Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By Kilroy Fri Jan 24, 2014 1:23 pm
Hello all, i have recently purchased an mpc2000xl. It has the floppy disk drive.
I have been reading various posts on here pertaining to this and i have a few questions on what i'll need exactly...as far as the wires are concerned.
I plan on purchasing this startech card reader

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000T9QQP ... precache=1

Or if someone can point me in the direction of a better or cheaper one that would be awesome.
Also, i came across a post saying that additional wires are needed if the standard floppy drive is installed(which is the case for me) i woild need an ata/ide wire?
Will this one do?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000234JJ ... mp_s_a_1_6
Okay so far, how i understand it is...im obviously going to need the ide to cf reader to uograde and i will be needing a 40 pin ide/ata wire..can someone recommend one if the one there is not good?
.And is there something else I need?

oh one last thing, before I start opening stuff up, I would first hsve to put OS 1.20 on a floppy and update the mpc....THEN commence the open-mpc surgery right?
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By doughnutSpaghetti Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:42 pm
I use a StarTech reader on my 2kXL. Works perfect. I bought it off Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000T9QQP0/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Paid about $28 shipped.

You can get a 40 pin IDE cable on Ebay for $3 shipped.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130468688348?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Install is pretty easy, but you have to drill two holes on the bottom bracket of the rear to mount it to the mpc. You can use the power cord that goes to your current floppy drive on the StarTech. Just unplug in from the floppy and plug it right onto the CF reader.

Yeah, first thing you do is install 1.20.

I'm using a Sansdisk Ultra CF card on with no issues.
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By SimonInAustralia Fri Jan 24, 2014 4:15 pm
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I would not recommend that cable from your link, as shown above, as I have seen issues with 40pin/80wire cables, which that one is.

The cable that doughnutSpaghetti suggested, as shown below, is what you want, it is a 40pin/40wire cable.

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Also, you might need to check and see if the existing floppy drive power cable reaches to the power connector location on the new card reader, it might need to be extended, if not long enough to reach.

And you might need to drill some holes in the card reader chassis, to mount the MPC floppy mounting bracket to it.

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By doughnutSpaghetti Fri Jan 24, 2014 4:27 pm
I had just enough length to get to the CF reader with the OE power cable. Was actually pretty surprised based on what I've read.

Also a step bit for your drill works pretty good to drill the holes and vise is also highly recommended. Use a punch to knock a dimple on the the steel to keep your bit in place. The steel is pretty tough.
By Kilroy Sat Jan 25, 2014 1:14 am
Thank you guys for pointing me in the right direction. I'll go ahead and buy that startech drive and that cable from ebay...and I'll be back in a week or possibly sooner to let you all know how it went or if I need further assistance. Once again, thank you guys for the help.
By Kilroy Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:48 am
Image

this is how its looking.
I plugged everything up....oh and sorry but I may have misled unintentionally, the mpc2000xl i have came with a zip drive, i took that out and placed in the startech cf. I noticed though that the power cord that was already in my mpc2000xl does not fit into the cf reader, but it does connect with the power cord that came with the cf reader.
When I flip it over and turn it just says no floppy device. And I see that is a common problem by searching through posts.
I think the jumper is already set to master and I tried moving it around but still nothing...any ideas?
Im a little frustrated with it.
also, its not even reading as it the drive is installed...I can flip through devices and it says Floppy scs0 ,scsi1 scs2 scs3 scs4 scs5 scsi7 and f rom.
By MPCHunter Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:10 am
What OS vesion do you have installed on the machine? You need OS version 1.20 installed in the machine to use that type of card Reader.

And your card reader is not a hot-swap, so your Compact Flash card must be inserted in the reader before powering the MPC on.
By Kilroy Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:11 am
Sorry, I thought I had put it in my last reply. I am running OS 1.14.
I knew about needing the cf card having to be in the slot before start up but its not even registering i have the cf reader installed.this is because I have Os 1.14 instead of 1.2?
my mpc2000xl came with a zip drive and I have no way of getting OS 1.2 onto a zip disk myself. I found a seller on ebay selling a zip disk with OS 1.2 on it though. I suppose I'll purchase.
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By Star One Fri Jan 31, 2014 7:21 pm
SimonInAustralia wrote:And you might need to drill some holes in the card reader chassis, to mount the MPC floppy mounting bracket to it.


Sure do. Place the reader where you need it to sit and hold in place with it flush in the drive bay. Take some sort of marking device, even a pin if it can scratch good enough, and mark the holes.

Now remove the reader, grab a power drill and a sheet metal screw of the right size (will fit though the open large holes in the bottom case lid). Then just drill into where you marked the holes.

The sheet metal screws create their own thread. You then back the screws out, plug all the wires in, slide the reader in place and screw the screws back in.


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Glad to see those reviews got people to find the forum, on that StarTech adapter :D
By Kilroy Wed Feb 05, 2014 10:24 am
So I received that zip disk with OS 1.2 on it, popped it in, updated the system then proceeded to remove the zipdrive to replace it with the cf reader. And I can say, everything works fine now. I see now that it was just the fact that OS 1.14 was not recognizing my cf reader.

Thank you guys for the help. All of you have made this easier. Thank you doughnutspaghetti, Simon in Australia, Mpchunter and StarOne (those pictures really helped for the mounting of the drive.)
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By Star One Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:00 am
Absolutely. That's why I always take photos of what I do, because some people do better actually seeing then just reading.

Glad it's sorted!
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By Star One Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:46 am
No no, it's all equally as valueable.

Its where you have when people learn hands on and them who use without hands on like books


EDIT:

Sorry for badly broken english I'm really sick, having terrible mental confusion. I re-read and makes no sence to me anymore. Hope the messege is okay...