Problem with 2000xl mcd reader

New to the forum. Bought a used MPC 2000XL with mcd reader already connected. The problem is that it does not show on the screen after turning on. I"ve read that an operating system needs to be installed before the card reader can be mounted but I have no way of doing this as the old floppy disk reader was not included with the it. What are my options?

When you power on the mpc, does the light on the reader goes on/off?

Have you tried it with compact flash or a different format?

It depends on the reader you got if you need to update the software. Some work fine on older software version.

No there is no light at all

My operating system says.....Operating System:1.2 May. 24, 2004

Is it worth buying a different flash card reader or am I out of luck? Do i need to first buy a floppy disk reader to install the new os and then mount the compact flash reader? Could it just be a problem with the power cable for the reader or the IDE cable?

Mike

I think, the light should go on, even if the OS does not see the reader.
Open the mpc, check if the reader get's power. Maybe the connector is loosy.

You could also put the reader in to a computer. If it still has a IDE connector on the motherboard.

hatbox52 wrote:Could it just be a problem with the power cable for the reader or the IDE cable?

sounds more likely. open the machine up from the bottom and have a look.

im not too clear on your problem. does the machine turn on at all, can you do anything?
or is it just that you can't access the card reader via save/load?

it will show up as ATAPI.

Machine powers up fine, everything works, pads, scroll wheel etc. Atapi does not show up when I try to load/save. Ive opened up the bottom and have disconnected/reconnected the cables that are attached to the reader as well as to the mpc board, still nothing. The lights on the reader do not light up with/out cf card inserted. So frustrating.

Mike

I do not have the option of hooking up the reader to my computer as I am using a new mac mini so as far as I know there is no way to hook it up

Do you have a volt meter? To check if the cable gives power.
Have you tried a compact flash type card with not too big size?

My old tutorial: http://home.telfort.nl/~smeyer/mpc/
Also check: http://www.midicase.com/card_reader_guide.htm

I do not have a voltage meter unfortunately. I am using an Akai 1gb cf card which works perfectly fine in my mpc 1000.

welcome to the world of vintage samplers.

get a volt meter.

Sander I looked at yer tutorial and noticed that the power supply only needs one red one black, and on mine there are 4 like before you cut them off of yours, is this possibly the problem??

to me sounds like you are not turning on your sampler with the memory card inserted, most probably you have installed a non hot swappable memory card reader, so insert the cf card before turning on your mpc, then turn on the machine, if still not working make sure you are using a 1GB sandisk cf card because they are the most compatible, check the other post and the re you will find pictures.

hatbox52 wrote:My operating system says.....Operating System:1.2 May. 24, 2004

Is it worth buying a different flash card reader or am I out of luck? Do i need to first buy a floppy disk reader to install the new os and then mount the compact flash reader? Could it just be a problem with the power cable for the reader or the IDE cable?

Mike

you already have installed the latest os

hatbox52 wrote:Sander I looked at yer tutorial and noticed that the power supply only needs one red one black, and on mine there are 4 like before you cut them off of yours, is this possibly the problem??

you don't need to cut, the mpc will use the right voltage, I can see you are using the akai cf card, get the sandisk, 1GB, those akai are not compatible with your reader I also have one of those 1GB akai cf cards and works in my 2500 but not with my XL's, the best and more compatible are the 1GB sandisk cf cards.