Hello out there!
I'm Stefan, and I own an Amiga.
My journey into the world of computing began in 1985 with a brief intermezzo with an ITT3030. But in 1987, the Amiga 500 entered the house, followed closely by an A2000. When that machine eventually died, I quickly copied its Kickstart and Workbench disks to PC floppies—a move that proved incredibly useful when I later encountered the "Unusable Amiga Emulator" (UAE) and joined its development. I primarily focused on Zorro support, serial, and parallel port implementations if I recall correctly.
Photos from my "Zivi-Bude" era around 1997. (Source: Amiga Forever)
Around 1997, I acquired an Amiga 3000 (followed by a second one), which became my playground for Linux/m68k. I spent a lot of time tinkering with a SUSE Linux port attempt and even rewrote amiga-fdisk from scratch during that period.
In 2010, I moved to California and, in a moment of questionable judgment, gave away all my Amiga gear. That lasted until 2020, when I "accidentally" won an Amiga 4000 on eBay. Since then, I've been diving back in—installing a ZZ9000 card and writing a Linux/m68k driver for it.
In 2021, I collaborated with Chris Hooper on the ReA4091 project, modernizing the Zorro-III SCSI-2 controller. My journey continued into 2025 with the release of AmiFUSE, xSysInfo, and TinySetpatch.
Professionally, I work extensively with Operating systems and firmware—the border between hardware and software. The Amiga is "simple" enough to allow for DIY exploration and learning, whereas modern Intel, AMD, or ARM designs often require a microscope just to see the components. Amiga open-source hardware projects are fantastic because they merge the Open Source philosophy with the unique Amiga spirit, keeping this knowledge and technology alive. There are many incredible community projects out there to learn from and build upon.
Projects
I've been involved in dozens of open-source hardware and software projects. You can find most of them on my GitHub Profile or the A4091 Organization.
Major Hardware & Software
- ReA4091 - Modern Zorro III SCSI-2 controller.
- A4092 - Ongoing Amiga hardware development.
- xSysInfo - Comprehensive Amiga system information.
- AmiFUSE - Bringing FUSE filesystems to AmigaOS.
Hardware Engineering & Mods
- amiga-romy | CDTV-front-panel
- 68040-to-68060 | DS1000
- laoshi | Paula-Int-Adapter
- Amiga-Boot-Selector | novOSC
- PLCCplug | 3D-Models
Tools & Infrastructure
- icontool - Amiga icon manipulation.
- ZuluSCSI-SIMH-tap - SIMH tape support for ZuluSCSI.
- container-amiga-gcc - Docker-based Amiga cross-compiler.
- coverity-scan-action - GitHub Actions for Coverity.
- container-wincupl - WinCUPL in a Linux container.
Talks & Media
In 2022, Chris Hooper and I presented the ReAmiga 4091 project at both VCF East and AmiWest. You can watch the full presentations and download the slides below.
Media Coverage
The ReAmiga 4091 has been featured in various Amiga publications and YouTube reviews:
- Amiga Addict Magazine: Featured in Issue 25. Read the article (PDF).
- Chris Edwards Restoration: A deep-dive review of the A4091 controller.
- 10MARC: Doug Compton's ReAmiga A4091 review.
- PROBER.cz: A fantastic detailed technical article (Czech magazine).
Community & Connections
Shout out to the other cool people and projects keeping the Amiga alive:
- Chris Hooper's Amiga Page - Collaborator on ReA4091 and fellow Amiga engineer.
- Acill Classics - Professional Amiga repair and restoration.
- Chucky's World - John Hertell, mastermind behind ReAmiga.
- le blog de Cosmos - Advanced Amiga hardware and software mods.
- ikod.se - Incredible Amiga hardware projects (Highpuff).
- mfilos.com - A great resource for Amiga enthusiasts.