usb to scsi

hi everybody

just got an mpc2000xl! This seems a very good place to be, with lots of fellow mpc power user.
I sold my mpc1000 three years ago in order to fund a machinedrum but now i was lusting for an mpc again, decided to go with the 2000xl since I found a very good deal for a 2kXL with 8 outs. wanna go away from computer screen for basic sequencing/songwriting like my old times where I had no computer at all.
I was wondering if anyone tried with success some usb/scsi converters to hook up scsi HDD or scsi CD Drives with the computer... and if there are any problems transferring files via scsi/usb with a win7 64 bit machine... tried with search function but got no luck.

I'll be getting a scsi cd drive "for free" with the mpc but I'm seriously considering a card reader for CF cards. Addonics looks like to one to get since it costs much less that the one offered by mpc-stuff.com, just have to check if the ship to switzerland -but I'm not sure I will find the needed cables somewhere here, while mpc-stuff sells the cables as well.

thanks a lot!

I have avsolutely no experience with USB scsi controllers... I have never even seen one before..

but you could get a pci scsi controller for like 5-10 bucks.. pop it in your pci slot and set up the drivers..


also, you got the addonics.. also I created a thread in the xl section relating to the $1.50 no frills ide cf readers if you are interested... those require a bit of work though.

real low cheap..

thanks mr debauch

an example of a usb scsi adapter is this
http://www.pacificgeek.com/product.asp?id=35474

i saw something similar in a local shop

yes in the meantime i read your post about real low cheap CF card -looks like a very good buy!

Well you know what? I think the usb scsi thing might work for your application... like just connecting HDDs, or what have you... that is a great idea. I dont know if it will support the same type of scsi device used on the mpcs however if the usb 1.1 is any indication of the device's era... it very well might be fine.

I think if the price is affordable for the one you saw at the shop.. why not see if you can score it for cheap.

yes the cheap cf thread I made.. keep in mind, it is strictly aimed at people with a budget... it isn't the choice for looks..

No matter how you want to use it, using SCSI device is not cost effective. Installing a IDE CF reader to your MPC-2000XL would be the best option. The IDE CF reader can be bought as low as a few bucks, but I recommend CF reader with a metal chassis casing, so that you can mount in your XL easily and neatly.
Do not buy a swappable ATAPI/IDE CF reader, unless it explicitly says 2000XL compatible. (MPC-2000XL compatible ATAPI CF reader is available on ebay, but it is expensive.)
Cheap CF cards don't work with XL. I recommend Sandisk CF cards only. Sandisk 2GB CF cards do work, which usually can be found cheaper than used Sandisk brand 1GB CF card. Maximum partition you can create with IDE (non-swappable) CF reader is 1GB.
With a IDE CF reader, you must use 2000XL OS version 1.2.
You can transfer data between PC and XL with CF card easily.
In my opinion, using non-swappable CF reader is much, much better option dealing with any SCSI peripheral.

yeah cf is the #1 option when it comes to ease of use, cost, and longevity IMO...

but the usb scsi thing might come in handy for making use of the scsi device (im assuming it's a hard drive) that will be coming with the mpc... better than not using it at all..

the adapter i saw at the local shop costs the equivalent of 30 USD... I might try to take the risk.
thanks for your inputs!

mr. debauch, a question from the cable illiterate that I am: could you use the ribbon and power cable that were originally "feeding" the floppy drive to use your low budget card reader? or did you have to get some extra cables? thanks.

regarding the OS.. when I'll get my mpc (1st of january) i'll save OS 1.20 on floppy -the guy who sold it to me is still using floppies so I could donwload the OS at his place and save it on floppy. I'll have to deal with floppies anyway until i get my card reader.

As for the card itself, I'm gonna a kingston CF 1 Giga which comes with the akai mpc1000, a friend of mine uses bigger ones now so I can have his, don't wanna pay more than 10 bucks for 1 gig of storage space!

on a side note i think I'm gonna get 2 of the real low cheap CF card readers and see if I can fit one into my resurrected yamaha A5000, my first sampler i bought 10 years ago. it's a monster, 6 fx blocks modular style which can be combined for some really interesting effect chains. now that i got the mpc on it's way I might ressurect the A5000 and use it as an "mpc expander" since I have max RAM and harddrive inside it.

hi lampdog

my yamaha is in storage but not at my place, I'll have to dig it up and check.
It has a floppy drive so I think I could try to put a CF drive in it (it is possible to put a zip drive in it, so *theoretically* a CF reader could be done as well) -i was reading on gearslutz that someone managed to put a smal SSD drive in it as well.
I like the idea to go back to samplers and have them more in the "zeitgeist" of bigger storage solutions than floppy or zip drives.
Should this not be possible with the yamaha, I might bite the bullet and go for a maxed out emu eXXXX, on ebay germany (shipping from US to Switzerland would be too much I guess) they appear every now and them, need to do some research if a card reader can be installed in these babies as well. Another option could be an akai S6000 w/USB card and harddisk, so I'd bybass the need of a cf reader and could access the HD directly. The annoying thing with the yamaha A5000 are the rotary encoders... the go nuts after a while and when you turn clockwise to augment a parameter it will randomly decrease, not really nice but the sound of it is really nice to my ears.
currently rebuilding the whole studio so it will take a while until I'll have everything sorted out.

yes, you use the mpc2000xl's floppy power connector... the one with the two wires that comes stock with the xl should work fine as it doesn't need the 12 volt lead (at least not on the one I got)

as for the other sampler, check the specs (the manual or service manual) to see what connections it has and what the conditions for the connections are..

because the floppy drive port is not the same as an ide/atapi port, and it is not the same as a SCSI port... those three are entirely different connectors and systems.

sorgekind wrote:...
As for the card itself, I'm gonna a kingston CF 1 Giga which comes with the akai mpc1000, a friend of mine uses bigger ones now so I can have his, don't wanna pay more than 10 bucks for 1 gig of storage space!

You can connect a cheap IDE CF reader with MPC-2000XL, but don't get cheap CF cards, most likely they won't work on XL. All CF cards are not created equal. Kingston CF cards didn't work, as far as my experience goes. All the Sandisk brand CF cards that I tested worked with my XL.

Those cheap IDE CF readers are essentially just a connector for CF card to IDE port, there is no controller on non-swappable IDE CF readers. CF card compatibility is all depended on CF card.

thanks jvc

I'll look into getting some sandisk cards.