CF card reader questions

I just copped me a CF card reader for my MPC3K, thanks to JD at SCSI for samplers. Now my issue is with swapping MPC files back and fourth from my MPC to my Mac. my mac recognizes the CF card but only the first partition. My MPC forced me to create 26 partitions of 30 MB each, so I can only see the first one. Is there any way around this?

You are very welcome for the CF-CARD card reader and thank you for your business!

Sorry but no, there isn't. What I always suggest to people is that they use the first partition as a "staging" area. In this scenario, you keep the first partition empty normally and only use it to hold the files you want to move back and forth. For instance, if you copy a bunch of snd files to the first partition using the computer, then you can load those into the MPC memory, create programs with them and then save them out to other partitions. After you have done this, you can delete them from the first partition, leaving it available for this type of use the next time you have files to move. And conversely, if you have programs and snd files you want to archive on your computer, you would load them into the MPC memory, then save them to the first partition. Then when you put the card into your computer's USB card reader, you can copy them from the first partition and save them to your computer hard drive.

Is it inconvenient? Yes, but unfortunately, that is how it goes. There is a solution - buy the Mansell Labs Vailixi 3.5 operating system for your MPC3000. It has hybrid partitions and those can all be read and written on a computer. But as long as you stick with the Akai os, you will be stuck only accessing the first partition.

scsiforsamplers.com wrote:There is a solution - buy the Mansell Labs Vailixi 3.5 operating system for your MPC3000. It has hybrid partitions and those can all be read and written on a computer. But as long as you stick with the Akai os, you will be stuck only accessing the first partition.

Upgrade now and you can be looking @ this:

Hay, zeusmajor, long time - how you doing?

Wow, oh well thanks for the info. Well it looks like the Vailixi upgrade will be next on the list.

scsiforsamplers.com wrote:What I always suggest to people is that they use the first partition as a "staging" area.

I would recommend going one step beyond this and get a separate card just for transfers. Some versions of windows have a tendency to tamper with the partition table in near-recognized formats (the mpc3000 format is similar to DOS3.x). I wouldn't risk losing all that data on the other partitions simply because of unpredictable windows behavior. Plus, cards are pretty cheap and that second (or third) card buys a lot of peace of mind.

I'm sorry, mpc3000, but I'll have to disagree with your there. I have been selling card readers since 2005 and have sold hundreds of them, all the different brands and models that work with samplers. In that time, I've never had anyone tell me of losing any data by accessing their CF card in their computer, either PC or Mac. I won't say 100% that it cannot happen but I'm sure I would have heard about that being a problem if such a problem existed and I most definitely have not. Your data will be just fine and that statement is backed up by years of selling card readers to people who transfer their files back and forth on a daily basis without any problems at all. Heck, that is one of the main selling points for a card reader drive, the ability to safely move files back and forth with a computer.

scsiforsamplers.com wrote:I'm sorry, mpc3000, but I'll have to disagree with your there. I have been selling card readers since 2005

Noob. :) Apparently you have never put an Akai formatted disk in Win9x systems. I know that's a long way back but I'm a really old fart.

http://mpc3000.com/NoVolTrack.htm
and
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=150582

Oh, you are speaking of Windows 98. Okay, maybe that version did like to mess with Akai-formatted media. But let's agree on this - unless someone is using that ancient operating system, they have nothing to fear from putting their Akai-formatted CF cards into a USB card reader and moving files back and forth, on either a Windows or Mac system.

I'm not sure that's exclusive to only Windows 98.

On topic though, I don't agree with your view. I sometimes use MPC-editor to format a zip disk for transfering data from my XP machine to my MPC60, dragging&dropping files within windows explorer. Works fine, but usually after 2 or 3 transfers the MPC cannot read the disk any more. After formatting, it works again.

Now I have no idea if this is down to the way MPC-editor formats the disk or Windows itself, but personally I'd never, ever use the same card/disks for transfering as I use for longer-term storage. But that's me.

[quote="scsiforsamplers.com"]unless someone is using that ancient operating system[/quote]

That "ancient" OS, which includes 98SE and ME, was sold through December 31, 2003, which makes it "less ancient" than many MPC's. In fact, the MPC60 and MPC3000 both pre-date Win95.


Windows life cycle:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default.mspx

MPC release dates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Production_Center

Well I wouldn't worry about windows so much, I'm using a Mac. I have seen Mac OSX tamper with my .pgm files though...
(My bad, sounds kinda selfish, I know windows users are of concern as well.)