In his previous video Jan Beta attempted to use a 120GB HDD in his Amiga 2000. Unfortuntely there were issues when it got to about 110GB during the formatting process and while he was able to fix the error he decided to try something else. In this case a Compact Flash card as a HDD on the BuddhaIDE controler.
The Buddha is an IDE controller for all Amiga computers with Zorro slots. In addition to two IDE-ports, there is a clock port for hardware originally designed for the A1200 computer. A new feature of the controller is that the IDE ports can supply power for a DOM (“disk on module”). Modern 3.3V technology saves power and only causes moderate temperature increase inside the computer.
All known features of the IDE controller are still available:
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- Autoboot with Kickstarts V1.3, 2.0 and 3.1
- two IDE ports for up to four IDE devices
- compatible with almost all IDE/ATAPI devices:
- hard disk drives
- DOM (40-pin)
- CF cards (with adapter, not included)
- ATAPI CD-ROM drives (any speed)
- ATAPI CD changers
- ATAPI CD writers (writing software not included)
- GND!
Performance: Even with slow devices, transfer rates of 2.2 MBytes/second(*) can be achieved. The raw transfer rate is only limited by the Zorro-II bus, which tops at 3.58 MBytes/second.(**)
Hard disks or solid state media can be prepared with HDToolbox or the iComp installer, which complements the software package that comes with the 20 Year Anniversary Edition of the Buddha controller: Licenced OS versions 1.3, 2.1 and 3.1 from Hyperion come on a 128 MByte DOM which is included in its price. The automatic installer makes preparing a hard disk easier than any other software did before: Just a few mouse clicks, and even the rather complicated process of installing media with a 64-bit file system is complete. The installer brings the ease of use of today’s computers to the computer system that introduced simple usability to the computer market in the 1980s.
