Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
User avatar
By Nate Kush Fri Feb 19, 2021 8:14 pm
Figured it out so that I can have a partition of the SD card for the MPC2K (SCSI ID 1) & Triton (SCSI ID 2) with an additional extra partition (SCSI ID 3). SCSI ID 0 is reserved for the GUID Partition Table so that all of the SD card can be seen on OSX.

Figure out what the disk id of the SD card is in Terminal:

diskutil list

Output:

/dev/disk4 (external, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *7.9 GB disk4
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk4s1
2: Microsoft Basic Data MPC-2000 898.6 MB disk4s6
3: Microsoft Basic Data TRITON 4.0 GB disk4s5
4: Apple_HFS EXTRA 2.6 GB disk4s4

in my case it's disk4. the # value corresponds to which GPT partition it is in the sector starts and sizes section.

Format the SD Card as GUID Partition Table.

sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 SDCARD GPTFormat /dev/disk4

Partition the SD card in Disk Utility:

900MB (the max for MPC2K) as MPC-2000 (MS DOS FAT)
4GB (the max for Triton) as TRITON (MS DOS FAT)
Remainder as EXTRA (Mac OS Journaled)

Read the sector starts and sizes of the partitions in Terminal:

sudo gpt -r show disk4

Output:

start size index contents
0 1 PMBR
1 1 Pri GPT header
2 32 Pri GPT table
34 6
40 409600 1 GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
409640 2008
411648 1755136 2 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
2166784 2048
2168832 7811072 3 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
9979904 262704
10242608 5019048 4 GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
15261656 262151
15523807 32 Sec GPT table
15523839 1 Sec GPT header


SCSI2SD UTILITY SETTINGS:

Maintaining the first sector to the EFI on the SD so that the Partition scheme remains the same means setting SCSI ID 0 start sector to 0 and the sector count to 409640.

the 2nd GPT part (MPC-2000) represents SCSI ID 1, and starts at 411648 and has a sector count of 1755136.

the 3rd GPT part (TRITON) represents SCSI ID 2, and starts at 2168832 with a sector count of 7811072.

the 4th GPT part (EXTRA) represents SCSI ID 3, and starts at 10242608 with a sector count of 5019048.

I put these all into the SCSI2SD utility, every ID's device type is set as Removable.

Flash the settings to the SCSI2SD card, then plug it into the MPC2K, plug in the SD card and the power, turn on the MPC and load up the SCSI ID 1 on the Format section in the MPC. Format it as just one (A) partition, making sure not to format SCSI ID 0 or the other ones. Copy the Operating system from the floppy to SCSI ID 1 Partition A, and take that back to the computer. Load the OS 1.72 and all my MPC programs / files and sounds and everything works beautifully.

I think in this manner you can use one SD card to hold files for multiple samplers. not at the same time but possibly with that bigger box that they're selling in places. will try this out with the Triton soon as I haven't hooked it up to the back of that yet but works great for the MPC and having access to the rest of the SD card.
User avatar
By Nate Kush Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:34 pm
Ok first problems arise.... i can only put 150 files or less on the root of the 1GB SD partition on OSX. If i put samples in folders in the same partition, it lets me put more files. but right now it seems i can only access a limited number of files on the root. Gonna try see if i can up it by saving more samples in from mpc2k instead of OSX. How do you guys organize your files on the mpcstuff sd card setups ?
User avatar
By Nate Kush Mon Feb 22, 2021 7:39 pm
Nate Kush wrote:Ok first problems arise.... i can only put 150 files or less on the root of the 1GB SD partition on OSX. If i put samples in folders in the same partition, it lets me put more files. but right now it seems i can only access a limited number of files on the root. Gonna try see if i can up it by saving more samples in from mpc2k instead of OSX. How do you guys organize your files on the mpcstuff sd card setups ?


only 133 files, 79,3 mb. OSX says disk is full but shows 800+mb free.
User avatar
By Nate Kush Sat Apr 03, 2021 12:31 pm
OK last update on this, bc that Pretty ricky dude loves to be an asshat on these here forums. Big ups Lampdog being the only user dishing out good info on here, i learn a lot from ya

---------------------------------

This is info for everyone buying the SCSI2SD, that doesnt want to pay Chicken Systems or MPC-stuff for something that should be free.

Here's how to use SCSI ID's 0, 1, 2 & 3 on the MPC2000 via MAC OSX, with the SCSI2SD 5.5.

1. Figure out what the disk id of the SD card is in Terminal:

diskutil list

ex)

/dev/disk4 (external, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *7.9 GB disk2


2. Format the SD Card as GUID Partition Table.

sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 SDCARD GPTFormat /dev/disk2


3. Make 5 partitions on the SD card in Disk Utility:

900MB (the max for MPC2K) as MPC-2000 (MS DOS FAT)
900MB as MPC-2001 (MS DOS FAT)
900MB as MPC-2002 (MS DOS FAT)
900MB as MPC-2003 (MS DOS FAT)
Remainder as EXTRA (Mac OS Journaled)

Image

4. Read the sector starts and sizes of the partitions in Terminal:

sudo gpt -r show disk2

Output:

start size index contents
0 1 PMBR
1 1 Pri GPT header
2 32 Pri GPT table
34 6
40 409600 1 GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
409640 2008
411648 1755136 2 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
2166784 2048
2168832 1755136 3 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
3923968 2048
3926016 1755136 4 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
5681152 2048
5683200 1757184 5 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
7440384 488
7440872 7820784 6 GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
15261656 262151
15523807 32 Sec GPT table
15523839 1 Sec GPT header

5. Input the values into the SCSI2SD Util:

You leave sectors 40 to 409600 alone because they hold the partition info for the rest of the SD card.

Image
Image
Image
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Put these all into the SCSI2SD utility, every ID's device type is set as Removable.

Flash the settings to the SCSI2SD card, then plug it into the MPC2K, put your floppy in the MPC, plug in the SD card to the SCSI2SD and the power cable, turn on the MPC, and then format SCSI ID's 0, 1, 2 & 3. Then take the SD card back to the computer, rename the partitions so that it's easier for you, put OS 1.72 on the first partition and then put all your MPC programs / files on the rest of the partitions.

Delete hidden files on OSX by pressing Shift + command + . (period), every time you put the SD in the computer. Back up your files regularly.

Image

If ya have any questions post em here I'll see em.

Use promo code FRIENDS on the inertial computing site for 10$ off the v5.5.
https://store.inertialcomputing.com/pro ... d-v5.5.htm

Piss off pretty ricky !!
By zaiusz Thu Jul 13, 2023 3:57 pm
Hey Nate Kush, thanks for posting this guide. I'm happy to see it's pretty much the exact setup I'm trying to configure: MACOS + MPC2000 Classic + SCSI2SD 5.5. I'm running Monterey on my mac and can't get the disk to partition. It keeps giving errors every time I try. Also, it seems the only way to add partitions and name and size them is by temporarily setting it to APFS, setting the name and size and then switching that partition back to MSDOS(FAT). This is the error I keep getting, but I don't think time machine is actually on as it is suggesting:

Switching disk3s2 to APFS
Creating APFS Container
Created new APFS Container disk4
Preparing to add APFS Volume to APFS Container disk4
Creating APFS Volume
Created new APFS Volume disk4s1
Mounting APFS Volume
Setting volume permissions

Running operation 2 of 10: Add “MPC2001” 6.84 GB by shrinking “SDCARD” (disk3s2) from 7.74 GB to 900 MB…
Aligning shrink delta to 6,837,424,128 bytes and targeting a new physical store size of 899,997,696 bytes
Determined the minimum size for the targeted physical store of this APFS Container to be 1,161,822,208 bytes
There is not enough free space in this APFS Container for this operation. Turning off Time Machine may help. : (-69521)

Operation failed…
By zaiusz Thu Jul 13, 2023 4:11 pm
Here's another attempt instead setting each partition to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) first. Could there be a problem that the disk I'm trying to format is a Micro SD inside a SD Card Adapter?

Partitioning disk “Apple SDXC Reader Media” (disk3)

Running operation 1 of 9: Erase “SDCARD” (disk3s2)…
Unmounting disk
Erasing
Initialized /dev/rdisk3s2 as a 7 GB case-insensitive HFS Plus volume with a 8192k journal

Mounting disk

Running operation 2 of 9: Add “MPC2001” 6.84 GB by shrinking “SDCARD” (disk3s2) from 7.74 GB to 900 MB…
Verifying the disk
Verifying file system.
Volume was successfully unmounted.
Performing fsck_hfs -fn -x /dev/rdisk3s2
Executing fsck_hfs (version hfs-583.100.10).
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
The volume name is SDCARD
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume SDCARD appears to be OK.
File system check exit code is 0.
Restoring the original state found as mounted.
Resizing
Shrinking file system
Modifying partition map
Initialized /dev/rdisk3s3 as a 6 GB case-insensitive HFS Plus volume with a 8192k journal

Mounting disk

Running operation 3 of 9: Add “MPC2002” 5.94 GB by shrinking “MPC2001” (disk3s3) from 6.84 GB to 900 MB…
Verifying the disk
Verifying file system.
Volume was successfully unmounted.
Performing fsck_hfs -fn -x /dev/rdisk3s3
Executing fsck_hfs (version hfs-583.100.10).
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
The volume name is MPC2001
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume MPC2001 appears to be OK.
File system check exit code is 0.
Restoring the original state found as mounted.
Resizing
Shrinking file system
Modifying partition map
Initialized /dev/rdisk3s4 as a 5 GB case-insensitive HFS Plus volume with a 8192k journal

Mounting disk

Running operation 4 of 9: Add “MPC2003” 5.04 GB by shrinking “MPC2002” (disk3s4) from 5.94 GB to 900 MB…
Verifying the disk
Verifying file system.
Volume was successfully unmounted.
Performing fsck_hfs -fn -x /dev/rdisk3s4
Executing fsck_hfs (version hfs-583.100.10).
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
The volume name is MPC2002
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume MPC2002 appears to be OK.
File system check exit code is 0.
Restoring the original state found as mounted.
Resizing
Shrinking file system
Modifying partition map
Initialized /dev/rdisk3s5 as a 5 GB case-insensitive HFS Plus volume with a 8192k journal

Mounting disk

Running operation 5 of 9: Add “Extra” 4.14 GB by shrinking “MPC2003” (disk3s5) from 5.04 GB to 900 MB…
Verifying the disk
Verifying file system.
Volume was successfully unmounted.
Performing fsck_hfs -fn -x /dev/rdisk3s5
Executing fsck_hfs (version hfs-583.100.10).
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
The volume name is MPC2003
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume MPC2003 appears to be OK.
File system check exit code is 0.
Restoring the original state found as mounted.
Resizing
Shrinking file system
Modifying partition map
Initialized /dev/rdisk3s6 as a 4 GB case-insensitive HFS Plus volume with a 8192k journal

Mounting disk

Running operation 6 of 9: Erase “MPC2000” (disk3s2)…
Unmounting disk
Erasing
newfs_msdos: 27448 clusters too few clusters for FAT32, need 65525
512 bytes per physical sector

Mounting disk
Could not mount disk3s2 after erase
File system formatter failed. : (-69832)

Operation failed…
User avatar
By Telefunky Thu Jul 13, 2023 6:54 pm
It‘s not related to the SD card adapter, but to the target size of the medium.
The 1st error (not enough space) while there is more space shown is a typical failure.

In the 2nd case the message is clear: a Fat32 file system needs more clusters as indicated.
But you need MSDOS plain FAT (at least that‘s mentioned above), not Fat32.
The current formatter either can’t handle that type or you missed the selection.
By zaiusz Fri Jul 14, 2023 12:10 am
Too bad I can't erase my last post and get rid of the clutter, but after troubleshooting this the last couple days, I finally found out how to get this working on my mac. Essentially I had to skip the first step of erasing and formatting the disk in Terminal and just use Disk Utility first. I formatted the disk there first as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" first, then proceed to partition. Then I followed the rest of the steps above and it all worked out great!
Once again Nate, thanks for the guide! Sure is nice to be able to manage all the scsi drives from the computer.
By zaiusz Fri Jul 14, 2023 12:20 am
Telefunky wrote:It‘s not related to the SD card adapter, but to the target size of the medium.
The 1st error (not enough space) while there is more space shown is a typical failure.

In the 2nd case the message is clear: a Fat32 file system needs more clusters as indicated.
But you need MSDOS plain FAT (at least that‘s mentioned above), not Fat32.
The current formatter either can’t handle that type or you missed the selection.


Whatever the problem was, I got it working now and there was something my computer's Disk Utility didn't like about working with pre-formatted MSDOS disks. It went much smoother if I formatted it as MacOS journaled first from DU. I just made two different working SD cards now. And, oddly enough then, the MPC Volumes I made are working as FAT32 if that is supposed to be an issue.