Startech card reader 2000XL

Hi. Wondering if any of you guys could help with an issue I have trying to install a Startech CF card reader (http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000T9QQP0/r ... B000T9QQP0)
From trawling the net, it appears these will work with a 2KXL / OS 1.20. I have installed mine, replacing a ZIP drive, so IDE cable and power were already there, so install was simple, however, with a Kingston 2Gb card (partitioned 1 +1) all I get on screen is 'no floppy ...' I have ordered a sandisk card, as apparently they work well,
BUT, would the MPC not even read 'ATAPI ...' if the card didn't work but it recognised the reader ?
At this point I don't know if it's the card reader or the CF card that is not working.
Any help from someone with experience would be great, I don't just want to keep ordering different readers until I find one that works, as apparently the one I have should work !
Thanks in advance
Tokin Tone

I installed the Startech CF card reader in 4 of my XL's and they work great, you just need to have the proper CF card, I tried and tested a couple in the last few months and I only have success with Sandisk brand, it is well known that those Kingston cards do not work with Addonics or Startech drives... If you don't have the right card your MPC won't recognize ATAPI until you insert the right card.
Peace.

Thanks for the quick reply locotesmjr.
That's what I was hoping to hear ! I've just ordered a 1Gb sandisk from amazon, so fingers crossed. Must say it's been a jump from the easy plug-ability of the 2500 to the 2000xl, but the machine just seems so much sexier, and hopefully will sound fatter once I fire her up properly !
Peace

I had success with this 2, also with the original Akai 128MB CF card that came with my 2500LE, I tried with the original Akai 1GB CF card and that do not work.

Thanks once again, I'll update this post once I'm up and running
What a wonderful place this forum is
Tone

no prob, make sure to let us know which card did you bought and if it works or not... if you can post a pic now could be great...

Edited: BTW, JVC said he use the 2GB Sandisk Ultra II and it works with his MPC, but only recognize up to 1GB.

I've ordered the exact same 1Gb card you show, and a 2Gb version of the Ultra II card you show, so hopefully one will work
Tone

Aaarrrgh, I'm just about to pull out what remaining hair I have !
I received the 1Gb sandisk card exactly as the one pictured above, and still no joy.
I've checked and double checked the IDE connection (I know this works OK as there was a ZIP drive in here before)
I've tried 1.14 and 1.20 (swapping back to ZIP to load new OS then putting CF reader back in)
I have 2 CF cards, neither work and give me the same 'no floppy device ...' and no ATAPI options in primary device !!
I'm wondering wether the CF reader is ****ed ? There doesn't seem a lot that can go wrong on these things though, and as stated above, many people use this reader with the 2KXL and photos in many forums show the exact same reader.
Any advice from anyone out there ?
Thanks in advance
Tone

Do not lose your time trying with OS 1.14, it only works with v1.2, besides if you are connecting properly all the cables then you NEED to have the card inserted before turning on the MPC, once again, BEFORE turning on the MPC, so you make sure your MPC has the OS v1.2, then all wires properly connected and last insert the CF card before you turn on the MPC... also do not remove the CF card if you didn't turned off the MPC, you can lost all your data or even worst damage your card.

OK, def using 1.20, card inserted before turning on, no joy.
Will try the 2Gb card, and have ordered a couple of other card readers (cheapo board only ones that I can bolt into the startech chassis)
Also checked cable, it won't even boot if the cable is wrong way round, checked power to the reader with an LED
Will post my results
Thanks
Tone

I think I may be roughly at the same place in the process as you are, except I'm installing a Addonics ADIDECF CF reader. I have gotten to the point of measuring voltage, When the unit is trying to read the card it shows 5v to the card reader, when looking at the reader from above, the 4 prong plug with 2 wires (red, black from left to right, then 2 empty spaces).

I am pretty sure the cf reader is attached properly with the IDE cable, plugged into the right-side ide prongs on the board. The power cable is plugged into the board with the 4 plugs on it, 3rd from left is black, 4th or right hand has the positive lead.

I try to format the CF and I only get "No Floppy Drive Detected!". Not sure what's up.. I am at a stopping point. OS1.20, Could it be the card? I haven't bought one of the new ones yet.. Thanks for any input.

The issue lies within the Compact Flash card you have. It is highly unlikely that the card reader is bad.

The quickest way to check is to put the card reader inside a PC and see if it works.

Is the jumper set to Master on the card reader?

It is possible that there might be some kind of goofy partition on the card created at the factory. Try fomatting it inside a PC as FAT16 to see if the MPC can read it.

Don't assume that all Sandisk flash cards are the same. The 1GB cards you are buying now are not the same ones that others have purchased before.

Sandisk uses different flash chips in their products over time and sometimes Sandisk cards are rebranded cards created by some other company. The latter happens more than you would think as Sandisk branded cards are some of the most pirated ones out there.

Others on the forum have had success using 4GB and 8GB Sandisk flash cards, though they can only partition them as 1GB. You may want to find one of those instead of a 1GB or 2GB.

You will have to keep searching until you find a CF that works in your MPC. Trying out new readers is not going to help your cause as all the non hot-swap readers are pretty much the same across the board.

Good luck!

Thanks for that. I hope it is the card and not the reader as I have managed to get that fitted nicely.
FYI the cards I have been trying are :
Kingston 2Gb that I used with my old 2.5K, def not working
Sandisk 1Gb (not ultra) bought 2nd hand off eBay, shows on my mac OK, but no go in the MPC
I've ordered a new 2Gb Sandisk Ultra II, and fingers crossed for that one.

Reader is set as master

Do I need to partition the card before it goes in the MPC (for the 2Gb card) ? As I only have Mac, and that only partitions DOS FAT 32

Tokin' Tone

MPCHunter wrote:The issue lies within the Compact Flash card you have. It is highly unlikely that the card reader is bad.

The quickest way to check is to put the card reader inside a PC and see if it works.

Is it wrong to assume that the MPC is just picky with cards, working or not? If you put all of the CF cards you bought that DONT work into your computer/laptop they will probably load and read fine, right?

I am using this card with my Adonics reader in case you need to buy another to test it out, lol.

Agreed, the cards that do not work in MPC do work fine on computer !
For you guys that are using MAC out there, I have found another way of deleting invisible files, I use TRANSMIT as my FTP program, and in their there is an option to view > invisible files, then select the card, select the files, action > delete.
Then drop the card onto cleanup smb mess purely to eject the card without adding more files.
Was thinking of trying the transcend card as well, as they are cheap.
Tone