CF reader stopped working

Hi all,

Ive done a bunch of research and cant narrow down what exactly went wrong. I installed a Startech CF Reader yesterday and put my Sandisk 4gb card in it BEFORE powering my 2000xl up. The mpc recognized the "ATAPI" so I was happy. So then I went to "Format" and formatted my 4gb card because I knew I had to partition the 1gb.

This is when I may have messed up. After the card finished formatting I unplugged the mpc before turning it off because I wanted to take it downstairs to FINALLY start playing with it (the mpc ) I then turned off the mpc before plugging it in. Then I plugged it in and turned it on and it says "No Scsi device" and "atapi" is no longer showing up.

Im assuming unplugging it before turning it off was the problem (blown fuse?) or possibly a short in the 40pin ribbon?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks yall

I'd check if the CF card is damaged or not. try mount the CF card on PC and see it can be recognized. If card is damaged, then you have to start with another compatible card. Remember, 2000XL sees your CF card as internal hard drive, so you cannot remove the CF card when the unit is on.

You do not need to pre-partition the card before using in the XL.

Do yourself a favor, delete whatever partitioning you have done, create 1 partition, format it on your workstation, put it in the XL, format it again. It'll only show up as 1gb but it should work just fine.

JVC wrote:I'd check if the CF card is damaged or not... Remember, 2000XL sees your CF card as internal hard drive, so you cannot remove the CF card when the unit is on.

Thank you for the quick reply. I will check the card. I didnt take the card out while the MPC was on so I wouldnt think thatd be the problem but its worth checking out. Thanks again.

TieranCline wrote:...
Im assuming unplugging it before turning it off was the problem (blown fuse?) or possibly a short in the 40pin ribbon?

I've never had issue with doing that. I think using ON/OFF switch is more proper, but unplugging is essentially the same thing.
I've never used Sandisk 4GB CF card with my XL, but I use Sandisk 2GB CF card, and it has never given me problem. I'd think that Sandisk 4GB CF card would work fine.
Other thing, make sure that it is indeed genuine Sandisk CF card, because there are a lot of fake ones on the market.

there are a lot of fake ones on the market.

I bought the card new from Best Buy to ensure it wasn't a fake.

TieranCline wrote:I bought the card new from Best Buy to ensure it wasn't a fake.

But did you make sure the Bestbuy was a real store?

Lampdog wrote:

that there is funny.
but nobody at that store is half that friendly/helpful.

The CF card is connected to Mac? I think that is the caveat. Mac OS X would create hidden files and hidden folders, as soon as the card is mounted on desktop.

Never mount CF cards for XL on Mac OS!

I do use Mac OS and MPC-2000XL, but when I have to transfer files, I use virtualBox, running Windows XP to transfer files. I’d mount USB card reader on the virtual environment (under XP), then insert the CF card. The CF card would be mounted within the XP environment.

Also, make sure that all of files & folders on the card are named with 8 char or less, before you are about to mount on PC. Make sure that ALL file and folder names are in DOS compatible.

I recommend using Sandisk cards only. Other brands might work too, but I’ve never had issue with Sandisk brand CF cards with 2000XL.

JVC wrote:The CF card is connected to Mac? I think that is the caveat. Mac OS X would create hidden files and hidden folders, as soon as the card is mounted on desktop.

Never mount CF cards for XL on Mac OS!

I do use Mac OS and MPC-2000XL, but when I have to transfer files, I use virtualBox, running Windows XP to transfer files. I’d mount USB card reader on the virtual environment (under XP), then insert the CF card. The CF card would be mounted within the XP environment.

JVC is correct. even though mounting and transferring files via computer on Mac OSx works, it will most likely screw with your card in the long run. I used a Kingston 4gb for MPC1000 and Im pretty sure those hidden files are what caused it to fail on me twice. When I salvaged sounds on the card its listed file after file of just scrambled text or code among other folders where I organized my samples/beats. Also im not sure, but isnt 4gb a no no for 2000xl? i only used 2gb cards max with 2000xl.

Another trick I did when my card wasn't showing up was changing the Internal disk source. In LOAD screen where theres the menu to scroll between ATAPI, SCSI, FLOPPY etc.. Try that while the card is inserted and see if it recognizes after a few scrolls through sources. Not always, but that sometimes worked for me with Zip (SCSI) and CF (Atapi). Also try using another card to rule out if your first card is causing the trouble.

I do not go through any BS using CF cards from my 2000 and XL on MACOS because those cards I use are formatted to FAT32. The issue where sh*t gets ruined only seems to happen when you're using the AKAI partition system no?