MPC 3000 Floppy Drive Saga

Hey All,

Purchased a 3000 a few months back that needed some TLC. Managed to get it up and running, with the exception of the floppy drive. Thanks to lurking on these forums I learned more about jumpers and TEAC drives than I ever thought would be necessary, and swapped a few drives in and out, but to no avail. Purchased an S3000XL from a friend with a working Mitsumi drive, tried it in the 3000 and it still wont work. I will get varying error messages saying that there is no disk, or that the disk is damaged.

Now that I have a confirmed working floppy drive that is compatible with my machine, can assume the problem is either the with the ribbon cable or the CPU PCB board itself? I've managed to increase my already limited knowledge base thanks to these forums, but I have to admit this is beyond my expertise by a long shot. Anything anyone has to say would be helpful at this point.

Some of you might say why bother with the floppy drive? I managed to find some old MPC sample disks at the local resale shop and am dying to hear the samples, and I had the thought that having it fully functional (the way it came from the factory) would be good for resale down the line.

Either way, just wanted to extend my gratitude to those that keeps these forums active. Its been an invaluable resource ever since I got my first 2kxl to be sure.

So you got a drive installed that should work and the jumper settings are correct right? Beside the jumpers some drives also have solder bridges that can be open or shorten so you might check if thats the case. A cable check won't hurt and of course try different flopy disks. I'm not familiar with the 3000 and its drive so this is all I can recommend, sorry. But I know the hassle with floppy drives on AKAI samplers first hand. My s900 is very picky with floppy drives. Only one that worked is an old Atari drive (manufactor is chinon and AFAIR the model number is D357 but that wont help you with the 3000)

peace

@peterpiper The S900 runs in ds0 mode as it's a shugart based drive, like the ones used on the Amiga. You can actually modify some newer pc only floppy drives to force it into ds0 mode and it works great.

Anyway, the S3000XL floppy drive should work in the MPC 3000 provided that the pin settings on the back of drive are set up correctly.

richie wrote:@peterpiper The S900 runs in ds0 mode as it's a shugart based drive, like the ones used on the Amiga. You can actually modify some newer pc only floppy drives to force it into ds0 mode and it works great.

Thanks I'll try that again when I need to but AFAIR I tried all kinds of jumper settings (including soldering bridges the way I read about in Atari/Amiga forums).

The plus about that specific Chinon drive (you're right it was from a Amiga2000 not an Atari) is that it fit much better in the s900 cause the s900 (and Amiga 2000 and 4000) slots are bigger than usual PC floopy drive slots.

peace

Hello Im also having problems with my MPC 3000 Floppy drive as well. I have recently purchased a new floppy disk drive that came out of another MPC 3000. Seller says "worked with my older unit before I upgraded". When I tried it out, it did not work for me. I keep getting a FF04 error when I try to format a blank disk and I dont know what Im doing wrong. Is there any tips you can give me to replace my 3000 with a properly working floppy disk thank you.

@ Zack I would try a different floppy ribbon connector.

Alternatively, it makes more sense to purchase this instead of paying for more disk drives:

https://store.inertialcomputing.com/SCS ... -black.htm

If I remember correctly the floppy ribbon cable is hard soldered onto the circuit board. At least on my 3000LE it is.
@zackmeg… check the jumpers are set correctly on the floppy drive.
I 'think' this is the correct jumper settings for a 3000.

Also... did you try another floppy disk in the disk drive? Try reinserting the floppy cable 180 Degrees?

JUKE 179r wrote:If I remember correctly the floppy ribbon cable is hard soldered onto the circuit board. At least on my 3000LE it is.
@zackmeg… check the jumpers are set correctly on the floppy drive.
I 'think' this is the correct jumper settings for a 3000.

Also... did you try another floppy disk in the disk drive? Try reinserting the floppy cable 180 Degrees?

hi !
i'm trying your tips but nothing for me :-/

I bought another original floppy drive and changed up jumper cables and it still keep doing the same thing that the old one was doing. It was taking too long on formatting and making a "ehh rhh" sound when formatting. I kept getting the FF04 error. It would power up and light up and ACKNOWLEDGE when there is and isn't a floppy disk inside. BUT, I FIGURED OUT THE PROBLEM. There was something foreign in my MPC 3000 that acted like a replacement part for helping my screen power on. When I replaced it with the right part, the floppy disk worked again. Some how the part was interfering with my floppy disk.

Good to hear you found the reason. Congrats. Probably a power issue when that other thing (what exacly was it) was build in.

peace

zackmeg wrote: BUT, I FIGURED OUT THE PROBLEM. There was something foreign in my MPC 3000 that acted like a replacement part for helping my screen power on. When I replaced it with the right part, the floppy disk worked again. Some how the part was interfering with my floppy disk.

It would help very much if you explained what that "something" is that you replaced.

Which part did you replace? Your info and/or pictures could help future users with the same problem
Cheers!

Thanks for all the insight guys!

Thanks to another member on the forum I have learned that the aforementioned S3000XL floppy drive is not ideal for the MPC 3000. I have swapped probably 5 different drives to no avail, two with the proper jumper settings, and at this point I figure it’s either the ribbon cable or something waaaaaay beyond my knowledge.

This is going to be the last attempt at getting this floppy drive to work, before I go with the suggested SD card option.

Thanks again! Glad to see the community is still alive and kicking.

ALSO

The main reason I was so stuck on these floppies was to get some samples off some old disks. I ended up giving ChickenSys (creator of the Translator software) and they offered to transfer the files off the disks and send them to be for a dollar or two a piece. ‘

Thought this could be useful info for anyone in the same boat!

2 accounts? zackmeg/Panamatik?