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This is the wiki for wAx2. For the original wAx's wiki, please see https://github.com/Chysn/VIC20-wAx/wiki

Table of Contents

• About wAx
• About wAxpander
• wAx2 Tutorial
• 6502 Disassembler
• 6502 Assembler
  • Comments
  • Immediate Mode Operands
  • Accumulator Mode Operand
  • Arithmetic
  • Entering Data
  • Advanced Assembler Topics
    • Symbols
    • Symbol Table Manager
    • Multi-Pass Assembly
    • Undocumented Instruction Support
• The Command Pointer
• BASIC Variable Substitution
• Memory Display
• Memory Editor
• Register Editor
• Go
• Breakpoint Manager
• Disk/Tape/SD Storage
• Transfer and Fill
  • Transfer
  • Pattern Fill
• Search
  • Hex Search
  • Text Search
  • Code Search
• Compare
• Assertion Tester
• Numeric Conversion
• User Tool
• BASIC Stage Manager

Appendices

• Appendix A: wAx Error Messages
• Appendix B: wAx Memory Usage
• Appendix C: Supported "Illegal" Instructions
• Appendix D: API Routine Reference
• Appendix E: Quick Reference

Assembling wAx

The wAx source code targets the xa cross assembler (https://www.floodgap.com/retrotech/xa/). Various degrees of modifications may need to be performed to target other assemblers, especially with respect to label redefinition syntax (-loop), data pseudo-ops (.byte, etc), and sometimes (more annoyingly) case for text data.

To assemble wAx, use the following command (Linux and macOS):

xa -o wax2.bin ~/wAx2/src/wax.asm

Then, to add a location header for loading on a VIC-20, use the following command (Linux and macOS):

printf "\x00\xa0" | cat - wax2.bin > wax.prg

Then, transfer the file to your favorite VIC-20 storage medium and LOAD "WAX",device,1

Starting wAx

From Cartridge

With your VIC-20 turned off, plug the wAx cartridge in, then power up your VIC. Start wAx with

SYS 40960

From Disk or SD Card

Load wAx with

LOAD "WAX.PRG",8,1

When it is loaded, start wAx with

SYS 40960

wAx is friendly to your BASIC programs. When you start wAx, it will fix the BASIC pointers that are usually corrupted with LOAD,8,1. You may feel free to load wAx with a BASIC program in memory, but you will need to start wAx after the load operation to fix BASIC pointers.