Smart Card Problem - No Data

John Galt · Post by **John Galt** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 8:58 pm

Yes, I am the only patient listed. Yes, I have identified the USB device. After attempting to download, it does list a new date (today) for the download, but there is no data.

It's really perplexing. I'm quite computer literate, so I know I'm not making simple mistakes. It worked well for over two months. Then suddenly stopped working. So, tonight I did an install on my laptop and it worked one time, but won't work again.

Snoredog, my firmware is version 2.14. My M series is 3 months old. My Encore Pro is version 1.6.22 just as yours. Both of my computers are XP Pro. I have had no problems with the Mako drivers.

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:34 pm

[quote="John Galt"]Yes, I am the only patient listed. Yes, I have identified the USB device. After attempting to download, it does list a new date (today) for the download, but there is no data.

It's really perplexing. I'm quite computer literate, so I know I'm not making simple mistakes. It worked well for over two months. Then suddenly stopped working. So, tonight I did an install on my laptop and it worked one time, but won't work again.

Snoredog, my firmware is version 2.14. My M series is 3 months old. My Encore Pro is version 1.6.22 just as yours. Both of my computers are XP Pro. I have had no problems with the Mako drivers.

John Galt · Post by **John Galt** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:18 am

Your first reply is that "if you see that date appear in the activity list, it usually means that the software found data and downloaded it. That word "usually" is tricky. For the past week, the date has always appeared in the activity list after I attempt to download data, but no data is present. While each day is listed, the last day that I had data was November 11.

Yes, I am absolutely double clicking. While the date is listed on the activity log, the date is not listed above where it presents the visual summary of the number of hours that were slept each night for the preceding 7 days. Similarly, I can open a report, but there is no data since November 11.

John Galt · Post by **John Galt** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:19 am

Whoops, forgot to turn off the italics and the underlining. Not meaning to add emphasis to anything other than the word "usually."

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:34 am

John,

If you were to go into the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\Data directory and look at the files in "Details" mode, it will show the size of the files. If you were to note the filesize of the EncorePro.mdf file before and after the download, it might tell you something. There are about 8 files in there that would show a current date if they are updated.

Qualifier: I'm using the 1.4.99 version of Encore Pro, so some of this info may vary with the new versions.

Den

John Galt · Post by **John Galt** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 10:07 am

I'll try that this evening and I'll monitor it for a few days to see how it changes.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 10:22 am

John,

Another place you could look in the interim is in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\LOG directory. There are a list of about 7 log files which rotate according to date (also viewable with "Details" view). You should be able to look at them with something like Notepad as they are text files. They MIGHT have some clues in them if there are any errors occurring during the SQL processes.

Den

John Galt · Post by **John Galt** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 10:24 am

Good info. I hadn't noted those files. As I am currently away from my home computer, I will check it this evening. Thanks.

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 1:45 pm

Good luck John,

It seems to me you are doing all the right things & we know the card can basically read & write both in the machine & on the PC software.

The basic implication to me is that the nightly data is not being written to the card or that for some obsucre reason, the PC software is not finding it.

My next suggestion is for you to get 1 nights data on a card & take it to someone else (clinic cpaptalker or other) who has the software & should be able to read the data. If they find none then the machine may be the culprit (the only thing that suggests other wise is that you managed to get data 1st go when you did a new install - that points back to a computer software setup issue).

Good luck

DSM

TXKajun · Post by **TXKajun** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 3:33 pm

Gosh, reading all the stuff on this thread makes me REAL glad I got the PB 420E and Silverlining software! LOLOL

Seriously, it's amazing the wealth of knowledge some of our member have and even more impressive that they're so willing to share it!

Kajun

This therapy WORKS!!!

John Galt · Post by **John Galt** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:56 pm

It's been a while since I wrote about this problem, but it has persisted and I have been persistent. I have tried various permutations and here's what I have discovered.

Data is recorded rather reliably (not totally consistently) from the CPAP unit onto the Smart Card. But, in order to reliably transfer the data from the Smart Card to the database, I have to reinstall the database almost everytime that I want to download data. If I don't reinstall the database, then chances are that no transfer of data will occur. If I do reinstall the database, then I have better than a 90% chance that the data will be downloaded into the database.

It doesn't take long to reinstall the database. In fact, I don't delete it. I just install over the current database.

So, do any of your database experts have an idea why I have to reinstall the database so often. (Actually, I have learned to download my data only every 7 days so that I only have to reinstall the database one weekly. The former data is retained, so I don't lose data ... I just lose a bit of time.)

Thanks.

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:45 am

Forgive a "computer disaster" for butting in here. Most of this discussion is WAY above my head - but - I'm going to "innocently" ask:

are you plugging the USB cable directly into your 'puter's USB port or are you using an "extension" port cable?

I ask "only" because both my Resmed (gasp) and SPO instructions clearly state NOT to use an "extension" cable as it "may" cause problems. (So far it hasn't - but .......).

dataq1 · Post by **dataq1** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:23 pm

Hi John:
I maybe way off base here, but here goes...
The SQL tables in your database have a finite limit to their size. Not necessarily the file size but the number of records that can be contained. As an example... Excel files can't contain more than 65000 records.

Each time you download your card it writes new records, even though you may have the same record information elsewhere in that table. Example, you download 7 nights of sleep data, and each night is eight hours, and the pressure observations are recorded in 30 second intervals. That's 6720 records being added to the sleeptheraphyXXevents table. Two minutes later you try to download the exact same card (gee, you didn't even remove it from the card reader). You guessed it, the table is increased by another 6720 records, but you're not aware of that, now you've got 13440 records in the table.
So you got to bed, and your cpap writes more data to the card. Next day you want to download the previous night's sleep data and guess what, First in first out, add newest data and (if you acquired 8 hours of data), the next download brings the record count to ~ 19000 records.

What is the maximum record size for a SQL table, frankly I don't know, but I wouldn't be suprised that there is one.
I can tell you that when working with some database tables, they do wierd things when you exceed the maximum record size. By personal experience.... they seem to be taking data, updating the database..... but not really recording the new data records!

That's just my observations.

John Galt · Post by **John Galt** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:26 pm

Your comments are intersting. But, I only have a few months of data in the database. While that may be a lot of information (as you pointed out), it's really not much for a program that is designed to record data over time for multiple patients (since the program is designed to keep data on an ongoing basis in a sleep lab). Plus, when I reinstall the program, it retains the data files. My data is being added to the pre-existing data files. I simply can't get it to add the data unless I reinstall the program ... but it maintains the data files. It's very strange and it appears that nobody else is having this problem. I replicated it on a second computer, so it is a persistent little problem.

dataq1 · Post by **dataq1** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:44 am

Well, it was a thought.
I was curious about your comment " plus when I reinstall the program it retains the data files" ...
After you reinstall, do you have records (within the data files) that are not supposed to be on the card? For example: The card is not supposed to have more than seven days of Sleep Therapy Daily Details. After you reinstall the encore pro software and download your current card, do you have more than one "Sleep Therapy Compliance Download" listed in the interaction list box? And if you do, will selecting other than the most recent compliance download give you daily details that should not be on your current card?

Best regards,