Editing Autoconfig (section)

== Hardware specifications and bus connections ==
Autoconfig is part of the [[Zorro II]] and [[Zorro III]] expansion bus specification for configuring expansion devices in Amiga systems. [[Zorro II]] was first used in the Amiga 2000, though a similar expansion bus is present on the [[Amiga 1000]]. Zorro II is a relatively straightforward extension of the [[68000]] bus.<ref name="a500-2000_tech">{{citation | url=http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/amiga/amiga-commodore/Amiga_A500_A2000_Technical_Reference_Manual_1987.pdf | last=Finkel | first=Steve | title=Commodore Amiga A500/A2000 Technical Reference Manual | publisher=Commodore-Amiga, Inc. | year=1987 | access-date=2011-09-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613032004/http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/amiga/amiga-commodore/Amiga_A500_A2000_Technical_Reference_Manual_1987.pdf | archive-date=2012-06-13 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Autoconfig requires the 68000 data and address bus to be available to all devices on the bus. In theory, a virtual address system, as used in [[PCI Local Bus|PCI]], would require a minor revision to Autoconfig.

The Amiga 2000 can accommodate five Zorro expansion cards, such as, RAM expansions, SCSI controllers and graphic cards. However the standard does not put a limit on the number of devices. In the A2000, two Zorro II slots are aligned with [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] slots. The Zorro bus and ISA bus can be connected by means of a "bridgeboard", such as, the Janus Hardware Emulator, which allows emulation of [[Intel]] [[80286]] or [[80386]] systems.<ref name="a500-2000_tech"/>

Zorro III is the 32 bit auto-configuring expansion bus of [[Amiga 3000]] and [[Amiga 4000]] systems.<ref name="zorro3">{{cite web | title=The Zorro III Bus Specification | url=http://www.thule.no/haynie/zorroiii/docs/zorro3.pdf | first=Dave | last=Haynie | date=20 March 1991 | publisher=Commodore-Amiga, Inc. | access-date=31 January 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716212151/http://www.thule.no/haynie/zorroiii/docs/zorro3.pdf | archive-date=16 July 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref> From the A3000 design onwards, it was deemed desirable for all enumerable hardware expansions to use Autoconfig. It is OS-legal for non-Autoconfig hardware to be completely ignored and the standard was adopted in AmigaOS 3.1.