Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By Nasteeluvzyou Sun Oct 06, 2013 6:52 pm
peace...
I've used these forums for a long time but never posted so please be easy on me if this topic has been threaded before (please re-direct if it has)...

I have an MPC 2000. Awhile back I realized my floppys were going bad at an extremely quick rate so I copied the MPC 2000 OS sys & exe files onto my external zip drive. My zip has always been correctly connected via scsi to my MPC but I double checked my connections and settings to make sure everything was proper. I power the ZIP drive up first, then my MPC, but upon powering up the MPC "MPC2000 Boot ROM V1.00" reads on the screen and the machine cycles through the scsi connections but then says "Insert MPC200 Disk!". I then tried putting a floppy (formated with the MPC OS) in the drive but after about 30 seconds, it reads "Disk read error !" I never had a problem booting the MPC2000 with the OS on the zip before, but I also haven't booted up the 2000 in about a year.

What do I do???? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks guys!
By Nasteeluvzyou Sun Oct 06, 2013 8:27 pm
Beatdiggerjazzcat wrote:Check zip id and term settings, maybe the scsi fuse has blown?

Change fuse
Get a new floppy drive/disks
Update to internal cf card


Thanks for responding!

All id and term settings are proper. It was all set up and working perfectly, I just haven't used it in over a year and now all of this...

How do I change the scsi fuse? Is it on the zip drive or the MPC?

The floppy shouldn't matter if the OS is on the zip, correct?

I want to upgrade to internal cf ASAP (regardless of this problem), is that a difficult process?
By ntalec Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:24 pm
Nasteeluvzyou wrote:I want to upgrade to internal cf ASAP (regardless of this problem), is that a difficult process?

Extremely, because you have a 2000.
You could always add an external CF but it may be a better move to replace it with a XL.
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By SimonInAustralia Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:42 pm
Nasteeluvzyou wrote:I want to upgrade to internal cf ASAP (regardless of this problem), is that a difficult process?

I think that the process is to desolder the external SCSI port from the MPC mainboard, and directly solder an internal ribbon cable in it's place.

If you can't desolder/solder well, then it may be difficult to do yourself without trashing the MPC, and may be expensive to pay someone else to do it.
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By Beatdiggerjazzcat Tue Oct 08, 2013 10:02 am
SimonInAustralia wrote:
Nasteeluvzyou wrote:I want to upgrade to internal cf ASAP (regardless of this problem), is that a difficult process?

I think that the process is to desolder the external SCSI port from the MPC mainboard, and directly solder an internal ribbon cable in it's place.

If you can't desolder/solder well, then it may be difficult to do yourself without trashing the MPC, and may be expensive to pay someone else to do it.


You dont have to desolder the original port
By ntalec Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:44 am
Beatdiggerjazzcat wrote:Putting cf in a 2000 is not difficult, but it is expensive.
I offer this service to my customers.

The fuse is inside the mpc and is a component on the motherboard


Of course it is or you would just tell them do it themselves. :nod: :-D
He didn't ask was it difficult for you, he was asking difficult for them to do.

Most people looking to do things like this don't have the experience or in some cases the skills to do the simplest of these type of task.

Because you are not one of those people who would have a problem doesn't make it any easier for them.

In the grand scheme of things considering cost, effort to install and true usefulness (based on the 2k file system), it's an all around bad investment.
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By SimonInAustralia Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:15 pm
Beatdiggerjazzcat wrote:You dont have to desolder the original port

Ahhh, so you just solder the ribbon cable onto the legs or pads of the existing DB25?
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By Wal Martian Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:30 pm
SimonInAustralia wrote:
Beatdiggerjazzcat wrote:You dont have to desolder the original port

Ahhh, so you just solder the ribbon cable onto the legs or pads of the existing DB25?

If you use the search look up forum users "destruktiv" and "dasinsation"

Dectruktiv's mod is the sliced up ribbon soldered to the board. Dasinsation's mod is solderless using only cables and adaptors to make the external DB25 internal.
Peace
By Nasteeluvzyou Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:57 pm
Thanks for all the replies my G'z...

I'm starting to think the 2000 thinks there's a floppy in the drive when there is isn't. The MPC keeps flashing "Insert 2000 Disk" which usually comes up when you insert a non-2000 OS disk. Thoughts?

I'm going to start another thread about this drive issue as well...

Big ups!

Letz link...
https://www.facebook.com/Nastee4wordMovement
https://twitter.com/nasteeluvzyou
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By locotesmjr Mon Oct 14, 2013 2:18 am
Nasteeluvzyou wrote:Thanks for all the replies my G'z...

I'm starting to think the 2000 thinks there's a floppy in the drive when there is isn't. The MPC keeps flashing "Insert 2000 Disk" which usually comes up when you insert a non-2000 OS disk. Thoughts?

I'm going to start another thread about this drive issue as well...

Big ups!

Letz link...
https://www.facebook.com/Nastee4wordMovement
https://twitter.com/nasteeluvzyou



Your MPC do not think there is a floppy inside your floppy drive, what is happening is your MPC first will look for a OS files in all SCSI ports, when it realize there is no files (because either your ZIP drive or your SCSI fuse are dead) then it is trying to find the OS on your floppy drive, since you do not have any OS floppy disk inserted it is asking you to do that... that simple.