Recommended Card Readers

Thanks for quick reply. Actually it's Polish, anyway i've ordered this one it's like 7 dollars with shipping, so i thought it's worth a try.

There aren't many details on the site though, it's only written 'Internal IDE card reader, replacing floop, connection: IDE'.

Is there any risk that i'll do harm to the mpc trying to connect this reader?

Hello all,
this is my first post so please forgive me if I have made any mistakes (I tried searching the forum for anybody who had posted these card readers and I couldn't find anybody). I also apologise for the long post, and the rants that may appear within.

I'm currently awaiting the arrival of my MPC from the states, and decided I would start searching for an alternative to the over-priced card readers offered by MPC parts specialists (115+postage = being taken for a ride) and I didn't want to use floppy or zip, because I live in the 21st century.

So my research so far has uncovered two products - although I thought I might share this with the rest of you and maybe somebody could offer some advice to me as well, a little trade off!

The first is an ATAPI 741 Multislot Flash Card Reader/Writer;

http://www.compuapps.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=145:atapi-741-multislot-flash-card-readerwriter&catid=54:ide-products&Itemid=208

On this website it states that the device is compatible with;

DOS 6.22, Windows 95, NT4.0, 98SE, Me, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS 8.6 or higher, Linux kernel 2.4 or higher

Now that's a high compatibility list - I can't wait to use it on my DOS machine!
In addition it also follows the guidelines that other MPC users have mentioned;
1. It must be ATAPI to be hot swap
2. The MPC 2000xl will work with mainly ATAPI drives (I'm still 50/50 it seems mixed based on what people are saying.)

So I would imagine it would work as a hot swap drive.

Now according to the person who wrote this article titled "MPC Card Reader FAQ"
http://www.midicase.com/card_reader_guide.htm
He states that;

The specifications for a card reader are a good way to determine if it will work with the MPC. If there are drivers supplied for the reader, then it is guaranteed not to work. A good sign is wording such as "Supported under any OS's native drivers", or one that lists every major computer OS, including less common ones such as OS/2 or Linux. If it only states that it works under Windows, then it will probably not work. If it states that it only works under Windows and Mac, then it it's compatibility would be questionable.

This also high-lights the certain possibility of support for this card reader - and I should probably just purchase this one. However I am not convinced because there is another option.

The second option being; IDE Kiosk Flash Media Card Reader.

http://www.compuapps.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=98:ide-kiosk-flash-media-card-reader-&catid=54:ide-products&Itemid=208

The above appears, and it looks almost identical to the one currently being sold (here is a photo of the back, although if you are like me and have searched you will notice that the front of both drives is exactly the same print/label wise, which also suggests a possibility of the original stockist); which looks like this;


However the second drive I have posted a link to is only IDE, and therefore shouldn't be hot swappable according to what everybody has said?
Then I look at some of the 'features' of the IDE device and it says

Supports media change in IDE

So that means it supports changing the Media while active I imagine?

Have a look through some of the links, maybe somebody else out there has bought one of these and had success - maybe I've stumbled on something new, or somebody with the knowledge out there could help direct us in the right direction.

I might just email them all of my concerns - I guess I could buy both devices and give them a go - it would still be cheaper than the mpc specialists version. I will certainly let you guys know if I decide to get both and give it a shot - or if somebody can help me make an informed decision.

Cheers

That's interesting. The first multi card reader that you listed looks exactly like the one that MPC parts seller in ebay sells. It's quite possible that it's the same card reader that the ebay seller is selling for over 100 bucks.

I have no doubt in my mind that the ebay seller is just selling the off the shelf CF reader that worked with XL, we just don't know which one. It is possible that seller tried all the IDE CF readers that they could buy and tried them all with XL, and found the compatible one.

Please try those (especially the first one) to see if it works with XL. (You can return it, if it is not compatible, right?) If it is same one, you'll save money! (If not..., well, at least you tried it, no regret...) Please report the result here.

By the way, ATAPI is protocol on IDE, ATAPI added support for removable devices, like eject and insert. IDE was originally designed for hard drives only. So an ATAPI devices have IDE port.

Thank's JVC.

So you would say the ATAPI interfaced card reader would have a higher possibility of working over the rest?

I might buy all three multi card readers once the MPC arrives and have a fun day of mixing and matching, regardless I will still need one in my computer, and I'll just get rid of the other to a friend as a present - it might just work out sweetly!

I will certainly get back to you guys, because when I saw $125 for what appears to be a simple IDE card reader I was gob smacked. Likewise, I figured they just found somebody selling those readers for cheap and realised they had an oligopoly going on.

Actually, my bad, the second one looks identical, not the first one.

I just received a reply from the company who makes the IDE/ATAPI drives and they said this;

Our Product ATAPI 741 Multi Slot Flash card reader/writer and IDE Kiosk Flash media card reader supports Media Change,
With both our product we can do hot-swap (change from one media to another media).

Both ATAPI and IDE (our product) has a good compatibility. With IDE you can get high performance (Benchmark).

Since AKAI MPC 2000xl is not our product we cannot explain more on this, If AKAI MPC 2000xl supports only ATAPI device,
you have to use ATAPI 741 Multi Slot Flash card reader/writer.

If AKAI MPC 2000xl can support IDE standard(ATA) you can use IDE Kiosk.

Please let us know if you need any other clarification

Regards,
Techsupportlive.com Support Desk

So they said that the IDE Kiosk Flash media card reader supports Media Change and both products can do hot-swap.

I'm pretty sure that the second one I posted and as mentioned by JVC has to be the one that is selling for close to 75+ dollars more.
I will wait till my MPC gets to Australia and then I will order both drives and let you all know.

I have recently upgraded from floppy to cf/sd reader,
i scrounged an atapi/ide reader from one of my old mans
pc's , I don't know the make or model,but
its the same as this reader this guy installed :-

http://home.tiscali.nl/~smeyer/mpc/

i just had to set the jumper from master/slave
and make a lead to change from floppy power plug to full size,
it works fine, got 10 sandisk 1GB sd cards for £1 each from a local
cash convertor.

mpc2000xl formats the card, all looks well.
im using os 1.2

Esaz666, is the CF card reader hot-swappable? My Addonics CF reader does not work with older OS.

Yeah it is, with SD cards it is anyway, i dont have a cf card
to try, works fine so far for save/load sequences from the machine,
I have not tried loading files from my computer yet.

I wish i knew what make it is, it just looks the same as
the one on the website link i posted earlier,i can find
no other information, it shows up as Generic Atapi device
in the mpc, maybe if I fitted it into a pc i could find out more info.

i tried it with a kingston 2gb SD card, it could see the card,
its size came up as 2 gb but could not write to it or format.

I would like to try it with OS 1.14c to see if it works on larger size cards.

sorry guys i read but i can't understand if exist a valid IDE card reader that is Hot Swappable?

mrjazz very nice due diligence on finding those drives, I searched for hours to find them finally hitting the compuapps page and then googling the drive name with MPC 2000xl to see if it worked and you were the only one currently talking about it. I may just order the IDE Kiosk Flash Media Card Reader because its the fastest of the bunch and does meet all the requirements I've seen, plus shipped ground its about 63 bucks, half price compared to that 50% markup drive from mpcstuff if it works.

hi

still not sure if would be better the IDE Kiosk Flash Media Card Reader (if would work i might say yes) otherwise the ATAPI 741 Multislot Flash Card Reader/Writer (that might work almost for sure)

anybody try one? i'll be ready to buy one (but here is overseas)

psoul wrote:hi

still not sure if would be better the IDE Kiosk Flash Media Card Reader (if would work i might say yes) otherwise the ATAPI 741 Multislot Flash Card Reader/Writer (that might work almost for sure)

anybody try one? i'll be ready to buy one (but here is overseas)

I'd try the IDE Kiosk Flash Media Card Reader, but I don't know if it works with XL.

Hello All!

(I once again apologise for the long post and the diatribe within - I'm a ramblin' man)

Although this might seem a little off topic, I will just re-state this for all the new people (myself included who were afraid to just plug the MPC2000XL into my country's main power socket)

I received my MPC2000XL from the United States, and after trying to trouble-shoot why the unit wouldn't turn on using the correct step down transformer (I am located in Australia). I did some calling around (Akai Pro in USA) and research (other threads on the forum) to realise that the AKAI MPC200XL has a auto-sensing power-supply and power requirements as per the instruction manual are;

100-240VVACC, 50/60Hz, 23W (13W without option)

This means that the MPC as long as it has the original Power Supply [you can easily open them up by removing the screws on the bottom plate and check the serial number of the PSU as being: SNP-9541-M1 installed then it will be able to auto-sense the voltage. However beware that it uses an IEC socket, generally known as a Kettle Cord Socket and therefore requires a IEC cable (Kettle Cord) - make sure that it has 3 pins on the wall plug, two of which are live and the other being known as a ground.

No transformer is therefore required - hope that clears up any confusion.

Now for the card reader.

Hey 'Error' - thank's for the comments - my current MPC uses floppy disks and when I went down to the computer store to buy some - I was laughed at and while I have a few around home (too lazy to find them). Although I am starting to realise the limitations of floppy disks after reading the manual are so tight that I might just wait till I have a card reader.

I am yet to order anything from 'compuapps', although when I was in the computer store I spoke to them about ATAPI/IDE as my knowledge of this interface is limited and only begun building computers during the end of the IDE period and therefore ATAPI was never really used from my experience. According to the gentlemen at the computer store ATAPI is a protocol for reading data - so if the MPC2000XL uses ATAPI then it requires an ATAPI drive, if not then any normal IDE drive should work (however others have disputed this claim).

I wish you the best of luck with the IDE Kiosk Drive, and if you could let us all know how it goes that would be wonderful! I am yet to make my order as I'm a little over budget for the week.
I have read a lot of people having errors with certain IDE Multi Card Readers that are supposedly not compatible, although I'm starting to think that it was not the Reader itself that was not compatible but the Compact Flash Cards Used. However this could be wrong, it's difficult to really know until you connect all the hardware together and begin trouble-shooting.

Once again I apologise for the long post, although if you could post your results and break-through 'Error' that would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Recap -

From Midicase - "Look for ATAPI or SCSI. IDE is non-removable, meaning it will work, but you will not be able remove or insert the card while the MPC is on."

We found these drives:

IDE Kiosk Flash Media Card Reader
ATAPI 741 Multislot Flash Card Reader/Writer

The product site has stated that The IDE drive does support media change in IDE and it is the faster of the two drives. We are planning to test if either of these drives work for the MPC2000XL. 1st test being the IDE Kiosk, then the ATAPI.