Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
By qiuhaf7qyh Mon Feb 07, 2011 8:28 pm
please someone help me-
today for the first time ever mpc 500 started crashing while i was recording sequences -- first it would freeze while record and play were enabled and then would have to be restarted. restart would bring it to a saved point but not the most recently saved project. over the course of the day ive tried redoing what i was trying to record and basically have realized that even without a "freeze" mpc is ignoring my attempts to save. It'll save "files saved" and then if i try switching it off and on nothing is actually saved. it was also doing weird shit like changing measures of sequences to 5/4 for no reason. i have a show in like 2 days that i need to be able to prepare for, please help !!!

also: cf card is 4 gig. i'm waiting on my ram upgrade right now it's just the shitty one it comes with. could that be the problem, that im running low on RAM?
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By Ill-Green Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:27 pm
:D Hey! You broke a cherry! Welcome to the club kid :mrgreen:

On a last note you should save enitre project at all times and everytime you do something new and when you're done recording some samples, save those too as all samples. I hate disappearing samples, but since I've been saving samples seperate from entire project things seem to be alright.
By qiuhaf7qyh Mon Feb 07, 2011 10:05 pm
hey thanks for the response-

i was saving entire project, after the first freeze episode i saved entire project every time i made a change and now the problem seems to be that it literally ignores my save command. it says "FILES SAVED" and yet when mpc restarts the sequence is not even there. this has happened like 4 times . i tried saving it to new project files. do you think saving the sequence separately might work?
By qiuhaf7qyh Thu Feb 10, 2011 5:30 pm
after reading most of the posts on here i could find that dealt with similar problems seems like this is probably an OS issue.

it seems like no matter how many new projects i make the closest i can get to a auto-loading project that includes all my sequences is to have it auto load some of the sequences but there are still a few sequences that i always have to load manually.

i noticed it always tends to be the same sequences (and they happen to be the ones i was working on the first day that i encountered freezing errors) which makes me think something in the sequence files are corrupted as a result of the freezing. i tried changing the names of the sequence files on my computer , loading those sequences and then saving project file and that doesn't work either. i've also tried saving entire to autoload and saving entire to internal. (neither worked)

in addition i tried saving allsongs/sequences to internal and to a folder but that also won't properly load the problem sequences.

Finally i have noticed in a couple of instances that samples which previously had been assigned to pads mysteriously disappeared.

any clues how to work around this buggy shit? i dont care if it happens once in a while, but the idea of never being able to save my work the way i want to ever again is really frustrating. im also posting this to the bug list discussion.
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By BGREEN Fri Feb 11, 2011 4:38 am
Have you tried saving entire memory to folder, then loading LOAD: Folder - Clear memory: yes ?

Be sure to save each beat to its own folder.

Also..

Are you running the current OS 1.31?
By qiuhaf7qyh Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:25 pm
hey yes i have latest OS. im not sure i understand you perfectly. when i select save entire mem i have 2 options, to save it to autoload or to a project file. are you saying i should save each sequence to its own folder inside a larger folder and then load that larger folder?

That is, if i want to load sequence 1-5 i'd have a folder A , inside that would be folder 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 each containing its own sequences?
it was so much simpler when save entire mem to project would just work
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By Ill-Green Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:56 pm
qiuhaf7qyh wrote:meanwhile 1st time i loaded entire project this morning it was as it was yesterday, second time half the sequences failed to load at all. god dammit i am starting to hate my mpc.

I know, sometimes I get disappearing samples too or missing notes in the sequencer. You have to save all the time every time you do something new on the 500. Its a bastard, but thats the solution and thats why only the strong survive when learning the monkey fist.
By qiuhaf7qyh Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:07 pm
i dont know how many times ive saved in the last week. hundreds. success rate is like 5%. i swear to god if i could make a performance ready project file i wouldnt touch the **** thing ever again but it just refuses to let me. every time its the same. load project file. missing sequences. missing effects. have to load everything manually. what should be happening automatically i have to spend 10 minutes doing myself and changing shit between songs. i think this machine is just dead. will they replace it? akai havent even answered any emails yet. i really think by now i am good enough with the mpc , im familiar with the manual and how everything SHOULD work. and DID work until this week in fact. and it just isnt anymore.
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By BGREEN Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:55 am
I meant..

Save: Entire Memory

New Folder..

You will have to back out and re-enter the folder after creating it, or it will not save in the folder, and sequences and samples will be overwritten.

Then..

Load: Folder

Which will load all of the files in the folder with one swoop.
By qiuhaf7qyh Sat Feb 12, 2011 4:09 pm
well i found my warranty but now the question is since i bought it on ebay i dont have a proof of purchase. (it was brand new in the sealed box which does have serial # etc) HOWEVER the guy i bought it from isnt a registered ebay user anymore. am i screwed??

**i bought it in august
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By MoreBuck$ Sat Feb 12, 2011 4:12 pm
As long as you kept the packet the Sausages came in, it shouldn't be a problem.
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By MoreBuck$ Sat Feb 12, 2011 4:14 pm
Your statutory right to quality

One of your statutory rights is that any item you buy from a retailer or manufacturer must be of satisfactory quality. However if you buy from an individual in the context of a private sale, this statutory right does not apply and you will have no legal redress if the item is unsatisfactory. This is a common cause of complaint. E bay offer lots of information on how to shop safely on their site including checking the seller’s feedback ratings, whether the item is covered by PayPal Buyer Protection, and what returns policy is offered. See: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/safetycentre/buying_safely.html In the event that you have received a misdescribed, poor quality or faulty product, or if the item was never sent, report the matter to e-bay who will then take steps to ban that seller from any further trading.

Do remember however that not all transactions from these sites are with private sellers. Many are established businesses (e-tailers), and any dealings with them will be subject to your full statutory rights as well as a 7 day cooling off period under the Distance Selling Regs

Regardless of whether you buy the item from a commercial trader or a private seller, it must still conform to the description given in any sales literature.