I realised a workaround that makes working with automation on the MPC much more enjoyable for me, and removes some of the limitations in native automation lanes.
What you do is create a MIDI Program and physically connect your MIDI Out to MIDI In.
One of the big gains of doing this is it allows the recording of automation to anything you can MIDI Map! The native automation can only do Plugin and Plugin Inserts, this gains access to Subgroups, Sends and Outputs Inserts.
Another nice feature is the Program Edit page. With it you can see (and edit) 16 parameters per page so it's a much better overview of many things changing at once than you get anywhere else in the MPC.
As far as I can tell the manual lies about the Automation Read/Write button, whether it's green or red you still record automation from an external controller if the track is Record armed and either Overdub or Record is on. (Or maybe it only relates to internal control as I know I've accidentally recorded automation hitting it in the past before. Just tested and confirmed makes no difference when recording to either a MIDI Program or to a MIDI Mapping.)
Biggest downside is everything has to now be done through MIDI Mapping to access it.
Second huge disadvantage is using up what may be a precious MIDI port for some people.
