Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I take another look at this ATI Graphics Ultra card with an IBM 8514/A compatible blitter. I finally get it to work correctly, including the ATI specific blitter hardware and I use it to generate some 3D objects and rotate them in real time on a 286!
Code for this episode can be found on my GitHub repository: github.com/wbhart/mach8blitter
Minor correction to the video: I now believe the "destination colour compare function, which I mention very briefly in passing, actually only compares against a fixed colour in a register, not against the destination colour. But this doesn't affect the presentation at all.
Unfortunately the IBM register level documentation seems to be lost to history. Only documentation of the AI level remains.
I take another look at this ATI Graphics Ultra card with an IBM 8514/A compatible blitter. I finally get it to work correctly, including the ATI specific blitter hardware and I use it to generate some 3D objects and rotate them in real time on a 286!
Code for this episode can be found on my GitHub repository: github.com/wbhart/mach8blitter
Minor correction to the video: I now believe the "destination colour compare function, which I mention very briefly in passing, actually only compares against a fixed colour in a register, not against the destination colour. But this doesn't affect the presentation at all.
Unfortunately the IBM register level documentation seems to be lost to history. Only documentation of the AI level remains.
