odd situation with MPC2KXL and Gotek

Hey guys first time posting here.

I have bought and am refurbing an MPC2kXL

I was able to replace the screen and then install the two expansions and everything was pretty happy.

My last task was to replace none functioning Zip drive (jammed disk in it, unreadable even though the light came on) with what I thought was the current popular solution a gotek unit.

I followed this tutorial for install:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UllTSfxXFc

and then accidentally followed this tutorial for an mpc 2000 for usb initialisation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy7HBKEXuSU

after plugging in the gotek I initialized a usb using by holding down the two buttons on the front. I was very focused on the gotek at this point but then when I looked up I was surprised to find the MPC screen was completely blank. After I disconnected the gotek again and rebooted the unit it failed to boot properly and I got a "insert MPC 2000XL Disc !" message. I tried reinstalling the Zip disk and still got the same message.

So what exactly have I done to my unit and how do I go about fixing this?

Gotek is the worst possible drive for a 2000XL in my opinion.

The machine is looking for a boot disc, so either you have to prepare the crappy Gotek drive with the OS file or you put a floppy drive in and boot from floppy to store the OS in your machine again.
Then you can put the other drive back in.

If you're unable to utilize your Gotek to do what WASK mentioned, then your only other solution is to purchase a RECOVERY ROM chip, install it in to the XL mainboard, follow the instructions to re-write the onboard flash that was corrupted.

Then take that Gotek drive, remove it, and replace it with something that makes much more sense such as a Zulu SCSI, Blue SCSI, SCSI2SD.

Thank you both for your comments, I’ve decided to abandon the gotek, instead I have ordered a functioning new Zip drive and a Zip disk with os 1.20 on it.

Am I correct in thinking that this will allow a potential restoration?

I can't recall right now if the 2KXL can boot from the ZIP, but if it can, just make sure to flash the chip again with the OS once it booted.
As mentioned by richie, best options are fast scsi drives. Next option would be an ide cf cardreader which also works great - but the scsi drives offer more storage.

The issue is that the flash is corrupted and when it is corrupted, it will not scan the SCSI bus, which means that your zip drive is useless.

Beyond that, Purchasing that zip drive in 2025 makes no sense on multiple levels and unfortunately will not resolve your issue.

There are plenty sellers in Europe that sell those SCSI devices as they're popular in the Amiga community, Please quit being a cheap ass.

So only way is to put floppy in, reinstall/reflash OS and then what richie said, don't cheap out on drives. I see it same way.

I installed a replacement internal zip 100 and the unit was able to boot off a Zip disk with 1.20 BIN on it.

I am not sure how to attempt to restore the OS from the ZIP onto the F-ROM, in the Load menu when I attempt to even format the F-ROM it says there is no F-ROM, so this probably implies the ROM is dead and I will need a recovery chip unless I want to just boot off of Zip disk from this point on.

futureMan wrote:I installed a replacement internal zip 100 and the unit was able to boot off a Zip disk with 1.20 BIN on it.

I am not sure how to attempt to restore the OS from the ZIP onto the F-ROM, in the Load menu when I attempt to even format the F-ROM it says there is no F-ROM, so this probably implies the ROM is dead and I will need a recovery chip unless I want to just boot off of Zip disk from this point on.

The F-ROM entry in the load menu refers to the 8MB internal storage card expansion.
You need to update your OS through the update menu. Consult the manual for that, I think it’s just loading the .bin file that will start the procedure but I haven’t done it in forever.

futureMan wrote:I installed a replacement internal zip 100 and the unit was able to boot off a Zip disk with 1.20 BIN on it.

I am not sure how to attempt to restore the OS from the ZIP onto the F-ROM, in the Load menu when I attempt to even format the F-ROM it says there is no F-ROM, so this probably implies the ROM is dead and I will need a recovery chip unless I want to just boot off of Zip disk from this point on.

Once you're at the main screen, go to the load menu, select the zip drive, select the file, DO IT, it'll ask you if you want to update, DO IT, it'll re-write the flash and hopefully resolve your issue.