Envelope (CH1, CH2, CH4)

Ticks at 64 Hz. Every pace ticks, volume ±1 (direction from NRx2 bit 3). Pace=0 disables. Volume 0 does NOT turn channel off.

Global Registers

$FF26 NR52: Bit 7 = APU on/off (R/W); bits 3–0 = CH4–CH1 on (read-only).

$FF25 NR51: Panning. Bits 7–4 = CH4–1 left; bits 3–0 = CH4–1 right. 1=channel sent to that output.

$FF24 NR50: Bits 6–4 = left volume (0→vol 1, 7→vol 8); bits 2–0 = right volume. Bits 7/3 = VIN panning (external audio, unused in practice).

High-pass filter: Applied to each analog output. Removes DC offset from DAC biasing. DMG capacitor factor ≈ 0.999958 at 4194304 Hz. Implementation:

double capacitor = 0.0;
double high_pass(double in, bool dacs_enabled) {
    double out = 0.0;
    if (dacs_enabled) { out = in - capacitor; capacitor = in - out * 0.999958; }
    return out;
}

Audio pops occur when: DAC toggled, channel added/removed from NR51, NR50 volume changed.

CH1 — Pulse + Sweep ($FF10–$FF14)

$FF10 NR10: Bits 6–4 = sweep pace (128 Hz ticks, 0=disabled but overflow check still runs); bit 3 = direction (0=increase, 1=decrease); bits 2–0 = step.

New period formula: L_t+1 = L_t ± (L_t >> step). On overflow (>$7FF) in addition mode: channel off. Overflow check runs even with pace=0. Period=0 → sweep never changes it.

Sweep internals on trigger: shadow register ← period; sweep timer reset; enabled flag set if pace≠0 OR step≠0; if step≠0, frequency calc and overflow check run immediately.

$FF11 NR11: Bits 7–6 = duty cycle (00=12.5%, 01=25%, 10=50%, 11=75%; 25% and 75% sound identical); bits 5–0 = initial length timer (write-only).

$FF12 NR12: Bits 7–4 = initial volume; bit 3 = env direction (0=decrease); bits 2–0 = sweep pace. NR12&$F8=0 → DAC off.

$FF14 NR14: Bit 7 = trigger (write-only); bit 6 = length enable (R/W); bits 2–0 = period high 3 bits (write-only). Period changes take effect after current sample ends.

Duty step: Internal counter 0–7 indexes waveform. Resets only when APU off. Retriggering resets the step TIMER (not the step itself), potentially stalling step advance.

CH2 — Pulse ($FF16–$FF19)

Same as CH1 but no sweep. NR21=$FF16, NR22=$FF17, NR23=$FF18, NR24=$FF19.

CH3 — Wave ($FF1A–$FF1E, $FF30–$FF3F)

$FF1A NR30: Bit 7 = DAC on/off.

$FF1B NR31: 8-bit initial length timer (write-only). Length timer goes to 256.

$FF1C NR32: Bits 6–5 = output level: 00=mute, 01=100%, 10=50% (shift right 1), 11=25% (shift right 2).

$FF1E NR34: Same layout as NR14.

$FF30–$FF3F Wave RAM: 16 bytes, 32 4-bit samples. Read left→right, upper nibble first. First sample played after trigger = index 1 (lower nibble of $FF30), NOT index 0.

On trigger: sample index reset but last sample in buffer NOT cleared. That last sample emitted until channel reads next one.

Wave RAM access while CH3 active (DMG): Only accessible on same cycle CH3 reads. Otherwise reads $FF, writes ignored.

CH4 — Noise ($FF20–$FF23)

$FF20 NR41: Bits 5–0 = initial length timer (write-only). Length 64.

$FF21 NR42: Same as NR12.

$FF23 NR44: Bit 7 = trigger; bit 6 = length enable.

LFSR lock-up: If lower 7 bits all 1 when switching to 7-bit mode → LFSR generates only 1s → silence. Fix: retrigger CH4.

APU Obscure Behavior

Envelope/sweep timers: period 0 treated as 8.
CH1/CH2 first duty step after first trigger: always output digital 0.
CH1/CH2 duty cycle clocking disabled until first trigger.
CH3 trigger: first sample = previous buffer content (high nibble); second sample = index 1 from wave RAM. First wave RAM nibble skipped until loop.
CH1/CH2 trigger: low 2 bits of frequency timer NOT modified.
Extra length clocking: Writing NRx4 when next DIV-APU step won't clock length: if length was disabled→enabled AND length non-zero → decrement. If hits 0 and trigger clear → channel off.
If triggered when next DIV-APU step won't clock length AND length enabled AND length was 0 (now 64/256): actually set to 63/255.
If triggered when next DIV-APU step WILL clock envelope: envelope timer loaded with value+1.
CH1: Clearing sweep direction bit (NR10) after subtraction sweep iteration → channel immediately disabled.
Zombie mode (volume write while playing): If old envelope period=0 and still auto-updating → vol+1; if decrease mode → vol+2. If mode changed → vol = 16-vol. Keep only lower 4 bits. Consistent use: write $08 to NRx2 to increment vol by 1 on all models.

JOYPAD

$FF00 P1/JOYP:

Bit	Function
5	Select buttons (0=select)
4	Select d-pad (0=select)
3	Start / Down
2	Select / Up
1	B / Left
0	A / Right

Bits 0–3 are read-only. Pressed = 0 (active low). If neither bit 4 nor 5 selected → reads $F. Read multiple times (debounce), use last value only.

SERIAL

$FF01 SB: Transfer data. MSB shifted out first, incoming bit shifted in from right.

$FF02 SC: Bit 7 = transfer enable/in-progress; bit 0 = clock select (0=external/slave, 1=internal/master).

Master: load SB, write $81 to SC. Transfer complete: SC bit 7 cleared + serial interrupt. Slave: load SB, write $80 to SC.

Internal clock (DMG): 8192 Hz (~1 KB/s). Disconnected: master reads $FF (incoming bits = 1).

CARTRIDGE HEADER ($0100–$014F)

Addr	Field
$0100–$0103	Entry point (typically nop + jp $0150)
$0104–$0133	Nintendo logo (must match exactly or boot ROM locks; CGB only checks first half)
$0134–$0143	Game title (uppercase ASCII, zero-padded; later carts: 11 or 15 chars + manufacturer + CGB flag)
$013F–$0142	Manufacturer code (newer carts, 4 chars)
$0143	CGB flag: $80=CGB+DMG, $C0=CGB only
$0144–$0145	New licensee code (if old=$33)
$0146	SGB flag ($03=SGB supported)
$0147	Cartridge type (see below)
$0148	ROM size: 32KiB × (1 << value)
$0149	RAM size: 0=none, $02=8KiB, $03=32KiB, $04=128KiB, $05=64KiB
$014A	Destination: $00=Japan, $01=Overseas
$014B	Old licensee code ($33=use new)
$014C	Mask ROM version (usually $00)
$014D	Header checksum: sum of $0134–$014C using `chk = chk - rom[addr] - 1`. Boot ROM verifies.
$014E–$014F	Global checksum (16-bit big-endian, sum of all ROM bytes except this; not verified by boot ROM)

ROM size values: $00=32KiB(2banks), $01=64KiB(4), $02=128KiB(8), $03=256KiB(16), $04=512KiB(32), $05=1MiB(64), $06=2MiB(128), $07=4MiB(256), $08=8MiB(512)

RAM size values: $00=0, $02=8KiB(1bank), $03=32KiB(4banks), $04=128KiB(16banks), $05=64KiB(8banks). MBC2 built-in RAM not listed here.

MBCs

MBC chips on cartridge (not in GB) handle bank switching via writes to ROM address space. Unmapped RAM bank access wraps: addr = ((addr-$A000) + bank*$2000) % max_ram_size.

No MBC

ROM-only ≤32KiB directly mapped $0000–$7FFF. Optional 8KiB RAM at $A000–$BFFF.

MBC1 (max 2MiB ROM / 32KiB RAM)

Default: 512KiB ROM / 32KiB RAM. Carts ≥1MiB: 2-bit register wired as upper ROM bits (not RAM), supports up to 2MiB ROM / 8KiB RAM only.

All registers default $00 on power-up. ROM bank register 0 → treated as 1.

Range	Register	Notes
$0000–$1FFF	RAM Enable (W)	Write $xA → enable; anything else → disable
$2000–$3FFF	ROM Bank (W)	5-bit ($01–$1F); 0→1; masked to needed bits
$4000–$5FFF	RAM Bank / Upper ROM bits (W)	2-bit; selects RAM bank 0–3 OR ROM upper bits
$6000–$7FFF	Banking Mode (W)	0=simple (default): $0000–$3FFF and $A000–$BFFF locked to bank 0; 1=advanced: allow bank switching in all regions

MBC2 (max 256KiB ROM / 512×4bits RAM)

RAM built into MBC chip. Only lower 4 bits of A000–A1FF valid; upper 4 undefined. A200–BFFF echoes A000–A1FF (9-bit address).

Range	Register	Notes
$0000–$3FFF	RAM Enable OR ROM Bank (W)	Determined by address bit 8

Address bit 8 (LSB of high address byte): 0 = RAM enable ($xA enables, else disable); 1 = ROM bank select (low 4 bits, 0→1).

MBC3 (max 2MiB ROM / 32KiB RAM + RTC)

7-bit ROM bank register; all 128 banks accessible (unlike MBC1, no gaps at $20/$40/$60). Requires 32.768 kHz crystal + battery for RTC.

Range	Register	Notes
$0000–$1FFF	RAM+Timer Enable (W)	$0A=enable, $00=disable
$2000–$3FFF	ROM Bank (W)	7-bit, 0→1
$4000–$5FFF	RAM Bank / RTC Select (W)	$00–$07=RAM bank; $08–$0C=RTC register
$6000–$7FFF	Latch Clock (W)	Write $00 then $01 to latch RTC into registers

RTC registers (accessible via $A000–$BFFF when selected):

$08 = seconds (0–59)
$09 = minutes (0–59)
$0A = hours (0–23)
$0B = day counter low 8 bits
$0C = day counter high: bit 0=day MSB, bit 6=halt (1=stop), bit 7=carry (overflow)

Set halt flag before writing RTC. Day counter 0–511; overflow sets carry (stays set until program clears). Wait 4 µs between RTC accesses.

BOOT ROM / POWER-UP

CPU starts at $0000 (boot ROM mapped over cartridge). Boot ROM:

Scrolls Nintendo logo (reads from cartridge header).
Plays "ba-ding!" sound.
Checks logo matches hardcoded copy → lockup if fail.
Checks header checksum ($014D) → lockup if fail.
Writes to $FF50 (BANK register) to unmap boot ROM.
First cartridge instruction at $0100.

DMG register state at $0100: A=$01, F=Z=1 N=0 H=? C=?(based on header checksum), B=$00, C=$13, D=$00, E=$D8, H=$01, L=$4D, SP=$FFFE, IE=$00, IF=$E1.

OBP0 and OBP1 are uninitialized — always set these before displaying OBJs.

Key hardware register states (DMG): LCDC=$91, BGP=$FC, SCY/SCX=$00, LYC=$00, DIV=$AB, TAC=$F8, NR50=$77, NR51=$F3, NR52=$F1.

HALT / STOP (Power Saving)

HALT: CPU pauses until IE&IF≠0. Best used while waiting for VBlank:

halt  ; CPU sleeps, wakes on any enabled interrupt

Extends battery life 5–50%.

APU off: Write $00 to NR52 → ~16% power saving. Re-enable: write $80, then re-initialize all sound registers.

$ARGUMENTS

gameboy-docs

More from this repository

SPECS (DMG)

MEMORY MAP

HARDWARE REGISTERS

CPU

Registers

Flags (lower byte of AF)

Instruction Encoding

SM83 vs Z80 differences

HALT

INTERRUPTS

IME (Interrupt Master Enable) — write-only, internal flag

FF0F — IF: Interrupt Flag | $FFFF — IE: Interrupt Enable

Interrupt Dispatch (5 M-cycles total)

Interrupt Sources

TIMER

Registers

Obscure Behavior (DMG)

PPU / GRAPHICS

PPU Modes (per scanline, 456 dots total)

Mode 3 Length Penalties

FF40 — LCDC

FF41 — STAT

FF44 — LY (read-only)

FF45 — LYC

VRAM Tile Data ($8000–$97FF)

VRAM Tile Maps ($9800–$9FFF)

OAM ($FE00–$FE9F): 40 entries × 4 bytes

FF46 — OAM DMA

VRAM / OAM Access Restrictions

Scrolling

Palettes (DMG)

Pixel FIFO

OAM Corruption Bug (DMG only, not CGB)

AUDIO (APU)

DIV-APU

Length Timer

Envelope (CH1, CH2, CH4)

Global Registers

CH1 — Pulse + Sweep ($FF10–$FF14)

CH2 — Pulse ($FF16–$FF19)

CH3 — Wave ($FF1A–$FF1E, $FF30–$FF3F)

CH4 — Noise ($FF20–$FF23)

APU Obscure Behavior

JOYPAD

SERIAL

CARTRIDGE HEADER ($0100–$014F)

MBCs

No MBC

MBC1 (max 2MiB ROM / 32KiB RAM)

MBC2 (max 256KiB ROM / 512×4bits RAM)

MBC3 (max 2MiB ROM / 32KiB RAM + RTC)

BOOT ROM / POWER-UP

HALT / STOP (Power Saving)

SPECS (DMG)

MEMORY MAP

HARDWARE REGISTERS

CPU

Registers

Flags (lower byte of AF)

Instruction Encoding

SM83 vs Z80 differences

HALT

INTERRUPTS

IME (Interrupt Master Enable) — write-only, internal flag

FF0F — IF: Interrupt Flag | $FFFF — IE: Interrupt Enable

Interrupt Dispatch (5 M-cycles total)

Interrupt Sources

TIMER

Registers

Obscure Behavior (DMG)

PPU / GRAPHICS

PPU Modes (per scanline, 456 dots total)

Mode 3 Length Penalties

FF40 — LCDC

FF41 — STAT

FF44 — LY (read-only)

FF45 — LYC

VRAM Tile Data ($8000–$97FF)