Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By Zerma Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:15 pm
Hi everyone, after that i read over and over the manual and many forums i decided to write here, this is my problem:
I bought an hard disk Scsi ultra3 68 pin (18,2 Gb) and i want to know if it's compatible with my mpc2000, if exists some cables or adactator and if there is some tips that i must follow...

Thank you very much. (i search over and over in this forum but i don't find anything about...Help me!)
By scsicardreaders.com Thu Jun 02, 2011 11:57 am
I assume that you plan to put this hard drive inside an external SCSI case - do you have this case yet? It should have 68-pin connectors on the inside and on the back. You'll need a SCSI cable with a DB25 connector on one end and a SCSI-3 68-pin connector on the other end to connect the case to your MPC.

Can you post the hard drive make and model number? I need to see if the hard drive has the ability to select SE (Single-Ended) mode, as that will be needed to use the drive with the MPC2000 Classic.
By scsicardreaders.com Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:52 pm
Good , you are in luck because that drive has jumper settings for both Force Single-Ended mode and Termination Power to the SCSI buss. Both pin sets are located on the J4 jumper block. You can see exactly how to handle that in this document:


http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib. ... s_digw.PDF

The info is located on page 7.

Make sure that you place a jumper plug on the jumper pin set for Force SE. As for the Term Power jumper, start with that one off. If the SCSI fuse in your MPC2000 is not blown, then it will provide 5V termination power and the drive will not need to. But if the MPC doesn't recognize that you have the drive attached (remember to always power on the hard drive first, then the MPC), then you'll need to place a jumper plug on the SCSI Term Power jumper pins so that the hard drive will provide 5V to the buss. You don't need both devices providing the 5V term power but if the MPC2000 cannot, then the drive will have to.

Were you thinking about installing this drive inside your MPC? That will be tough for a couple of reasons: first, there is not enough room to mount a regular 3.5" drive inside the case and second, there is no 12V power connection easily accessible in the MPC2000 Classic. Plus I'd be surprised if the MPC2000 power supply has enough amperage to spin that drive up, although I don't know for sure that it would not. But I'd definitely recommend going external with a drive like that - the MPC2000 Classic is not designed to support a full-sized internal SCSI hard drive. For those who insist on mounting an internal hard drive, I suggest a 2.5" notebook SCSI drive, which is small, has low startup power requirements and only needs 5V to operate.
By Zerma Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:36 pm
Thank you so much for the precius information!
First, as reguards the external case, you are definitely right.

Second...just want to know if i understand well...
I understand that i must put the jumper on the Force SE, but i don't get when you talk of 5V termination power...
I mean, i start without the jumper in the 5V termination power, right? So if works, it's all right, but if it isn't work i must put the jumper in that place?

There is any risk to damage my mpc?

thank you
By scsicardreaders.com Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:54 pm
When it comes to 5V termination power, one device on the SCSI chain must provide it. If the SCSI fuse in your MPC2000 is NOT Blown, then the MPC2000 will be providing the 5V power to the SCSI buss. If it IS blown (a common occurance with MPC2000 Classic samplers), then the hard drive will need to provide it.

I suggested that you leave that jumper off to start with and see if the drive works with the MPC. If it does, great - the SCSI fuse on your MPC is working and all is well. If you hook up the drive to your MPC and the drive does not appear on the SCSI ID number you have the drive set to use (probably 0), then the SCSI fuse in your MPC is blown and you'll need for the hard drive to provide the 5V, so put the jumper plug on the hard drive and try again.

It is not the end of the world if you start out with the jumper plug on SCSI Term power but ideally, both devices (the MPC and the hard drive) should not be both sending 5V to the SCSI buss. This is how the MPC2000 Classic SCSI fuse gets blown to start with - too much power on the SCSI buss.

I hope this helps clarify things.