JUKE179r
Expert Crate Digger
I posted some vids on YouTube of me checking various SCSI drives on my 2KXL to see if they still worked. Also added some info about each of them.
MPC2000XL SCSI drive option #1 - Zip 100 Drive
The external Iomega Zip 100 Drive works pretty good. I've had two internal Zip drives (100 & 250) crap out on me in the past due to the "Click-of-Death". I'm glad I'm using a card reader now even though I now still have 40+ Zip discs. :|
As far as hooking this up, you have to use SCSI ID# 5 since the Zip drive only allows SCSI ID# 5 & 6 (the MPC uses #6 and causes a conflict).
Since this is a Zip100 drive, you cannot use Zip250 discs in it. I tried and it spits it right out.
MPC2000XL SCSI drive option #2 - 1Gb Jaz Drive
The external Iomega Jaz Drive works pretty good even though I have had only one 1Gb disk to work with. I haven't heard too many people having problems with the Jaz drives like the Zip Drive's "Click-of-Death".
The Jaz drives came in 1Gb and 2Gb models and had 8 SCSI ID's to choose to use.
MPC2000XL SCSI drive option #3 - MCDisk Drive
This is the MPL model #MS-MCDISK-HP/Rev.B PCMCIA drive (1994) with a 9VAC power adaptor (hard to find!).
The external MCDisk drive works extremely well and fast! If I had a choice to use this or a floppy/Zip/Jaz/Orb drive, I would definitely pick the MCDisk. It's quiet with no internal cooling fan, has faster load/save times and has less moving parts so no wear and tear since you use a compact flash card with it.
Luckily on this MCDisk, I can read and write to the card. Luckily on this MCDisk, I can read and write to the card. Some of the older SCSI card readers need firmware updates to do this or else it will "read only" from the flash cards and not save to it.
MPC2000XL SCSI drive option #4 - Microtech PCD-25
This is the Microtech model #DPA-SCSI-PC-SM, best known as the PCD-25 drive (1998).
This external SCSI drive works extremely well and fast with two slots (1 PC Card slot and 1 SmartMedia slot). Since it has the two slots, you have to use two SCSI ID#'s to use it. It has faster load/save times and has less moving parts since you use a Type II adapter for a Compact Flash (CF) card in the top slot and the SmartMedia (SM) card in the bottom slot.
On this unit, I can only read and write to the CF card and "read only" from the SM card. I tried searching for a firmware updates but can't find anything since these have stopped being produced in 2003.
MPC2000XL SCSI drive option #5 - DVD-Rom Drive
This is an internal HP DVD-ROM 305 drive housed in an APS external SCSI case.
This DVD drive works extremely well since it can read from CD's and DVD's. I just learned today that it can read the Computer Music (CM) 8GB sample DVD's that I get monthly.
The only 2 issues that I found is that (a) most sample CD/DVD's will not work if the samples are 24bit due to the 2KXL acknowledging 16bit or lower samples (the CM DVD's are mostly 24bit samples); (b) you can not write/save to DVD since this model is a DVD player not recorder.
MPC2000XL SCSI drive option #1 - Zip 100 Drive
The external Iomega Zip 100 Drive works pretty good. I've had two internal Zip drives (100 & 250) crap out on me in the past due to the "Click-of-Death". I'm glad I'm using a card reader now even though I now still have 40+ Zip discs. :|
As far as hooking this up, you have to use SCSI ID# 5 since the Zip drive only allows SCSI ID# 5 & 6 (the MPC uses #6 and causes a conflict).
Since this is a Zip100 drive, you cannot use Zip250 discs in it. I tried and it spits it right out.
MPC2000XL SCSI drive option #2 - 1Gb Jaz Drive
The external Iomega Jaz Drive works pretty good even though I have had only one 1Gb disk to work with. I haven't heard too many people having problems with the Jaz drives like the Zip Drive's "Click-of-Death".
The Jaz drives came in 1Gb and 2Gb models and had 8 SCSI ID's to choose to use.
MPC2000XL SCSI drive option #3 - MCDisk Drive
This is the MPL model #MS-MCDISK-HP/Rev.B PCMCIA drive (1994) with a 9VAC power adaptor (hard to find!).
The external MCDisk drive works extremely well and fast! If I had a choice to use this or a floppy/Zip/Jaz/Orb drive, I would definitely pick the MCDisk. It's quiet with no internal cooling fan, has faster load/save times and has less moving parts so no wear and tear since you use a compact flash card with it.
Luckily on this MCDisk, I can read and write to the card. Luckily on this MCDisk, I can read and write to the card. Some of the older SCSI card readers need firmware updates to do this or else it will "read only" from the flash cards and not save to it.
MPC2000XL SCSI drive option #4 - Microtech PCD-25
This is the Microtech model #DPA-SCSI-PC-SM, best known as the PCD-25 drive (1998).
This external SCSI drive works extremely well and fast with two slots (1 PC Card slot and 1 SmartMedia slot). Since it has the two slots, you have to use two SCSI ID#'s to use it. It has faster load/save times and has less moving parts since you use a Type II adapter for a Compact Flash (CF) card in the top slot and the SmartMedia (SM) card in the bottom slot.
On this unit, I can only read and write to the CF card and "read only" from the SM card. I tried searching for a firmware updates but can't find anything since these have stopped being produced in 2003.
MPC2000XL SCSI drive option #5 - DVD-Rom Drive
This is an internal HP DVD-ROM 305 drive housed in an APS external SCSI case.
This DVD drive works extremely well since it can read from CD's and DVD's. I just learned today that it can read the Computer Music (CM) 8GB sample DVD's that I get monthly.
The only 2 issues that I found is that (a) most sample CD/DVD's will not work if the samples are 24bit due to the 2KXL acknowledging 16bit or lower samples (the CM DVD's are mostly 24bit samples); (b) you can not write/save to DVD since this model is a DVD player not recorder.
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