Akai MPC 2000xl - Manual (Page 19)

Page 8
Chapter 1: Introduction
Taking care of your Disks
Floppy disks contain valuable sound data and, as such, should be treated with extreme care. Please observe
the following points, therefore:
1. Never slide the metal cover back and touch the disk. Finger marks may render the disk unreadable.
2. Don’t leave the disk in the drive whenever possible. When the disk is in the drive, the metal protective
cover slides back exposing the actual disk inside and this makes the disk susceptible to picking up dust
which may cause read errors.
3. Do not leave your disks in a hot car.
4. Do not place your disks next to any magnetic sources such as speakers, amplifiers, televisions, etc..
Also, try to avoid X-ray machines. At airports, it is sometimes possible to ask for your disks to be in-
spected by hand at security desks but, with the added security at airports these days, this may not be
possible. Always check with the security officer though, just in case. Security X-ray machines are gener-
ally safe with disks, though. If in doubt, make backup copies which should be left at home.
Note: Some checked-in luggage is X-rayed by quite powerful machines that are not as safe as those
that check hand luggage. It is probably best to take your disks as hand luggage.
5. Do not leave your disks around when drinking liquids - one accidental spillage could ruin a lot of work!
6. Always use high quality disks. Whilst cheap ones may be appealing, they are prone to errors more than
good ones.
7. Try to ensure that the write protect tab is switched on (i.e. the tab does not block the hole). This will
prevent accidental erasure, formatting and loss of data. It may be a nuisance to try to write to the disk
and find it write protected but it is less of a nuisance than accidentally over-writing a set of your favourite
samples and programs!
8. Try to get into the habit of labelling your disks - it will pay dividends in the end when you are searching
for something.
9. Invest in a sturdy carrying case for your floppies especially if you are a gigging musician. Heavy duty
metal camera cases are ideal and some flight case manufacturers now make special heavy duty disk
flightcases.
10. Even if you are using a hard disk of any sort, please make sure you have backed up your work to floppy
disks. It can be time consuming but it will be worth it if you ever have a problem with your hard disk!
Handling Floppy Disks
The Disk Drive
The 3.5 inch floppy disk drive will accept high density and low density disks.
Disks are inserted into the drive thus:
The label should be facing upwards when it is in-
serted (actually, it is physically impossible to insert
disks the wrong way round without using an extreme
amount of brute force!).
To eject the disk, simply press the DISK EJECT but-
ton. When a disk is loading, saving or formatting, the
DISK ACTIVITY LED will be lit. Never eject a disk
while the DISK ACTIVITY LED is lit.
As a result, it is vital that you save your work to disk
before turning the power off otherwise you will lose
your work and, unless previously saved or backed
up, it will be gone for ever. In fact, it is a good idea to
regularly save your work as you are working. All good computer users do this and it prevents the accidental
loss of data should power be accidentally removed from the instrument. This also serves as a form of ‘undo’
- if you make some kind of mistake in your programming and editing and can’t fix it, you can load the last level
of editing back into the unit. It may be a bit tedious to keep stopping every now and then to save your work but
it is better than losing some valuable sounds.
DISK EJECT BUTTON DISK ACTIVITY LED
HIGH DENSITY
DETECTION TAB WRITE PROTECT TAB