Support and discussion for all of Akai’s modern standalone MPCs including the MPC X / X SE, MPC Live 1, 2 & 3, MPC One / One+, MPC Key 37/61.
By GeoffZ Tue May 27, 2025 9:52 pm
I have an SD Card and a USB Drive connected to my Key 37. Both work fine in Standalone, but the USB Drive does not appear in Controller mode, either in the MPC Menu or on the computer. The USB Drive does appear normally when connected directly to the computer. Is anyone having this same behavior?
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By MPC-Tutor Wed May 28, 2025 3:49 pm
You don't need the drivers for the disk to be seen as a removable drive by your computer.

So the SD card shows when connected to your computer, only the USB disk is not showing? Are they both formatted the same (e.g. exFAT etc)?

Could be a glitch, have you rebooted your computer?
By GeoffZ Wed May 28, 2025 5:35 pm
I'll have to try a reboot later today.

I failed to mention - in Controller mode, the USB drive is not only unavailable through File Explorer on the computer, it also is unavailable on the Key 37 itself. I see what appears to be a connected drive (an item with the same icon as the SD Card), but it is not browsable (or appears to be empty, depending on how you look at it, I guess). When I unplug the USB Drive, that item does not disappear.

I note that in Controller Mode, the OS appears to revert from 3.x to 2.x, which I guess makes some kind of sense since the desktop software is still 2.x. Until I open the desktop software the Key 37 screen shows "searching for computer"; once the desktop software is opened, the Key 37 screen displays 2.x menus normally. I don't recall whether this was the same behavior with my Live on 2.x as I only ever used Controller Mode to export exploded tracks coverted-to-sequence from Song Mode.
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By quietizkept Wed May 28, 2025 5:43 pm
Mine does the exact same thing. All that port will do in CM is provide power. Also, the assignable footswitch won't work in CM either (all working great in standalone).
By GeoffZ Wed May 28, 2025 5:53 pm
I should clarify, I'm talking about the USB-A port (the rectangle), not the USB-B port (the squarish). I'm using a standard USB-A "thumb drive." So I connect to the computer with the USB-B, of course, and then I should be able to see any drives connected to the Key 37, in my case both the SD Card and the USB-A Drive, but I only see the SD Card.
By GeoffZ Wed May 28, 2025 6:44 pm
I never had a problem with the Live with both SD Card and SSD attached. It's possible there's something different about the Key 37's design but the concept is the same so I wouldn't expect it to behave differently.
By J.O.BEATS Wed May 28, 2025 7:28 pm
I have a live OG and it doesn’t have this issue. I went through 3 different One+ that all did the same thing. Makes sense that the key 37 would do the same since it’s just a One+ with keys
By GeoffZ Wed May 28, 2025 8:49 pm
I don't really know enough of the technical distinctions between the models, I've just thought of the Live as being exactly the same as the One, but with a battery and different physical layout, and the Live II as a Live with a speaker and additional Ins/Outs, etc. Maybe there's something fundamentally different about the various models that I'm unaware of. But it sounds as if there is maybe something architecturally that prevents the USB Drive from being seen in CM on the Key 37 and One+.

When I remove the SD Card and connect in CM, then open MPC desktop, I see on the Key 37 both slots, but they're both empty (SD slot is empty now just like what I suspected was the USB Drive, as is the USB Drive). I'll try rebooting the PC and see if that makes a difference.
By GeoffZ Wed May 28, 2025 9:00 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:You don't need the drivers for the disk to be seen as a removable drive by your computer.

So the SD card shows when connected to your computer, only the USB disk is not showing? Are they both formatted the same (e.g. exFAT etc)?

Could be a glitch, have you rebooted your computer?



Yes, both are formatted exFAT. PC reboot didn't do anything. This is very curious.
By GeoffZ Wed May 28, 2025 9:02 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:MPC One,/One+ and Key37 are USB2 while the others are USB 3, could be related. I (mostly) resolved intermittent disk connection issues with my MPC One by using a different USB cable, the older cable allowed controller mode to function but often refused to see my SD card.


I see, maybe I can find a cable that will make it work. It's not the worst thing in the world, but occasionally it's an annoying inconvenience.