Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By JVC Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:50 pm
Hello,

Is it possible to import / export files via MO (magneto-optics) disc between Mac (or PC) to MPC-2000 classic? I am not sure my Mac (or PC) can read MO drive that are formatted with MPC-2000 classic. I believe the answer is yes, but I could not find answer on manual or this forum.

Thank you in advance.
By JVC Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:06 pm
Lampdog wrote:Fat, Yes.

Magnetic Optical, I've never tried, but you should try it anyway.

Did you try it yet?


I was thinking of trying those, since it is much cheaper than Flash option, and MO discs are not hard to get thru ebay.

By the way, I emailed and asked exactly the same question to mpc-stuff.com. this is the first reply:
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What is MO drive?

Please let us know if you need anything else or if we can be of any help to you.

Best Regards,

M****** M*******
MPCstuff.com
Instrumentalparts.com
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Then I sent the reply:
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It is magneto-optics drive. I am surprised that you haven't heard of it. It is even mentioned on MPC-2000's manual, Disc operation section. It did not gain popularity outside of Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magneto-optical_drive
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Then, I got this a little bit defensive reply from mpc-stuff:
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No one uses those drives - I have never actually seen one installed. Where do you expect to find/get one of these drives?

Please let us know if you need anything else or if we can be of any help to you.

Best Regards,

M****** M*******
MPCstuff.com
Instrumentalparts.com
-------------

Actually, used/refab SCSI MO drive is easy to get in ebay. Non-SCSI MO drives are hard to get items in US though (it is very popular in Japan) Only MO discs that are 540MB or smaller bytes can be used with MPC-2000 though.
User avatar
By Lampdog Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:25 pm
"What is MO?" hahaha.

Actually, no one I know uses those either, I've seen only 1 installed in a 2kxl a
long while back, I just saw it, didn't use it though.

They aren't popular anywhere that I know of.

But yet and still, try the computer FAT format, and use 8 character filenames. That MO might then
be useful on computer AND mpc.

I've successfully done that with floppies and media in MCD's before, same process.
By JVC Fri Dec 11, 2009 1:47 am
Thank you, Lampdog. MO is really good media, I used to use it with my Mac SE/30 (remember the old mac?) and I never had data loss with it, but Zip drive was horrible... either Zip drive would crap out or zip disc would generate error. So I don't really understand why many people still use Zip drive, which is no longer in production anyway, and every one who used Zip knows that it is as reliable as floppy discs. I've just checked ebay, and MO drive are bit more expensive than Zip drive, but its reliability is just amazing.
SCSI CF expansion is too expensive and hard to find, so I was looking for other option.
User avatar
By peterpiper Fri Dec 11, 2009 11:50 am
JVC wrote:
Then, I got this a little bit defensive reply from mpc-stuff:
-------------
No one uses those drives - I have never actually seen one installed. Where do you expect to find/get one of these drives?


:evil: Tell them PeterPiper use them since the 90s and never had any problem with this kind of media/drives.

And to aswer your question. Yes. No problem with a PC. I dont know about a mac thou.
I really dont know why this media isn't popular with samplers (MPCs). Everybody use the unstable zips :roll:
Otherwise its good cause prices stay low on ebay :)
What kind of drive do you use? I got two 230MB but I'm about to buy a 640MB drive.

peace
By MPCHunter Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:34 pm
I agree with Peter, MO disks have been some of the most reliable media that I've used. My MO drive and disks are still running strong after all these years.

Akai's S3200 and S3200XL had these drives available as an internal storage option, so in fact I have personally seen a few of these drives installed in Akai equipment over the years...
By JVC Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:50 pm
peterpiper wrote::evil: Tell them PeterPiper use them since the 90s and never had any problem with this kind of media/drives.

And to aswer your question. Yes. No problem with a PC. I dont know about a mac thou.
I really dont know why this media isn't popular with samplers (MPCs). Everybody use the unstable zips :roll:
Otherwise its good cause prices stay low on ebay :)
What kind of drive do you use? I got two 230MB but I'm about to buy a 640MB drive.
peace


I am pretty sure that MPC-stuff people check this forum :wink:
I've just got MPC-2000 classic and I haven't even used yet... (work, kids, etc.)
I am sure scsi MO 640MB drive works, but MO 640MB discs won't work with MPC-2000; 640MB MO discs use 1024KB per sector, and MPC2000 is not compatible with 1024k sector MO discs. Since MO drive is backward compatible, you can use 640MB MO drive with your MPC, but you will have to use 128MB, 230MB or 540MB MO discs with it.
User avatar
By peterpiper Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:57 pm
JVC wrote:
peterpiper wrote::evil: Tell them PeterPiper use them since the 90s and never had any problem with this kind of media/drives.

And to aswer your question. Yes. No problem with a PC. I dont know about a mac thou.
I really dont know why this media isn't popular with samplers (MPCs). Everybody use the unstable zips :roll:
Otherwise its good cause prices stay low on ebay :)
What kind of drive do you use? I got two 230MB but I'm about to buy a 640MB drive.
peace


I am pretty sure that MPC-stuff people check this forum :wink:
I've just got MPC-2000 classic and I haven't even used yet... (work, kids, etc.)
I am sure scsi MO 640MB drive works, but MO 640MB discs won't work with MPC-2000; 640MB MO discs use 1024KB per sector, and MPC2000 is not compatible with 1024k sector MO discs. Since MO drive is backward compatible, you can use 640MB MO drive with your MPC, but you will have to use 128MB, 230MB or 540MB MO discs with it.


Wow thank you for the info!
I never thought about the sector stuff. Just knew about the memory limitations for disks, CF cards or HDs.

peace