MESA PC

Q) New MESA 2 PC version released

A) The latest version of MESA for PC has been released in October 2001. You can download it for free from AKAI's web site (click on "support" then select "MESA" form drop down list). More fixes have been implemented plus DPS support but the clicking problem on the right channel when xferring stereo samples still seems to affect some users together with the "corrupt loop" problem.

Q) How do I install MESA 2 PC?
Q) Are there any precautions before installing MESA for PC?
Q) Are there *still* any bugs?

A) Once you have downloaded the zip file from AKAI's web page, move it to a temporary directory and unzip it. Before you launch the mesa2pc.exe be absolutely *certain* that you have quit all running apps or the installer will fail to "self register" the dlls in your registry and MESA will not find them when you launch it (empty dialog screen)!- this applies to also the transparent ones. To be sure that there are no resident apps running press ctrl+alt+del once and the task manager will pop-up; now terminate all the active apps except for the EXPLORER and SYSTRAY. Once checked that these two are the only active apps left you can launch mesa2pc.exe and the setup will commence. BTW, there is no need to uninstall your MESA PC Beta version, as MESA Final will reside in it's own directory and can coexist with no problems. Also, MESA Final stores it's own dlls and ocxs under it's install directory and not under \system making it a more sensible install. As you should have noticed by the installer txt window, MESA Final is not shipped with MSVCRT and MFC42.DLL so it will rely on the ones you have under your system dir - this can cause problems (as usual) depending on the version you have installed. I have had no problems whatsoever with these two dlls: MSVCRT.DLL - 271.632 - 23/01/98 and MFC42.DLL - 954.640. You can d/l these two dlls also from AKAI's MESA D/L site or from Microsoft itself by searching for a mfc42.exe autoextracting file. The good news is, it doesn't touch any of your existing dlls, ocxs and vxds. One common bug(ger) that I've noticed is that when transferring stereo samples from PC to AKAI it sometimes inserts clicks in the right channel. To overcome this you can try updating your aspi files by d/l the aspi32.exe file from Adaptec's ftp or site. Unfortunately this does not always solve the problem - you can also try using MESA with another video driver or changing colours depth. If you have any bugs to report, as usual mail me and I'll make a list on this page or try to find a workaround (time permitting;).

Q) Is there anything better than MESA PC?

A) Well, even if MESA PC is still not very stable, it does bring nearly all the AKAI's tweakable parameters on your PC's screen. Still, most of us use MESA just to have the capability to transfer samples to and from our PC and AKAI; I personally still like working on my 3000XL's front LCD rather than messing with my mouse onscreen! Ofcourse, this is not the case if you have an s2000 but... Anyway, I suggest everyong to get hold of Millenium - a very compact, more stable and faster MESA type program made by Jan, an AKAI List member. Try it out and see for yourself!

Q) I'm a MAC user and after I installed the new MAC version MESA won't see my sampler anymore!
Q) I have a MAC and an older non XL series and the new MESA for MAC won't see it!

A) AKAI has changed the MESA SCSI Plugin and "standardized it" according to ASPI specifics. This means that the scanning of your SCSI bus will not bring to any AKAI targeting, as the negotiation process if different and not compatible with ASPI. All you need to do is update your AKAI's OS to version 2.0 if your sampler is an s2000, 3000XL and 3200XL (no other model) in order to make your AKAI respond correctly to the negotiation phase - similarly to what needs to be done with MESA for PC. If you have an older AKAI 's' series then you need to replace the new MESA SCSI plugin instead as there is no OS update for your type sampler for this problem. Simply replace the new MESA SCSI plugin in the MESA plugins folder with the one you had before with the old MESA1 or MESA2. If you don't have it get them here: MESA 1 SCSI Plug / MESA 2.1 SCSI Plug (compressed with stuff it expander).

Q) How can I convert AKAI samples to PC/DOS format and vice versa?

A) Use MESA PC and load them directly onto your PC's HD from your AKAI's memory!

Q) How can I read an AKAI formatted Floppy Disk without MESA?
Q) Is there any program for PC around that reads AKAI data?

A) Apart from MESA PC, there is available from the net (the link is on my AKAI page) a little DOS utility called ADISK. This program runs under DOS (it's not recommended under windows95 DOS prompt - there are some problems) and reads/writes an AKAI formatted floppy on your PC. You can convert a .WAV file in an AKAI SAMPLE and viceversa. This utility only works for AKAI 3.5" HD diskettes, nothing else. There are quite a few other projects for reading AKAI MEDIA directly (CDROMs, ZIPs, any storage media) under development so keep your eyes open for these nice little utils as they will start appearing very soon!

Q) How can I read my AKAI formatted HD with my PC?
Q) How can I read an AKAI CD-ROM with my PC?
Q) How can I read my AKAI formatted ZIP DISK on my PC?

A) Again, with MESA PC!. N.B. MESA PC reads AKAI formatted media but does not yet transfer the data directly from the AKAI media to your DOS Hard Disk or other storage devices. To accomplish this you must first load the data into the AKAI memory and then transfer it to your local drive (DOS formatted HD).