zip's, OS-X, and formatting Drop Some Knowledge PLS.

Hey all,

The new XL im getting to replace my stolen XL doesnt have a CF reader like my old MCD had, it comes with a external ZIP drive.

Now comes the question: Can mac OS-X write/read to a zip disk formatted on the mpc? or do i have to format to fat16?

if i have to format to fat16, can a mac format a zip to fat16? ive never tryed before.

and yes i did search, but good god it brings up a shit load of topics, i sorted threw them for an hour, but i was wondering if someone could bless me with the knowledge.

Peace,

Rob

*EDIT: my freind found a internal zip drive and like 30 disks in his closet from his old g3 tower, he says its an IDE drive. The model number is Z100ATAPI ZIP. im going to guess this is compatible with the XL correct? its free, but im asking cuz i wont see it till monday*

anyone??

Rob

I don't use macs, but I would guess that you have to format it it fat16. On my pc, I format my zips for my external drive in fat. I just ordered an internal card reader off a popular auction site. As soon as I get my IDE cable, I am going to install it in the 2kxl. I hear that is the way to go.

i dont know if it works for zips. But, i format floppy disks on my 2000. Then, using an external floppy drive, i can load wav files from my macbook to the floppies.

tthanks for the input guys.

anyone else, someone else on here has to use a mac and had to format a zip before right?

come on, anyone?

The mpc isnt here yet, it was shipped from the west coast on monday, and im picking up a usb zip drive for my ibook so i can format all the zip disks i got from my moms IT guy at work. He gave me a paper box full of them, like 100 easy. i want to format a stack of them before the mpc lands.

Peace,

Rob

I've never had a need to use my external zip drive since the MCD works so much better, but I'm going to assume that the formatting system is the same whether you're using ZIP or CF/SD. Mac's can format as fat16 but OSX adds some weirdness to the file structure. If you want to be safe, don't make folders deeper than 1 level in to ROOT. You can have folders for drums, bass, etc. but don't put folders inside of those or the MPC will have a hard time navigating out of them with the cursor keys. Try formatting the disks on the MPC first and then if that doesn't work, use the mac fat16 formatting. I honestly haven't had much luck transferring files back and forth with OSX so I just use XP instead.

I do it all the time. I format Zips on my 2k Classic, then pop the disk in my g4 to dump samples onto it. I've never had any problems putting samples on to it, but I've tried to copy programs FROM the zip to my mac in the hopes of burning a backup CD and run into problems. But you should be fine the other way around.

-PP