VMPC - A virtual MPC2000XL for Windows/OSX.

I joined this forum because I'm working on what's in the subject.

It's still in progress, but here's some highlights:

- raw disk access, so read/write Akai's long (16.3) file names
- load/save SND, WAV, PGM, MID, APS and ALL

Here's a preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJzqVKcS_g0

awesome.
so program creation / editing is planned?
how are you planning on releasing this - commercially? open source?
looks like you really nailed the graphics...looking forward to help test this out.

how are you able to read akai long filenames, if the os on the computer screws them up? can you somehow get past that?

from what i can see you've done an amazing job. once you get it behaving and sounding close to a real xl, adding new capabilities would be so cool.

Looks nice. Are you planning anything in the future for the 2000 Classic?

Thanks for the feedback.

so program creation / editing is planned?

That's already implemented. You can start from scratch on the VMPC and load the files into the real MPC, or vice versa, or anywhere in the workflow switch from real to virtual. I was thinking that's cool for artists who gig with their 2KXL and want to work on their stuff while travelling.

how are you planning on releasing this - commercially? open source?

I'm thinking open source, but not certain yet.

how are you able to read akai long filenames, if the os on the computer screws them up? can you somehow get past that?

Yep, that's what the raw disk access is for. You talk to the storage device directly, circumventing the Windows or OSX implementation of FAT16. But indeed it's an experimental feature that will come with a big warning, because at this stage it could easily mess up your CF cards. Maybe with further dev it could become a reliable feature.

With regard to 2000 classic, I tried to make the code reusable/modular. 2000XL and 2000 don't differ enough for me to be interested, and I already had the 3000 in the back of my mind. But that's the cool thing about open source. Anyone can grab the code and make a 2000 out of it.

so does your program somehow 'intercept' when you plug a cf card into the computer?
i would think that once you plugged it in, the os would read it, and corrupt the files there. but obviously, you've got it working.
just very curious how you've done that - great work.

I'm interested.

I'm still using old apps on my Mac for my 2000XL... MPCEditor, MPCPad187, MPCMaid, REX2MPC and the newer 2KXL app.

tapedeck wrote:so does your program somehow 'intercept' when you plug a cf card into the computer?
i would think that once you plugged it in, the os would read it, and corrupt the files there. but obviously, you've got it working.
just very curious how you've done that - great work.

If you plug a CF card into the computer and don't perform any (or certain, can't remember) write operations, the CF won't be corrupted. So yes, I got it working, somehow, on both OSX and Windows. VMPC dismounts the volume, gets an exclusive handle for the volume from the OS via native instructions, then does its thing.

JUKE 179r wrote:I'm interested.

I'm still using old apps on my Mac for my 2000XL... MPCEditor, MPCPad187, MPCMaid, REX2MPC and the newer 2KXL app.

And I can strongly advise to keep using these For now VMPC should be assumed to be unstable and unreliable.

Is there any vst step sequencer which has a function similar locate/step buttons? I need to be able to manually advance through a melodic sequence via midi triggers... I know my MPC could do it hopefully y'all have a lead for me...

If anybody is still interested, I've rewritten the project in C++ (it was in Java before). Check out http://vmpc.kernelbug.org for updates, instructions, etc. Feedback more than welcome!