Published July 12, 2023 © MIT

6502 monitor / disassembler using Arduino Mega

This is a faster and more sophisticated version of Ben Eater's monitor. It includes full disassembly of 65C02 instructions and uses SYNC.

IntermediateFull instructions provided2 hours1,795

6502 monitor / disassembler using Arduino Mega

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino Mega 2560

65C02

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Story

Introduction

In a past project I improved the performance of Ben Eater's Arduino monitor program by using direct port access. This made it possible to monitor the 65C02 reliably at speeds up to about 850Hz. The black box in the image below is a simplified version of Ben's clock and single stepper design now in a more portable and stable form.

Running at 850Hz on my slow clock

65C02 Disassembly

In this iteration I've included use of the SYNC pin on the 65C02 to know when we are at the start of the next op code. This keeps the disassembly in sync.

I found two great resources online to help write this little disassembler monitor:

Neil Parker's reference on how to decode 6502 instructions
Michael Steil's comprehensive reference for the instruction set

Wiring up the Arduino

Follow the instructions for my previous Mega as 4K RAM project to see which ports to use on the Arduino Mega for address, data, RW and CLK and then add one more jumper to pin 5 for the SYNC signal. I've also decided not to power my 65C02 from the Ardunio anymore since it is now an entire SBC and not just the single 65C02 chip. So, the 5V jumper is gone. Common ground is still very important.

SYNC on pin 5, red 5V jumper removed.

Wiring up to your 65C02

Obviously all our 6502 machines will look different but the connections are the same. Data and address lines are obvious. Common ground between your Arduino and your 65C02 machine is important, the black jumper in my case.

Three control lines are used by the disassembling monitor:

PHI2 - the 6502 clock line, green in photo and labelled CLK
RWB - the read/write line on the 6502, yellow in the photo and labelled R/W
SYNC - new opcode cycle on the 6502, blue in the photo and labelled SYNC

Connecting to your 6502 machine

The Code

For the purposes of illustration I have a simple sample program that has 4 LEDs hooked up to PORTA on a 65C22 VIA.

Blink!

Below is a stripped down version of the sample application 6502 source. The complete version with comments explaining things like the delay subroutine is attached to this project for interest.

Blink in 65C02 assembly

What follows below is the console output of the Arduino monitor / dissassembler program when restarting the sample Blink program on the 65C02.

Real time disassembly and monitoring of the 6502

I've chosen to left-align instructions and put non-instruction data in a second column on the right. Operands and addressing modes are correctly disassembled for instructions so you end up with more than one clock cycle / data byte per line depending on how many operands the instruction takes.

A "?" in the data column is typically what was on the bus when an instruction uses additional cycles. This data will vary depending on the instruction. For example, the JST and RTS instructions each consume 6 cycles and what happens in these cycles is described here and here. What you see reflected in the log in the right column is the inner workings of the 65C02 pushing or popping the return address from the stack.

JSR example

RTS example

The source for the Arduino program is also attached to this project. You should set your Serial Monitor console speed to 115200 baud.

In terms of configuration, you'll need to edit the following:

port addresses
RAM data address range

Note: it is called RAM data range in case you have code in RAM (I don't). Any memory area that is not covered by ports, zero page, stack or RAM data is assumed to be code (or the vectors between 0xFFFA and 0xFFFF).

Yes, my ports really are in the zero page. ;-)

What's Next?

Breakpoints? Why not?

The simplest may be to generate the clock signal from the Arduino Mega (instead of monitoring it). That would make it possible to run freely until a breakpoint is hit and then enter a single-step mode.

PORTA = $00F1
PORTB = $00F0
DDRA  = $00F3
DDRB  = $00F2

  .org $8000

start:

  cld      ; clear decimal arithmetic mode.
  
  ldx #$FF ; initialize the stack pointer
  txs
  
  cli      ; enable interrupts
  
  lda #%11111111 ; Set all pins on port A to output
  sta DDRA
  lda #%00000000 ; Set all pins on port B to input
  sta DDRB
  
loop:  
  lda #$0A
  sta PORTA
  
  lda #0  ;#217
  ldy #43 ;#3
  jsr delay
  
  lda #$05
  sta PORTA
  
  lda #0  ;#217
  ldy #43 ;#3
  jsr delay
  
  bra loop
  
delay:
  ; http://forum.6502.org/viewtopic.php?p=62581#p62581
  ; delay 9*(256*A+Y)+8 cycles
  ; assumes that the BCS does not cross a page boundary
  ; A and Y are the high and low bytes (respectively) of a 16-bit value; multiply that 16-bit value by 9, then add 8 and you get the cycle count
  ;
  ; Note: I didn't bother counting the jsr and rts in the delay time for now.
  ;
  ;            1Mhz Clock     800Hz Clock
  ;            A      Y       A     Y
  ; 500ms:     217    43      0     43
  ;
  
delayloop:
  cpy #1        ; 2
  dey           ; 2
  sbc #0        ; 2
  bcs delayloop ; 3
  
  rts


nmi:
  rti

irq:
  rti

  .org  $FFFA
  .word nmi
  .word start
  .word irq

// PORTL = Data
// PORTA = Address LSB
// PORTC = Address MSB

// 65C02 control pins needed:
#define PHI2 2 // 65C02 clock
#define RW   3  
#define SYNC 4 // indicates first byte of new opcode

void setup() {

  pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);

  DDRL = 0x00; // Data = INPUT
  
  DDRA = 0x00; // Address = INPUT
  DDRC = 0x00; // Address = INPUT
  
  pinMode(PHI2, INPUT);
  pinMode(RW,   INPUT);
  pinMode(SYNC, INPUT);

  attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(PHI2), OnClock, FALLING); // Data and Address are stable when PHI2 is falling
  Serial.begin(115200);
}

enum AddressingMode {Undefined, Immediate, Accumulator, Relative, Absolute, AbsoluteIndirect, AbsoluteXIndexedIndirect, XIndexedAbsolute, YIndexedAbsolute, ZeroPage, 
                     XIndexedZeroPage, YIndexedZeroPage, ZeroPageIndirect, XIndexedZeroPageIndirect, ZeroPageIndirectYIndexed}; 

unsigned int   previousAddress = 0x0000;
unsigned int   operands = 0;
unsigned int   previousOperand = 0;
AddressingMode addressingMode = Undefined;

unsigned int  currentAddress  = 0x0000;
unsigned char currentData = 0;
bool          currentRead = 0;
unsigned char currentOpCode = 0;
bool          opCodeMustFollow = false;


void OnClock() 
{
  char output[64];
  unsigned int   currentAddress = PINA + (PINC << 8);
  bool           currentRead = (PINE & (1<<PE5)) != 0; // RW: PIN 3 is PE5
  bool           currentSync = (PINE & (1<<PE3)) != 0; // RW: PIN 5 is PE3
  unsigned char  currentData = PINL;
  unsigned int   absoluteAddress = 0;

  if (currentAddress == previousAddress)
  {
    // false clock
  }
  else if ((currentAddress >= 0x0100) && (currentAddress <= 0x01FF)) 
  {
    // stack (needs to be before operands below in case operation accesses stack first like JSR does)
    sprintf(output, "\t\t\t\t\t0x%04X\t0x%02X\t\t%c STACK",  currentAddress, currentData, (char)(currentRead? 'R' : 'W'));
    Serial.println(output);
  }
  else if (operands > 0)
  {
    if (operands == 1)
    {
      switch (addressingMode)
      {
        case XIndexedZeroPageIndirect: // (zeropage,X)
          sprintf(output, "\t(0x%02X, X)",    currentData);
          break;
        case ZeroPage: // zeropage
          sprintf(output, "\t0x%02X",         currentData);
          break;
        case ZeroPageIndirect: // (zeropage)
          sprintf(output, "\t(0x%02X)",       currentData);
          break;
        case Immediate: // #immediate
          sprintf(output, "\t%%0x%02X",       currentData);
          break;
        case Absolute: // absolute
          absoluteAddress = (currentData << 8) + previousOperand;
          if (currentOpCode == 0x20) // JSR is special
          {
            sprintf(output, "\t\t\t0x%04X",     absoluteAddress);
          }
          else
          {
            sprintf(output, "\t0x%04X",     absoluteAddress);
          }
          break;
        case AbsoluteIndirect: // JMP (absolute)
          absoluteAddress = (currentData << 8) + previousOperand;
          sprintf(output, "\t(0x%04X)",     absoluteAddress);
          break;
        case AbsoluteXIndexedIndirect: // JMP (absolute,X)
          absoluteAddress = (currentData << 8) + previousOperand;
          sprintf(output, "\t(0x%04X, X)",     absoluteAddress);
          break;
        case ZeroPageIndirectYIndexed: // (zeropage),Y
          sprintf(output, "\t(0x%02X), Y",    currentData);
          break;
        case XIndexedZeroPage: // zeropage, X
          sprintf(output, "\t0x%02X, X",      currentData);
          break;
        case YIndexedZeroPage: // zeropage, Y
          sprintf(output, "\t0x%02X, Y",      currentData);
          break;
        case XIndexedAbsolute: // absolute, X
          absoluteAddress = (currentData << 8) + previousOperand;
          sprintf(output, "\t0x%04X, X",  absoluteAddress);
          break;
        case YIndexedAbsolute: // absolute, Y
          absoluteAddress = (currentData << 8) + previousOperand;
          sprintf(output, "\t0x%04X, Y",  absoluteAddress);
          break;
        case Relative: // relative (for branches)
          // The range of the offset is 128 to +127 bytes from the next instruction.
          absoluteAddress = currentAddress + currentData - 255;
          sprintf(output, "\t0x%04X",     absoluteAddress);
          break;
        case Undefined: // what's this?
          sprintf(output, "\t0x%02X ???",     currentData);
          break;
      }
      Serial.println(output);
    }
    else if (operands == 2)
    {
      previousOperand = currentData;
    }
    else
    {
      Serial.println("BAD operands");
    }
    operands--;
  }
  else if ((currentAddress >= 0x00F0) && (currentAddress <= 0x00FF)) // implementation specific: what are your PORT addresses?
  {
    // port IO
    sprintf(output, "\t\t\t\t\t0x%04X\t0x%02X\t\t%c PORT",  currentAddress, currentData, (char)(currentRead? 'R' : 'W'));
    Serial.println(output);
  }
  else if ((currentAddress >= 0x0000) && (currentAddress <= 0x7FFF)) // implementation specific: what is your data RAM?
  {
    // RAM
    sprintf(output, "\t\t\t\t\t0x%04X\t0x%02X\t\t%c RAM",  currentAddress, currentData, (char)(currentRead? 'R' : 'W'));
    Serial.println(output);
  }
  else if ((currentAddress >= 0xFFFA) && (currentAddress <= 0xFFFF)) 
  {
    // vectors
    sprintf(output, "\t\t\t\t\t0x%04X\t0x%02X\t\t%c VECTORS",  currentAddress, currentData, (char)(currentRead? 'R' : 'W'));
    Serial.println(output);
  }
  else if ((currentSync || opCodeMustFollow) && currentRead) // first byte of instruction according to SYNC
  {
    // https://www.pagetable.com/c64ref/6502/?cpu=65c02&tab=2 - good opcode resource
    // https://llx.com/Neil/a2/opcodes.html#insc02 - good instruction decoding resource
    char opName[5];
    
    operands = 0;
    addressingMode = Undefined;
    strcpy(opName, "???"); // what's this?!
    currentOpCode = currentData;

    opCodeMustFollow = false;

    // other instructions (not neatly in the groups which follow)
    switch (currentData)
    {
      case 0x00:
        strcpy(opName, "BRK");
        break;
      case 0x20:
        strcpy(opName, "JSR");
        operands = 2;
        addressingMode = Absolute;
        break;
      case 0x4C:
        strcpy(opName, "JMP");
        operands = 2;
        addressingMode = Absolute;
        break;
      case 0x6C:
        strcpy(opName, "JMP");
        operands = 2;
        addressingMode = AbsoluteIndirect;
        break;
      case 0x7C:
        strcpy(opName, "JMP");
        operands = 2;
        addressingMode = AbsoluteXIndexedIndirect;
        break;
      case 0x40:
        strcpy(opName, "RTI");
        break;
      case 0x60:
        strcpy(opName, "RTS");
        break;
      case 0x08:
        strcpy(opName, "PHP");
        break;
      case 0x28:
        strcpy(opName, "PLP");
        break;
      case 0x48:
        strcpy(opName, "PHA");
        break;
      case 0x68:
        strcpy(opName, "PLA");
        break;
      case 0x88:
        strcpy(opName, "DEY");
        break;
      case 0xA8:
        strcpy(opName, "TAY");
        break;
      case 0xC8:
        strcpy(opName, "INY");
        break;
      case 0xE8:
        strcpy(opName, "INX");
        break;
      case 0x18:
        strcpy(opName, "CLC");
        break;
      case 0x38:
        strcpy(opName, "SEC");
        break;
      case 0x58:
        strcpy(opName, "CLI");
        break;
      case 0x78:
        strcpy(opName, "SEI");
        break;
      case 0x98:
        strcpy(opName, "TYA");
        break;
      case 0xB8:
        strcpy(opName, "CLV");
        break;
      case 0xD8:
        strcpy(opName, "CLD");
        break;
      case 0xF8:
        strcpy(opName, "SED");
        break;
      case 0x8A:
        strcpy(opName, "TXA");
        break;
      case 0x9A:
        strcpy(opName, "TXS");
        break;
      case 0xAA:
        strcpy(opName, "TAX");
        break;
      case 0xBA:
        strcpy(opName, "TSX");
        break;
      case 0xCA:
        strcpy(opName, "DEX");
        break;
      case 0xEA:
        strcpy(opName, "NOP");
        break;
      
      // 65C02
      case 0x1A:
        strcpy(opName, "INC");
        break;
      case 0x3A:
        strcpy(opName, "DEC");
        break;
      case 0xDA:
        strcpy(opName, "PHX");
        break;
      case 0x5A:
        strcpy(opName, "PHY");
        break;
      case 0xFA:
        strcpy(opName, "PLX");
        break;
      case 0x7A:
        strcpy(opName, "PLY");
        break;
      case 0x89:      
        strcpy(opName, "BIT");
        addressingMode = Immediate;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0x14:
        strcpy(opName, "TRB");
        addressingMode = ZeroPage;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0x64:
        strcpy(opName, "STZ");
        addressingMode = ZeroPage;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0x1C:
        strcpy(opName, "TRB");
        addressingMode = Absolute;
        operands = 2;
        break;
      case 0x9C:
        strcpy(opName, "STZ");
        addressingMode = Absolute;
        operands = 2;
        break;
      case 0x74:
        strcpy(opName, "STZ");
        addressingMode = XIndexedZeroPage;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0x9E:
        strcpy(opName, "STZ");
        addressingMode = XIndexedAbsolute;
        operands = 2;
        break;
      
      case 0x10:
        strcpy(opName, "BPL");
        addressingMode = Relative;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0x30:
        strcpy(opName, "BMI");
        addressingMode = Relative;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0x50:
        strcpy(opName, "BVC");
        addressingMode = Relative;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0x70:
        strcpy(opName, "BVS");
        addressingMode = Relative;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0x80:
        strcpy(opName, "BRA");
        addressingMode = Relative;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0x90:
        strcpy(opName, "BCC");
        addressingMode = Relative;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0xB0:
        strcpy(opName, "BCS");
        addressingMode = Relative;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0xD0:
        strcpy(opName, "BNE");
        addressingMode = Relative;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      case 0xF0:
        strcpy(opName, "BEQ");
        addressingMode = Relative;
        operands = 1;
        break;
      
      default:
        switch (currentData & 0b00000011)
        {
          case 0b00000001: // 'Group One' instructions
            addressingMode = Undefined;
            switch (currentData & 0b00011100)
            {
              case 0b00000000: // (zeropage,X)
                addressingMode = XIndexedZeroPageIndirect;
                operands = 1;
                break;
              case 0b00000100: // zeropage
                addressingMode = ZeroPage;
                operands = 1;
                break;
              case 0b00001000: // #immediate
                addressingMode = Immediate;  
                operands = 1;
                break;
              case 0b00010000: // (zeropage),Y
                addressingMode = ZeroPageIndirectYIndexed;  
                operands = 1;
                break;
              case 0b00010100: // zeropage,X
                addressingMode = XIndexedZeroPage;  
                operands = 1;
                break;
              case 0b00001100: // absolute
                addressingMode = Absolute;  
                operands = 2;
                break;
              case 0b00011000: // absolute, X
                addressingMode = XIndexedAbsolute;  
                operands = 2;
                break;
              case 0b00011100: // absolute, Y
                addressingMode = YIndexedAbsolute;  
                operands = 2;
                break;
            }
            switch (currentData & 0b11100000)
            {
              case 0b00000000:
                strcpy(opName, "ORA");
                break;
              case 0b00100000:
                strcpy(opName, "AND");
                break;
              case 0b01000000:
                strcpy(opName, "EOR");
                break;
              case 0b01100000:
                strcpy(opName, "ADC");
                break;
              case 0b10000000:
                strcpy(opName, "STA");
                break;
              case 0b10100000:
                strcpy(opName, "LDA");
                break;
              case 0b11000000:
                strcpy(opName, "CMP");
                break;
              case 0b11100000:
                strcpy(opName, "SBC");
                break;
            }
            break;
          case 0b00000010: // 'Group Two' instructions
            addressingMode = Undefined;
            switch (currentData & 0b00011100)
            {
              case 0b00000000: // #immediate
                addressingMode = Immediate;
                operands = 1;
                break;
              case 0b00000100: // zeropage
                addressingMode = ZeroPage;
                operands = 1;
                break;
              case 0b00001000: // A
                addressingMode = Accumulator;  
                operands = 0;
                break;
              case 0b00001100: // absolute
                addressingMode = Absolute;  
                operands = 2;
                break;
              case 0b0010000: // (zeropage)
                addressingMode = ZeroPageIndirect;  
                operands = 2;
                break;
              case 0b00010100: // zeropage,X
                addressingMode = XIndexedZeroPage;  
                operands = 1;
                break;
              case 0b00011100: // absolute, X
                addressingMode = XIndexedAbsolute;  
                operands = 2;
                break;
            }
            if (addressingMode == ZeroPageIndirect) // 65C02 exception
            {
              // 'Group One' opcodes
              switch (currentData & 0b11100000)
              {
                case 0b00000000:
                  strcpy(opName, "ORA");
                  break;
                case 0b00100000:
                  strcpy(opName, "AND");
                  break;
                case 0b01000000:
                  strcpy(opName, "EOR");
                  break;
                case 0b01100000:
                  strcpy(opName, "ADC");
                  break;
                case 0b10000000:
                  strcpy(opName, "STA");
                  break;
                case 0b10100000:
                  strcpy(opName, "LDA");
                  break;
                case 0b11000000:
                  strcpy(opName, "CMP");
                  break;
                case 0b11100000:
                  strcpy(opName, "SBC");
                  break;
              }
            }
            else
            {
              switch (currentData & 0b11100000)
              {
                case 0b00000000:
                  strcpy(opName, "ASL");
                  break;
                case 0b00100000:
                  strcpy(opName, "ROL");
                  break;
                case 0b01000000:
                  strcpy(opName, "LSR");
                  break;
                case 0b01100000:
                  strcpy(opName, "ROR");
                  break;
                case 0b10000000:
                  switch (addressingMode)
                  {
                    case XIndexedZeroPage:
                      addressingMode = YIndexedZeroPage;
                      break;
                  }
                  strcpy(opName, "STX");
                  break;
                case 0b10100000:
                  switch (addressingMode)
                  {
                    case XIndexedZeroPage:
                      addressingMode = YIndexedZeroPage;
                      break;
                    case XIndexedAbsolute:
                      addressingMode = YIndexedAbsolute;
                      break;
                  }
                  strcpy(opName, "LDX");
                  break;
                case 0b11000000:
                  strcpy(opName, "DEC");
                  break;
                case 0b11100000:
                  strcpy(opName, "INC");
                  break;
              }
            }
            break;
          case 0b00000000: // 'Group Three' instructions
            addressingMode = Undefined;
            switch (currentData & 0b00011100)
            {
              case 0b00000000: // #immediate
                addressingMode = Immediate;
                operands = 1;
                break;
              case 0b00000100: // zeropage
                addressingMode = ZeroPage;
                operands = 1;
                break;
              case 0b00001100: // absolute
                addressingMode = Absolute;  
                operands = 2;
                break;
              case 0b00010100: // zeropage,X
                addressingMode = XIndexedZeroPage;  
                operands = 1;
                break;
              case 0b00011100: // absolute, X
                addressingMode = XIndexedAbsolute;  
                operands = 2;
                break;
            }
            switch (currentData & 0b11100000)
            {
              case 0b00000000:
                strcpy(opName, "TSB");
                break;
              case 0b00100000:
                strcpy(opName, "BIT");
                break;
              case 0b10000000:
                strcpy(opName, "STY");
                break;
              case 0b10100000:
                strcpy(opName, "LDY");
                break;
              case 0b11000000:
                strcpy(opName, "CPY");
                break;
              case 0b11100000:
                strcpy(opName, "CPX");
                break;
            }
            break;
        case 0b00000011: // special Rockwell and WDC instructions
            addressingMode = Undefined;
            unsigned char bit = ((currentData & 0b01110000) >> 4) + '0';
            switch (currentData & 0b00001100)
            {
              case 0b00000100:
                sprintf(opName, "RMB%c", bit);
                break;
              case 0b10000100:
                sprintf(opName, "SMB%c", bit);
                break;
              case 0b00001100:
                sprintf(opName, "BBR%c", bit);
                break;
              case 0b10001100:
                sprintf(opName, "BBS%c", bit);
                break;
            }
            break;
        }
        break;
    }

    if (   (operands > 0) 
        && (currentOpCode != 0x20) // JSR is special: stack bytes are seen before operand bytes
       )
    {
      sprintf(output, "0x%04X\t0x%02X\t%s",  currentAddress, currentData, opName);
    }
    else
    {
      sprintf(output, "0x%04X\t0x%02X\t%s\n",  currentAddress, currentData, opName);
    }
    Serial.print(output);

    // For some reason the SYNC signal is not always correct following a single byte opcode.
    // This is a workaround but it cannot be used if the single byte opcode causes stack read/write
    opCodeMustFollow = false;
    if (operands == 0)
    {
      switch (currentData)
      {
        case 0x48: // PHA
        case 0x08: // PHP
        case 0xDA: // PHX
        case 0x5A: // PHY
        case 0x68: // PLA
        case 0x28: // PLP
        case 0xFA: // PLX
        case 0x7A: // PLY
        case 0x20: // JSR
        case 0x40: // RTI
        case 0x60: // RTS
          break;
        default:
          opCodeMustFollow = true;
          break;
      }
    }
  }
  
  else
  {
    // everything else
    sprintf(output, "\t\t\t\t\t0x%04X\t0x%02X\t\t%c\t%c ?",  currentAddress, currentData, (char)(currentRead? 'R' : 'W'), (char)(currentSync? 'S' : ' '));
    Serial.println(output);
  }
  
  previousAddress = currentAddress;
}

void loop() 
{
  // Toggle the Mega's built-in LED as a heartbeat indicator:
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
}

Credits

Michael Cartwright

21 projects • 13 followers

6502 monitor / disassembler using Arduino Mega

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Introduction

65C02 Disassembly

Wiring up the Arduino

Wiring up to your 65C02

The Code

What's Next?

Code

Sample 65C02 assembler Blink program

6502 monitor/disassembler for the Arduino Mega

Credits

Michael Cartwright

Comments

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6502 monitor / disassembler using Arduino Mega

6502 monitor / disassembler using Arduino Mega

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Introduction

65C02 Disassembly

Wiring up the Arduino

Wiring up to your 65C02

The Code

What's Next?

Code

Sample 65C02 assembler Blink program

6502 monitor/disassembler for the Arduino Mega

Credits

Michael Cartwright

Comments

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