New forum user with CF card issues.

Hello everyone. My name is DJ EPIK, & I am new around this forum, but not new to the world of MPC's or music production.

Before you go & bite my head off, yes I DID search for hours before I made this thread, but didn't find any concrete info to help me out.

Anyhow, I recently installed the hotswappable MCD multi card reader CF drive from MPCStuff in my 2000XL, & I am having issues with "disk Write error" messages popping up randomly when I try to save my work. I installed the drive according to their instructions, & I also installed the 1.20 OS prior to the install of the CF drive. Thus far I have tried to transfer files from my external zip drive & tried to save them to root folders on a 1GB CF card that I purchased from MPC Stuff. I made sure all of the sound names were only 8 characters or less btw. So most of the time, I will make a ROOT folder & that function will work just fine, but then once I go to save my APS. file within the folder, it will throw the "Disk Write error" message immediately. A few times, even as I went to make a ROOT folder it gave me the same error message, but other times, I have got it to save different APS files without a hitch? It's pretty much a 30/70 chance that it works correctly (70% being the error messages). I would try out another CF card if they were easy to find, but there are no local places that sell cards smaller than 4GB & I only purchased 1 from MPCstuff.

Does this issue sound familiar to anybody??? Any info or help will be much appreciated.



Also, a little background about myself. I have been using MPC's since 1998 which was when I 1st purchased my old 2000 classic, then stepped up to a 2000XL in 2001 & it has all I have ever used since. Some of you hip hop fans may even be familiar with my work. I have done production for Mos Def, Living Legends, Grouch & Eligh, Mac Dre, Brotha Lynch Hung, Zion I, & Keak Da Sneak to name a few...

Here is a link to my sound cloud if you are interested in checking out some of my work...

http://soundcloud.com/dj-epik1

Nobody have this same issue?

first guess would be shady flash card - some brands just work better than others.

second guess would involve knowing how you are getting files like the new os from your computer to your mpc. what os? what media? etc. ... because i have personally had issues with a similar card reader and mac os. i run a windows machine and only interact with my mpc card that way (sad story by the way - recently missed the 8 char thing by 1 stupid mistake and lost a few chops - putting in work to fix it right now ).

just guesses man, it could be anything from the card to the info on the card to the reader to the cable to ram to the motherboard ... try to give some more details see where it goes.

welcome to the forums

tapedeck wrote:
welcome to the forums

yeah I think you should look into the above mentioned things, also if the issue keeps on happening then you should maybe try out another cf card... Try to look for small ones on ebay in lots... I have a friend who bought like a dozen small cards under a gig in size for pretty cheap.

Thanks for the reply fellas & thank you for the welcome!!!

I actually don't have my MPC hooked up to any computer whatsoever (I know it sounds archaic & old school, but it's the truth LOL), I run my MPC through a cheap mixing board. As far as the 1.20 OS, I purchased it from MPCStuff along with my card reader & 1GB CF card & it came on a Zip disk. I installed it with my old internal Zip drive before I removed it & put the card reader in. Then, once the problem popped up after the install of the CF reader, I reinstalled the 1.20 OS once again by hooking up an external Iomega Zip drive.

I emailed MPCStuff & they are sending out a new 1GB CF card for me to try out. Hopefully that is the issue, otherwise I have no clue where to go from here.

On another note, not to go off topic, but I am pretty terrible with computers, & prefer the feel of hardware, thus the reason I am still stuck on using my MPC2000XL when there are programs out there like Reason that are MUCH easier, quicker, & increase workflow A LOT & are much further advanced in their capabilities. I just can't really get into them & will most likely always use my MPC, even if I do get into incorporating computer programs into my production. I will FOREVER stick by my 16 pads LOL...

use your weapon with the sharpest edge.. reason is quicker for some, but it also is slower for some... everything has it's pros and cons to different people.

hey, I use everything I get my hands on.. I got a few mpcs and they dont get synched to the computer... sure I track songs into the computer.. but I still use my 4 track cassette deck or what ever else happens to be in the way.

stay up man, and report back with the update on the new cf card.

mr_debauch wrote:use your weapon with the sharpest edge.. reason is quicker for some, but it also is slower for some... everything has it's pros and cons to different people.

hey, I use everything I get my hands on.. I got a few mpcs and they dont get synched to the computer... sure I track songs into the computer.. but I still use my 4 track cassette deck or what ever else happens to be in the way.

stay up man, and report back with the update on the new cf card.

Very true bro... I personally would be VERY slow on Reason, because I am unfamiliar with the way it works & just feel uncomfortable using anything other than an MPC2000XL LOL... I do however track out beats in Protools when I go to an actual studio session, but when I make my beats at home, I record them straight out of my MP to an external CD burner LOL...


I will keep you posted on the progress & thanks for your info...


BTW, checkout some of my work I posted in this thread...

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=153737

Lampdog wrote:I've been hearing of problems with 1.20 forever. I had problems with it for a second and then I went back to 1.14, 512mb Lexar CF, mcd on my 2kxl. never had a problems afterwards.

Thanks... So the drive you are using is the MPCStuff MCD as well? Where do you purchase the 512mb Lexar CF's?

Lampdog wrote:I purchased my drive from http://www.psism.com about 10 years ago (There is a newer version out now I believe).

My cf card comes from Target.

Thanks again. I will check my local target.

So MPCStuff sent me a replacement Sandisk 1GB card & so far I have been able to save 3 beats without errors... Looks like it was most likely a faulty Card...

Thanks again for the help guys!

Lampdog wrote:Best thing you could ever do for your workflow, 2kxl and mental sanity is get rid of zips, and move to cards if possible.

Made a WORLD of difference for me.

That is EXACTLY why I went with the CF reader. I have been using Zips since 2000. Lost WAY too many beats when they would malfunction.

I'm having some issues but I think it has to do with my inexperience with the 2kxl.

I'm hoping I can get used to using the 2kxl programmer. I have a disc with sounds and programs for the 2000xl, but all the files on the CD are .WAV files. The 2kxl programmer only wants .wav (small case) files. Plus on this CD there are tons of file names that exceed the 8 character limit. So I'm trying to painstakingly re-name the long names. Then, none of the programs on the CD work like they should because after renaming, the programs no longer recognize any of the re-named file names. It is a bunch of headaches. Still I'm hopeful.

Obviously the discs need to be formatted. I have a couple of sandisk 2gb cf cards. The 2000xl recognizes them after formatting. Does anyone have a 2gb sandisk card that has close to the limit (or even over 1gb) loaded on there? How does the 2000xl respond to it?