Wait cycle
The 68k is able to wait for data by using wait cycles during bus access. This allows the use of slow, cheaper memories in cartridges and memory cards.
The NeoGeo has wait state generation for 3 memory zones:
- 000000~0FFFFF: ROM zone (P ROM) - Configurable, 0 or 1 cycle
- 200000~2FFFFF: PORT zone (P ROM or special chips) - Configurable, 0, 1, 2 or more cycles
- 800000~BFFFFF: Memory card - Fixed, 2 cycles
Cartridge configuration
Configuration is done by setting the levels of the following cartridge pins. '1' means pulled to 5V, '0' means pulled to ground. All signals are active low.
| ROMWAIT | ROM zone wait |
|---|---|
| 1 | Full speed |
| 0 | 1 cycle |
| PWAIT1 | PWAIT0 | PORT zone wait |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Full speed |
| 1 | 0 | 1 cycle |
| 0 | 1 | 2 cycles |
| 0 | 0 | As long as PDTACK is high |
Use cases
Some games rely on wait cycles to perform sufficiently spaced VRAM accesses. Disabling the wait on those cartridges causes the accesses to become too close to each other and results in graphics corruption.
No originally released cartridges are known to use PDTACK.