Akai S900 and Prophet 2000 files on Oberheim DPX-1

[siliconscientist]

Today I have two questions to fellow DPX-1/HxC owners...

1. Has anybody ever managed to load Akai S900 image files into the Oberheim DPX-1? I have tried it with a few files I've found on the internet and also with the files found in the QuickInstall ZIP file, but my DPX-1 just seems to read the first track of the disk, displays "A9" for a short time and then "dE" for disk error.

2. Some years ago the ".p2k" file format for Prophet 2000 images has been discussed. Has anybody found a way to convert these files to HxC images without having to buy a real Prophet 2000 with an HxC fitted? A few years ago this seemed to be the only way to get these files onto an SD card...

Maybe someone can help - thanks a lot!!!

[Jeff]

Today I have two questions to fellow DPX-1/HxC owners...

1. Has anybody ever managed to load Akai S900 image files into the Oberheim DPX-1? I have tried it with a few files I've found on the internet and also with the files found in the QuickInstall ZIP file, but my DPX-1 just seems to read the first track of the disk, displays "A9" for a short time and then "dE" for disk error.

2. Some years ago the ".p2k" file format for Prophet 2000 images has been discussed. Has anybody found a way to convert these files to HxC images without having to buy a real Prophet 2000 with an HxC fitted? A few years ago this seemed to be the only way to get these files onto an SD card...

Maybe someone can help - thanks a lot!!!

1. How is connected the emulator ? To the 3"1/2 drive ribbon or the 5"1/4 drive ribbon ?

2. It seems that nobody have developed the needed tool yet.
EDIT : Maybe he has some ideas : http://users.skynet.be/emxp/P2K.htm

[siliconscientist]

1. The emulator is connected to the 3.5" drive ribbon. It reads .dpx, Ensoniq Mirage and Prophet 2000 disk images successfully (all converted to .hfe of course) - it only has problems with the Akai S900 disk images.

2. It seems that the .p2k files are sound files, not disk images - so that question doesn't belong here... The empty Prophet 2000 disk images from the QuickInstall package seem to have the "official" P2000 image file format and the DPX-1 reads those files from the HxC without problems.

[Jeff]

1. The emulator is connected to the 3.5" drive ribbon. It reads .dpx, Ensoniq Mirage and Prophet 2000 disk images successfully (all converted to .hfe of course) - it only has problems with the Akai S900 disk images.

Then you may have to set/fix the floppy emulator interface mode : Remove the SD Card, press select, select "Interface cfg" and try "Shugart".

2. It seems that the .p2k files are sound files, not disk images - so that question doesn't belong here... The empty Prophet 2000 disk images from the QuickInstall package seem to have the "official" P2000 image file format and the DPX-1 reads those files from the HxC without problems.

Yes i know. But i don't know if there is a tool able to create an p2k file image from a p2k sound file...

[siliconscientist]

Then you may have to set/fix the floppy emulator interface mode : Remove the SD Card, press select, select "Interface cfg" and try "Shugart".

I've tried this with the QuickInstall image files but with no success, the DPX-1 behaves like before: Short display of "A9" for S-900 file, then "dE" for disk error. I have also tried it with the HxC updated to the latest beta firmware (V1.8.6.14a) but this didn't change anything. This is strange...

[Jeff]

Are you trying to read S900 or S950 file images ?

[siliconscientist]

Are you trying to read S900 or S950 file images ?

S900.

[rotomtom]

Hi, maybe here you can find the solution to your S900 / DPX-1 / HxC problem: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1603&p=19662#p19662
Good luck!

[siliconscientist]

Thank you very much for the notification! Unfortunately this doesn't solve my problem... Your procedure seems to show how to read real S900 disks from a floppy drive and convert them to HFE format, is that right? My problem is that I can't get the DPX-1 to load disk images in Akai S900 format - those images are already on my PC. Disk images in the other formats (Prophet 2000, Ensoniq Mirage, DPX1 format - all converted to HFE of course) can be read without problems.

[the_key]

I have gotek usb drive fitted in 3.5 bay with oled screen and rotary dial but I’m sure you need 2.2 os rom so you can load Akai S900 files. Have you had a luck under the bonnet of the Dpx1?

[the_key]

Here is a post I’ve spotted indicating 2.2 os works with Akai S900


Postby White » Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:13 pm
That is indeed correct. I used to own one, version 2.2 and fully expanded (CD ROM interface, 8 outs). Lots of fun exploring sample libraries from the Akai S900, Emulator II, Ensoniq Mirage and Sequential Prophet 2000. You could even copy sounds on 5.25 disk onto 3.5 inch disk, an exclusive Oberheim format, this loaded sounds quicker. There was, I think, talk of a sampling upgrade that allowed you to sample, but it may never have happened. Don't quote me on this though as I could be mistaken.

I still have some software chips for it.
Duncan J. White + quite a few synths
http://www.myspace.com/stickman76590059
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[siliconscientist]

I have gotek usb drive fitted in 3.5 bay with oled screen and rotary dial but I’m sure you need 2.2 os rom so you can load Akai S900 files. Have you had a luck under the bonnet of the Dpx1?

Thanks for your reply! My DPX-1 has OS 2.2 and is able to read and copy S-900 disks using the 3.5" disk drive, so that's not the problem. The problem is that it can't read S-900 disk images from the HxC. It would be great if you could send me an S-900 disk image that works on your DPX-1, so that I could check if it works on mine, too...

[Jeff]

I have gotek usb drive fitted in 3.5 bay with oled screen and rotary dial but I’m sure you need 2.2 os rom so you can load Akai S900 files. Have you had a luck under the bonnet of the Dpx1?

Thanks for your reply! My DPX-1 has OS 2.2 and is able to read and copy S-900 disks using the 3.5" disk drive, so that's not the problem. The problem is that it can't read S-900 disk images from the HxC. It would be great if you could send me an S-900 disk image that works on your DPX-1, so that I could check if it works on mine, too...

As i already said : you may have to set/fix the floppy emulator interface mode : Remove the SD Card, press select, select "Interface cfg" and try "Shugart".

And also try this image :
https://hxc2001.com/vrac/test1.hfe

[siliconscientist]

As i already said : you may have to set/fix the floppy emulator interface mode : Remove the SD Card, press select, select "Interface cfg" and try "Shugart".

And also try this image :
https://hxc2001.com/vrac/test1.hfe

I have already tried the Shugart setting (see October 1st, 2018), the HxC even was still in Shugart mode today and reads the other formats with no problem, but it doesn't work with the S900 files. Unfortunately the "test1.hfe" image doesn't work as well - the DPX-1 doesn't recognise a file format and displays a "disk error" immediately. With the S900 img files I've converted to hfe it behaves differently: It reads one track, displays "S9" for S900 format and then stops with a "disk error". Here's one of the img files including the converted hfe file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DgsV4 ... c_O-lj5WxM. I have to say that I don't know if the file would work on a real S900 because I haven't got one, but I've downloaded a few img files from various websites and they all behave the same.

[brettb]

Did you ever get s900 files working? I have same unit with optional output board and version 2.2 OS. S900 files give error.