I can't read floppy disks on WIN XP floppy drive.....help!!

Can someone here please break down the facts about formatting floppy disks for MPC-60? I'd appreciate it and i'm sure others will as well.

I've tried formatting the floppy in win XP but then the MPC won't read it. I'm aware of the difference between FAT and NTFS. I'm also aware of the MPC's ability to only read 720kb formatted disks. WIN XP won't read MPC disks once they're formatted on the MPC and i'm trying to figure out whether or not the MPC editor will allow me to work around this in some way? I'm aware that the MPC-60 II is reading MPC-3000 saved .SND files from disk. Is that right?

I don't have double density disks either. I heard from an extremely reliable source that double density aren't necessary. You can simply format a HiDensity disk down to 720kb on your cpu and it's the same thing as double density in theory.

I'm about to install the 3.10 OS upgrade and i'm afraid that i won't be able to edit samples ever again...........

THANKS GUYS!!!

peace-

DRUMAT!C

Your source is wrong. Get DD/DS 720k disks.

The MPC may read 3000 snd but not pgm.

Yes forget your reliable source. The 60 will read HD disks but by doing that you are saying I want to shell out over $100 bux for a new floppy. If you dont care about your floppy dirve then go ahead. Buy only DD disks and your MPC 60 will thank you. I have been testing alternate floppy drives to be modified for use with the 60. A service im supplying for those who insist on using HD disks lol.

I cant help you with your other problem. Win 98 here. Elmacaco I thought it read both? The MPC Editor creates MPC3000 pgm files right? I tried the demo and made some PGM files that transferred to the 60 without flaw. Whats the word?

with 3.10 OS yes, he still has the old OS.

I did say may...I don't know.

no i'm using 3.10 os. just installed it last night. i need ram upgrade. any leads for that? HD disks burn out the floppy? I don't get it. I've been using HD and they have worked just fine.

DRUMAT!C

And it's true that HD and DD are basically the same. HD is just double the capacity. Other than that there are no differences. It's what i'm told.

DRUMAT!C

This has been a highly debated subject on this board and many others. If you search through the archives you will find plenty of info on the subject. What I will say on the subject is... All DD floppy drives are not created equal. A lot of MPC users are using HD disks. As you can see..... a lot of peoples drives are failing too. DD disks are cheap and can be found with relative ease if you are actually looking.

drumat!c wrote:And it's true that HD and DD are basically the same. HD is just double the capacity. Other than that there are no differences. It's what i'm told.

DRUMAT!C

Then they are not the SAME. Why don't you do the homework and see for yourself if they are the same. Take a trip to your local PC store and LOOK at them and check for any differences in the specs on the label.

I got 100 DD Floppies for $20 off of ebay. Unused and sealed.

They are not the same, don't do it bro, we tell you because we care.

Those in the know, know. The people who use HD are taking a big risk with very bad odds.

I think mpc3000 expained it (it may be on midicase.com) I think it is something to do with the depth of the write and read beam that will cause flakey data.

"Other than that there are no differences. It's what i'm told. "

I hope that was not the same `source`.

I will confirn what the other's here say. Use only DD disks if you really appreciate your 60's floppy drive.

It's true though. The DD and HD's are the same with the exception of their precision plastic parts and capacity. If you take a DD, punch a hole in the top left corner, walah you have yourself a HD floppy minus the capacity of 720kb.

Regardless of what has been said. I have taken all your words for it as you are experienced MPC users. I ordered 50 DD floppies from Ebay for 15.00.

Lastly. I recently received an old Pentium I 200mhz, 64mb ram, 4.3 gigabyte HD, internal 100mb zip drive, running Win 98. My friend works in a computer shop fixing PC's for a living and got me one for free. **If anybody needs an old cpu contact me and I can probably get you one for a fairly inexpensive price. Anyhow. I couldn't get the CPU to read the floppies but that's probably because it's an HD formatted disk. I'll wait to get the DD drive and the DD floppies. Maybe things will change. I managed to get the ZIP DRIVE to read my MPC formatted zip disk and it works great. I can even listen to the MPC's .SND files. Windows 98 is cool.

Thanks for all your help guys.

PEACE-1

The disks are expecting and designed to work with a specific type of writing signal (radiation?) from the drives. The hd disks don't hold DD data as well as a DD disk will. What you stated isn't true if you go a bit deeper. I'm glad you got the other disk.

Use MPC formatted floppies and you will be good on 98.

For Zips I have my main disk which only see's the MPC zip drive, and a shuttle disk that I use to save editor programs onto and then load into the MPC, then save to the main disk.

put a peice of tape over the right square notch hole thing on the floppy
this will trick the mpc and computer think its single sided...

That does work but it causes damage to your disk drive over time.

Better to just get DD disks

I'm having a similar dilemma - can't seem to transfer frpm OSX/XP or Win98 to the MPC.

I need DD 720 disks right? And do these work in a "normal" floppy drive? or do I need to shell out for a new drive?