Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By DLiquid Mon Aug 31, 2009 4:27 pm
jonestown massacre wrote:With the new cards I got, when I insert the card, then power the machine up, all the characters on the screen get garbled.


I just installed the card reader I received from SMC, and I have this exact same problem. Here is someone else's description of the problem (perhaps with a different card reader):

freakonomix wrote:The MPC seems to work fine without a cf card in the slot, but when I put the CF card in the screen goes funny and displays weird characters, making it almost impossible to read.....


Even though my screen is garbled, I can sort of make out what's on the screen, and since I've almost memorized how the MPC works, I was able to load up and play some programs and sequences from the CF card. Other than the screen problem, the card seems to be working fine. If I power up the MPC without a card inserted, the screen problem does not occur. Here are some things I've tried:

- Both the IDE cable that SMC sent as well as the IDE cable I was using with my ZIP drive. The cables and connections are all notched, so I don't think there was a chance the connections were wrong.
- Reloading OS v1.2 a number of times, first from ZIP, then from floppy, then even from a CF card!
- Re-downloading OS v1.2 a number of times from Akai, as well as downloading it from another location, and binary comparing all of the files to validate that they were all identical.
- Reformatting the CF card as FAT with different allocation sizes.
- A few different CF cards:
* Delkin eFilm 55x 1GB DDCFFLS2-1GB: These were stated to work earlier in the thread. They seem to work fine other than the screen corruption problem.
* PNY CF2GB-266W-DVDC Optima Pro UDMA CompactFlash 2GB: The screen garbling problem occurs.
* Kingston CF/8GB-S2KR 8GB elite pro 133X: The screen problem does not occur, but the card is not recognized by the MPC. Can't format as FAT, just FAT32.

In the two quoted cases, the solution seemed to be to use different CF cards. It's ironic, because the whole reason I am moving from ZIP disks is to try to use a more current technology than ZIP, but now I find myself hunting for rare and/or discontinued 1GB CF cards.

If anyone knows cards that work with this reader please let me know. A web link to where I can order the cards would be ideal. If you think the problem is not caused by the card, let me know that too. I don't want to buy a bunch of different cards if that is not what's causing the problem. Thanks!
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By SMC Mon Aug 31, 2009 4:44 pm
That's the first I'd ever heard of screen garble...?

Corrupted files can cause this

I am using that delkin without issue, so is jamestown

Even though the cable connections are notched, there IS a correct and wrong way it can be installed

The most common problem people have is an incompatible card

Neverr had the screen thing.... ?
I suspect some other issue unrelated to the reader

I've sold over 100 of these and these would be the only two cases I've heard of with the screen thing.

Formatting the card with the mpc is the best way to do it


Contacting me directly via email is the best way for me to quickly help u

Maybe jamestown has something to offer as I know he is working fine
By DLiquid Mon Aug 31, 2009 5:05 pm
SMC wrote:Even though the cable connections are notched, there IS a correct and wrong way it can be installed

I attached the end with one connector to the MPC motherboard. I attached the other end, the end with two connectors, to the card reader. I tried both of the connectors on that end with the card reader, both the one at the very end and the one a couple inches in.
User avatar
By SMC Mon Aug 31, 2009 5:08 pm
jonestown massacre wrote:Yo smc, could you send me a list of known working cf cards (size brand etc.) With the original one I had, everything looked okay, but when I went to format the disk, I got a disk write error. With the new cards I got, when I insert the card, then power the machine up, all the characters on the screen get garbled. Im starting to lose more hair then I have...1 month w/ a cf card reader, , still sitting on my desk beside the mp :cry: .


jonestown massacre wrote:And she works!! I found a bunch of 64 mb cf cards on clearance ($1/ea.) so I bought them out (they had 7 left). Slapped the reader in, powered up the mp, sampled a sound and saved it. Everythings good!!
Word, thanks for lookin out SMC. I wonder why those other cards didnt work..... Anyways, let me know when youve got the hot swappable drives good to go, I want to be first on the list, lol!!


Ok, these were Jamestowns posts.....

The problem was an incompatible card

The ones he found to work were small cards, but that is unrelated. The media size has nothing to do with it
You can insert a larger card, like 2GB for example, and it will recognize it as a 1GB

Later he used that Delkin, and that works for him, and me as well

I believe this is related to your card
By DLiquid Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:33 pm
Success! I guess it was incompatible cards causing the problem, since I tried another card and it works.

SanDisk Ultra II 4GB CompactFlash Card (Up to 15MS/s 100x)

I haven't tried saving to the card, but I did try reading programs, sounds, and sequences and it worked fine, no screen problem. I formatted the card on the MPC2000XL before copying files to the card on my PC, so the card shows as 1GB, not 4GB. I got a two-pack of these cards at Costco for $30.

The Delkin DDCFFLS2-1GB card still does not work for me (I tested two of them), so maybe something changed about that card since eibou bought his.

Thanks for your help SMC.
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By Aries Fri Sep 24, 2010 12:24 am
Hey, Whats up everybody? This is my first post here...which is kinda funny cause i didn't even realize there would be such a huge community of mpc users all chatting online...ANYWAY..this is dope. I'll def be snoopin around the site more often.

My reason for being here in the first place is these Flash card issue's with the 2KXL. I bought my drive from Mpc Stuff a few years ago and remember reading the myth/story that only 1G Sandisk cards were compatible. Well in my case that has been true. Ive tried verbatim 1G' and now a Sandisk 2G with no luck with either of them. I have a friend that has the same machine and bought his drive from the same place and got him to bring his 1G Sandisk card to my studio to check it out. IT WORKS. the only problem being, trying to find those cards these days..My brother manages a computer store and cant even find them... They aren't made anymore i don't think and my buddy found some in china on e-bay for sale? is that sketchy??

I read in this thread about the ide cable being backwards? if that's the case would it have worked with my buddies 1G card? I basically don't look forward to opening my mpc ever again after my first 2 adventures. I also installed the 8 outs card and still to this day cannot figure out how to make it work? that's a whole other issue tho.

Anyway ive been making beats and tracking them into pro-tools the same day for the last 4 years...and have lost lots of beats due to leaving my mp on for weeks and then a thunder storm taking the power out..lol...my flashcards work to load sounds onto the mp, but i cant save anything on them....Someone help? Should i be opening it up again and checking the ide cable???shiit its sitting here on... FULL of sounds and sequences and I CANT SAVE IT! lol...
By Dome Tue Nov 16, 2010 6:40 pm
hey, i have the following problem:

my OS is corrupted and i cannot re-install it. i've put in the compact flash card with the OS1.20 setup on it, but when i start the mpc it just says "insert mpc2000xl disk !" and doesnt do anything. what can i do?? thanks!

dome
Last edited by Dome on Tue Nov 16, 2010 6:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
By Lord Toranaga Tue Nov 16, 2010 6:51 pm
Dome wrote:hey, i have the following problem:

my OS is interrupted and i cannot re-install it. i've put in the compact flash card with the OS1.20 setup on it, but when i start the mpc it just says "insert mpc2000xl disk !" and doesnt do anything. what can i do?? thanks!

dome



you need to reflash from a floppy drive

here is a link for a cheap floppy drive
http://cgi.ebay.com/Akai-mpc2000xl-Flop ... 500wt_1078
By Dome Tue Nov 16, 2010 6:59 pm
Lord Toranaga wrote:
Dome wrote:hey, i have the following problem:

my OS is interrupted and i cannot re-install it. i've put in the compact flash card with the OS1.20 setup on it, but when i start the mpc it just says "insert mpc2000xl disk !" and doesnt do anything. what can i do?? thanks!

dome



you need to reflash from a floppy drive

here is a link for a cheap floppy drive
http://cgi.ebay.com/Akai-mpc2000xl-Flop ... 500wt_1078



shoot, does it have to be a special mpc floppy drive or can i use any floppy? problem is i live in germany and shipping would be too expensive. cant find a mpc floppy drive on ebay.de either. is there no other way to put the os back on the mpc? what about a zip drive?
By stinktank Thu Nov 18, 2010 10:15 pm
Dome wrote:hey, i have the following problem:

my OS is corrupted and i cannot re-install it. i've put in the compact flash card with the OS1.20 setup on it, but when i start the mpc it just says "insert mpc2000xl disk !" and doesnt do anything. what can i do?? thanks!

dome


I had the exact same problem, and I put the 1.20 .bin in the root directory of my CF card and it loaded up just fine. Weird.