[HELP] Got MPC3000 LE OFF eBay - Floppy Drive Dead, :(

Hi to all MPC gurus,

just recieved MPC3000 LE today that i got off eBay for 1000 + euros
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220651596117&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_8382wt_1139


1) Floppy Drive :
trying to read any floppy or format the new one - the drive makes wierd noises and doesnt format
or read the disks, gives errors that there is no disk or that it needs to format it -
than it just
spins trying to format for ages making incredibly irregular noises ending in error --- i guess its dead

2) Screen :
The screen is very dimmed , need a table lamp to reed it

So what am i to do now,
shall i contact the seller as he advertised it being in "great condition", or should i
just exept the facts and start looking for floppy drive and backlight replacements?

Am i sreewed for 1000 + euros or is it a OK price for MPC 3000LE ?


thanks in advance for any advice

peace
jazz

well , I got mine in perfect condition, no scratches , just like new, but with a dimmed screen for 1500 euros.
I replaced the backup light with a new one from http://www.midi-rakete.de/eng/preise.htm
and I ordered the Foil Type 1.

I do not know to tell you about your floppy drive, but a good idea (upgrade)
is to purchase an SCSI Iomega Zip Drive (100 or 250 mb) or a CF-CARD SCSI Card Drive
for more loading samples.

Hey Jazz, welcome to the club. LOL I just got my Le on Monday. I paid $1000 for it. It just had sort of a dim screen.
I bought this today http://cgi.ebay.com/REPLACEMENT-EL-BACK ... 336069ff23 it requires no soldering. I checked the feedback out, and it seems legit. Hurry, there seems to only be one left though.
I hear that 3000 floppy drives are expensive. You might want to check out scsiforsamplers for a $50 zip kit, and just buy the drive off of ebay for like $3.

hillprop97 wrote:Hey Jazz, welcome to the club. LOL I just got my Le on Monday. I paid $1000 for it. It just had sort of a dim screen.
I bought this today http://cgi.ebay.com/REPLACEMENT-EL-BACK ... 336069ff23 it requires no soldering. I checked the feedback out, and it seems legit. Hurry, there seems to only be one left though.
I hear that 3000 floppy drives are expensive. You might want to check out scsiforsamplers for a $50 zip kit, and just buy the drive off of ebay for like $3.

thanks for reply and a warm welcome Hillpop97
, i've just email the backlight guys about avaliability.

what about a da drive for $3 , where did u see it that cheap?
( i am in France ...just in case ...)

delisious wrote:well , I got mine in perfect condition, no scratches , just like new, but with a dimmed screen for 1500 euros.
I replaced the backup light with a new one from http://www.midi-rakete.de/eng/preise.htm
and I ordered the Foil Type 1.

I do not know to tell you about your floppy drive, but a good idea (upgrade)
is to purchase an SCSI Iomega Zip Drive (100 or 250 mb) or a CF-CARD SCSI Card Drive
for more loading samples.

Thanks for your reply Delisious
so u think 1000 euros for a MPC3000LE is not to much - i am happy to hear that!

Actually , i've just managed to format a fresh HD floppy on the MPC3000LE ...so it seems to work for some floppies...
maybe the floppy drive not completely dead yet --- is there a way i could clean or service the floppy drive...?

Maybe i should somehow open the MPC and clean it completely including the pad sensors and the rest to get it
in total shape --- is it a smart idea to do to an old mashine?

Jazz, you might want to pm scsiforsamplers first, just to find out what internal zip drives are compatible with the 3000. Then get it from Ebay. Internal zip drives are cheaper than the external ones. However, you could always get an iomega external zip drive for around $15 on Ebay.

Well, tested the MPC today , sampled some single 1 shot drum sounds,
made some groove -- all worked fine , the pads and all buttons seem to be OK...

but couldn't save the new program & samples to a new HDD floppy =
getting this ERROR FF04 ,
no matter if i insert the new fresh floppy disk in - MPC would not format it...

Does that means the drive is dead ?





What is the fastest way to find a compatible Floppy Drive ---- ( would maybe upgrade to a Compact Flashcard reader later)
where do i find a cheap FLoppy disk replacement in Europe , getting it from US would take to long and cost to much for shipping ....

Idea: I 've got a working S950 , what if would take the Floppy Drive out of S950 just to test if it works in MPC3000LE ,
could this work?

Do you guys happened to have one spare Floppy disk for sale maybe?

thanks in advance for any help

peace
jazz

hillprop97 wrote:Jazz, you might want to pm scsiforsamplers first, just to find out what internal zip drives are compatible with the 3000. Then get it from Ebay. Internal zip drives are cheaper than the external ones. However, you could always get an iomega external zip drive for around $15 on Ebay.

Hillprop97 , thanks - i will try to email him.

Do you think getting Zip drive a better idea than a CF card reader?

What's the max size in MB's for a Zip or CF Card that a MPC3000 able to read ?

sorry for my ignorance ... , but , aren't spare Zip 100MB or 250MB disks becoming more an more rare...
or are they still in production?

peace

jazz

jazzroom wrote:

hillprop97 wrote:Jazz, you might want to pm scsiforsamplers first, just to find out what internal zip drives are compatible with the 3000. Then get it from Ebay. Internal zip drives are cheaper than the external ones. However, you could always get an iomega external zip drive for around $15 on Ebay.

Hillprop97 , thanks - i will try to email him.

Do you think getting Zip drive a better idea than a CF card reader?

What's the max size in MB's for a Zip or CF Card that a MPC3000 able to read ?

sorry for my ignorance ... , but , aren't spare Zip 100MB or 250MB disks becoming more an more rare...
or are they still in production?

peace

jazz

Maximum is 1 GB.

CF Cards are easier to source, and (in my experience) more reliable than ZIP disks. They also load quicker and are available in sizes up to 1GB.

Pretty sure ZIPs are out of production now, but I'm not sure, after losing about 4 years worth of beats I had saved on ZIP I wouldnt touch them again.

Yeah, Arks is right about zips. They have a tendency to go bad over time. I lost a few good beats myself. I just thought you might want to get a scsi zip drive for like $15 until you get the cash for a card reader(which will be around $130). The cardreader is definitely the way to go, but they still sell zip disks and drives on Ebay for really cheap.

hillprop97 wrote:Yeah, Arks is right about zips. They have a tendency to go bad over time. I lost a few good beats myself. I just thought you might want to get a scsi zip drive for like $15 until you get the cash for a card reader(which will be around $130). The cardreader is definitely the way to go, but they still sell zip disks and drives on Ebay for really cheap.

so it's better to not buy a new Floppy drive at all than
and just get the CF internal reader
- is CF cards easier to exchange
files between Mac/PC and MPC3000 than or will computer
not read / write them due to a different Akai format ?

For now should I than just get any external scsi zip drive with couple of zip
disks just for a temporary solution?
do I have to specifically look for a 100MB version
of Zipdrive of any ?

jazzroom wrote:

I get an error on the 60 [ff10] like this and it is just with disks that won't work. It happened with new hd disks, older ones work as well as dd ones