Microtech PCD-60 on 2K Classic - pad trigger problem

On my 2K CLASSIC i've installed a brand new Microtech PCD-60b using all the info from threads on here ( thanks to many forum members for sharing their knowledge)

It boots up from PCMCIA slot on SCSI 2 and i've transferred wav files from PC to card reader(no problem) and a sound will trigger with the play button in the TRIM window.

the shift and all functions keys work fine and the pad bank buttons also work with no problem.

BUT when i assign a sample to a pad
it does not trigger and when assigning sounds to pads in load mode ,again it doesn't respond.

anyone had this problem ? the ribbon from the pad sensors looks okay and i've cleaned the cable that snaps into the main board. also took out and cleaned RAM slots.

can anyone help ? thanks

I'm trying to figure something out for you, but in the mean time, what OS are you running and have you tried sampling and seeing if the chops will work? Or reinstalling the OS?

You can check if your pads are working a number of ways.

In the Program window, if you move the cursor to the Pad: field, and then press the pads, does the pad letter/number change as you hit each pad?

I think there is also a pad test in the test mode somewhere (don't have an MPC2000 to check these steps, so might not be correct)...
- from the Main window, press Shift-7 to open the Mixer window
- press Open Window to open the Channel Settings window
- press Shift-0 to start the test mode
- press the appropriate Function key to start the pad test
- hit the pads and see if they respond

i'm using O.S 1.72
just tried sampling - no problem(sounds fine)- but still can't assign a sound by touching a pad.

just unplugged scsi cable from card reader
and started mpc from an external zip drive/disk(O.S 1.72)

starts up but the pads don't respond and now the cursor isn't responding correctly ! ?

i have installed the card reader in place of the floppy drive
connecting the external scsi to db25/db50 adaptor that connects to the PCD-60B


thanks for the quick response Kashief
and Simon ....thanks ...just read that in the service manual....have tried that too
and i went straight into program mode to check when this started to happen.

had this 2K since 98' (replaced top board and screen from another machine)

i'll try the older O.S but was sure that wouldn't recognise card readers

I don't think that the OS version would make a difference to the operation with card readers, as the only connection option on the MPC2000 classic is SCSI, and that should work with all OS versions.

I suspect there is something wrong with your pads, the internal connections, or other circuitry.

Maybe try a different/fresh copy of the OS on whatever boot device you are using, maybe the OS has become slightly corrupt or something.

Don't install old OS. I meant just try a clean install of the current. Like you would a computer. But all in all, the pad sheet might just be dead. But, I wouldn't go buy new sensor sheet until you are certain that it not something internal like a bad connection.

So...

RAM is good.
Cable is good.
No response from pads in test mode.

Let me think on it a lil more

okay, i have used zip disk/drive to boot the mpc on scsi 5 again
then switched to scsi 2 to reformat the cf card (transcend 1gb)
no problem

card goes in to 8 in 1 usb card reader on pc with XP
exe & sys files are dropped onto the card
put it back in the pcmcia adapter

unplug zip drive - mpc boots OS 1.72 from cardreader - no problem

when i tried sampling, i also saved the file(4second stereo sample)
switched off the mpc
turned it on and reloaded from cf card, so the ram should be okay ..right ??

the pad sensors are relatively unused( not too many hours use at all and taken from a friends machine who really looked after it)
and were working fine until i tried all this !

thanks again ,i'll keep trying....

RAM is good. YES
Cable is good. YES
No response from pads in test mode. NO

I think that something isn't connected right, the connectors are damaged, or the pad sensor is bad.


Not sure if there is a way to test the pad sensor output with a multimeter, at the circuit board after the connector, but I would probably try that myself.

I think that something isn't connected right, the connectors are damaged, or the pad sensor is bad.


Not sure if there is a way to test the pad sensor output with a multimeter, at the circuit board after the connector, but I would probably try that myself.

ok,so if i test with a multimeter(never done this !) as you described, can i assume that the pad sensors are bad ?

and if so, i could try replacing them with the sensors from my other 2K.
I'm assuming this isn't too tricky...

Imax wrote:BUT when i assign a sample to a pad
it does not trigger and when assigning sounds to pads in load mode ,again it doesn't respond.

anyone had this problem ? the ribbon from the pad sensors looks okay and i've cleaned the cable that snaps into the main board. also took out and cleaned RAM slots.

can anyone help ? thanks

I don't think this has been mentioned this specifically so I thought I should point this out: http://oi49.tinypic.com/2mxrjgi.jpg I highlighted the two cables I usually attribute to pad functions. It sounds like you've checked the "#2" but I remember the first time I opened the MPC2k years ago I did something wrong with the cable highlighted "#1", I don't know why I touched it in the first place but that's the only time I've ever lost all pad functions on the 2k.

hope that helps.

Harmoncj wrote:

Imax wrote:BUT when i assign a sample to a pad
it does not trigger and when assigning sounds to pads in load mode ,again it doesn't respond.

anyone had this problem ? the ribbon from the pad sensors looks okay and i've cleaned the cable that snaps into the main board. also took out and cleaned RAM slots.

can anyone help ? thanks

I don't think this has been mentioned this specifically so I thought I should point this out: http://oi49.tinypic.com/2mxrjgi.jpg I highlighted the two cables I usually attribute to pad functions. It sounds like you've checked the "#2" but I remember the first time I opened the MPC2k years ago I did something wrong with the cable highlighted "#1", I don't know why I touched it in the first place but that's the only time I've ever lost all pad functions on the 2k.

hope that helps.

that was the cable i mentioned as "the ribbon from the pad sensors"
i've taken his out, cleaned it and tried again as with the other cable.

thanks for pointing that out again tho !

Imax wrote:No response from pads in test mode. NO

was that intentionally double negative? As in you DO have pad response in test mode? In this case you may have to change the "local mode" setting

MPC2000 manual software version 1.0 page 106
The MIDI Settings of the Sampler
This sets the MIDI settings of the internal sampler.

Press the PROGRAM (6 on the numeric keypad) while holding the
SHIFT key, display the Program Assign screen and press MIDI[F3]
to display the Smpler MIDI setup page.
....
Local mode:
This separates the connection between the internal sampler and the
drum pads. Set this OFF when you are not using the sequence function
of the MPC2000 and using the pad and sampler with another
sequencer. This way the drum pad data will not go to the sampler
and will be output from the MIDI Output. The sampler will generate
a sound from the data coming in from the MIDI Input.

Harmoncj wrote:

Imax wrote:No response from pads in test mode. NO

was that intentionally double negative? As in you DO have pad response in test mode? In this case you may have to change the "local mode" setting

MPC2000 manual software version 1.0 page 106
The MIDI Settings of the Sampler
This sets the MIDI settings of the internal sampler.

Press the PROGRAM (6 on the numeric keypad) while holding the
SHIFT key, display the Program Assign screen and press MIDI[F3]
to display the Smpler MIDI setup page.
....
Local mode:
This separates the connection between the internal sampler and the
drum pads. Set this OFF when you are not using the sequence function
of the MPC2000 and using the pad and sampler with another
sequencer. This way the drum pad data will not go to the sampler
and will be output from the MIDI Output. The sampler will generate
a sound from the data coming in from the MIDI Input.

yes, intentionally double negative
i get no response from the pads in test mode
tried this on two machines now by just switching the entire top board and screen between the samplers.