Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
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Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By xvw Tue Aug 22, 2017 7:00 pm
Finally got mine. :-D

It was a pretty penny though. :vomit:

I thought I'd do it because my zip drive gave out on me, and I'm trying to avoid that zip disk failure in the future (all together).



With any of those who have currently it, could you please lend me a hand?

I understand that it's pretty straightforward, but I'd like to gain some clarity on this if I could...
since the pictures on the main thread viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24363 are down.

First,

I'm assuming that I need a 50 pin scsi (female-female) ribbon cable to connect into this port, correct?

Image

If so, which way does your colored stripe run/face from the CF drive to the port on the main PCB?


Should I face the colored stripe the same way that my zip is running? Not trying to blow this thing up lol.


Second,

As for power, would I be able to use the molex to mini molex (to what appears to be as a mini molex
on the main PCB) from my zip drive to power the CF reader?

Molex:
Image

"Mini-Molex" :?:
Image

Third,

Jumper settings... :Sigh:

I have the PCD-47b manual open on a tab right now (thanks to Juke on another thread)... but I'm not sure if I understand it 100%.

Image

Do I need to buy more jumpers in order to set the SCSI ID's correctly to be read by my MP?



Many thanks in advance :!:

Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By JVC Tue Aug 22, 2017 7:13 pm
2000XL's SCSI ID is 6, and it is fixed ID (means that it cannot be changed.)
The jumper setting, judging from the photo. I think you don't have to change it; it is terminated, and all of three SCSI IDs (each slot has its own IDs allocated, therefore 3 SCSI IDs in one unit.)
The picture shows that the SCSI IDs are set as "4" for CF (compact flash), "3" for SM (Smart Media? I don't know what this is) and "1" PC card.
Basically you can just connect to MPC using 50pin SCSI ribbon cable and MOLEX power cable, then it should work.
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Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By xvw Tue Aug 22, 2017 7:28 pm
JVC wrote:2000XL's SCSI ID is 6, and it is fixed ID (means that it cannot be changed.)
The jumper setting, judging from the photo. I think you don't have to change it; it is terminated, and all of three SCSI IDs (each slot has its own IDs allocated, therefore 3 SCSI IDs in one unit.)
The picture shows that the SCSI IDs are set as "4" for CF (compact flash), "3" for SM (Smart Media? I don't know what this is) and "1" PC card.
Basically you can just connect to MPC using 50pin SCSI ribbon cable and MOLEX power cable, then it should work.


Thanks a lot JVC! It looks like if I do have any problems when I connect it, then I probably need to flash the drive to the latest firmware, correct?

Yeah, SM does stand for SmartMedia, (Created by Toshiba and discontinued I believe)

Should I run the red stripe the same way that my internal zip is currently running?

While looking at my zip right now, (underneath on the backside) It is facing right,
and connected into the port with it still facing right, pointing toward the I/Os on the
back of the mpc

Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By JVC Wed Aug 23, 2017 1:39 am
The zip drive is IDE, not SCSI device, so you cannot use the same ribbon cable.
Remove the ZIP drive, mount PCD-47B, connect it with 50pin ribbon cable and MOLEX power cable.
I don't know how picky PCD-47B is for CompactFlash cards, (I've never used it) but I'd recommend Sandisk brand CF cards.
Note, SCSI cable must not be connected or detached when MPC is on, otherwise you'll blow the fuse, which is soldered to the board.
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Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By richie Wed Aug 23, 2017 3:21 am
JVC wrote:Note, SCSI cable must not be connected or detached when MPC is on, otherwise you'll blow the fuse, which is soldered to the board.


JVC could you clarify what you mean here? It's always been habit of mine to turn my SCSI devices on BEFORE I turn on my samplers.
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Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By JUKE 179r Wed Aug 23, 2017 8:07 pm
xvw wrote:Finally got mine. :-D

It was a pretty penny though. :vomit:

I thought I'd do it because my zip drive gave out on me, and I'm trying to avoid that zip disk failure in the future (all together).



With any of those who have currently it, could you please lend me a hand?

I understand that it's pretty straightforward, but I'd like to gain some clarity on this if I could...
since the pictures on the main thread viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24363 are down.

First,

I'm assuming that I need a 50 pin scsi (female-female) ribbon cable to connect into this port, correct?

Image

If so, which way does your colored stripe run/face from the CF drive to the port on the main PCB?


Should I face the colored stripe the same way that my zip is running? Not trying to blow this thing up lol.


Second,

As for power, would I be able to use the molex to mini molex (to what appears to be as a mini molex
on the main PCB) from my zip drive to power the CF reader?

Molex:
Image

"Mini-Molex" :?:
Image

Third,

Jumper settings... :Sigh:

I have the PCD-47b manual open on a tab right now (thanks to Juke on another thread)... but I'm not sure if I understand it 100%.

Image

Do I need to buy more jumpers in order to set the SCSI ID's correctly to be read by my MP?



Many thanks in advance :!:

1) 50 pin SCSI female to female ribbon cable is correct. It will work.

2) the power cable you will have to modify on the 2000XL. I use both of the 12vdc and 5vdc pins to power the PCD-47 SCSI drive plus the internal harddrives that install.

3) On all of my many PCD-47b drives I've had SCSI Terminated with the top jumper and no other jumpers so the SCSI ID is 0, 1, 2.
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Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By xvw Thu Aug 24, 2017 2:06 am
JVC wrote:The zip drive is IDE, not SCSI device, so you cannot use the same ribbon cable.

I understand that, and I appreciate it, I was just asking which way the red striping should face. I believe that the "red stripe" of the SCSI cable should face the same way as the IDE though. I'm trying to prevent a reversed connection, so that the pin 1 lines up on both ends of the ribbon cable.

JVC wrote:I don't know how picky PCD-47B is for CompactFlash cards, (I've never used it) but I'd recommend Sandisk brand CF cards.

Got my 16gb Sandisk on the way... along with the scsi cable... it's 18 inches long though. :Sigh: They should be should be here tomorrow though :o

JVC wrote:Note, SCSI cable must not be connected or detached when MPC is on, otherwise you'll blow the fuse, which is soldered to the board.


Ouch, could you tell me what fuse this would be on the 2KXL, would you happen to know off-hand? Is it a fuse or a resistor?
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Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By xvw Thu Aug 24, 2017 2:09 am
Wal Martian wrote:I think he means yanking the cable out, or plugging it in while the MPC is powered

:!: :!: :!:
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Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By xvw Thu Aug 24, 2017 2:34 am
JUKE 179r wrote:1) 50 pin SCSI female to female ribbon cable is correct. It will work.


Check!

JUKE 179r wrote:2) the power cable you will have to modify on the 2000XL. I use both of the 12vdc and 5vdc pins to power the PCD-47 SCSI drive plus the internal harddrives that install.


Awesome! Thought I had to do a bit of a modification... this is the molex cable to miniature 4pin cable we're talking about right? (the one in my pic).

The 12vdc and 5vdc pins are the Yellow and Red conductors, so basically, just snip the grounds, (both black), and I should be good to go?

JUKE 179r wrote:3) On all of my many PCD-47b drives I've had SCSI Terminated with the top jumper and no other jumpers so the SCSI ID is 0, 1, 2.


If I read you correctly, did you say that you didn't have a jumper on the horizontal row of pins (which defaulted you to the scsi ids of 0,1,2,)

and instead-- you had your jumper on the vertical set of pins (top set) to terminate your drive?

Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By LADiego Thu Aug 24, 2017 3:22 am
Hey xvw, I noticed you mentioned having a sandisk 16gb on the way. I believe the pcd47b is limited to 8gb cf cards. Just make cf cards used are new in retail packages. Some cf cards in unknown condition may yield less desirable results. Never could get the pcd47b to recognize 16gb cf cards. I have a pcd47b in my mpc2000xl using 1.14 operating system. I Installed it sometime ago by connecting to the internal 50 pin SCSI port. Just sharing my personal experience.
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Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By xvw Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:21 am
LADiego wrote:Hey xvw, I noticed you mentioned having a sandisk 16gb on the way. I believe the pcd47b is limited to 8gb cf cards. Just make cf cards used are new in retail packages. Some cf cards in unknown condition may yield less desirable results. Never could get the pcd47b to recognize 16gb cf cards. I have a pcd47b in my mpc2000xl using 1.14 operating system. I Installed it sometime ago by connecting to the internal 50 pin SCSI port. Just sharing my personal experience.



@LADiego! Thank you so much for your input.


The 16gb Sandisk (Extreme Pro 160 MB/s) works perfect. I'm running the 1.14 OS on my Akai 2KXL as well.
I was able to partition from A-Q (900+ mgs) after formatting the card previously on my PC as FAT32.
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Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By xvw Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:22 am
@Juke 179r

I actually didn't have to cut any wires of the drive's power cable after all!
I spoke to Bruce from Forat Electronics, and he basically told me that the
extra wires would just not be used because the PCD-47B does not have any
internal moving parts like a zip drive, so it requires less voltage to run it...
but it won't harm anything...



Finally,


All jumpers were taken off, and the drive was found on SCSI ID:1.


Hope this helps somebody.
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Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By richie Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:00 am
@xvw I have yet to hear of an internal SCSI disk/card based device that would draw more than 5v man. So you're good.

Taking off all the jumpers usually sets devices as SCSI 0 or 1. Hopefully you get your worth out of the card reader. I personally would not have bothered going that route as the IDE card readers are so much cheaper nowadays man.

Now I'm wondering if I should sell my brand new sealed SCSI card readers.

Re: Microtech PCD-47B (2KXL)

By LADiego Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:24 am
xvw wrote:
LADiego wrote:Hey xvw, I noticed you mentioned having a sandisk 16gb on the way. I believe the pcd47b is limited to 8gb cf cards. Just make cf cards used are new in retail packages. Some cf cards in unknown condition may yield less desirable results. Never could get the pcd47b to recognize 16gb cf cards. I have a pcd47b in my mpc2000xl using 1.14 operating system. I Installed it sometime ago by connecting to the internal 50 pin SCSI port. Just sharing my personal experience.



@LADiego! Thank you so much for your input.


The 16gb Sandisk (Extreme Pro 160 MB/s) works perfect. I'm running the 1.14 OS on my Akai 2KXL as well.
I was able to partition from A-Q (900+ mgs) after formatting the card previously on my PC as FAT32.


Hey xvw, actually, thank you for letting me know of the 16gb sandisk extreme pro 160mb/s actually working well with the pcd47b. I just could not get 16gb cf cards to work . Maybe I did not try the aforementioned brand. But I will order this specific brand 16b cf card to see if I get the same results. This will be a nice breakthrough for storing larger projects on the 16gb cf card. Sure would love to get my hands on a couple more of these pcd47bs.

Where did you get your pcd47b, if you do not mind me asking? These models are hard to find.

Again thanks.
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