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[Equipment] Sleep lab can't read data from Dreamstation SD card
#11
RE: Sleep lab can't read data from Dreamstation SD card
(03-08-2019, 01:12 AM)jaswilliams Wrote: Could it be that the card has data on from both machines on it confusing encore ? Maybe format the sd card or use a new one for the new machine ?

That's a great theory, but the second time I sent him the data card it was a brand new card that he had just given me. The only data on it was from my Dreamstation BiPAP. But hey, thanks for the idea!
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#12
RE: Sleep lab can't read data from Dreamstation SD card
(03-08-2019, 08:35 AM)Sleeprider Wrote: I have never had problems with Encore reading data from multiple machines as each one is stored in a separate P-series folder by serial number.  I do know Philips changed the data format in the hexadecimal data stored on the SD card sometime in 2017 or 2018 and that during the development of Sleepyhead 1.1, a new loader had to be developed for the newest generation of Dreamstations. As you may know, EncoreBasic does not play well with the Dreamstation series, and you usually have to upgrade to EncorePro 2.2 if you can run it.  All of this to say, perhaps the good doctor's software is outdated.

But they have hundreds of sleep patients, and a good number of them must be using recent machines. My current best theory is that there is a secret decoder ring that they have to use to tell Encore that the data is from a BiPAP, and their secretarial staff didn't know about using the secret.

Right now I am trying to use EncorePro 2 to see if it will give me some clues. Unfortunately, all my computers use Linux, but I have Windows 10 running as a virtual machine, so that is where I installed it. I got it working, but there is some problem with the virtual machine - it can't see drives on the host. It's supposed to be able to see them, but I must have missed a step in the installation. When I get that part working I'll be able to poke around in EncorePro to see if I can figure out what's wrong with the doctor's setup.
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#13
RE: Sleep lab can't read data from Dreamstation SD card
(03-08-2019, 01:02 AM)JJJ Wrote: I told them that I couldn't bring in the machine. Of course I can bring it in, but that should not be necessary.

Perhaps. There could be data stored on the machine that they can read. There may actually be a problem on the card that trips up Encore on Windows, even though SH on Linux sees it just fine.

Regardless, bringing in the machine may be the most convenient option for you.
Sleepster

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#14
RE: Sleep lab can't read data from Dreamstation SD card
For the record, I have encountered some different reasons why SD cards can't be read.

Simple: the SD cards are cheap Lexar garbage!

Now this is probably not happening for the above discussion, because a new SD card was substituted, but I wanted to document the problems I encountered in case anyone in the future hits this thread via search.

When I got my Dreamstation a few years ago it came with a Lexar card. Things worked fine for a few months, then the card would no longer be recognized by my Macbook's SD card reader. I switched to a standalone SD reader that is still able to read the card to this day. But, every few months, I occasionally found it hard to physically re-insert the SD card back into the Dreamstation after reading.

The cause for the problems is simple. The cheap plastic molding of the card deteriorates. Specifically, for re-insertion into the Dreamstation, there are (actually were!) tiny plastic fingers between each of the SD connector pins. These tiny pieces of plastic eventually separate and curl up and thereby physically prevent the SD card from being re-inserted back into the Dreamstation. The fix is to take a tiny pair of clippers (or similar) and snip away these pieces of plastic when they deform. As of now, I've had to physically snip off every single tiny plastic finger (I think this may have been 6 or 7 or so).

I think a similar thing is happening in the Macbook's SD reader. Perhaps there is some sort of microswitch in the SD reader that won't activate with the deformed cards. Or maybe it is just a matter of misalignment and the deformed cards don't make good electrical contact with the Macbook's electronics. The result is that the Macbook won't mount the SD card because it just doesn't "see" it.

I don't know exactly what is to blame for the SD card not working with the Macbook. It's not just one Macbook, I tried 3 different ones with the same result. Fortunately my standalone SD card reader uses a friction fit that still works fine. And fortunately the Dreamstation SD slot still recognizes the card.

I also occasionally get missing data on the SD card. Typically, high-level data is there for the whole most recent night but some detailed data (breath by breath info) just appears for perhaps 1/2 of the night. This sort of behavior is symptomatic of bad blocks in the SD card. Reformatting the SD card makes it work again for another 6 months or so.

I know the problems aren't due to my computer scribbling to the SD card. The Macbook is content to read from a "locked" card and the Dreamstation happily writes to a "locked" card. (SD spec says the locking is done in software, it's not a true hardware write protection), So I just keep the SD card locked at all times and this works fine for going between the Dreamstation and the computer.
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#15
RE: Sleep lab can't read data from Dreamstation SD card
I can confirm what Snoring_in_Oregon said above - I. too have had physical problems with SDcards as well, although I don't think that is the case here. The reason I don't believe it is happening this time is because the sleep people were able to get old data off the card, but none of the data from the new BiPAP.

My first machine seven years ago was a PRS1. Eventually it wouldn't mount the card, and before it failed to read the card completely it was being persnickety - had to reinsert the card multiple time before I finally hit the sweet spot. When it finally just wouldn't mount any of my cards I put it on the shelf as a backup machine and bought a Resmed APAP. Shortly after getting the Resmed a friend with excellent eyes and great finger dexterity peered into the slot on the PRS1 and announced that one of the pins was sticking up. He fixed it, so now  it is fully functional again. But I liked the new Resmed better, so I left the PRS1 on the shelf. It's still sitting there.

I've also had occasional issues getting the card reader in my current six-year old laptop to mount a card. And on one of my visits to the sleep people I handed them my Flashair card, which I was using with my then new APAP. The lady came back and said it couldn't be read. I was sure she had given it only one try, or maybe not even that - it was definitely not the familiar Lexar card, so she may have just assumed that it wouldn't work. I told her to try again, and a few minutes later she came back with news that it had worked on the second try.

I also know that they use a SD card to USB adapter, because all they have are desktop PCs without SD card ports. This means that there are four possibilities for read failures - the card itself, the card slot on the adapter, the USB slot on the adapter, and the USB slot on their computer.
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