How to do bank switching on the Atari 5200

[unebonnevie]

Pardon if this an FAQ. But would appreciate pointers or sample code. Thanks!

[unebonnevie]

Ah, there is a programming forum for the Atari 5200, Atari systems -> Atari 8-bit computers -> Atari 5200/8-bit programming. It has the below post.

 

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/255139-action-bank-selection/?hl=%2Bbank+%2Bswitching&do=findComment&comment=3561345

[+playsoft]

Bank switching is really more a feature of the cart than the 5200 itself. The scheme which Bryan used on his 5200 port of Mule can be found here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/69649-5200-game-announcement-now-shipping/?p=856153

 

The Atarimax Ultimate SD cart supports the 32K bank switching version of this. If your .bin file is 64/128/256/512K long then it assumes it is this bank switching format.

 

The Ultimate SD also supports it's own hybrid bank switching format, with either 8K or 16K banks. The 8K bank switching also allows limited write capability to the cart SRAM. There is information and a demo program here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/221479-5200-ultimate-sd-cart-hybrid-8k-write8k-read-mode/?p=2917347

 

I guess the other bank switching carts are Miner 2049er and Bounty Bob Strikes Back but I've not looked into those.