Opposite problem from most others

mhacker · Post by **mhacker** » Wed May 23, 2007 1:24 pm

OK, first post here but I have been reading, learning and getting a lot of good information, thanks to all the contributors. Nothing seems to have answered my questions and I think I need clarification on some items.

I was diagnosed last year after a sleep study. Did my usual "yeah, right - a doctor that has never even seen me is prescribing a machine and settings". Went to my regular doctor, referred to ENT, recheck with allergy doctor - ok I need a machine. Got great insurance, no deductible - researched and picked out the machine I thought would work for my lifestyle. Using it for 10 months now.

I got a REMstar Pro / M Series with humidifier, smart card reader and card. I see a lot of references to REMstar M series PRO - might sound odd but are we talking the same machine?

Now the fun part. I am a computer geek, figured out that I would find the card reader, write my own driver for my existing hardware, what ever it would take. Found the Hong Kong site for the reader, the drivers and an old copy of the free download of the software - V1.5.82 - made all the mistakes that everyone else did but it is working without errors. Maybe...

However, no data from the card, probably was not formatted to start with and my bad install caused me to reformat it. Puts my name in it so I know it is communicating. While researching, I found two things that bother me. I see references in the forums that this software version does not work with my machine. Also, now I see that newer software is not being sold, if my problem lies there. I have seen cryptic references to places that may still have it - I ran a BBS for 15 years and can read between the lines.

The overall reason for wanting to check the results - I sleep 8 to 12 hours without problems, sometimes 14 to 16 hours. Unless you consider not hearing the alarm clock, the dog, the phone, waking up to go to work, etc a problem, then I am not the normal CPaP user. No doctors that I can find have card readers and software. I would like to go over the results with my doctors but I need the info out of the machine to do that.

Any thoughts, advice or help appreciated...

mb

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Wed May 23, 2007 2:47 pm

It can be normal to spend more that 8 hours with good sleep, remember all the hours you lost before treatment. The body is just trying to catch up on repair.

After you catch up, you will find too much sleep, interfeers with your good sleep. You will have a restless night, if you get too much sleep.

As far as the "M"agic, No software from Remstar plays well 100%, and 1.6i or higher is needed. 1.8i was toted as the Holy Grail, it has been reported that it fails to see some days with the "M"agic as well, but it works five days a week, most times. "That's the price you pay, for the New and Improved, Travel Friendly, with Human Factors"

I just say, "Thanks for the Tanks". Jim

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): Travel

mhacker · Post by **mhacker** » Wed May 23, 2007 4:46 pm

Well, I started breaking into Soviet computer systems in 1968, reverse engineered my first program in 1975, and disassembled and recompiled my first program in 1983.

It would not surprising to me that someone programmed an array or a stack too small, did a recursive call and forgot to set enough memory aside, anyway - too easy to slip up, not exactly their fault but they could fix it and post patches for each version. I serious doubt they spend time and money on older versions and only concentrate on the next release. However, as has been pointed out, this is a program for doctors and they pay me to install, update and repair their systems.

In my experience, I would look at the firmware in the CPaP machine except for one post that stated some of the missing data appeared later. If missing data reappears then it sounds like the PC and software. If it is erased for ever or lost, I would start at the CPaP machine side and work on the reader/writer.

Now if I could just get one office to buy this....

mb

johntee · Post by **johntee** » Wed May 23, 2007 4:55 pm

mhacker wrote:No doctors that I can find have card readers and software. I would like to go over the results with my doctors but I need the info out of the machine to do that.

I would check with your DME (the people who supplied the CPAP machine). I know my DME has the reader and software, and they have said they will occasionally ask me for the card (I think so they can demonstrate compliance to the insurance company and thus keep getting paid). They also said they could print out the reports and charts for me from the card.
I can mail it in to them, or walk it in.

mhacker wrote:I was diagnosed last year after a sleep study. Did my usual "yeah, right - a doctor that has never even seen me is prescribing a machine and settings". Went to my regular doctor, referred to ENT, recheck with allergy doctor - ok I need a machine.

Although I never liked the idea that my "sleep doctor" was locked away in an ivory tower -- no ability for me to talk to him directly, apparently -- I never was skeptical that way. Since they have all the sleep study data, and presumably any other health issues have been identified by your primary care physician, I didn't doubt the sleep doctor's ability to diagnose a sleep issue.
I guess I'd consider it somewhat akin to a radiologist who reads your X-Rays -- you'll never meet him, but on the basis of the objective data in front of him, he may cause you to be wheeled into surgery...

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Wed May 23, 2007 6:34 pm

mhacker,

I would lean towards the data being on the card & the software losing it.

The cards do need to be formated & EncorePro does this. It also allows setting patient details on the card plus machine settings. Plug the card into the machine, it recognises new data & settings & applies them.

Nightly data gets written to the card if it is present & formatted & has no read/write faults (I have a card that works in some machines but not others whereas 3 more cards work in them all).

Good luck

DSM

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Wed May 23, 2007 7:10 pm

Goofproof wrote:It can be normal to spend more that 8 hours with good sleep, remember all the hours you lost before treatment. The body is just trying to catch up on repair.

After you catch up, you will find too much sleep, interfeers with your good sleep. You will have a restless night, if you get too much sleep.

As far as the "M"agic, No software from Remstar plays well 100%, and 1.6i or higher is needed. 1.8i was toted as the Holy Grail, it has been reported that it fails to see some days with the "M"agic as well, but it works five days a week, most times. "That's the price you pay, for the New and Improved, Travel Friendly, with Human Factors"

I just say, "Thanks for the Tanks". Jim

You've got the wrong software for that machine. As Jim said, you need version 1.6.

If you have/had a brand new Encore Pro card in your machine when you got it, it doesn't need to be "formatted".

And, as far as you being a "geek", this forum is loaded with computer/software/technology gurus, "bit-twiddlers" and techno-savvy folks. If your time is worth anything, it wouldn't be worth it to re-invent the Encore Pro "wheel" for what little it costs..

Den

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Wed May 23, 2007 7:17 pm

mb, check your Private Messages...button at upper right of this page.

cwsanfor · Post by **cwsanfor** » Wed May 23, 2007 7:20 pm

mhacker,

Just some free advice here, but having worked with some agencies affected by the Patriot Act, I'd suggest that you not advertise everything that you know or have done. No offense intended, and you may know lots more about this than me, but I've been very surprised about how much interested parties can find out about youthful indiscretions. Despite your coding skills, you might be too. No joke, even if you're a Leet Haxor.

Having said that, please reverse engineer away, in this case. You and jskinner could probably come up with something to bypass Encore, and maybe even something legal. Certainly something we could distribute discreetly, in any event. I think it's going to come to that.

mhacker · Post by **mhacker** » Wed May 23, 2007 10:10 pm

Goofproof
I see that most people managed to get a later version, "snooze you loose?" no pun intended. I guess the old adage is still true "you can tell the pioneers by the arrows sticking out of their backs" and "never buy software version x.00.00.00" - wait for the patches to come out. I wish I had found this place on day 1 - might have managed to get it right the first time.
I really never had a problem sleeping, just everyone else had a problem with me sleeping. I guess 97 events an hour is a bit much. I just need to "see" the data so I can talk to the doctor and get off this cycle.

johntee
I wish - my DME is 60 miles away but I have not heard a word since the insurance paid them off. My allergy doctor is very interested in seeing what the software can show. He wants me to use the blood O2 monitor and bring in the results so he can compare. BTW he was the first to suggest OSA as a problem.

I agree that I should not fault the doctor reading the results. I was really looking for an alternative to the machine. The ENT that I was referred to was great. Looked at me for 30 minutes, then said that there was minor things that surgery could correct but nothing was a real winner, he said get the machine. I will be seeing him shortly, another reason to get the readout of my results. He also does no have a reader or software. You would think that doctors that refer you to an DME would have the goodies to read the card but not so. At least not doctors on my med plan.

dsm
I knew that 6 months of data was not stored, I just got to the point of getting things set up when I realised the error of my ways. BTW error code 80040213 is an unformatted or unreadable card. In case anyone searches for that pattern. Might as well add to the knowledgebase. I have setup laptops with readers and cards for security. Most are toast after a couple months, lost or left in the laptop when it is stolen, oh well.

Wulfman
Thanks, you have posted a lot of good info on this site. As far as reinventing the wheel - it's what I live for. My adage is "there has to be a better way" - obviously EPA is an example of that philosophy.

cwsanfor
Like I said in PM - I am a blackhole in the database thanks to the NSA. Reverse engineering is not the problem, it is the look and feel of the data format, like the Lotus 1-2-3 format fiasco 20 years ago. If there is a "key" embedded in the data, then you are not allowed. Kind of like the DVD format keys for HD video. Yes you can find them, access them, write programs to bypass but you are restricted by your "use license" that you never signed or approved. Once the data is in SQL, all bets are off which is why EPA is legal, I want to get the data straight from the card and drop it into an Excel spreadsheet and write the macros, charts and reports. Writing it in Visual Basic is not that bad and then others can improve on it.

blarg · Post by **blarg** » Wed May 23, 2007 10:54 pm

Well, in this case I'd say the thing you signed is when you installed the driver for the card reader. It checks to make sure Encore is installed. The ultimate goal would be for us patients to get at our data without Encore, and as such, would need to write our own driver. That's not gonna get done in VB.

mhacker · Post by **mhacker** » Wed May 23, 2007 11:13 pm

I can read the data from the card, I agree that VB is not the answer to write a driver. It will help to interpret the data from reading the card and put it into a format that can be manipulated. I think Excel is not the best choice but most people do not have MS Access laying around. It might have to be pulled into SQL, which is free from MS in some forms, and then pulled from EPA. The main approach is to make a single user, free, data tracking, storage program replacement for Encore Pro.

blarg · Post by **blarg** » Wed May 23, 2007 11:20 pm

mhacker wrote:I can read the data from the card, I agree that VB is not the answer to write a driver. It will help to interpret the data from reading the card and put it into a format that can be manipulated. I think Excel is not the best choice but most people do not have MS Access laying around. It might have to be pulled into SQL, which is free from MS in some forms, and then pulled from EPA. The main approach is to make a single user, free, data tracking, storage program replacement for Encore Pro.

I have a better idea. Use SQLite. It'll just use a flat file for its DB, which then can even be shared between users. Just use a separate database per patient, and they'll be seperate files. Throw them all in a directory. Now just list the files in that directory. When they load a patient, load that database and query away in SQL. Should be a pretty darn simple schema too. If someone wants to send me their data, they just email me their database file. I can even read it on a machine with a different byte order.

It's also written in C (lots of bindings for other languages too) and is platform independent so us poor Linux/Mac people have a chance to have some fun as well. If you come up with a driver for Windows, please share your code and I'll see what I can do to adapt it to pcscd for us non-win folk.

cwsanfor · Post by **cwsanfor** » Thu May 24, 2007 6:55 am

I don't code worth a squat, so I'll just stand aside and let you gents talk amongst yourselves. But I agree that the point of all this is to eliminate Encore Pro, and work on multiple platforms (Wintel and *ix).

Opposite problem from most others

Opposite problem from most others

Re: Opposite problem from most others