Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
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By distortedtekno Wed Dec 03, 2014 3:54 pm
The mission continues... :shock:

I got a refund from the seller of the last MO drive I bought. The seller never responded to my return claim, so ebay gave me the money and I got to keep the drive. I also found out how to continue using this drive as well. The load mechanism is not aligned properly. But when I press the eject button, I can insert the disk while it lines up for that fraction of a second. So it's still useable.

I was on ebay last night and I saw the 50 pin IDC to DB25 adaptor. So I decided to order one and prepare to solder it to the SCSI connector on the board. I just need some hookup wire. Not sure if I should use the 7 strand or 19 strand silver teflon wire. But i'm guessing the 7 strand should work just fine. I also have to replace the power connector. I cut a molex connector out of another external SCSI case, which I'll splice and solder into the existing wire and use some electric tape to prevent it from shorting out.

I made sure to copy the OS on as many blank MO disks as I have to ensure that I won't need the floppy drive. I'm not sure how long the MO drive will work for. But when the time comes to replace it, I'm sure I'll find another cheap one. But I really hope Stratos Technology will make more RaizinMonsters, since I plan to ultimately have a CF reader.
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By distortedtekno Thu Mar 12, 2015 11:51 pm
Well, here I am again with another MO drive, which I got today from the same seller on eBay as the last one. At $29, I can't go wrong since I can get a refund again if the drive is defective. I installed the other MO drive in my PC, so I'll be able to transfer files. Now I'm waiting for my SCSI card, and I'll be all set. I also got some more MO disks. Now I have a 2.3gb disk that I formatted into 26 partitions of 83mb. That should hold me over for a while. The smaller 128mb disks will be used to transfer files from my PC, since I won't need partitions on them. Eventually I'll mod the MPC for internal SCSI. I've been procrastinating that mod. But As long as the new drive holds up, I'll get on with it soon.
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By richie Fri Mar 13, 2015 1:48 am
I've been following your thread and it's great for information. I just have one question though.. With the amount of time and bs involved in finding a drive, disks, don't you think it would have been better to just buy one of those Raizen Monsters instead? It would eliminate needing to buy double drives, disks, etc.
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By distortedtekno Fri Mar 13, 2015 3:13 am
richie wrote:I've been following your thread and it's great for information. I just have one question though.. With the amount of time and bs involved in finding a drive, disks, don't you think it would have been better to just buy one of those Raizen Monsters instead? It would eliminate needing to buy double drives, disks, etc.


The RaizinMonster would've costed more than I wanted to spend. $145 for a CF reader didn't make sense to me when the MO drives can be found cheap from time to time. I only spent $18 +$5 shipping on the first drive that failed. Not a big loss. The second drive was $29 + free shipping. eBay refunded me, and I found a workaround to keep using that drive. No loss, all gain. It's installed in the PC now. The third drive that arrived today was $29. So 29 + 23 is $52. I snap up new MO disks for $4-5 a pop, sometimes less. So they're about as cheap as CF cards if you look for deals.

The thing about the RaizinMonster that concerns me is that I've read about defective units. I'm sure they're under warranty. But there's no telling if they stop working after the warranty is up. Having to spend another $145 after that wouldn't sit well with me at all. But I'm not suggesting anyone be too concerned about it, as I'm sure it's less than likely to happen. I'm more comfortable with MO disks anyway. I feel they're more reliable. There's no compatibility issues with these disks and any of the drives I've used. I'm not sure if the RaizinMonster would have any issues with specific CF cards. Could end up opening a can of worms. I'm not sure. But I'm definitely good where I'm at.

:smoker:
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By distortedtekno Fri Mar 13, 2015 3:31 am
I forgot to mention that I'm not sure how well my Mac would handle any disks used with an MPC2000. I've read posts about files getting corrupted. So I don't use my Mac at all for the MPC. I use the Mac for the SP-404SX since both have SD card readers built-in.
My PC is in another room. My entire sample collection is still on that computer. I make all my PGMs on that PC when I'm digging through that sample collection. Floppies and Zips were too much of a hassle. Once my Adaptec SCSI card arrives, transferring kits with MO disks will be quick and easy. :nod:
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By SimonInAustralia Fri Mar 13, 2015 4:56 am
distortedtekno wrote:
SimonInAustralia wrote: :lol: :nod: :Sigh: :popcorn:

You're convinced that I'm crazy now, huh? :lol:

:lol: I was convinced the moment you started messing with MO drives!
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By distortedtekno Fri Mar 13, 2015 5:07 am
Yeah it sounds crazy to get into some outdated technology that nobody else uses, except for peterpiper. Since he was buying drives for cheap and getting good results, I figured I may as well experiment and learn a few things. Definitely no regrets, and I only spent 1/3 of what the RaizinMonster goes for. :mrgreen:
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By richie Fri Mar 13, 2015 11:32 am
@distortedtekno I hear what you're saying price wise. I guess I'm just looking at the time and irritation involved in having to file claims, wait for another unit to be shipped, testing, all things that get in the way of using the MPC for other things.

I totally get what you mean about the RaizinMonster prices. Even other sh*t they have are retarded prices but with no one else on eBay competing with a similar solution, they have free reign to choose pricing.

Even the prices of Mo drives, minus that 1 particular seller I know you're talking about are crazy, ranging from 100 to 800 bucks. The idea of having some sort of media that'll outlast our lives is cool and all but our screens will die before then :/
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By distortedtekno Sat Mar 14, 2015 12:37 am
128 and 230mb are great for the 2000. I tried a 2.3gb yesterday. But it's slow to format and it won't boot. I overlooked the fact that the disk is 2048 bytes per sector and not compatible with the 2000. So I'll use it in the PC for hard drive backup. Looks like 640mb and lower are the way to go.
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By tapedeck Sat Mar 14, 2015 3:14 pm
distortedtekno wrote:I forgot to mention that I'm not sure how well my Mac would handle any disks used with an MPC2000. I've read posts about files getting corrupted. So I don't use my Mac at all for the MPC.

what you do is install xp via virtualbox and you are all set.
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By distortedtekno Sat Mar 14, 2015 4:48 pm
tapedeck wrote:
distortedtekno wrote:I forgot to mention that I'm not sure how well my Mac would handle any disks used with an MPC2000. I've read posts about files getting corrupted. So I don't use my Mac at all for the MPC.

what you do is install xp via virtualbox and you are all set.


Thanks for the suggestion. I haven't explored that option yet. But for now, my old Windows XP DAW machine seems like the best bet since I have the other MO drive installed. I don't always need to grab samples off the computer. But sometimes I'll download some kits and they get forgotten about on the Mac. The PC isn't connected to the web. So I transfer them from Mac to PC with an SD card. Walking from one room to another with a couple of disks won't slow down my workflow. That's all prep work anyway.
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By SimonInAustralia Sat Mar 14, 2015 6:41 pm
You could use a FAT formatted MO disk just for Mac to MPC transfers, keeping your MPC formatted disks only in the MPC, and not risking corruption of MPC disks/data. Used to do that with Zips.