SAMPLING - NOT ENOUGH SOUND MEMORY TO PERFORM THIS OPERATION

Searched the whole internet and got pissed when i didn't find not ONE piece of content addressing this issue.

I grabbed a bunch of old floppies from my moms place the other day and put them into the 3k to format them. After formatting them, i try to use the sample function and everytime and as SOON as i select .5 - the option to sample - i get hit with the "ATTENTION There is not enough sound memory to perform this operation. Please delete one or more sounds and try again." Clearly, I just formatted the disk so there is NO SOUNDS on it to begin with. I have no idea what conclusion to draw from that. Anybody know what the deal? I tried like 3 disks and get the same thing.

I appreciate it!

You sample into the MPC RAM, not directly onto the floppies, so that memory message, when sampling, is not related to the floppies, it would only be related to the floppies when trying to save from RAM onto floppy.

How much memory does your MPC have, and have you already filled that up with samples?

SimonInAustralia wrote:You sample into the MPC RAM, not directly onto the floppies, so that memory message, when sampling, is not related to the floppies, it would only be related to the floppies when trying to save from RAM onto floppy.

Didn't know that's how it works. My understanding is that the machine does not save anything to it directly and that any and all data is only able to be save via a disk which is why all would be lost if not saved before powering off. I think i'm missing something there, sorry. (Completely new to this machine and just recently purchased)

SimonInAustralia wrote:How much memory does your MPC have, and have you already filled that up with samples?

I personally have not filled them up, I haven't even used the thing at all yet due to waiting to get some sounds. Pardon my ignorance, but i have no idea how much memory it came with when i bought it, neither how to verify how much it has. Is there an on-board feature I can use to check those specs?

Just occured to me to search for how to find out, so i did...and now that i think i checked, i believe either it shows 0 or i'm looking wrong. Didn't know if it's possible that the machine i bought came with 0 ram? When i went Disk > 7 it shows, Size: 0K Free (SND): 0K

Is this after turning it on, without sampling anything in to it?

Or have you sampled into it already, and used up the available RAM space?

Yes, after turning it on, fresh out the box it came in. No, I haven't sampled anything into it. Thanks

Sounds like your RAM is not properly installed nor not reading it. Never heard of that. Open the machine up and see if it is installed properly also see how much RAM it has. That is my guess...

Something doesn't sound right.

Maybe you need to open it up, see what memory is installed, and reseat what is there.

Hmm alright, soon as I do I will post findings

I just opened this joint up and i swear this exactly how it look without me touching anything inside :



guess that settles that?

not sure how that other piece came loose, but as it turns out, apparently there's no RAM. BTW, anyone mind telling me what piece that is up there that seems to have came loose?

The loose piece is the factory RAM board, either the EXM3002 2MB board or the EXM3008 8MB board.

Looks like it has come loose in shipping, plug it back in.

It probably should be bolted down to a standoff from the bottom panel of the case, but it looks like the standoff is not there.


You can expand the memory, up to 32MB, with a pair of SIMMs in the two empty normal RAM slots.

From the manual...

Expanding the Sound Memory

The MPC3000 includes 2 megabytes of sound memory but is expandable using common SIMM 1 megabyte or 4 megabyte memory modules and an 8 megabyte memory board from Akai, the EXM3008. Internally, there are two SIMM sockets and one connector for an Akai memory board. When the MPC3000 is shipped from the factory, its SIMM sockets are empty and the Akai connector contains an Akai 2 megabyte memory board. You can expand the memory in either or both of two ways:

1. In the SIMM sockets, install either a pair of 1 megabyte SIMMs (adding 2 megabytes) or a pair of 4 megabyte SIMMs (adding 8 megabytes). You must fill both sockets and the 2 SIMMs installed must be identical. The SIMM modules must have a speed of 150 nanoseconds (ns) or faster.
2. Remove the standard 2 megabyte Akai memory board from its socket and replace it with an Akai 8 megabyte memory board, the EXM3008.

There are four possible combinations:

• Akai standard 2MB board + a pair of 1MB SIMMs: 4MB total
• Akai standard 2MB board + a pair of 4MB SIMMs: 10MB total
• Akai EXM3008 8MB board + a pair of 1MB SIMMs: 10MB total
• Akai EXM3008 8MB board + a pair of 4MB SIMMs: 16MB total

Akai’s EXM3008 board can be purchased and installed at your Akai retailer.

...though you can use a pair of 16MB SIMMs, for a total of 32MB, in which case it is recommended to remove the 2MB or 8MB factory RAM board.

Oh, got it, so that piece is the factory RAM - it's not that it came without RAM.

Thanks for the quick responses and for sharing knowledge on that. I rly appreciate it!

So, i turned it on and checked it out after plugging the onboard RAM. THe sampe function seems to work now. also, Disk >7 now reveals 8MB memory. I'll work with that for now, though i'm sure i'll want to upgrade to 32MB.

That was a close one bros, i started to get real worried. I took my MP to a session the other day the add to one of my friend's set-up and all and couldn't figure out what was wrong. I ended up not being able to collab with them >.<

thanks again!

There you go next time make sure everything is in tact. 8 is ok unless your sampling a lot of stuff to do beats/music then your gonna need 32 to max it out. Good it is fixed and go work on music to make some magic on the machine.