I recently picked up a used 404 on ebay. I bought a 1gb transcend compact flash card on newegg that didn't work, then a sandisk 512mb on amazon that didn't work, then a sandisk ultra II 1gb on ebay that didn't work. each of these cards has been specifically singled out in various places as being reliable, but none of them have worked for me. When I try to boot up the 404 with a card inserted, it does nothing beyond displaying "SP-404" on the screen. So my question is-- should I keep throwing away money on expensive compact flash cards that probably won't work, or is there maybe something wrong with the 404 itself? How can I tell if it's the unit's fault and not the card's?

Did you try and reformat the card when it is inside the 404?

Well that's the thing, the machine doesn't boot up when I insert any of the cards I have before I turn it on-- just says "SP-404" and then freezes on the "404" until I turn it off or eject the card. None of the buttons do anything when the card is in, so I've never been able to format it. Without a card it seems to work fine.

Doesn't sound good sorry... Here are some thoughts though -

1- try formatting the card on computer.. doesn't seem likely, but maybe, just maybe that will help things out.

2- Give the card slot a good clearing out - maybe theres something in there blocking one of the pins.. blow it and try to get a wet (preferably from alcohol) cotton tip in there in case a dirty grime has built up on a / some pins. Try to shine a light in there and see if all the pins are still there! Maybe one broke off?


3- Have you tried reinstalling the operating system onto the 404? That is probably your only hope of correcting the issue.


If that wont work either (or you can't get far enough to do it), then I am guessing the person you got it from turned it off/fucked up the OS installation part way through and now it is stuck in limbo...


PS: One other thought - check that the power supply is 9V DC, and how many mA or A it puts out (the stock one is 1A (1000mA) i think, but the 404 could probably run on 6-700mA (0.7A).. lower than that maybe that is an issue.

I doubt it's the power supply. I sometimes use a 9v 300mah adapter from my zoom sampletrak with the 404 and I have no issues. I am not suggesting using a lower power adapter, but I can verify that it does work fine.

The OS works fine when there's no card inserted. It's just when I put a card in before turning it on that the screen does nothing beyond saying "404." as soon as I pop the card out, it's like it was never there, and the sampler works perfectly.

I hadn't considered the power supply, but now that I look at it, there's a sticker on the adapter that says "SP 606." surely that's not what's causing the problem though, right? It's 1000mA.

The person i bought it from on ebay claims she used a sandisk 512 mb in it with no problem (which did not work for me), but I sort of think she's never used it before and is just parroting back things I say to her. After trying so many different cards it seems like the issue has to be with the card slot, right?

thats women for you, cant trust them, always lying . haha just messin

Thanks for helping me brainstorm. I gave the sampler a closer looking-over and discovered several of the pins in the card slot were bent to hell. my computer whiz friend was able to take it apart and bend them back into shape.

I'm having the same issue with the transcend 1gb card.I bought the card brand new, formatted it with the OG SP404 immediately, and was able to use the card for one session. I copied 2 samples onto the card to make sure it was working properly, then recorded about a 1min beat on it, and played the beat on loop for about an hour or so.

When I powered on my 404 today, none of the samples on the card would play, and some of the samples stored on the system memory (banks a and b) wouldn't play properly. I turned the 404 off, and now, every time I turn it on with the card inserted, it flashes SP404, then turns off. However, if I power the 404 on without the card inserted, or with a 256mb Lexar card inserted, everything works properly.

I checked the pins inside the CF slot, and they all appear to be straight, none are missing.

I was having this same problem with the 1gb card that came with the machine, I figured buying a new card would solve the issue.

Any ideas?

slightly off topic;
I was using my 404 for about an hour when one of the cards or the unit went goofy. the samples were coming late or the beginning was gargled out and in. I didn't try after with a different card, probably it's fine tonight. oh and it was happening on both the internal bank and the card bank but not every time..
a little background; i swap cards a lot but I'm always super careful about it. I've had my sampler for at least four years and use it quite often. I've had other strange things happen when I load backups but nothing that sounded like a tape was being eaten.
i just hope this problem dissipates cuz I got a show soon(it was moved to early March from this month). I surely won't use the card I was on yesterday.

I just had a card that was working fine, took it out of the SP and put into the computer and it got messed up. I formatted in the computer and put in the SP and the card worked, but I lost all my data of course. This stuff happens.... Welcome to the digital age.

that does it. tonight i'm backing up all my cards before i even turn the 404 on. there's too much new stuff i've created recently.