Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
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By Kalou Wed Jun 15, 2022 8:53 am
Greetings from sunny (and warm!) London! I've got this IDE to CF drive (I'm sure we all know it) and I'd like to replace the HD in my 4000 with it. Only snag is I need some kind of bracket to attach to the front plate that holds it in place in the MPC.

Any ideas? I'd have thought it'd include that seeing as it's designed to go into computers in which it'll also need to stay in place! Alternatives welcome too :nod:
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By Telefunky Wed Jun 15, 2022 12:51 pm
Enter „hdd frame floppy“ in your preferred search engine and it will show a bunch of frames to bridge the gap.
As a side note: I wouldn‘t rely on CF cards as the main disk. There are many different types (internally) and quality ones are expensive compared to ssd drives.
Let alone reliability...
But it would be an option for a quick exchange media.

ps: all CF cards I used with an Emu ESI by scsi adapter failed at one point with sudden, but complete and final amnesia.
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By Kalou Thu Jun 16, 2022 2:06 pm
Thank you Telefunky, this is the kinda think I'm looking for.

I used to have a SSD installed years ago and also found that unreliable. As you mentioned the attractive part of this solution is that the CF card is easily removable and I can back up without having to go through an emulated aksys (I know from experience how unreliable the drives can be so want to keep it backed up).

I guess another positive is not needing to jerry rig it with the SCSI. The CF drive is IDE so it's a direct switch with the original HD.
By Uncle Dieppe Sun Jun 26, 2022 7:56 am
Or don’t bother with the bracket and just get a usb card adapter reader that accepts CF, or usb thumb drive


I have one of those and just plug it in to the front USB port,it has different types of cards in it so can choose whatever media type I want it had /micro SD/CF etc

I find this easier and more convenient for loading/exporting into the 4K and also far easier for making backups to the computer as well

I haven’t used any fixed drives in my 4K for years,last time the HD failed I couldn’t be arsed with fixed internal drives again,it’s too much hassle opening the unit up to refit another and having to keep making backups of all the data over the time using one it was mundane,

Pop in a thumb drive on the front port,create your beats,save,eject drive,slot into to computer,backup your files at the end of the session Job done,I’ve done this daily for 10 years and never lost any data

Trouble is with relying on HD/SSD most people don’t bother with making backups until it’s starting to fail,then it’s a hassle and stress to backup 100s Gb of data and chances are you gonna lose valuable shit in the process…


USB thumb drive all the way for me
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By Kalou Sun Jun 26, 2022 9:24 pm
Word, I think that's the route I'll go this time. The one thing putting me off is the USB is 1.0, which I think is a slower speed than IDE. It's probably not that big a difference though, and yes it's a right faff to be opening up the machine to backup etc. That's why I was into the CF idea. Natively IDE, and removable. But even that retrofit does seem worth the time/expense when I have a micro SD that works fine already.

Appreciate your two cents.