Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By bennyjack Sat Nov 10, 2018 11:39 am
Hi

I recently bought a 2000xl. As I always tend to do, I bought on impulse without doing any research beforehand. Because of that I didn't know what to look for and bought a very basic unit.

I'm finally up and running with a Gotek USB emulator (wanted a CF card reader but that's a different story). Anyway, I got to the point where i've got a few folders worth of sounds to play with. Only when trying to load them into the MPC did it became clear that I only have 2MB of internal RAM, not the 32 I was expecting.

I have gone back to the ebay listing I bought it from, it does state 'basic unit with no added memory' but I thought 32MB would come as standard? Can't understand how they would sell units with only 2MB, can't do anything with that! I raised it with the guy I bought it from and he was like ''Yeah it only comes with the stock memory''.

The reason i'm confused is i've opened it up and it looks to me like there is 32MB in there. There are two stick things with a code written on them, when searching the code they both seem to be 16MB sticks. I've taken a picture but not sure how to upload on here?

If you check this video - [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwMmvgi813g[/youtube] - where the guy adds the memory it looks to be empty beforehand with nothing on it, but for mine there are the two sticks things there.

Is it possible that they are faulty? Or could they be something different to RAM? If I format the MPC F-ROM, could that help or **** up my MPC? Any ideas suggestions would be very helpful!

Sorry for the long post!

Cheers
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By MPC-Tutor Sat Nov 10, 2018 1:05 pm
bennyjack wrote: Can't understand how they would sell units with only 2MB, can't do anything with that!


Its a 20 year old sampler, 2mb was considered a reasonable starting point, in those days you were expected to upgrade for the kind of features we take for granted like effects, outputs etc. Remember the mpc sampler was really just for drums, so you didnt need a load of ram. Instruments were handled via midi, triggering synths or even other samplers

Back to the problem, i had an mpc2000 that was sold as having stock 2gb ram, I opened her up and discovered a 16mb ram chip inside. Took it out and reseated it and the mpc recognised it. Give it a go.
By bennyjack Sun Nov 11, 2018 12:00 am
MPC-Tutor wrote:
bennyjack wrote: Can't understand how they would sell units with only 2MB, can't do anything with that!


Its a 20 year old sampler, 2mb was considered a reasonable starting point, in those days you were expected to upgrade for the kind of features we take for granted like effects, outputs etc. Remember the mpc sampler was really just for drums, so you didnt need a load of ram. Instruments were handled via midi, triggering synths or even other samplers

Back to the problem, i had an mpc2000 that was sold as having stock 2gb ram, I opened her up and discovered a 16mb ram chip inside. Took it out and reseated it and the mpc recognised it. Give it a go.


Thanks for the reply mate. To reseat the chip, how is best to remove it? I've read that people just pull it out, but when giving it a bit of tension, I just feel like i'm going to snap it!
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By Lampdog Sun Nov 11, 2018 2:34 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:Took it out and reseated it and the mpc recognised it. Give it a go.

+1
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By JUKE 179r Sun Nov 11, 2018 8:09 pm
bennyjack wrote:Thanks guys.

I've uploaded a picture just to check if I do have ram there. Image - if that is Ram then I will try to reseat it

yep. It's installed in both bottom right corner slots.
By bennyjack Mon Nov 12, 2018 9:50 pm
JUKE 179r wrote:
bennyjack wrote:Thanks guys.

I've uploaded a picture just to check if I do have ram there. Image - if that is Ram then I will try to reseat it

yep. It's installed in both bottom right corner slots.


Thanks. So i've taken them both out and put them back in, also swapped them around. Unfortunately the MPC is still not detecting the ram. Is it better to buy new sticks? If so, where is best to get it from? Ideally the UK as buying from the US takes ages for delivery
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By JUKE 179r Tue Nov 13, 2018 10:08 am
What is the brand name of the RAM that you have? Always stick with popular brand name RAM and replace in pairs if you can't get a 32MB stick of RAM.

Have you tried adding just one stick of RAM at a time to see how many MB you have on the MPC? You can rule out if just one stick is bad or both sticks of RAM are bad.

Remove and check the contacts on the RAM sticks to make sure they aren't corroded.
If the RAM contacts look corroded (not shiny), use a rubber pencil eraser to clean up the contact areas. Clean the contact areas with a dry towel and make sure not to get the eraser shavings into your MPC.
Resinstall the RAM and see what you get.
By bennyjack Tue Nov 13, 2018 12:42 pm
The brand is Hyundai I think. The MPC is showing 1900k free for sound so I guess that means both sticks are faulty?

I will have a go cleaning the sticks tonight. I’ve ordered two new sticks but probably won’t arrive for weeks. If I can get it working at least il have some spare memory.

Thanks for the help :)
By bennyjack Wed Nov 14, 2018 8:50 pm
JUKE 179r wrote:What is the brand name of the RAM that you have? Always stick with popular brand name RAM and replace in pairs if you can't get a 32MB stick of RAM.

Have you tried adding just one stick of RAM at a time to see how many MB you have on the MPC? You can rule out if just one stick is bad or both sticks of RAM are bad.

Remove and check the contacts on the RAM sticks to make sure they aren't corroded.
If the RAM contacts look corroded (not shiny), use a rubber pencil eraser to clean up the contact areas. Clean the contact areas with a dry towel and make sure not to get the eraser shavings into your MPC.
Resinstall the RAM and see what you get.


Tried this but unfortunately no luck! I’m guessing they are just broken completely. Il have to wait for the new sticks and pray they work. If they don’t then I have no clue what to do