Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By ratsnake Sat Feb 11, 2012 3:04 pm
Hi, I've got a problem with upgrading my OS - I can't seem to find any floppy drives that work inside the mpc (my original one is gone). I was wondering if an internally hooked up cdrom drive will work - or are there the same compatibility issues with different models too? My other option is perhaps a scsi controller board for a PC so I can put the OS file onto the scsi HDD i have that works in the mpc.
By ntalec Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:31 pm
Couple of options:
_find another 2k user close to you.
_go to a flea market, Goodwill old computer store etc for a floppy
_go the eBay route for a used TEAC floppy
_go ahead and upgrade to a card reader and have them format the media with OS
By MPCHunter Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:53 pm
A regular PC floppy drive should work fine in your MPC 2000XL. I would think this would be much easier to find than an internal SCSI CD-ROM Drive.

Are you sure your floppy disks are still good

The MPC 2000XL is pretty forgiving with most external SCSI CD-ROM drives so I imagine it would be the same with one hooked up to the internal connections. Make sure the drive is functioning properly beforehand, if data gets corrupted during the flash process you may brick your MPC.

CD-ROM drives need 5V and 12V to operate. You'll have to make sure the power cable you have is wired for both. If the cable you have only has a black and red wire, then you need a different cable.
By ratsnake Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:44 pm
@ntalec - thanks for the suggestions. For the most part I am on my own..ebay will take too long too. I am in eastern europe. Stuff takes 1-2 months to arrive due to customs check and I gotta get my show on the road asap.

@MpcHunter - For some stupid reason 2 of th diskdrives don't work. They don't have jumpers so I don't have a lot of options to play with. I already have a modified cable since the HDD also required all the wires to be hooked up to the power node. I've tried flipping the flat FDD cable, tried different configs of power connection (from PC, with 2 wires, 4 wires), but no dice. Both drives work in the pc though.
By ratsnake Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:14 pm
well the drives work very fine in the PC. The kind of spin and dont read the disk, but the light is on and the floppy option says No Disk Found.

If I flip the flat cable, I can get it to click once or twice after boot and stop and get a no floppy drive found error.
By ratsnake Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:21 pm
hmm so..I got the scsi cdrom hooked up internally. Too bad it doesn't work properly. Any CD i put in the drive will show up as Type=??????? . Either it is an OS problem again with internal scsi..or the drive.

Wonder if you guys know if a 2kXL with 1.14 can ready any CD?