Pad Issues

I just bought a used MPC500 and I'm a little bit confused. The first thing I did was try out recording samples and playing them back because I couldn't figure out how to load existing ones, and that worked perfectly. Next I tried to load existing samples, both already on the card and ones from my computer, but after I assigned one to a pad (in the proper deck, as well) the pad wouldn't make sound. I then upgraded to 1.31 (it was 1.11) and now I have the same issue with recorded samples. To try to isolate the problem, I turned off Pad-to-Sampler, and my MIDI interface wasn't registering any output. Meanwhile, it does register output when I press keys on the keyboard attatched to the MIDI in of my MPC.

Long story short, I know that the MIDI connects are all stable, but for some reason the pads aren't sending any signals. (I know that the pads work because I can navigate modes with them.) Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the problem might be?

It could really be a whole range of things... 1st thing is dive into the manual head 1st...also since your using midi check your settings and make sure the pads are set to on...go under the midi function to do this...

I don't want you guys to think that I'm relying on this forum first. I did read thee manual thoroughly, in fact before I even purchased the unit. I've also been searching since then for information on this issue. The reason I'm asking here is because the manual did not answer my question. At least not satisfactorily. I'm trying to determine if there's something I'm doing wrong or if I just got ripped off and bought a defective sequencer, and the manual can't answer that.

As for the pads being turned on, are you referring to Pad-To-Sampler being set to on? If so, the answer is yes, and then I turned it off in order to check if the pads were producing any output at all.

you sure you have the program you set up selected in the track view?

Well I didn't set up a program at all, since I'm not planning on using the sampler. I'm just trying to play the pads to the MIDI out, but for some reason it's not going. (Pad-to sampler is off, and soft thru from my keyboard works fine, so all the connections are definitely working.) I shouldn't need a program, should I?

By the way, the metronome also sounds properly, so I know that my audio outs are configured properly.