The card I was originally interested in was the Buddha Flash, which originally shipped back in 1997. I love my 2000’s SCSI2SD 4GB storage, combined with an original and still working 40MB mechanical hard drive. But the Buddha Flash card was something quite unique and rather special. It was an IDE controller which could be popped directly into any Zorro II port. This opened the door to be used by A2000, A3000 and A4000 machines. And it could accept up to 8 drives.
But more importantly it supported hard disks larger than 4GB right out of the box. Check out some of the additional features of the Flash version on the Big Book of Amiga Hardware.
Jens and I passed a few notes back and forth (including my hope and desire for him to some day release the ACA1000, but that’s another story). He had wanted to re-sell the Buddha Flash for years, but had never found the time to make a new “RoHS complaint” design.
RoHS Guide:
I heard back from Jens today and he shared some very exciting news, which I have been permitted to share.RoHS stands for Restriction of Hazardous Substances. RoHS, also known as Directive 2002/95/EC, originated in the European Union and restricts the use of specific hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products. All applicable products in the EU market after July 1, 2006 must pass RoHS compliance.
Jens Schoenfeld:
I asked it it would be modeled after his original 1997 design, or include any bits from the more contemporary 2008 “Phoenix Edition”.There will be a "Buddha Flash 20-year anniversary edition" for this year's Xmas business. Please monitor the news for more goodies that come with the new version
The Phoenix Edition was a version that was “intended to be used with the Phoenix A1000 motherboard” but could also be used with original 1000 and 500 machines.
Jens Schoenfeld:
All in all a very fantastic sounding product! I hope to get one under my own Christmas tree this year if I can get in line fast enough. I imagine these will be flying off the shelf.Software-wise, all designs are the same and they work with all third-party drivers such as the Linux and BSD drivers.
Hardware-wise, I have removed the added Phoenix connector, and did other optimizations to the design, like using modern 3.3V-logic instead of the MACH chips - these are hard to come by and they run way too hot for a 2017 product.
The two IDE ports are not above, but next to each other for easier accessibility, and each port has an additional jumper which routes power to a 40-pin DOM (disk-on-module). The product will ship with a 128 MByte DOM included, and this contains installation software. This is mainly because floppy disks are too hard to find these days, and the available space is too limited. The product will include an OS installer, much like the ACA500plus has.
Jens will make an official announcement this weekend at the Amiga32 event in Neuss, Germany.