By Mekishiko
Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:11 am
This forum rocks, rather than ask questions that had been answered 50 times, I simply used the search feature, and took the time to read. (Albeit a lot of time) I did notice that there isn't a complete Compatibility guide as far as what Flash drives work with the MPC (I did find some info but as with most information regarding the MPC2000XL it was 5 years old!)
Before I get started I would like to propose a Sticky: Which contains a list, with purchase links, to Compatible hardware. On with the walk through!
MPC2000XL COMPACT FLASH UPGRADE/MOD GUIDE
This is a walk through on installing a Compact Flash Drive in your MPC2000XL (Not Hot Swappable) but this is the cheapest, and easiest way to get rid of that horrible floppy drive.
-I bought this CF to IDE Bridge: Addonics ADIDECFB
Purchased from Provantage for 26$: http://www.provantage.com/addonics-adidecfb~7ADDO18R.htm
(This one is the same as the Beige one but the Beige ones are not in stock, hrrmm I wonder why!) If you can find an ATAPI compliant CF-to-IDE adapter then your CF cards will be Hot Swappable! So if you find one let us know!
-When it comes in the box you have to Remove the Device from the PC-Back Rail. Save the 2 screws.
-Now dig in the box and find the 3.5" Drive Bracket, and a little bag that has 2 more screws.
-Use the 4 Screws to install the device in the 3.5" bracket. (If you want it to match now would be a great time to spray paint the Drive tray Beige)
-Before you open your MPC Update your firmware to 1.2 by simply unzipping the file, and copying it on a formatted floppy. (Firmware located here: http://www.akaipro.com/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/1922
-Boot up your MPC, put your floppy in the MPC drive, and hit SHIFT+LOAD select the floppy, and load the firmware file, it will warn you that it's going to refresh the memory so your going to lose any work in RAM. Click DO IT and let the magic happen. (THis should only take about 3 minutes)
-When it is completed it will give you a message "The OS Upgrade is done" or something similar, and it will tell you to power down the MPC, so power it down.
-Boot the MPC back up and press SHIFT+OTHER and then press VER.(F3) to verify your firmware is now OPERATING SYSTEM 1.2 JUL. 15, 2004
-After you verified the OS version, turn the MPC off, unplug all the wires, and flip it over on your lap. Unscrew the 13 screws that hold the base plate on, and the 2 screws that are in the back of the floppy drive (they are identifiable because they are in the recessed groove right under the floppy drive)
-Keep the Screws Safe! and remove the bottom and place it aside.
-Now Gently Unplug the Power, and Flat RIbbon cable from the back of the floppy drive, then remove the 2 screws holding the drive in place. Save those Screws, and slide the floppy drive out of the machine.
-Use Diagonal Pliers (Wire Cutters) to CAREFULLY cut the Zip tie that is holding the Floppy cable/Wire bundle together.
-Push the 2 black levers on the end of the cable that is plugged into the motherboard, the ribbon cable should now easily slide out, put that away you no longer need it.
-If you use a different CF-ide-device you may have to modify the power cable, it's very easy, Snip the wires, then find a 4pin Molex Plug on a regular PC power supply and clip it off with about 4" of wire lenght, Slip 2 peices of heat shrink tubing over the RED/BLACk cut wires, Totally remove the YELLOW/BLACK wires. (We only need the 5v) Connect the RED to RED and BLACk to BLACK on the MPC Wire harness, Solder them, and then use a heatgun/lighter to activate the heatshrink to cover the Soldered connections.
Pictures can be found here thanks to dj dcypher (although he uses electrical tape) but you get the idea:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/dcypher11111/powersupplymod.jpg
-Now, the Addonics drive that I used was missing the 4 standard screw holes at the bottom of the 3.5" tray, so what you have to do is Slide the drive in as if you were going to install it, Line it up so it's flush with the plastic bezel of the MPC, and then Use a permanent Marker to Mark where the 2 Front Screw Holes need to be drilled.
-REMOVE THE DRIVE, put the MPC down somewhere where Metal bits won't jump into it. Now drill those 2 holes out with a very small bit (As close to the screw size which we removed earlier) then try to force the screws into the holes in one attempt, this will tap the holes with the thread required. (Don't worry if you strip the screw threads, they are standard Floppy or CDROM style screws.) I simply used some Corse threaded machine screws so they''de grip better. Use what you want. (Make sure the head fits through the frame of the MPC so you can tighten them down!)
-Now grab the MPC, and slide the Drive in, before you screw it down CONNECT THE POWER AND THE 40pin IDE Cable to the Drive. (You'll need to find an Older IDE Cable that doesn't have the "Key" pin blocked out)
-Now Screw down your Drive with the 2 holes you just drilled.
-Connect the 40pin IDE cable to the Motherboards IDE controller (it's the 40 pin plug right next to the Floppy controller)
-Before you Screw everything back together, Flip it over gently, making sure not to touch any internals or lay it on anything, and plug in the power cable.
-Get a CompactFlash card, throw it in your Desktop Computer, Format it, Throw some Sound files on it, then put it in your MPC
-Boot up your MPC with the CompactFlash card in the drive, it should autodetect the drive, and sound files, and load them up. If not just press SHIFT+LOAD and use the arrows to go to the DEVICE field and use the wheel to select ATAPI then load up your sounds. After you verify it works, turn it off, unplug the power, and Screw the base plate back on.
WOOHOO! Done!
This should take you about 30 minutes, less if you have taken the MPC2000XL apart before and know your way around the device.
Good Luck!
-Mekishiko
Before I get started I would like to propose a Sticky: Which contains a list, with purchase links, to Compatible hardware. On with the walk through!
MPC2000XL COMPACT FLASH UPGRADE/MOD GUIDE
This is a walk through on installing a Compact Flash Drive in your MPC2000XL (Not Hot Swappable) but this is the cheapest, and easiest way to get rid of that horrible floppy drive.
-I bought this CF to IDE Bridge: Addonics ADIDECFB
Purchased from Provantage for 26$: http://www.provantage.com/addonics-adidecfb~7ADDO18R.htm
(This one is the same as the Beige one but the Beige ones are not in stock, hrrmm I wonder why!) If you can find an ATAPI compliant CF-to-IDE adapter then your CF cards will be Hot Swappable! So if you find one let us know!
-When it comes in the box you have to Remove the Device from the PC-Back Rail. Save the 2 screws.
-Now dig in the box and find the 3.5" Drive Bracket, and a little bag that has 2 more screws.
-Use the 4 Screws to install the device in the 3.5" bracket. (If you want it to match now would be a great time to spray paint the Drive tray Beige)
-Before you open your MPC Update your firmware to 1.2 by simply unzipping the file, and copying it on a formatted floppy. (Firmware located here: http://www.akaipro.com/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/1922
-Boot up your MPC, put your floppy in the MPC drive, and hit SHIFT+LOAD select the floppy, and load the firmware file, it will warn you that it's going to refresh the memory so your going to lose any work in RAM. Click DO IT and let the magic happen. (THis should only take about 3 minutes)
-When it is completed it will give you a message "The OS Upgrade is done" or something similar, and it will tell you to power down the MPC, so power it down.
-Boot the MPC back up and press SHIFT+OTHER and then press VER.(F3) to verify your firmware is now OPERATING SYSTEM 1.2 JUL. 15, 2004
-After you verified the OS version, turn the MPC off, unplug all the wires, and flip it over on your lap. Unscrew the 13 screws that hold the base plate on, and the 2 screws that are in the back of the floppy drive (they are identifiable because they are in the recessed groove right under the floppy drive)
-Keep the Screws Safe! and remove the bottom and place it aside.
-Now Gently Unplug the Power, and Flat RIbbon cable from the back of the floppy drive, then remove the 2 screws holding the drive in place. Save those Screws, and slide the floppy drive out of the machine.
-Use Diagonal Pliers (Wire Cutters) to CAREFULLY cut the Zip tie that is holding the Floppy cable/Wire bundle together.
-Push the 2 black levers on the end of the cable that is plugged into the motherboard, the ribbon cable should now easily slide out, put that away you no longer need it.
-If you use a different CF-ide-device you may have to modify the power cable, it's very easy, Snip the wires, then find a 4pin Molex Plug on a regular PC power supply and clip it off with about 4" of wire lenght, Slip 2 peices of heat shrink tubing over the RED/BLACk cut wires, Totally remove the YELLOW/BLACK wires. (We only need the 5v) Connect the RED to RED and BLACk to BLACK on the MPC Wire harness, Solder them, and then use a heatgun/lighter to activate the heatshrink to cover the Soldered connections.
Pictures can be found here thanks to dj dcypher (although he uses electrical tape) but you get the idea:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/dcypher11111/powersupplymod.jpg
-Now, the Addonics drive that I used was missing the 4 standard screw holes at the bottom of the 3.5" tray, so what you have to do is Slide the drive in as if you were going to install it, Line it up so it's flush with the plastic bezel of the MPC, and then Use a permanent Marker to Mark where the 2 Front Screw Holes need to be drilled.
-REMOVE THE DRIVE, put the MPC down somewhere where Metal bits won't jump into it. Now drill those 2 holes out with a very small bit (As close to the screw size which we removed earlier) then try to force the screws into the holes in one attempt, this will tap the holes with the thread required. (Don't worry if you strip the screw threads, they are standard Floppy or CDROM style screws.) I simply used some Corse threaded machine screws so they''de grip better. Use what you want. (Make sure the head fits through the frame of the MPC so you can tighten them down!)
-Now grab the MPC, and slide the Drive in, before you screw it down CONNECT THE POWER AND THE 40pin IDE Cable to the Drive. (You'll need to find an Older IDE Cable that doesn't have the "Key" pin blocked out)
-Now Screw down your Drive with the 2 holes you just drilled.
-Connect the 40pin IDE cable to the Motherboards IDE controller (it's the 40 pin plug right next to the Floppy controller)
-Before you Screw everything back together, Flip it over gently, making sure not to touch any internals or lay it on anything, and plug in the power cable.
-Get a CompactFlash card, throw it in your Desktop Computer, Format it, Throw some Sound files on it, then put it in your MPC
-Boot up your MPC with the CompactFlash card in the drive, it should autodetect the drive, and sound files, and load them up. If not just press SHIFT+LOAD and use the arrows to go to the DEVICE field and use the wheel to select ATAPI then load up your sounds. After you verify it works, turn it off, unplug the power, and Screw the base plate back on.
WOOHOO! Done!
This should take you about 30 minutes, less if you have taken the MPC2000XL apart before and know your way around the device.
Good Luck!
-Mekishiko
cool!! Thank you much!! I`m right about to purchase a 2000xl in which I`m going to swap the FDD for some CF-Reader. Too pity I can`t find any internal IDE CF-readers in Russia... 
