Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By Feuille Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:07 pm
Hi y'all !
I recently copped a nice hot-swappable SCSI CF card reader in order to save my beats and samples easily.
The thing is, I can't get it to work. The device itself is working (all the lights blink in green once when I start it) but the MPC does not recognize it. Obviously I switched the drive first and then the MPC. I tried different SCSI IDs but none were working. Tried with and without the SCSI terminator. The cable i'm using has no bent pins. And finally, the light on the drive does not even flicker when the MPC scans the SCSI port. So i'm thinking that the fuse is blown.
My question is : do you know how can I test it with a multimeter? And is it possible to replace it by myself? I searched a lot about this issue but only found contradictory informations.

Anyway, thanks in advance for your answers ! :)
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By mr_debauch Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:08 pm
try various CF cards... boot with the cf card inserted..... sometimes the mpc doesn't like certain cards and is fine with others.
By Feuille Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:53 pm
Okay, thanks, i'll try it.
Any knowledge about fuse replacement ?
Oh, I forgot to mention that it is an external drive
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By mr_debauch Wed Dec 17, 2014 6:05 pm
no not really, I have heard about the need to replace the scsi fuse on some mpc models. I have heard sometimes you don't need to replace them too.. but I have never had to do that. Maybe try formatting the cf card on the computer to fat32 etc... just to see if it is possible to get your card working. I haven't had a scsi card reader myself, but I had an IDE one before and it really is hit or miss with different cards. I know some people had kingston cards not work but mine worked, I have had other brands that refused to work but they worked for everyone else.... the idea is have a bunch of cards you can try before deciding it's a hardware issue.
By Feuille Wed Dec 17, 2014 6:45 pm
I see... I have 3 type of cards :
- a 1GB with no brand, just "Compact Flash" written on it that came with the device (it has been tested with it on a MPC 2000XL before the shipment)
- a WD SiliconDirve 128 MB PATA (SSD-C12MI-3500)
- a MAXFLASH 2GB 120x

Tried them all (through the PCMCIA adapter) and I always get "No SCSI device ! !" :(
And still no blinks from dat damn drive.

@Wal, it's an MPC 2000XL
And here is the drive :

Image
Thanks again ! Begining to seek for another mpc tho...
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By mr_debauch Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:05 pm
oh you can't use the straight up cf card slot? I know the pcmcia adapter should work but just asking.
By Feuille Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:19 pm
The guy that sold it to me said that only the PCMCIA is working on it
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By JUKE 179r Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:57 pm
Feuille wrote:@Wal, it's an MPC 2000XL
And here is the drive :

Image


That's a MicroTech PCD-50 model SCSI drive. That won't work with the XL (I've tried it before on my XL). It has something to do with the card reader having 6 slots and each slot needs a SCSI ID#.

I think you can open it up and change the jumper settings to change the SCSI ID#s for the slots. It's been a while since I've done that so proceed with caution.
By Feuille Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:03 pm
the ebay page clearly stated that it was for the 2000XL and it was a really well rated seller. Are you sure of that?
Will ask the seller if he also recommend doing this. Thanks for the advice :)
Also the PCD-50 page http://www.psism.com/scsi50band60b.htm
shows that picture
Image
It's not the same drive !
By LADiego Thu Dec 18, 2014 3:24 am
actually it is a pcd-60b. the drive is only recognized when a cf card (or sd card) is placed with a pcmcia adapter inserted into the pcmcia slot. you need to find out what scsi id the drive is set to (where are the jumpers set on the underside of the pcd-60b. also the pcd-60b has to be terminated internally (jumper must be set to terminate). open up the case and remove the pcd-60b and look at the underside. there is a scsi chart to help you set the desired scsi id number and termination on. is your mpc2000xl using 1.14 or 1.20?

i use the same hot swappable card reader with my mpc2000xl which has the 1.14 operating system so i can use 16gb cf cards. I have also used 8gb sd cards. no issues.

not sure if that seller has helped you but you can also contact mpcstoragesolution.com as they sell the same card reader for mpc samplers.

but do take a look at the underside of the pcd-60b so that you know what the scsi id number is set to and termination set to on. could be a bad jumper and you can simply replace.
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By SimonInAustralia Thu Dec 18, 2014 5:55 am
JUKE 179r wrote:That's a MicroTech PCD-50 model SCSI drive. That won't work with the XL (I've tried it before on my XL). It has something to do with the card reader having 6 slots and each slot needs a SCSI ID#.

I think it is more to do with those card readers often using SCSI LUNs (logical unit numbers) for each different slot, which lets you address different devices on a single SCSI ID, and that the MPCs do not support those SCSI LUNs.

The workaround is to use the PCMCIA slot, which defaults to LUN 0, with a PCMCIA-CF adapter, and which appears to the MPC on whatever SCSI ID the drive is set to.
By Feuille Thu Dec 18, 2014 7:37 am
@LADiego Thanks for all these informations man. I currently have the 1.20 version installed, but I think i'm going to go back to the 1.14. I'll ask the seller on which version of the MPC he tested the drive. Is it possible that my MPC require other internal settings?
Anyway, the best would be to find someone that has that same device and that could explain to me how the thing is reacting when the MPC is "scanning" it.
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By SimonInAustralia Thu Dec 18, 2014 7:51 am
OS version 1.20 vs 1.14 will not make any difference to the operation of that card reader.

Do you know what SCSI ID the card reader is set to, and are you trying to format/access the memory card on that SCSI ID?
By Feuille Thu Dec 18, 2014 8:08 am
If by ID you meen the one on the back of the drive, I tested 1, 2 and 5. I also tried to format the card after I got the message "No SCSI device ! !" but it doesn't show anything in the fields.