APU Frame Counter

The NES APU frame counter generates low-frequency clocks for the channels and an optional 60 Hz interrupt. The name "frame counter" might be slightly misleading because the clocks have nothing to do with the video signal.

The frame counter contains the following: divider, looping clock sequencer, frame interrupt flag.

$4017	MI--.----	Set mode and interrupt (write)
Bit 7	M--- ----	Sequencer mode: 0 selects 4-step sequence, 1 selects 5-step sequence
Bit 6	-I-- ----	Interrupt inhibit flag. If set, the frame interrupt flag is cleared, otherwise it is unaffected.
Side effects		The sequencer is restarted at step 1 of the selected mode. If mode is 1 the sequencer is then clocked, causing the first step to be carried out immediately. Finally, the divider is reloaded, resulting in a 1/240 second delay before the sequencer is next clocked.

The sequencer is clocked by the divider, which generates a 240 Hz (approx.) clock by dividing the master clock. The NTSC and RGB PPUs divides the 21.47727 MHz system clock by 89490.

TODO: describe PAL

The frame interrupt flag is connected to the CPU's IRQ line.

Mode 0: 4-Step Sequence

Step	Envelopes & triangle's linear counter	Length counters & sweep units	Frame interrupt flag
1	Clock
2	Clock	Clock
3	Clock
4	Clock	Clock	Set if interrupt inhibit is clear
	240 Hz (approx.)	120 Hz (approx.)	60 Hz (approx.)

Mode 1: 5-Step Sequence

Step	Envelopes & triangle's linear counter	Length counters & sweep units
1	Clock	Clock
2	Clock
3	Clock	Clock
4	Clock
5
	192 Hz (approx.), uneven timing	96 Hz (approx.), uneven timing

In this mode, the frame interrupt flag is never set.