Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By mradrieno Sun Feb 28, 2016 7:09 pm
Hello all !
Been scrolling through the cf reader topic for a while, still haven't found what I wanted (which is pretty basic...).
So I'm making this new topic which should concern any recent MPC 2000xl owner.
The MPC I have still has the Floppy Disc Reader, and the original 2mb RAM.

CARD READER :
I don't care if it is hot swappable or not, and I don't care which card I should use.
Which are the readers available on the market, which cards do they work with and which cables have to be bought with them for me to be able to install it on my MPC (I don't mind drilling 2 holes...)

32 MB RAM
Which RAM works with the MPC ?

THANK YOUUUU !
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By mr_debauch Sun Feb 28, 2016 10:13 pm
well it takes a standard IDE cable (40 pin 40 wire) like the old hard drives used to take. The power cable from the floppy drive in the mpc should be fine to plug into that.

as for ram, it's easy to get ram for that machine.. put in preferably two sticks of 16mb 72 pin simm ram.

I highly recommend you check this website out:
http://www.mpc2000xl.com/
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By JUKE 179r Sun Feb 28, 2016 11:52 pm
For all my sampler's memory (MV-8800, ASR-10, MPC2000XL) I always buy from MemoryX.com ...
http://www.memoryx.com/8mbx326e.html
By mradrieno Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:26 pm
Thanks for the info guys.
For Card Reader I read a post from another Mpc owner saying he had a 34 pin connection (Floppy not IDE) which I presume I also have ? Correct me if I'm wrong but are all the guys buying the addonics or startech card readers just plugging it in their mpc with no previous modification or they actually had a zip reader or something else besides the ORIGINAL MPC 2000xl with no modification whatsoever (2mb ram, floppy reader) ?
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By JUKE 179r Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:57 pm
mradrieno wrote:For Card Reader I read a post from another Mpc owner saying he had a 34 pin connection (Floppy not IDE) which I presume I also have ?

Yes you do have a 34 pin floppy drive cable. But for most CF card readers you will need the female 40 pin IDE/ATA ribbon cable.

mradrieno wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong but are all the guys buying the addonics or startech card readers just plugging it in their mpc with no previous modification or they actually had a zip reader or something else besides the ORIGINAL MPC 2000xl with no modification whatsoever (2mb ram, floppy reader) ?

Depending on the CF card reader, some people only needed the 40-pin cable to connect the card reader to the MPC's mother board and maybe upgrade/downgrade their MPC2000XL OS.
With the Addonics / StarTech CF card readers, you have to update your 2000XL to OS1.2, use a 40-pin ribbon cable, (I think) modify the power cable to the card reader (someone else please verify), and drill holes to mount the card reader.
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By Lampdog Mon Mar 07, 2016 11:13 pm
Image

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By xrated Tue Mar 26, 2019 5:31 pm
I just purchased a cheap Startech cf card reader, a 40 pin to 40 pin female to female IDE cable (25cm long) all off eBay for less than £40

Fitted the cf reader straight in (drilled two holes in the Startech reader to mount it with self tapping screws).

My floppy disc power cable fitted straight on the Startech reader.

Got a 4mb cf card, the brand is called “transend”

Put the card in, turned it on. Selected ATAPI and formatted the card.

Works perfectly.