Think my Hard Drive may have died?

dryad-66 wrote:I’m using the 4000 as a processor/remixer.I re-record passages of audio onto the pads and effect them.Often long passages.I give the audio a little bump of onboard compression on the way through.Then use peak 1 filter model controlled by the 2 sliders cutoff and resonance and maybe touch itt up with the digital eq plus put pitch on q link ect.This is my favourite processing route atm.Crazy.And then can chop and sequence easily and tweak Away.Adds a real old school flavour and is not murky like real older samplers.Plus love working in the 4000.Back in the day tracks were often pieced together like this with parts of the songs split up on pads and resequences.Of course then it all gets live recorded into the daw......

We used multi track recorders or computers do that. Where can I hear what your process sounds like?

CharlesRandolph wrote:

dryad-66 wrote:I’m using the 4000 as a processor/remixer.I re-record passages of audio onto the pads and effect them.Often long passages.I give the audio a little bump of onboard compression on the way through.Then use peak 1 filter model controlled by the 2 sliders cutoff and resonance and maybe touch itt up with the digital eq plus put pitch on q link ect.This is my favourite processing route atm.Crazy.And then can chop and sequence easily and tweak Away.Adds a real old school flavour and is not murky like real older samplers.Plus love working in the 4000.Back in the day tracks were often pieced together like this with parts of the songs split up on pads and resequences.Of course then it all gets live recorded into the daw......

We used multi track recorders or computers do this. Where can I hear the music?

IM talking pre daws.When i started mid 90s ther was not much computer multitracking but lots of samplers ect where you can manipulate the audio in real time ie remixing..Im just saying some producers use MPC style pad methods to reprogram there sequences.As they still do.Of course.BTW load time is around 3 minutes from hard drive.

dryad-66 wrote:
IM talking pre daws.When i started mid 90s ther was not much computer multitracking but lots of samplers ect where you can manipulate the audio in real time ie remixing..Im just saying some producers use MPC style pad methods to reprogram there sequences.As they still do.Of course.BTW load time is around 3 minutes from hard drive.

Thought you were talking about MPC 4000, which came out in 2002. But in the 90's people used protool, steinberg and a couple others I can't think of. 3 minutes is not bad for 512 on the MPC 4000. Well until you've loaded the wrong project. I'm going to load a 512 mb file and see how long it takes via USB.

493 MB or 32 min 35 sec file took about 15 minutes to load via USB to Memory. It was similar via the rear USB using Ak-Sys. Also many of the edit functions would not work.

dryad-66 wrote:

cleansocks wrote:I hope this was obvious but when i said connect somewhere on the MPC i meant internally...as this is an internal hard drive. Is there a specific slot I put the pins / molex in? and if so which connection is it

Open her up and check the hard drive,connections ect.Might just need adjusting.Anyhow upgrade I’d you want the hard drive.The mole from the startech will connect into the board same as the OG drive.The startech will connect straight to your new SSD and the Sata cable from you OG HD with plug into the other connector on the Startech.Its just a adapter.Four globs of silicon on each corner of the SSD with hold the SSD in place,create a bit of cushion for knocks.And easily removed too.Let us know how you get on...

You lost me with a couple things so,

Startech Molex -> Mobo slot (same as original hard drive)

SSD - > Startech SATA port on side

What i'm not understanding is this part "and the Sata cable from you OG HD with plug into the other connector on the Startech" , where exactly would it plug in on the Startech adapter? I only see one SATA...


In any case, I ordered :

The Startech adapter
Orico 3.5 to 2.5 drive bay
PNY 120 gb ssd

and when all this stuff arrives monday I'll go out and get a 40 pin female to female IDE wire because that was the one thing I was missing (i think? Like I said I Still don't know the full ins and outs of the connections being made) . Probably going to replace or reseat the ram as well since I got some extra sticks lying around. Will update then. Please let me know if the parts above seem right or if i'm missing something, and if you can clarify on the part I quoted that would be pretty cool

also for Charles, I am choosing this method and not getting a USB with it for now because in the event I want to pawn this off for better gear in the way future, the SSD is going to be pretty future proof and solid, not to mention upping the resale value a bit. i figured I'd toss in a $20 memory upgrade in there as well for 10x the return in terms of resale value.

Of course, I don't think I'd ever actually need 512 mb for one project but who knows ? I was thinking about getting a fan upgrade and maybe some LED's or something idk but I figured I don't wanna **** around too much with these ancient ass parts I BARELY TOUCHED The ribbon that controls the screen and when I went to boot up my MPC the first time I was taking it apart the screen was black and wouldn't go back. I was half a step from shitting myself, I think that ribbon still gives me PTSD.. lol. but this is an upgrade that must be done.

All info is here:
https://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=1739907
https://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=1715023

CharlesRandolph wrote:All info is here:
https://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=1739907
https://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=1715023

hmmmm... yes I looked thru both threads. Ians a pretty cool dude I've seen some of his youtube videos. Thing is, even with the detailed pictures the guy doesn't really explain where the ribbon cable is plugged into you can see it on the SSD but then the other side of the ribbon is just flopping around... so how is it connected?

another guy said you don't even need an adapter just a 40 to 44 pin... i don't think that looked correct his setup looked kinda sketchy, tho he might have had a PATA drive so maybe i was missing something. In any case, it's good info but i was just hoping to get some clarity on the specific connections and where they were going.

I see pins and a SATA connector so I know there's at least two connections. I figured SATA goes straight to the drive, but the pins was what i was trying to get clarification on. Do i need a 40 / 44 pin? Do i need female IDE to female IDE? i tried looking up some pics of the mobo and there were needles sticking out so i am guessing it's female to female but i don't want to open mine for myself till I got my parts. It is these kinds of little things I get stuck on. That and the SATA from the original drive to the adapter? I don't understand why or how even I only see one SATA. it is these things I need clarity on

On the amazon pics it shows you the front and back,You can see what you need there.I only did it on my MPC 5000 which has the same config no problem.Ata to Sata.BYW-there is no upgrading from the 4000......ha

@Charles-The MPC I’m referring too was the MPC3000.I did not touch a computer till late 90s.Mid 90s i was splicing up tape.No joke...And 30 mins (edit-ok just saw it was 15) loading time?im gonna have a go now with full ram loaded with hard drive and usb...

dryad-66 wrote:On the amazon pics it shows you the front and back,You can see what you need there.I only did it on my MPC 5000 which has the same config no problem.Ata to Sata.BYW-there is no upgrading from the 4000......ha

@Charles-The MPC I’m referring too was the MPC3000.I did not touch a computer till late 90s.Mid 90s i was splicing up tape.No joke...And 30 mins loading time?im gonna have a go now with full ram loaded with hard drive and usb...

Ok,speaking in regards to the amazon pics: https://imgur.com/a/iBY1pf2

What am I missing here?

The SATA on the STARTECH is plugged into my SSD (or ORICO drive bay SSD port in my case)

The Pins on the STARTECH are connected to somewhere on the MPC with 40 to 40 pin IDE Ribbon cable

There's a couple things on the side that say SLAVE, MASTER, CABLE ? Idk what these are and how to configure them for the MPC

Are there any other connections going to or from this chip that i'm missing?

As for your point on SSD's, yes. They are much faster and while dealing with ak.sys will be annoying I really just need to record it into audacity and go from there most of the editing will be done on the 4000 anyway. In general it's just nicer to have internal storage and with how fast SSD's are i'm pretty excited. biggest fear is that screen ribbon... lol. That and missing something on this list

cleansocks wrote:hmmmm... yes I looked thru both threads. Ians a pretty cool dude I've seen some of his youtube videos. Thing is, even with the detailed pictures the guy doesn't really explain where the ribbon cable is plugged into you can see it on the SSD but then the other side of the ribbon is just flopping around... so how is it connected?

another guy said you don't even need an adapter just a 40 to 44 pin... i don't think that looked correct his setup looked kinda sketchy, tho he might have had a PATA drive so maybe i was missing something. In any case, it's good info but i was just hoping to get some clarity on the specific connections and where they were going.

I see pins and a SATA connector so I know there's at least two connections. I figured SATA goes straight to the drive, but the pins was what i was trying to get clarification on. Do i need a 40 / 44 pin? Do i need female IDE to female IDE? i tried looking up some pics of the mobo and there were needles sticking out so i am guessing it's female to female but i don't want to open mine for myself till I got my parts. It is these kinds of little things I get stuck on. That and the SATA from the original drive to the adapter? I don't understand why or how even I only see one SATA. it is these things I need clarity on

It's really easy: The MPC 4000 IDE cable to Adapter to SSD and plug in the molex power. I had it in my MPC 4000's but took them out, because it was just a waste of an SSD.

cleansocks wrote:
As for your point on SSD's, yes. They are much faster and while dealing with ak.sys will be annoying I really just need to record it into audacity and go from there most of the editing will be done on the 4000 anyway. In general it's just nicer to have internal storage and with how fast SSD's are i'm pretty excited. biggest fear is that screen ribbon... lol. That and missing something on this list

You're not going to benefit from the SSD speed? The only thing is less power, heat, and no noise. Other than that, no benefit. That's why I said get a USB Flash drive and call it a day. Spend the money on ADAT CARD OR 8 OUT Card.

CharlesRandolph wrote:

cleansocks wrote:hmmmm... yes I looked thru both threads. Ians a pretty cool dude I've seen some of his youtube videos. Thing is, even with the detailed pictures the guy doesn't really explain where the ribbon cable is plugged into you can see it on the SSD but then the other side of the ribbon is just flopping around... so how is it connected?

another guy said you don't even need an adapter just a 40 to 44 pin... i don't think that looked correct his setup looked kinda sketchy, tho he might have had a PATA drive so maybe i was missing something. In any case, it's good info but i was just hoping to get some clarity on the specific connections and where they were going.

I see pins and a SATA connector so I know there's at least two connections. I figured SATA goes straight to the drive, but the pins was what i was trying to get clarification on. Do i need a 40 / 44 pin? Do i need female IDE to female IDE? i tried looking up some pics of the mobo and there were needles sticking out so i am guessing it's female to female but i don't want to open mine for myself till I got my parts. It is these kinds of little things I get stuck on. That and the SATA from the original drive to the adapter? I don't understand why or how even I only see one SATA. it is these things I need clarity on

It's really easy: The MPC 4000 IDE cable to Adapter to SSD and plug in the molex power. I had it in my MPC 4000's but took them out, because it was just a waste of an SSD.

alrigghht sweet, though I'd disagree about it being a waste of an SSD

Quick thing, the MPC has an IDE cable in there? Sounds like a stupid question maybe there is one hooked up to the original drive it comes with but I'm just checking

CharlesRandolph wrote:

cleansocks wrote:
As for your point on SSD's, yes. They are much faster and while dealing with ak.sys will be annoying I really just need to record it into audacity and go from there most of the editing will be done on the 4000 anyway. In general it's just nicer to have internal storage and with how fast SSD's are i'm pretty excited. biggest fear is that screen ribbon... lol. That and missing something on this list

You're not going to benefit from the SSD speed? The only thing is less power, heat, and no noise. Other than that, no benefit.

Alright that may be the case but that alone is enough for me, as well as no spinning parts. More reliable. not having to worry about this again. Although your original suggestion was totally legit and i could just avoid all this with a fat USB drive in the front

Yeah i dont think the SSD drive will be faster.The aha cable will be connected to your old hard drive.

@Charles-Just loaded 512mb....... From Hard drive 7 minutes.From USB stick 13 minutes.I was a bit off with my estimation of how much ram i was actually using.Thought i was filling it up with all my long stems.lol.Anyway interesting exercise.

So basically nearly twice as long using the USB !!!