MPC2000XL Compact Flash Card Readers - NEW, NOW ON EBAY

And she works!! I found a bunch of 64 mb cf cards on clearance ($1/ea.) so I bought them out (they had 7 left). Slapped the reader in, powered up the mp, sampled a sound and saved it. Everythings good!!
Word, thanks for lookin out SMC. I wonder why those other cards didnt work..... Anyways, let me know when youve got the hot swappable drives good to go, I want to be first on the list, lol!!

Keep in mind that the Compact Flash Card itself is a flash storage device WITH a built in interface.

Even though they are all called Compact Flash, that refers to the 'connection' of the card itself,
not necessarily the internal 'interface' of the card.

So there are MANY different variations of the 'interface' within a Compact Flash Card,
and that is what you need to look at to determine compatibility.

HERE IS WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

CF Spec Ver 2.0 and IDE/ATA-33, VCC/DMA
CF-I and CF-II, as well as IBM Micro-Driver with CF-II Interface

Some CF Cards work, some don't. I cannot guarantee which particular card will,
however, if you stick to the specs above, most will be fine.

By the way.....

The Hot-Swappable version is in prototype manufacturing. Expensive as #^LL.....

I can't wait to have them ready, but it will take some time.
Once I recieve the original prototype based on my prints and specifications,
I will have to thuroughly test, and make any necessary changes/revisions.

I am also working on a method to make it compatible with any machine running a floppy or zip.
This is a bit more difficult, but is showing some promise in initial testing. I just need to test it with the prototype.

As it stands, I am held up by them......

In the meantime, I am working on a modification for the Control 24 that allows the installation of Penny & Giles faders.
They are much better than the crap ALPS faders that are in it stock.

This will also allow modification of the 002 Surface, and the Command 8.

If anyone is interested I will have this project completed within a month, and it is a Do-It-Yourself install.


If anyone is interested, the faders will be available soon.

If you don't know anything about motorized faders,
I can tell you that going from the cheap ALPS faders to Penny & Giles will be a night and day difference.

Basically like going from a Behringer to a SSL.

Of course the SOUND will remain unchanged, as the audio does not pass through the fader,
however, the touch sensitivity, feel, segmentation, and accuracy of the fader is billions of times better.

This will allow fully PROFESSIONAL automation, as upposed to run of the mill, barely adequate, chopy, sloppy automation.

If you do pro work, and understand the importance of automation quality, then this is a good mod to consider.

Cost for 8 Faders will be something like $440-520 ($55-65 per fader)

A pretty expensive mod for ME, considering I'm doing both my Control 24's, $2640 at $55 each,
but their automation capabilities and accuracy/transparency will be up there with Pro Control's, ICON's, SSL's and the like....

SMC wrote:Aaight Jamestown, keep me posted.

Ummm... as far as Chine goes, I'll try to find out tomorrow.

Also, I am not responsible for any customs charges that may apply.
You might want to look into that as it can be quite the chunk of change.

I regularly receive packages from the states, it's no big deal. Things usually arrive within 5-7 days and I don't pay customs fees as long as the package isn't insured.

SMC wrote:
I am also working on a method to make it compatible with any machine running a floppy or zip.
This is a bit more difficult, but is showing some promise in initial testing. I just need to test it with the prototype.

this would be great....how much would these be?

SMC wrote:

I am also working on a method to make it compatible with any machine running a floppy or zip.
This is a bit more difficult, but is showing some promise in initial testing. I just need to test it with the prototype.


this would be great....how much would these be?

This would be a great product! Hope it turns out good

Cost would probably be $80.

It's just a matter of circuit board routing, a couple extra IC chips, and using both a 40 pin header and a 36 pin header on the board to accept either connection. And a crazy serial/parrallel routing procedure to allow either connection without 'terminating' the other.

Trust me, I'm stoked about it. I've got a bunch of equipment which could utilize it. Currently the problem with the non-hotswap working with many devices using Zip or Floppy is that they use the standard 36 pin connection and don't have a 40 pin header like the 2K does. So the card reader has to be modified to utilize a 36 pin connection. Due to the routing of these readers (All readers), it is a workaround that some devices will use but others won't, and even some that do act kinda finiky, mostly due to the lack of the onboard controller. I have designed the controller circuit, but it isn't able to be integrated efficiently with the current board, hence my developement of the new one, which does work, now I just have to do some extensive testing, and make the modification for allowing the use of both headers.

I've got it working on a modified circuitboard design right now, but that board is different than the hot-swap one in design. once I recieve the hot-swap prototypes (Which WORK!) then I will be able to test one with the modifications for floppy/zip 36 pin IDE applications and if it flies, then the board will be revised to include those design elements and we'll be off and running. Of course this still will not work as a SCSI replacement, and to be hones, the cost of making it work that way would double the cost, so I don't intend to go for it. It's a shame, cause the 2000 would benefit, although it would still require modification/soldering I think. To be honest I'm not that familiar with the 2000. If anyone has pictures of the internal connections on both the drives and the logic board, I could have a better idea of feasibility.

Anyway, as usuall I will keep the progress posted, but it's gonna be kinda slow. I've got another project which kinda just took presidence, and really busy with the studios and house and all.

any word on shipping to china?

SMC wrote:The card has to be able to convert the Compact Flash card format to an IDE connector in a specific mode. Otherwise it will not work, because these machines aren't truly IDE, they are ATAPI.

What specific format is this?

DMA, (Direct Memory Access) though that is not the only method.

There are multiple ways to jumper the circuitry to enable compatibility.

yo so your ebay auction is sold out...where can i cop one of these card readers now?

check again

aight good lookin, i copped the last one on that auction i guess....haha.

and thanks for all your work man, puttin up with everyone's questions and all, you kno we all appreciate it.

hope this works, heard no ones had any major problems. i'll let you know when it arrives

just charlie wrote:any word on shipping to china?

why would you buy one from here when you live in china... they are all made there. I ordered a CF drive and including shipping it costed under 3 dollars. including shipping...

the problem is that there is no mount or case so I had to make a temp mod... however I am tempted to grab one of those nice metal ones you guys got up on ebay...


any chance you could mark the value of the item at like 1 dollar so customs wont charge 40?

mr_debauch wrote:

just charlie wrote:any word on shipping to china?

why would you buy one from here when you live in china... they are all made there. I ordered a CF drive and including shipping it costed under 3 dollars. including shipping...

the problem is that there is no mount or case so I had to make a temp mod... however I am tempted to grab one of those nice metal ones you guys got up on ebay...


any chance you could mark the value of the item at like 1 dollar so customs wont charge 40?

Mostly because I just want to save myself the hassle of finding these pieces and knowing that they work together. Plus the instructions and so forth. It's largely just a matter of convenience, I could probably find this stuff here (and I speak Chinese so that isn't an issue). If someone can provide clear photos of all this stuff I can try to find it here and post info on the price and everything. I don't mean to undercut the business of the person who made this thread, I have zero interest in making money off this.