CPAPtalk.com

idamtnboy wrote:So what I'm suggesting is figure out what kind of card format, or configuration, it is and buy a reader that will read that format. It's that simple. Resscan does not restrict itself to reading only from Resmed branded card readers!

idamtnboy - its not that simple. Yes, the S8 card is based on smart card technology, except ResMed made the card a proprietary SHAPE so that it only fits into their reader. Also, ResScan DOES restrict itself to only reading the ACR38 SmartCard reader - and a generic version of this reader hasn't been available in a long time. Even when it was, you had to make little cardboard shims so that the S8 card would fit because of the proprietary shape of the card. As of right now, the ONLY solution is to find a used S8 card reader or buy one new from Australia.

davecpap wrote:idamtnboy - its not that simple. Yes, the S8 card is based on smart card technology, except ResMed made the card a proprietary SHAPE so that it only fits into their reader. Also, ResScan DOES restrict itself to only reading the ACR38 SmartCard reader

Man, where have I been? After some searching I finally saw a picture of the Resscan card and came across a thread here a couple of years ago on this subject. I didn't even know, or had completely forgotten, that the Smart Card format even existed. When it comes to reading a Smart Card then Resscan (actually devicescan.exe or CRWS.exe) will only read the ACR 38, correct? But when it comes to looking for and reading an SD card then Resscan will accept any reader and card. I just did a short test and find that Resscan will read a micro SD card loaded in an SD adapter with no problem. I guess Resmed concluded it wasn't worth the hassle to stay proprietary.

Another reason I'm glad my sleep doctor is on top of the current technology and prescribed the S9 for me. I knew zilch about all this before the past few weeks!

davecpap wrote:Also, ResScan DOES restrict itself to only reading the ACR38 SmartCard reader

ResScan will in fact work with any Smartcard reader that has an implemented interface based on the PSPC standard, and has an installable driver for a Windows PC. Several years ago when the S8 design was done, PSPC was the "new big thing" in Smartcard interfaces and was being heavily promoted to the software developer market place by Microsoft and others.

The dynamics of the Smartcard market place meant that while quite a few reader vendors did implement a PSPC interface, they were mostly quite expensive readers intended for applications which required high physical security/tamperproofing. ACS was the only vendor to produce a relatively inexpensive Smartcard reader with a PSPC interface.

In more recent times new interface standards have emerged in the Smartcard market, and no one much cares about PSPC support any longer.

As the old saying goes..... "the trouble with standards is that there are so many to choose from"

Cheers,

Bill

billbolton wrote:....no one much cares about PSPC support any longer.

As the old saying goes..... "the trouble with standards is that there are so many to choose from"

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks for the education in tech history.

idamtnboy wrote:

davecpap wrote:idamtnboy - . When it comes to reading a Smart Card then Resscan (actually devicescan.exe or CRWS.exe) will only read the ACR 38, correct? But when it comes to looking for and reading an SD card then Resscan will accept any reader and card. I just did a short test and find that Resscan will read a micro SD card loaded in an SD adapter with no problem. I guess Resmed concluded it wasn't worth the hassle to stay proprietary.

If that is the case, why the hell do they make it so hard to get the damned card reader for the S8s?

billbolton wrote: ResScan will in fact work with any Smartcard reader that has an implemented interface based on the PSPC standard, and has an installable driver for a Windows PC. Several years ago when the S8 design was done, PSPC was the "new big thing" in Smartcard interfaces and was being heavily promoted to the software developer market place by Microsoft and others.

The dynamics of the Smartcard market place meant that while quite a few reader vendors did implement a PSPC interface, they were mostly quite expensive readers intended for applications which required high physical security/tamperproofing. ACS was the only vendor to produce a relatively inexpensive Smartcard reader with a PSPC interface.

In more recent times new interface standards have emerged in the Smartcard market, and no one much cares about PSPC support any longer.

Cheers,

Bill

Bill, the Repsironics smart card for the bipap auto m has a chip that looks the same as the Resmed S8 chip. Would that $15 Mako/Respironics card reader work with the Rescan if you could get the Resmed card centered, via an enclosure, into the Mako reader? It's got to hit in the right spot vertically too.

allend wrote:If that is the case, why the hell do they make it so hard to get the damned card reader for the S8s?

Because it's a component of prescription only medical equipment. Drs and DMEs probably have no difficulty at all in getting one from a medical supply wholesaler, unless Resmed has quit making them. We're patients. We aren't smart or educated enough to read and interpret our own data, we don't need to have them available. Of course, none of us here buys into that parochial attitude.

I read in another thread where a DME told one of the forum members that Resmed is upgrading the s/w and a User ID & PW will be required to use it. I suspect he/she really was referring to a registration process where you have to have a key to use the s/w. And probably those keys will be restricted to members of the medical profession. Or, maybe Resmed is responding to the forum comments by patient users about the problems their s/w has. They don't like it being discussed in a public forum. Gives them bad PR.

If they put the screws on the availability of Resscan we may have to bombard our Congressmen and Senators to pass legislation to open up CPAP treatment results to patients, just like diabetes info is now.

allend wrote:Would that $15 Mako/Respironics card reader work with the Rescan

Not unless it has a PSPC interface and driver.

Cheers,

Bill