what's the empty pci port in my 2kxl for?

Had my 2000 open today to swap the eq card out of a seperate unit i bought. I thought my mp was pretty much maxed out but i noticed an empty pci port next to where the eb16 plugs in at. I think it said something about FLASH upgrade or some shit. I got the memory maxed, 8 outs, cf/sd reader, and fx.... just wondering what that port is available for. I'm sure one of you guys know.

If it says FLASH it's likely the F-ROM which was basically just, what, like 2mb or 1mb of non-volatile storage that would be available whenever you turned the mpc on. So you could for example store a basic kit that was always loaded when you turned the machine on.

As far as I know, it fits in roughly the same area as the EB16, so it's actually an either / or choice there.

I don't have it, so correct me if wrong.

that is indeed for the flash rom kit, there were 2 different kits. an 8 and 16 meg.
Can't remember if both were usable in the mpc

i only heard of an 8 meg f-rom addon... and my guess is.. it was most popular to put the OS on it so you dont need to run boot disks all the time.

the expansion is quite expensive the one time I saw it listed online.

mr_debauch wrote:i only heard of an 8 meg f-rom addon... and my guess is.. it was most popular to put the OS on it so you dont need to run boot disks all the time.

Not exactly. Flash ROM is non-volitile memory which means samples and programs that are saved to the ROM remain there after the unit is powered off. With CF cards holding much more data, the flash roms aren't as useful as they once were.

nogginj wrote:If it says FLASH it's likely the F-ROM which was basically just, what, like 2mb or 1mb of non-volatile storage that would be available whenever you turned the mpc on. So you could for example store a basic kit that was always loaded when you turned the machine on.

As far as I know, it fits in roughly the same area as the EB16, so it's actually an either / or choice there.

I don't have it, so correct me if wrong.

Well it's a separate port from the eb16 slot, if the unit is flipped upside down it goes just to the left of the fx card. but yea you're right it was definitely the F-ROM. i guess pretty useless in 2011. i'm sure they're going for 350 on ebay tho

MPCHunter wrote:

mr_debauch wrote:i only heard of an 8 meg f-rom addon... and my guess is.. it was most popular to put the OS on it so you dont need to run boot disks all the time.

Not exactly. Flash ROM is non-volitile memory which means samples and programs that are saved to the ROM remain there after the unit is powered off. With CF cards holding much more data, the flash roms aren't as useful as they once were.

yes, but wasn't the addon that is called "F-ROM" often used to store the OS so you didn't have to insert the boot disk? and wasn't that addon an 8 meg flash?

AFAIK there are two different Flash ROM boards. One with 8MB that worked with 2000 and 2000XL and one with 16MB that worked only with the 2000XL.
It can hold the OS and/or programs / samples / seq. I find it useful in the 2000 but I dont have it.

peace

peterpiper wrote:AFAIK there are two different Flash ROM boards. One with 8MB that worked with 2000 and 2000XL and one with 16MB that worked only with the 2000XL.
It can hold the OS and/or programs / samples / seq. I find it useful in the 2000 but I dont have it.

peace

The 16MB ones only work with a few Akai Samplers (S2000, S3000XL, S3200XL), and are not compatible with the MPC 2000 or MPC 2000XL they will only see 8MB not the full 16MB.