Card reader installed!!! Some reflections on the whole exper

Hey all - just wanting to say a big ups to everyone who contributed to this thread which has been most informative and useful. I just installed the CF card reader so I thought it would be nice to throw in my two cents:

You will need:

Addonics ADIDECF or ADIDECFB CF adapter
40 pin IDE cable
OS 1.20 on floppy
A drill (yes, an f'ing drill)
Sandisk 512MB CF card
A lot of patience

The easy bit:

1.) Update to OS 1.20 (from Akai website)
2.) Open her up (you don't need the drill yet)
3.) Sack off the floppy and reserve or stomp on the ZIP (mine didn't have one but I stomped on one anyway.)

Now for the crazy bit:

4.) Don't drill holes. Trust me, don't drill any holes.I did what JVC did and mis-measured the hole but in a much, much worse fashion than he did. I didn't use a vice and broke the drill bit. I also bent the mounting bracket out of shape. Damn!!!

5.) So I f'ed it up right? Not exactly. I bent the mounting bracket back into shape. And drilled two more holes (nice ones this time.) However, the holes were slightly too big. So I took some superglue and glued the Akai mounting bracket and the loose screws in place. Perfect!!!

6.) I hooked up the flat cable and the power cable and fixed it all in place, screwed everything down and hooked up the ol' death trap to the mains. Here goes...

7.) Magic! Loaded up some sounds from the Sandisk 512MB CF, made a little beat, saved it, checked out the data on the PC etc. It works like a dream.

Conclusion - don't bother drilling if you're as inept as me. It could have been much, much worse than it was. It's actually a very easy job if you do what I did and use some very, very strong glue (what I should have done in the first place.) Sandisk 512MB cards work. Aesthetically, it looks a bit wonky (only a bit) in the hub because I bent the mounting bracket out of shape (I'll get another one day) but to be honest it really doesn't matter because it does the job perfectly.

Thanks to everyone for the tips. This is an excellent forum!!!

Chris

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Very nice,

i just copped a 2000xl for a reasonable price and i ordered the CF adapter on amazon. i cant wait to put that in and give it a go...

Congratulations - you copped a classic!! And having a card reader speeds up work flow so much. Having a CF card reader is a no brainer really. Floppy is slow and cumbersome and ZIP is a total waste of time - horribly unreliable. CF all the way!

If you have any questions about anything MPC2000XL let me know.

(Moved to)
http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=140216&start=150

I'm new to the whole materia
I copped a MPC2kXL including a cardreader.
Now I have some cards and already read the manual.
As soon as I put in a card the screen messes up, I can't read anything anymore
I wasn't able to load anything either

I'm going to the loading menu but it doesn't display any filenames on the cards ##########. I set the machine on autoread, I'm also quite a dummy, so I really have no clue at all.

randomamateur wrote:I'm new to the whole materia
I copped a MPC2kXL including a cardreader.
Now I have some cards and already read the manual.
As soon as I put in a card the screen messes up, I can't read anything anymore
I wasn't able to load anything either

I'm going to the loading menu but it doesn't display any filenames on the cards ##########. I set the machine on autoread, I'm also quite a dummy, so I really have no clue at all.

Was this card reader installed by the previous owner or is a later XL-MCD with a CF reader that Akai put in stock?

Some user installed ones are not hot swappable, so you must have the card already in the slot at boot up and power the machine down to swap cards.

Perhaps not the issue with yours, just trying to get your trouble shooting rolling.

So any additional info you can give will get you more assistance here.

"AKAI MPC 2000 XL SE"
Orange and it **cking glows in the dark!!



I think the guy I bought it of ebay modded it himself.
If I start with card inserted the screen is already messed up, if I remove the card the screen gets back to normal.
If I start with no card and put the card in the screen is messed up.

Did I buy a MPC with a broken cardmod?

randomamateur wrote:"AKAI MPC 2000 XL SE"
Orange and it **cking glows in the dark!!

You buy it at GC? I was just looking at one of those on their sit the other day.

Chances are that's an Akai factory CF reader. Are you able to access CF cards on your computer? I ask in case the samples on the cards have to be erased can you back them up or have the ability to add more samples from the computer.

Because the next thing I'm going to suggest is re-formatting the card from the MPC's memory screen.

randomamateur wrote:"AKAI MPC 2000 XL SE"
Orange and it **cking glows in the dark!!



I think the guy I bought it of ebay modded it himself.
If I start with card in the screen is already messed up, if I remove the card the screen gets back to normal.
If I start with no card and put the card in the screen is messed up.

Did I buy a MPC with a broken cardmod?

This was with all the cards you have? And yes some SE's had zips originally I think.
Where these the cards the seller had been using? Also what size are the cards?

I have 3 Cards, and the same problem on all of them, no Cardreader on the pc atm.
Atleast 2 Cards have the same problem I cannot find the 3rd atm.
The cards size 1 gb.
The guy asked me if he should delete his stuff and I told him not to delete it.

http://www.mpchunter.com/wp-content/upl ... 00x223.jpg
that looks like my setup. WOW this is even exactly my MPC.

e*
So what'S the setting I have to put the MPC on F- ROm or floppy?

Links already pulled down. Is there just one slot on the faceplate of the reader? Trying to narrow down what kind of after market reader the guy installed.

A USB reader is like $20 at Target if you're in the US. I gotta check but I think you can format an XL card in a PC.(As FAT32) But if it's a 2GB card the XL sees it as a 1GB card due the limits of the OS. I suggested formatting in the XL because sometimes when a MPC gets weird about cards it seems to help to format in the machine.

If you had just bought the cards I could see maybe you got an incompatible brand or something, but if the guy was using these seem cards I don't know. I wouldn't want to assume he knowingly sold you a broken CF reader, but I suppose it's possible.

maybe something happend on transport. or maybe I totally screwed some settings

as soon a Card is in the slot the screen is messed up, doesn´t matter if I restart or not, as soon I take the card out and go to mainscreen it's fine again.

I will put up pictures tomorrow and I guess I can get a cardreader for the pc too
thx for the attempted help man

Yeah the pc card reader would be the only way to test the integrity of the cards themselves. Only other thing I can suggest is get out a screwdriver and open it up. (Not difficult, just requires some patience. it's like 16-20 screws).

After the top case is off look to see if the jumper and power cable to from the CF reader are properly seated.

Here's a video showing how to open the unit up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F967dlV5jvc

randomamateur wrote:maybe something happend on transport. or maybe I totally screwed some settings

as soon a Card is in the slot the screen is messed up, doesn´t matter if I restart or not, as soon I take the card out and go to mainscreen it's fine again.

If the MPC is shorting out when you are inserting a card, then it is possible that the card reader has been physically damaged.

Inserting a Compact Flash card incorrectly into the slot will damage the pins.

Look into the slot for bent or broken pins. You may need a small flashlight to see inside.

If the pins are damaged, the reader will have to be replaced, as the pins are nearly impossible to straighten out correctly. Also look at the connector on your compact flash card for damage -- if any of the holes are damaged, it may cause further damage to a reader.