mpc2000xl

I just got an mpc2000xl off ebay.

I tried to add another 16 megs of memory. Somehow my data wheel stopped working after i put it back together. cost me $280 to fix it at a company called ABL (felt like i was physically violated for that price) Data wheel works now. I Thought maybe i screwed something up by opening up the mpc. So i Dont want to try that again. Well heres my problem

1: I just got a 250mg zip drive off ebay and the mpc doesnt seem to read the copied audio beats on the zip disk i made. ( when i hook the zip drive back up to my puter and put in the copied zip disk the beats show up on my puter but not on my mpc.

2: when i load the akai mpc2000xl standard set 3.5 floppy disk of audio beats into my mpc (atleast that seems to work properly) but when i get ready to sample something. it says i only have like 2.9 seconds of sampling time left. Ok im confused. shouldnt i have wayyyy more time to sample something. before i load the 3.5 floppy it says i have 10.0 seconds left. I have tried to change it with the data wheel but it only decreases the time.

Someone told me about the usb setup after i purchased this mpc and zip drive.( wish i had known before, but its too late now) Im just trying to get this up and running with what i have. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

I have never used an mpc before, so this is definitely the deep end for me.

Someone suggested i format the zip disk with my mpc, but when i do it, it just says No Disk.

Thanks

Ok. i did some more research and found out that i have the parallel zip drive that wont work on the mpc2000xl. Yep. i saw the pic and compared it with my zip drive.

as far as your sampling time issue, if i understand you correctly then you have installed an extra 16 mb? Do you mean one stick of ram?

Quick test - turn the mpc on, go to sample (shift + 4), cursor over to the time field and hit the open window button. It'll tell you how much memory the mpc is seeing right now.

What did you put in for the ram exactly?

Thanks for the reply..

Yes i attempted to install another 16 megs. (1 stick) there was already one stick in there when i opened it. The previous owner said he installed the first 16megs.

I did exactly what you said alittle earlier before the post and it said i had only 10.9 seconds of free time remaining in stereo and 21.9 in mono. My friend looked in his manual and it says these are the times for non-expanded memory.

Im confused and scared to open the mpc.

I tried to install the extra 16 megs when i first got it and i got a flashing blue screen at first. I quickly re-installed the memory stick and the mpc started up correctly, but then my data wheel stopped working as i explained before. It might be easy to install the memory sticks, but i cant afford to mess something else up by opening up the mpc.

What do you think the problem could be.

I was wondering if maybe the first shop i took it to could have possibly removed my memory sticks ?

I dont know. Just grasping at straws.

Thats why I asked to check what the mpc actually tells you it is seeing memory wise....

If you go to shift+4 (sample), then to the time field and then hit open window, it will tell you at the bottom how much memory it is seeing...mine actually says "32 mb memory installed" etc

I can't see what you could have messed up in just taking the top cover off the mpc and installing a memory stick or two, unless you did so while wearing a wool robe and rubbing your feet on the floor (i mean static here of course) but that really would be the best thing to do right now. Take the top cover off the mpc, pop out the ram and see what it is. That's step one. If you don't even have the correct type of ram, there's nothing else to troubleshoot.

DJ Six wrote:Take the top cover off the mpc, pop out the ram and see what it is.

Bottom cover in that case would be sufficient

Thanks for replying.

I personally didnt think i could mess anything up either by opening the mpc up and adding memory. Atleast that was before i had to shell out the nearly $300 cash to replace the data wheel encoder.

Which i think i broke when i opened it up the first time. Even though i touched metal before opening the mpc. I thought that possibly the static electricity ruined the data wheel encoder. My place is carpeted throughout.

I bought 32megs(2 memory sticks) on ebay, but only used one, cause there was already one memory stick in the mpc.

Looking at the unused memory stick it only says:

Powmem 710
Assy in usa

im trying to narrow down the reasons why i have 2 memory sticks installed in mpc, but its showing that i dont have any memory sticks installed?

Thought i installed the sticks wrong but someone said the mpc wouldnt come on. Infact

The first time i installed the memory and turned it on. The screen started flashing a blue screen. I quickly re installed the memory stick which wasnt seated properly.

ohmygod....280....mine is also crashed,hope they won`t let me pay that much for repairing....

yep! $280. I took it to a company called ABL. Quick turnaround, but too expensive for a $12 part. I still feel violated everytime i think about it. Thats why im so paranoid to open up my mpc again.

Maxillaa wrote:ohmygod....280....mine is also crashed,hope they won`t let me pay that much for repairing....

Buy a new one then and keep the other one for spare parts.

By the way, by charging $280 to exchange the data wheel, they either ripped you off completely, or are totally incompetent when it comes to repairing gear like this. I mean, if they already know which part is broken...

a new one....oooohmygoood....
I know I shouldn`t been bangin`her so hard...


that`s what I`ll do,maybe a xl....

thoughtmanifest wrote:Thanks for replying.

I personally didnt think i could mess anything up either by opening the mpc up and adding memory. Atleast that was before i had to shell out the nearly $300 cash to replace the data wheel encoder.

Which i think i broke when i opened it up the first time. Even though i touched metal before opening the mpc. I thought that possibly the static electricity ruined the data wheel encoder. My place is carpeted throughout.

I bought 32megs(2 memory sticks) on ebay, but only used one, cause there was already one memory stick in the mpc.

Looking at the unused memory stick it only says:

Powmem 710
Assy in usa

im trying to narrow down the reasons why i have 2 memory sticks installed in mpc, but its showing that i dont have any memory sticks installed?

Thought i installed the sticks wrong but someone said the mpc wouldnt come on. Infact

The first time i installed the memory and turned it on. The screen started flashing a blue screen. I quickly re installed the memory stick which wasnt seated properly.

Shoulda told us about the eBay thing earlier. The RAM must be matching -- in other words, if you put in two different sticks of 16MB, it will only read the first. You need to take both of the new ones from eBay and it should read as 32MB. And it would help if you told us what the "Shift+4, Window" screen said, kinda surprised you didn't do that in your first response.

$280? that's **** up man, people'll get over on u if they can. life lesson learned.

Lord jesus, 280 for a data wheel??! I replaced it my self without knowning shit about how to do it.

Unfortunately my friend, your life alongside the 2kxl requires your hands to get dirty. If you're not ready to open it up, then you sure gonna spend a shitload of money on repairs.

Anyway, the best thing about these machines is not their sound/capabilities but rather the fact that they were built like a tank, meaning that they can stand any form of physical abusion by us which in turn means that unless you **** up seriously, you don't need to hit a service store that often. However, I say this again: unless you ready to open it up again yourself, you're gonna have serious issues in the future.