All pads are dead.

It means what it says.

I copped my first mpc, a 2000xl, off ebay for decently cheap, knowing that the screen was on its way out and that the nv slider was no good. However, it had 8outs and 32mb of ram so i figured id give it a shot.

The dead pads I didn't know about. I recorded a sample and went to assign it to a pad by tapping it, and it stayed at /off. Thought that was weird but I set it with the data wheel and went back to the main screen, tapped the pad and still nothing. I know the sensors can go bad but I didn't think that they all would be shot?

I'm new to these things but I've had the manual open ever since I got it and I still cant seem to figure it out. Maybe there's something obvious I'm missing, maybe not.

If anyone could shed some light I'd appreciate it

If a bunch of stuff is known to be wrong with the machine I would bet money that some tool opened it up and fiddled inside, possibly knocking things loose.

Open it up and double check all the connections. That's an easy thing to try first. (you should have tried that first IMO)

As for the pads, as Mekishiko said, the ribbon cable may have jarred itself loose . Check to make sure its seated. You also may want to wipe the pad sensors down with some rubbing alcohol and a soft cloth while you're in there.

You can access a test menu by pressing SHIFT + 5 and then SHIFT + F1. This puts the MPC into a service mode where you can check the RAM, PADS and JOG wheel for functionality. This will tell you if the MPC is seeing the pad when it's being struck.

Good luck!

thanks guys but still no luck

I had already opened it up and made sure that the ribbon was tight in the connector and wiped the sensors down with some alcohol. I just did the padchk thing and as soon as I enter that window it says Pad: 70 Slider: 125 and no matter what pad i hit, regardless of the bank I'm in, it remains at 70

I think I saw this particular MPC on ebay the other day.

Did the machine look clean inside?

Is there a way to test to see if current, or some signal, is going to the pads connector if the pads aren't working? I mean with a multimeter or something. Maybe that will tell you for sure that new sensors are needed.