Buddha IDE Controller

[abbub]

So the 'installation DOM' works fine, and (with the latest drivers update) was able to see both my 4 GB and my 16 GB DOM and install 3.1 on them.

The 4 GB drive had a 512 MB partition and a 3.1 GB paritition created on it by the install disk.

The 16 GB drive had a 512 MB partition and a 13.6 GB partition created on it by the install disk.

AmigaOS 3.1.4 sees all of the partitions on the drives, and I was able to get it installed without any problems other than the fact that HDToolBox (on both 3.1 with kickstart 3.1 and on 3.1.4 with kickstart 3.1.4) doesn't recognize any drives at all, so at the moment I'm stuck with the partitions that the original DOM installer created.

Any thoughts on what might be the problem or possible fixes?

[gulliver]

AmigaOS 3.1.4 FAQ section 2.2
http://de3.aminet.net/docs/help/AmigaOS_3.1.4-FAQ.txt

[abbub]

yeah, I followed those instructions (to the extent that I can) but 'Change Drive Type' is greyed out. In fact, every button except 'Help' and 'Exit' is greyed out.

[thomas]

As with any third-party controller you have to tell HDToolbox the name of its driver.

Check the tool types. There should be one reading SCSI_DEVICE_NAME=scsi.device
Change that to buddhascsi.device

[abbub]

That worked perfectly, Thomas! Thanks a lot!!!

[A3000T]

Second HD On The Buddha Using HDTOOLBOX

Note: I am using Kickstart 3.2 and OS3.2 which can use large HD's.

1. With the power off connect a second HD to the right IDE port on the Buddha, REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE JUMPER!! Power on.

2. Make a copy of HDTOOLBOX in the Tools Folder and rename it to BuddhaHDToolBox.

3 Right click on the icon, select icon, change scsi.device to buddhascsi.device, change max address to 3, max lun to 3 and save it (I don't think it matters but I did).

4. Open BuddhaToolBox and you should see two devices chose address of your new HD (DO NOT choose address 0, that is your boot HD!) and chose change drive type.

5. From here you can follow the manual. When you partition the new drive chose default and rename the new drives do not make them bootable.

6. When you get to read the new drive configuration may fail, fill in the manufactures Name with model number and give it a Drive Version if you can find it or make something up like 3.AC and try it again.

7. Save changes and exit. It will ask you to reboot.

8 You should have two new drives. Format each drive using quick format. If you chose format, it will take hours for each drive. Chose format if you suspect bad sectors.

9. Now you can drag your files to the new drives for backup. Copy disk.info from your BDH0 to the new partitions to give them a new look.

Users with Kickstart 3.1 the max HD size is 4GB.


If you have problems contact me.

[thomas]

Originally Posted by A3000T

Note: I am using Kickstart 3.2 and OS3.2 which can use large HD's.

This only applies to mainboard hardware. Expansions like the Buddha need to be checked individually. On the Buddha you can use large harddrives in any OS version, given that you use a suitable file system.

1. With the power off connect a second HD to the right IDE port on the Buddha, REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE JUMPER!! Power on.

Which Jumper? Master/Slave? This can be different depending on the brand of harddrive. Some have a master jumper which needs to be removed, some have a master and a slave jumper, in this case you need to move the jumper from master to slave.

Also check the jumpers on the first harddrive. Some have different jumper settings for master only and master with slave.

3 Right click on the icon, select icon, change scsi.device to buddhascsi.device, change max address to 3, max lun to 3 and save it (I don't think it matters but I did).

Set max lun to 0, everything else does not make sense.

You can as well leave them as is. HDToolbox just finds no drives on the non-present IDs and LUNs.

5. From here you can follow the manual. When you partition the new drive chose default and rename the new drives do not make them bootable.

If you want the backup to serve as an emergency replacement, you should make them bootable.

6. When you get to read the new drive configuration may fail, fill in the manufactures Name with model number and give it a Drive Version if you can find it or make something up like 3.AC and try it again.

Every new drive will identify itself. If read configuration fails, you should check the hardware, cabling, jumpers etc. There is no point in continuing, it will fail at a later point again.

8 You should have two new drives. Format each drive using quick format. If you chose format, it will take hours for each drive. Chose format if you suspect bad sectors.

If you suspect bad sectors, replace the drive. The Format program cannot fix them. They will only cause the IDE bus to hang.

Users with Kickstart 3.1 the max HD size is 4GB.

That's not true. Especially the Buddha comes with a version of FastFileSystem which supports large harddrives in any OS version. With a third-party file system like PFS3 it's also possible to use large harddrives on the Buddha.

[A3000T]

I tried the Buddha on KS3.1 and OS3.9 but my KS3.1 was for the A4000T v40.68 which was unstable, and I needed v40.64 the Amiga dealer got me the wrong ROMs back in the 90s. The only way I could my Amiga was with my MK2 68060-50 accelerator card with 32mb of ram. When I installed KS3.2 and OS3.2 all my problems went away, even without the MK2. Thanks for letting me know about the HD size. I was referring to my SCSI drives I was using with OS 3.1. I only had 4gb HDs on my A3000T. that's why I bought the Buddha to use IDE hardware, I got burned on SCSI HDs and CD-ROMs going bad. Older KS had the libs files on the ROMs. The Buddha cannot install a OS3.2 by itself, because it does not have any libs files on it. It needs the info.library and workbench.library it's on the OS3.2 CD. I didn't have a CD drive on my Amiga So I had to use my A1200 to format a 720k msdos disk and used my windozzz machine to transfer the needed libs files from the CD drive, then transfer them to Amiga floppies, rename the shortened files. Then used the Buddha to install WB3.2 using the libs from the floppy when the Buddha requested them to continue the install. Then with some problems installing the IDE CD drive I was able to install OS3.2 from the CD disc. The Buddha is not ready for OS3.2, it needs help.

[A3000T]

The IDE HD and DVD drives I use have master salve jumpers if yours don't have then get other drives or you may confuse the poor Buddha. As far as the lun do what u want buddha uses 0, fine but it doesn't matter. The Buddha ONLY knows BDH0 and BDH1 the second HD will be named BDH0.1 and BDH1.1! I modified HDToolBox to use the buddhascsi.device and I can use any name for the drive, I named it BuddhaHDToolBox. I have both bootable OS and backup files. Some IDE drives the BuddhaHDToolBox can't read, I use this method to get them to work. Using long format uses w/r if a bad sector is found it will MARK IT BAD! The Buddha does NOT use a true Amiga format, try using QuaterBackTools it will tell u so! I can use QBT om my SCSI with any OS and it works great! What version # is this Buddha FFS?, there is only one and it's on the OS. I can use the shell format command and it works with OS3.2. The Buddha uses its DOM format to make BDH0 and BDH1 etc. that's why it's not a true Amiga HD partition. If you install MBRTest on the Buddha and run it, it will crash the Amiga, but it works fine on my SCSI. As far as the BuddhaCDInstall install script is flawed, there are two commands where it has the atapi.device and scsi.device i changed to buddhascsi and buddhascsi.device to make it work. Even FindCD works. It took me 5 minutes to find and make the corrections. It just sails through the install, there is 1 place you need to chose the buddhascsi.device and another to name the drive I use the default CD1.

[thomas]

my KS3.1 was for the A4000T v40.68 which was unstable, and I needed v40.64

40.68 is for A4000D, 40.70 is for A4000T. 40.68 in A4000T shouldn't be unstable. It just does not contain the SCSI driver, so you cannot access the mainboard SCSI.

The Buddha cannot install a OS3.2 by itself, because it does not have any libs files on it. It needs the info.library and workbench.library it's on the OS3.2 CD.

That's true for every HDD controller. It's not the Buddha which asks for these files but the 3.2 ROM. You should have got two floppy disks with the 3.2 CD, both contain the required files.

The Buddha is not ready for OS3.2, it needs help.

It's rather you who needs help. You should read the installation instructions and FAQ before you begin. All the information is in there. And has nothing to do with the Buddha or any other specific HDD controller.

The Buddha ONLY knows BDH0 and BDH1 the second HD will be named BDH0.1 and BDH1.1!

You can overtype partition names in HDToolbox. If you connect two drives with equally named partitions of course it changes the names because partition names need to be unique.

Using long format uses w/r if a bad sector is found it will MARK IT BAD!

No, it doesn't. It just fails to format. If you are lucky and get an error from the HDD. IDE and SCSI drives handle bad sectors internally. If a bad sector is reported to the OS, then the drive is dead.

The Buddha does NOT use a true Amiga format, try using QuaterBackTools it will tell u so!

Not sure what you mean by that. QBT is rather old. If you formatted the drive with 3.2's long file names, QBT cannot read it of course. Nothing to do with the Buddha or a HDD controller in general.

What version # is this Buddha FFS?

44 IIRC

http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/Buddha#Download

[A3000T]

I have 40.068 and I do use it the on-board SCSI drive, it works GREAT! What u say is untrue! Do u have a3000D/T and 40.68 roms? What Amiga do u use? I have A3000D a3000T, A1200! The A3000D has battery corrosion issues.

I didn't get floppies with my OS3.2, in the manual it instructs how to make them though. But I only need the two files, as renaming all the files to the correct names is a pain in the A.. the only way I can make the floppies is on a windozzz machine as mentioned above at that time I didn't have a CD on the Amiga.

I am stating the Buddha installing the IDE drives by itself. Using HDToolBox is another piece of software which doesn't see the Buddha drives unless you change the scsi.device to buddhascsi.device in the HDToolBox.info file, then it will work. My setup is HD and DVD drives master/slave on the left IDE port. Remove the DOM and jumper and connect another HD to it. You can use the BuddhaHDToolBox to install a second drive with any name you chose. The other method is to format two HD on the buddha left IDE port, one at a time then separate them and u will see BDH0, BDH1, BDH0.1 and BDH1.1. Rename them to keep them straight, BDH0 and BDH1 is first drive and BDH0.1, BDH1.1 is the second drive.

I have QBTools V1.5 and the latest I downloaded 2.0.2 both give the same error message "Root block checksum error" and "The boot block is corrupt", even if I chose fastfilsystem. Go try it! Just don't try to repair or you may be sorry! I will try it on a test HD. U do the same!

I will only use the filesystem that came with the OS3.2 CD.... my choice!

If u don't have OS3.2 go buy it it's only around $60 us with ROMs... its great!

[A3000T]

Originally Posted by thomas

40.68 is for A4000D, 40.70 is for A4000T. 40.68 in A4000T shouldn't be unstable. It just does not contain the SCSI driver, so you cannot access the mainboard SCSI.

I don't use A4000 I use A3000D/T. 40.68 does work on my Amiga3000T onboard scsi but it is unstable unless I use my MK2 68060-50 board! If your are local(Idaho, U.S.A), drive over, if you are in Europe take a big swim or fly, your choice.


That's true for every HDD controller. It's not the Buddha which asks for these files but the 3.2 ROM. You should have got two floppy disks with the 3.2 CD, both contain the required files.

I didn't get the floppy's I had to make my own on a windozzz machine.

It's rather you who needs help. You should read the installation instructions and FAQ before you begin. All the information is in there. And has nothing to do with the Buddha or any other specific HDD controller.

I am using windozzz 11 and it doesn't support 720k floppies 9I must make them on my A1200)! Even if you coverup the left hole on the disc. I got the library files and OS3.2 installed. Also the dos commands provided don't work.

You can overtype partition names in HDToolbox. If you connect two drives with equally named partitions of course it changes the names because partition names need to be unique.

BuddhaHDToolBox NOT HDToolBox! Then you do it. I rename My folders as WB-OS3.2 and Work-OS3.2.

No, it doesn't. It just fails to format. If you are lucky and get an error from the HDD. IDE and SCSI drives handle bad sectors internally. If a bad sector is reported to the OS, then the drive is dead.

I never had a SCSI or IDE HDs to fail a format, you must have junk drives... use a hammer.

I just formatted a Samsung 20gb IDE HD using BuddhaHDToolBox and used the verify option and it took 27 minutes so a 100gb drive would over 2 hours. Use a windozzz machine to do this as its faster then install it to the buddha.


Not sure what you mean by that. QBT is rather old. If you formatted the drive with 3.2's long file names, QBT cannot read it of course. Nothing to do with the Buddha or a HDD controller in general.

QBT works great on the SCSI with long file names HDs no problems with either V1.5 or V2.0.2 but will destroy your partitions if you use it on Buddha HDs. QBT gives me "Root block checksum error" and "The boot block is corrupt error' even if you select the fastfilesystem.

44 IIRC

http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/Buddha#Download

I only use the filesystem on the OS3.2, my choice!

You sound like Jens at icomp, are you using an alias on this board?

Another problem with the Buddha is BuddhaSpeed which has yet to be fixed.
Jens solution is to remove it from my startup file and delete the BuddhaSpeed.info as well.

I got a lemon buddha it was vert unstable and after going rounds with Jens he said it was my OS3.2, I found 3 solder connections that were bad or in question, after re soldering them now the Buddha works great. Are you sure you are not Jens?

What Amiga are u using?

[A3000T]

Note:
Another program that shows that Buddha creates a non-Amiga DOS partition is SysInfo, something to do with a missing or nonstandard partition table or RDB. SysInfo is just an information tool. QBT I have used back in the 90s and used on my SCSI HDs just prior to getting the new Buddha this year to maintain my SCSI HD and worked quite well. Now that I have QBT V1.5 and V2.0.2 I am unable to use as it will destroy the HD drive and will need to be reinstall by the Buddha and reinstall ALL the OS and files. I have yet to find a replacement!

Using BuddhaHDToolBOX I have partitioned my second HD on the right IDE port a Western Digital 320gb HD and made 2 155gb partitions and booted from it. Great job Buddha. This was a test I do not plan to use it. Some where I have 750gb HD to try. One note DO NOT use any Hitachi Deskstar HD they are prone to fail.

[Jope]

Originally Posted by A3000T

One note DO NOT use any Hitachi Deskstar HD they are prone to fail.

The bad model series was Deskstar 75GXP and this happened while the brand was still owned by IBM. All the other Deskstar model series are just as good or bad as any spinning rust hard drive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deskstar#Products

[Daedalus]

@A3000T

You seem to be a little confused with your issues. The Buddha doesn't create the partition, it just gives you access to the drive via a standard device interface. HDToolbox creates the partitions, and the filesystem prepares them. You need all three parts to cooperate in order to use large hard drives - the device driver, HDToolbox and the filesystem.


QBTools is old, as pointed out, and won't understand newer filesystems released ~25 years after it was. QBTools will likely flag newer variants of FFS as invalid, and might even offer to "repair" it, which will only damage or destroy the partition. Another issue is that QBTools doesn't support drives >4GB in size (lots of other software of the era behaves the same too). But it won't tell you that. Instead, it will happily try to write to partitions over the 4GB, which will destroy data (including the RDB and any filesystem information) that happens to be located in blocks a multiple of 4GB earlier on the drive. If that happens, even the most up-to-date software will tell you there's no RDB, and it's right - it's been overwritten by random other data, rendering your entire drive effectively unreadable.

[A3000T]

When you boot from the buddha DOM it starts the process. What programs are used by the buddha like (HDToolBox) the user doesn't know. I have a 76gb SCSI but it 80 pin and I have an 80 pin to 50 pin adapters but HDToolBOX hangs when it reads the ID. I was able to install it twice and partition it so I know it can be done, it may be the drive. My windozzz 11 machine does not support SCSI controller cards. I need to set up a XP machine to use the SCSi drivers for the SCSI card to test the HD. I have done a clean install to my SCSI using OS3.2 but the drive is only 1.2gb and it works great with QBT. I assume the OS3.2 has the latest FFS. I have been looking for a 5gb or larger drive without success. Since the buddha or the OS does not use a bad block list, the best way to use HD on the Amiga is to choose a HD with S.M.A.R.T and format, test it on a windozzz machine then install on the Amiga this will allow the HD software to monitor the condition of the HD. Is there software to read the S.M.A.R.T. table for the Amiga?
I looked a block 0 of the HD using PCT v2.0.2 and it has PFS there (Professional File System) and it can't be changes to FFS. This is forced by the buddha install program on the DOM.

[Daedalus]

As was pointed out above, bad blocks are handled by the drive, not the OS (unless it's a *very* old drive). If the Amiga is seeing bad blocks, get another drive.

Yes, 3.2 comes with the latest FFS, which QBTools won't fully understand.

You can install and choose any filesystem for any partition using HDToolbox - nothing is forced.