Looking for help fellas

Yes to everything man... OS 1.2, power etc... I'm reading now about how some cf cards are sold as ''fixed'' and some ''removable'' wtf but I dunno if I'm going down the wrong rabbit hole... as far as I can tell it should work.

That is weird that it doesn't work. Are the lights working on your StarTech?
if you can, post a pic of the card reader and the connections inside the XL.

Yeah, I'm also confused man. Here is a link to an image of how it's set up;


(took the cf card out the reader for the pic so the brand/model is visible -maybe someone had issues with this card)

PS there are no led lights on the cf reader I have, at least afaik. Although what I do find strange is the led jumper? I think it's possible to connect an LED or something.

Again, I created a 500mb / fat 16 partition, dropped 16bit audio / correct sample rate / less than 8 chars (I actually realized this morning that some files were more than 8 chars but after fixing them all still no change)

I read on one post some guy saying he used fat32 partition type? But other people say the MPC has to format it? So I dunno now haha

I did read that some people had more issues with transcend than sandisk and some others. But I wanted to exhaust all my options here before I fork out more cash for another cf card. I think that will be my last attempt to get this going other f-it, I'll just put the floppy back haha. Thanks for your help though man

In the bottom part of you picture on the 3 pins, move the plastic jumper connector to “Master” position.

It should be this easy to install the StarTech drive in the XL and make it work...

doughnutSpaghetti wrote:I use a StarTech reader on my 2kXL. Works perfect. I bought it off Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000T9QQP0/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Paid about $28 shipped.

You can get a 40 pin IDE cable on Ebay for $3 shipped.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130468688348?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Install is pretty easy, but you have to drill two holes on the bottom bracket of the rear to mount it to the mpc. You can use the power cord that goes to your current floppy drive on the StarTech. Just unplug in from the floppy and plug it right onto the CF reader.

Yeah, first thing you do is install 1.20.

I'm using a Sansdisk Ultra CF card on with no issues.

Thank you for the tip Lampdog!

Yeah it's in master position now, I also tried to switch to slave but no luck.

EvoMPC wrote:...
I did read that some people had more issues with transcend than sandisk and some others. But I wanted to exhaust all my options here before I fork out more cash for another cf card. I think that will be my last attempt to get this going other f-it, I'll just put the floppy back haha. Thanks for your help though man

I think the CF card is the issue here. I've said this on this forums so many times, but XL is VERY picky on CF card. MOST of non-sandisk brand CF cards don't work with XL. In fact, I'd be surprised if Transcend CF card worked with the XL. I've tried a few Transcend CF cards before, but none of them worked. (It usually hung up booting, or XL would just ignore the connected card.)
I recommend only Sandisk brand CF cards, not other brands.

The reason why the 2000XL cannot read certain cards has to do with the mode in which the CF card is running. "Fixed Disk" mode cards will work completely fine with these cheap / scaled down IDE CF card readers. Only fancier IDE card readers that have on board controller chips for handling functions like hot swap will be able to run any CF card regardless of Fixed or Removable mode set on the CF card.

Years ago, we could run a utility off a dos boot disk to switch between "Fixed Disk" to "Removable" mode as "Fixed Disk" mode is required for a computers bios to detect the card as an actual IDE hard drive. Running the utility isn't exactly convenient or accessible for most people now. So the best way to ensure that you are finding the correct / compatible card is by looking up CF cards that are listed as "Industrial Grade" as they will already be set to run in "Fixed Disk" mode which is what the XL needs to function.

Honestly, people shouldn't get hung up on needing to have a hot swappable card reader. It's a nicety.
In the 17 years of owning my first MPC an MPC2000XL, I can count on one hand how many times I've actually removed the CF card while the MPC was on.

As for working CF cards... SanDisk and Kingston are my go-to cards that work all the time.
Keep in mind that are many famous company branded bootleg/counterfeit CF cards on the market. Know how to spot them.

JUKE 179r wrote:Honestly, people shouldn't get hung up on needing to have a hot swappable card reader. It's a nicety.
In the 17 years of owning my first MPC an MPC2000XL, I can count on one hand how many times I've actually removed the CF card while the MPC was on.
.

Right I hear where you are coming from, I was simply providing context for the "Why" this is an actual issue.

Since the cheap IDE card readers operate as simple pin pass through connectors to the IDE controller, they require help from the controller of the CF card for its operations. My mention of the better card readers was to explain that "Fixed" or "Removable" bit flag enabled is irrelevant as the better card readers have their own controller to handle i/o operations.

Alternatively, people could also try using those cheap SDHC to IDE adapters as they're only a few dollars and will have their own controllers to handle these very operations. That is how I've used them on old Pentium 2 machines to boot XP just fine.

Man WTF guys. Ima bout to smash this damn thang. I have a cf card that works in my friends 2000XL, it's an AKAI original CF card 128 meg. Borrowed it to try in mine but it doesn't wanna work no matter what. The picture above I posted is how I set everything up. OS is 1.2. The floppy works on the same ide port so dunno how thats the problem.

Has anyone got any last ideas before I give up on this mission thats taking me months. For real this is pissing me off so bad

Sorry to say this, but this is why MPC STUFF or Big Noise Radio Readers/Cards are worth spending $150 to $180 USD. They've been tested and comes with all the parts. No Stress, No trouble shooting, No throwing your MPC out the window. Two plus months is a long time, for something this simple.

Just In Case:

https://bignoiseradio.com/product/akai- ... mc-2000xl/

https://www.mpcstuff.com/sd-card-reader ... swappable/

thanks man, but thats kind of out my reach atm. I cant keep spending on this thing forever. I dont even believe that will work because it seems everything is a headache on here. I dont understand, is every MPC 2000xl made different? If the startech works in other peoples mpc I dont understand why not mine, with every possible combination.. Fck this, I'ma bout ready to just go back to DAW 100% I aint got time for this fcking bs

Did you put the card in the drive, then power the mpc on?

CharlesRandolph wrote:Did you put the card in the drive, then power the mpc on?

Yeah man.. thanks though. I think I've tried everything haha. Perhaps the IDE port is damaged, that's all I can think of