Buddha 2018

[curtis]

I put my Buddha order in on Feb 8 with a request they update the firmware to the latest and "greatest".  Just got notified it's been picked and will be packed and shipped.

Guess we'll see how it compares to the IDE4Zorro when it gets here.

Here's hoping...

[curtis]

Got my Buddha in today and started playing.

Gotta say this thing is finicky!  Using a TrueIDE adapter some CF cards are recognized and some are not.

Sometimes the DOM is seen, most times it isn't.

Tried a couple of 2.1G regular IDE drives (yes a real 3.5") drive and one was seen, the other not.

Like I said.  FINICKY!!!!!

[curtis]

Had some odd side effects along with the testing.  Not sure if their related, but curious if anyone else noticed anything similar.

Sometimes when I inserted a CF and fired the machine up I'd lose all but about 256K of my chip RAM.  Sometimes my expansion memory board wouldn't be recognized.

Only about have the time was the DOM recognized.

Not sure what any of the above means, but it is interesting.  At least to me!

[curtis]

It's a 3.1 ROM.  If there is a tool to check the firmware revision I didn't notice it.

Tests were with and without the 030 combo board that I have.  Didn't seem to make a difference whether the accelerator was installed or not.

Yo Curtis, what ROM is in your machine? Did the new Buddha come with a tool to check the firmware revision? Are these tests with your 030 combo board installed?

I still haven't received my 3.1 ROMs so I've been idle with my Buddha tests. I have a GVP 030 combo accelerator too so just waiting on ROMs to help you reproduce glitches.

[curtis]

I've discovered that changing the HDToolBox Information to device=buddhascsi.device helps alot in getting the DOM recognized.

May be a no brainer to a lot of people, but I hadn't even thought of it until I got to pondering the typical GVP SCSI device needing that little change.

Still doesn't recognize all the cards, but it's a LOT better now.

Found one off-brand 4GB cf card that works perfectly in a PC, but Amiga thinks it's been write protected, even after I JUST formatted the stupid thing in my PC.

Oh well, I've got a 5GB Seagate microdrive that's working like a champ now.

[curtis]

Will check the firmware when I get a chance.

Yes, the Buddha is working just fine with the GVP Combo card.  Mostly.

Only thing that isn't recognized is the RAM on the combo board.  However, I don't think that's due to the Buddha card.  I tried it without the Buddha installed and still no RAM.

Reset the jumper to auto-config the RAM into the Zorro space and I get the red screen at boot up saying it's bad.  Move the jumper so the RAM isn't in the Zorro space and it boots up fine, but no RAM.

Any suggestions?

[curtis]

Yeah, might be better to start a new thread rather than hijack this one.  Really hate it when people go wandering off topic.

And you're right about the L-O-N-G boot time.