anyone buying direct from ex scsiforsamplers.com peeps?

mr drew wrote: I'm trying to secure all the parts now. How did you utilize the SCSI enclosure? .

What do you mean by utilize ? I put the card reader in it and it just kind of sits there.
This is the enclosure I got,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Single-5-CD-D ... 3a4aa3c68c

The enclosure has a fan which I disconnected as it was a bit noisey. This shouldn't be a problem as the card reader generates very little heat.

I bought the card reader and Acard from Ebay seller compactflashman2011 who has been very helpful in trying to find a solution that works. The package also came with a cable to connect the CF reader and the SCSI bridge and a power splitter to allow both devices to be powered from one power connection.

mr drew wrote: Also, how did you mount the ACARD to the card reader to make it all fit? .

I mounted the card reader in this http://www.maplin.co.uk/5.25-inch-to-3. ... ptor-36414 and put it in the enclosure.
The card reader connects to the Acard with a cable, and the enclosure has a cable built in to connect to the SCSI side of the Acard.
The Acard hasn't been mounted yet. It is sitting at the back of the drive bay adapter, but it cant move much.
I haven't decided what to stick it to the enclosure with.

mr drew wrote: Any pictures of the reader/install would be huge. .

I'll post some photos when I get the chance..

Thanks for the info.

Acid Mitch wrote:
I have tested with 2 different cards. A Transcend 2gb industrial Ultra and a Lexar Proffesional 1gb (x133). Both cards work fine.

I can format,create partitions, save and load with no problems and dual Windows/MPC partitions created with MPC Editor also work as expected.

using the same 2 flash cards as you.
ID: set to 0
Termination: tried just having bottom 2 covered AND having all 4 covered.

can format into partitions - but can't save anything... FF10 error

ongoing process, am sure there isn't a major problem - going to try changing the ID to something other than 0 - then guessing it might be the IDE to CF tray? doubt it but running out of options... wiring seems fine, if I can format I'd think that side is covered...

scratch that...

it was the transcend card - the lexar card is finally working, sounds/prgm's etc all working. switched off MPC, loaded up everything, and it all works... very pleased. initial issues with formating, but you try few times and it works.

POW I'm in the MPC3000 CF club WOOP WOOP!!!!! LONG time coming!!

all I need to do now is drill some holes in the CF tray so it fits flush to outside of MPC3000 (at the mo its sat back by about 1cm), and maybe get kind of electrical sealer to stop dust getting in either side of the gaps around front of tray then I'm done...

@Mitch - you finding with MPC Editer you can only access first partition? are you a 3.11 OS user or a lucky 3.5OS user? I want to figure out how to back up on a mac (know MPC Editor is PC only)

I've got all that to come, one step at a time want to get the installation finished so can put the MPC back on my QL-400, then get my head around backing up my files on mac...

SEED78 wrote:
@Mitch - you finding with MPC Editer you can only access first partition?

Yes, but that's because I only ever use disks/cards formatted by MPCEditor and MPC Editor only makes one 30 mb partition, no matter how much capacity your media has.

Are you getting it to read the first partition of something formatted in the MPC ?

SEED78 wrote: are you a 3.11 OS user or a lucky 3.5OS user?.

Neither. I'm an MPC60 owner. I'm running OS 3.10e. Most places I've seen that advertise drives for the MPC3000 also state they are compatible with the MPC60 os 3.10

SEED78 wrote: I want to figure out how to back up on a mac (know MPC Editor is PC only)
.

Stick to your pc
I used to want a Mac untill I realised 95% of the software I use is PC only.

Have you tried MPCPgmMaker/RS-16X http://homepage.mac.com/seishu/ssworks/rs16x/rs16x.html
You can create MPC 3000 programs with it but I'm not sure about backing up your existing stuff.

The Transcend card I thought was working is temperamental.
Patterns load fine from it. Some sounds load fine while others are distorted and some of my mixer settings get messed up.

I'll edit my post from earlier in the thread when I said the Transcend card was fine.

have scrubbed that out off my post on another thread - jeez thought these were meant to be more reliable than zip drives???? not so sure now...

seriously - once we iron out all our individual issue with our CF drives lets consolidate what we've found out into a install guide for other users - I want to piece everything together, showing where you can buy all parts (like you did in previous thread), through to problem solving once installed, CF card types that work and how to read them without corrupting them on the computer etc etc.

for example, how many CF users would have not bothered spending the cash if they knew they could only access 1 30meg partition without 3.5OS??? possibly me... BUT am very pleased I do have the CF, its VERY fast for a start!

all the info is on this site if you search hard enough, but its all over the place, this really needs a how to guide big time with all info in once place.

SEED78 wrote:seriously - once we iron out all our individual issue with our CF drives lets consolidate what we've found out into a install guide for other users

Having a list of working cards and readers and relevant enclosures, adapters and cables,etc is a good idea.
Listing where to buy them I'm not sure about.Sources and prices seem to change every few months and we dont want to end up with either a bunch of dead links or having to constantly update things.
The MPC Bible sticky is a good example of this. It contains alot of good info , but also dead links and irrelevant info the posters haven't edited out. It would be much better if cleaned up a bit IMHO.
I'll have a think about the simplest way to keep the info up to date/relevant.

SEED78 wrote:for example, how many CF users would have not bothered spending the cash if they knew they could only access 1 30meg partition without 3.5OS??? possibly me... BUT am very pleased I do have the CF, its VERY fast for a start!.

You can access up to 700 or so mb with out 3.5. by formatting the media in the MPC. You just cant read the partitions on a computer It's the same no matter what media you use, CF cards are not alone in that regard.
The exception I know of is running Cdxtract. You have the computer in your SCSI chain and then you can use cdxtract to browse and audition files on your SCSI drives before loading them into the MPC.I dont think you can use it for back ups though.
There should still be posts from a couple of years ago where JD (scsiforsamplers dude) was talking about it.

SEED78 wrote:have scrubbed that out off my post on another thread - jeez thought these were meant to be more reliable than zip drives???? not so sure now...

Lol, I was thinking the same. Zip drives are much less trouble to get working and so long as you get the correct size disk it will work in any drive.
Trying to find compatibile CF cards is as big a crap shoot as finding a working reader.

And on that note- I've got a PCD 47b here and guess what ? It doesn't work with the MPC. Works on later Akai samplers(S5000) and my computer though.

with you on the dead link tip, doubt either of us have time to update constantly.

I've started typing up a basic starter guide to getting a CF>IDE+Acard working. I think best we can do is give pics and specs, go through types of installation (internal/internal with scsi port still working/external enclosure), a list of possible cards (once we have OUR stash of cards sorted ). giving enough info in one hit so we don;t have to update all the time

I think covering what to to avoid alone is a big plus, and also enough information so that people can make informed choice about even starting it in the first place. if you have 3.5 OS its a no brainer, original OS's likes ours its more of a mixed bag of good and bad - one plus, have found saving and formatting REALLY fast!!

I'm gonna try different brands of CF each month - but at £10 a pop I can only do a few a month, money is an issue. I hope once we have decent cards they STAY reliable!!! thats my big concern right now, seems backing up to computer is the point the cards are most likely to corrupt - I'm trying to decide if to use an old win98 laptop I have + MPC Editor, or my 7 year old mac with another app I've found. gonna test run both over next week or so.

BTW even with the Lexar card I kinda had to format and scan for it a few times before it worked. but saved lightning fast, and loaded again after restart real quick too.

didn't Rohan or MPC Hunter say the 47b is a real beach when it comes to updating the firmware for MPC3000? works with other samplers no prob so at least you can sell it on if not needed. this is the kind of info we can give peeps so they don't start picking up duff drives.

Acid Mitch wrote:
You can access up to 700 or so mb with out 3.5. by formatting the media in the MPC. You just cant read the partitions on a computer It's the same no matter what media you use, CF cards are not alone in that regard.

I can get 780 meg, but my 3000 forces me to use 30ish meg partitions, are you saying you can make ONE partition for 700ish?

oh so you can only read first partition on computer with zip too? oh. didn't know... don't feel so daft now. but zip are hot swap on the 3000 though right?

BTW our mutual friend suggested fitting a on/off switch to the drive (via floppy power cable if internal I think). idea is to turn the drive on and off and not the MPC, giving you kind of hot swap feature - I personally have NO idea if this would work, am wondering if it would bug the OS out, or worse!! interesting idea though, not heard it mentioned before... but I'm kinda just gagging to use the 3000 now, its been out of action for weeks, not looking to over do things at the mo as am getting my head around a new studio setup.

Acid Mitch wrote:

SEED78 wrote:Have you tried MPCPgmMaker/RS-16X http://homepage.mac.com/seishu/ssworks/rs16x/rs16x.html
You can create MPC 3000 programs with it but I'm not sure about backing up your existing stuff.

nice one - nabb'd this already, looks interesting!

SEED78 wrote:
I can get 780 meg, but my 3000 forces me to use 30ish meg partitions, are you saying you can make ONE partition for 700ish? .

No.
The MPC can only access a total capacity of 780mb no matter what type or size media you have and a single partition cant be bigger than 30ish mb.
None of these partitions will be readable on a computer. (Not on PC anyway)

To have any partitions readable on a PC and MPC you need MPCEditor.
It can format discs that can be read by both MPC and computer. The downside is that you only get 1 30mb partition no matter what capacity your media is.
So, format a 40gig hard drive this way and you still only have 1 30mb partition. Same with 100mb/250mb zips and every other form of media you can think of.

SEED78 wrote:oh so you can only read first partition on computer with zip too?.

No matter what you use (zip,hard drive ,Compactflash,cd,etc) if formatted on the MPC you can't read any partitions on a computer.
If formatted with MPC Editor the computer can see the 1 and only 30mb partition.

SEED78 wrote: oh. didn't know... don't feel so daft now. but zip are hot swap on the 3000 though right?

Zips are hotswapable no matter what they are plugged into.

SEED78 wrote:BTW our mutual friend suggested fitting a on/off switch to the drive (via floppy power cable if internal I think).

My card reader is in an enclosure that already has a power switch. I always thought you needed the card reader switched on before the MPC. Not sure if power cycling the card reader with the MPC still on will do damage or not.

To have any partitions readable on a PC and MPC you need MPCEditor.
It can format discs that can be read by both MPC and computer. The downside is that you only get 1 30mb partition no matter what capacity your media is.

Understand that you'll only get 780meg max from any size disc formatting with MPC.

But just to confirm (sorry to be a PITA), with MPC Editor I get that you can only have 1 30meg partition readable from MPC to PC - but can you tell me, once card is in the MPC can the MPC see more than one partition on the MPCEditor formatted card, or does the MPC see just 1 30 meg too - because I've heard of people just using the 1st partition for transfers and the other partitions for storage.

time to dust off the win98 laptop then... honestly I think I might have been possibly better of with zip+MPC Editor combo, for hotswap alone. - will give it some thought, maybe I'll use both in a chain, and use the zip for backing up samples once a session is over.

regarding the switch - I'm gonna pass on that.

SEED78 wrote: if you have 3.5 OS its a no brainer, original OS's likes ours its more of a mixed bag of good and bad - one plus, have found saving and formatting REALLY fast!!
.

My MPC60 doesn't have the original Akai OS. I'm running the Roger Linn 3.10e os , so it's as good as it gets for me.
What makes the MPC3000 3,5 os better than the rest at handling media ?

SEED78 wrote:
, seems backing up to computer is the point the cards are most likely to corrupt -
.

How so ? I'm of the opposite opinion. as I've suffered from the following floppy problem mentioned on Roger Linns site.

Q: I have an MPC60 floppy that has missing files, but the available memory on the disk indicates that the missing files are still taking up space. Is there a way to recover the missing files?

A: The problem indicates that the disk may have a damaged "directory". We have created a utility that reconstructs the directory portion of the disk from the file data, which may restore your files. Here's what to do:

I think it happens when you try to save with a filename that has already been used and something gets corrupted when overwritting the original file. I've been a bit paranoid about it happening with my Zips so I always save with a new filename and never overwrite older files.

SEED78 wrote:
BTW even with the Lexar card I kinda had to format and scan for it a few times before it worked. but saved lightning fast, and loaded again after restart real quick too.
.

I formatted mine with MPC Editor, popped the card in the MPC's reader and it all worked first time with no problems.
With the Transcend card I formatted it in the MPC which also worked first time. The only issue I had was that the CF reader wasnt recognised untill I went into the format page and formatted the card.

SEED78 wrote:didn't Rohan or MPC Hunter say the 47b is a real beach when it comes to updating the firmware for MPC3000? .

Dont know. I have a 60 and not 3000 anyway. The pcd 47b already has the latest firmware. It's hot swappable so would have beeen nice to get it working.