By freezerman
Fri Dec 29, 2023 5:20 pm
Hi guys, I've been a away from the forum for a while now, but I am back willing to share some findings and looking for help. Maybe the thread will also help others in the future.
So, after 20 years or so the USB port (front side) of my MPC4000 is dead, USB external HD and flash drives are not recognised anymore, and all obvious fixes (clean the port, add some connection fluid, etc.) didn't work.
So I opened the unit, and I realize I have 2 possible solutions here:
1) use the IDE/SATA HD slot to connect an IDE/SATA compatible device (ideally a CF reader since I do prefer removable media. In this case I could put it either in the 5.25 CD/DVD bay, or in the 3.5 HD bay.
2) use the available USB connector on the mother board to connect any USB1 compliant device (including a replacement USB port, like the ones we had at the front or back of our old Windows98 PCs if anyone can relate to this).
Solution 1) is tricky. I could find and buy a suitable IDE/SATA CF reader (from Startech). Finding an IDE flat data harness was a bit difficult, but I could source one from a friend 'useless cables' drawer.
Here is the CF reader product I bought:
It will require some tinkering to secure it inside the 3.5 bay, but no big deal.
The problem is that the CF reader needs a power supply. For which a 'standard' molex connector is provided. Fact is that the MPC service manual says that the power supply (for the IDE/SATA HD) is provided by the P7/P8 connectors that are shown here (these white things with the 4 metal pins pointing up.
And this is not your standard Molex connector (as shown here in my hands):
So for now I am left with everything, except a power source for the CF reader. Since I have no idea how the non-standard P7/P8 power connector is calledI can't even search the internet for a suitable source.
I could find a few vendors on Ebay that seem to have the dreaded power cable on offer (e.g. here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/144651274058, but buying from the US is a major hassle, takes ages, and you get stunned by custom taxes here in the EU. I would very much like to source this from within the EU if possible.
any help in this domain would be so immensely appreciated.
Now about solution 2) this should be even simpler. I could buy any 'old' USB bay, and connect it to the MPC with the single USB connector directly to the USB slot on the MPC4000 motherboard.
Here is the USB out from the soldered USB (and headphones) board of the MPC.
And this is where the original USB Board was connected to the MPC4000 motherboard.
Fact is that this connector seems to be completely unknown by every professional I asked (i spent my afternoon in the Parisian Montgallet area where you can buy any part for any PC old and new, showing the picture to service technicians of all ages, and they were all shaking their heads). So here are a few pictures for anyone able to recognise the standard. It is quite small (9mm width).
If I could find any solution to interface this with the typical USB 2 interface I could just buy/install any CF reader (with maybe even a USB port or two included). Like this one.
So that is the end of this post. Thank you for reading this far.
What else can I say? The MPC4000 is just 'the' ultimate MPC. to me. It has a few quirks, but its sounds just great and has everything a sample-based musician needs. I will be very sad if I can't find a solution to get it back to work, as for now with this USB (and no HD situation) I can't save anything I do, and that is a major problem.
Also good to see that this forum is still alive. The amazing amount of wisdom and knowledge stored in here is just amazing.
So, after 20 years or so the USB port (front side) of my MPC4000 is dead, USB external HD and flash drives are not recognised anymore, and all obvious fixes (clean the port, add some connection fluid, etc.) didn't work.
So I opened the unit, and I realize I have 2 possible solutions here:
1) use the IDE/SATA HD slot to connect an IDE/SATA compatible device (ideally a CF reader since I do prefer removable media. In this case I could put it either in the 5.25 CD/DVD bay, or in the 3.5 HD bay.
2) use the available USB connector on the mother board to connect any USB1 compliant device (including a replacement USB port, like the ones we had at the front or back of our old Windows98 PCs if anyone can relate to this).
Solution 1) is tricky. I could find and buy a suitable IDE/SATA CF reader (from Startech). Finding an IDE flat data harness was a bit difficult, but I could source one from a friend 'useless cables' drawer.
Here is the CF reader product I bought:
It will require some tinkering to secure it inside the 3.5 bay, but no big deal.
The problem is that the CF reader needs a power supply. For which a 'standard' molex connector is provided. Fact is that the MPC service manual says that the power supply (for the IDE/SATA HD) is provided by the P7/P8 connectors that are shown here (these white things with the 4 metal pins pointing up.
And this is not your standard Molex connector (as shown here in my hands):
So for now I am left with everything, except a power source for the CF reader. Since I have no idea how the non-standard P7/P8 power connector is calledI can't even search the internet for a suitable source.
I could find a few vendors on Ebay that seem to have the dreaded power cable on offer (e.g. here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/144651274058, but buying from the US is a major hassle, takes ages, and you get stunned by custom taxes here in the EU. I would very much like to source this from within the EU if possible.
any help in this domain would be so immensely appreciated.
Now about solution 2) this should be even simpler. I could buy any 'old' USB bay, and connect it to the MPC with the single USB connector directly to the USB slot on the MPC4000 motherboard.
Here is the USB out from the soldered USB (and headphones) board of the MPC.
And this is where the original USB Board was connected to the MPC4000 motherboard.
Fact is that this connector seems to be completely unknown by every professional I asked (i spent my afternoon in the Parisian Montgallet area where you can buy any part for any PC old and new, showing the picture to service technicians of all ages, and they were all shaking their heads). So here are a few pictures for anyone able to recognise the standard. It is quite small (9mm width).
If I could find any solution to interface this with the typical USB 2 interface I could just buy/install any CF reader (with maybe even a USB port or two included). Like this one.
So that is the end of this post. Thank you for reading this far.
What else can I say? The MPC4000 is just 'the' ultimate MPC. to me. It has a few quirks, but its sounds just great and has everything a sample-based musician needs. I will be very sad if I can't find a solution to get it back to work, as for now with this USB (and no HD situation) I can't save anything I do, and that is a major problem.
Also good to see that this forum is still alive. The amazing amount of wisdom and knowledge stored in here is just amazing.
PiR
aka freezerman, aka dirtysampling
http://dirtysampling.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/dirtysampling
MPC1000(JJ) MPC2000xl MPC4000
aka freezerman, aka dirtysampling
http://dirtysampling.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/dirtysampling
MPC1000(JJ) MPC2000xl MPC4000