CPAPtalk.com

blakepro wrote:There is a firmware flashing utility out there. I made a thread about it previously. They recently updated it too...

Available to the general public? I remember loosely following your thread but don't remember seeing anything other than what I already knew that at the factory they could update the machines however they wanted to.

Pugsy wrote:

blakepro wrote:There is a firmware flashing utility out there. I made a thread about it previously. They recently updated it too...

Available to the general public? I remember loosely following your thread but don't remember seeing anything other than what I already knew that at the factory they could update the machines however they wanted to.

I suppose its availible to the public in the same sense that encore pro is...

The big obstacle is that there is some sort of cable required that connects the PC to the machine for the firmware flash.. That seems to be the big thing that prevents anyone from doing this.

blakepro wrote:I suppose its availible to the public in the same sense that encore pro is...

Ahhh... I see now. Well I am good but not that good. Never found the firmware update stuff but then never looked because I didn't have a need or the cables.
Just suppose someone did....could they change a PR S1 Plus to a Pro or APAP? Or is is just minor firmware updates like silent mode or LCD backlight thingy.

Pugsy wrote:I think the guts of these machines are all the same. It is the firmware that is different. If we had access to firmware we could make a PR S1 Plus into a PR S1 APAP. Couldn't we have fun doing that?
Perhaps a good software hacker could unlock the firmware on the brick machines...it is beyond my skill level though.

It appears that the the Plus and DS150 lack an airflow sensor. Pro and up have one. You need an airflow sensor to do apnea detection and most data collection.

Consensus seems to be that the hardware comes in two versions. DS150/Plus is one version, and everything else is the airflow sensor version. The new AutoIQ might have some differences.

I expect that hardware gets various revisions over time.

I'd be real surprised if it's not locked down really tight to keep you from changing a PRO CPAP to an auto or ASV.

archangle wrote:I'd be real surprised if it's not locked down really tight to keep you from changing a PRO CPAP to an auto or ASV.

Yeah me too. But you know me...always looking for an angle to get something I am not supposed to have or know about.
I hadn't thought about the flow sensor thing in the bricks...do we know for sure that there are none or are they just not activated? Jedimark said he ask a Repironics rep what the difference in the machines were and he was told "firmware".. don't know if the discussion included the bricks or not though. There has to be some sort of flow sensor to compensate for leaks...at least it seems to me like there would be something there.

Hacking the device you already own isn't really a bad thing, is it?--you paid for what you took home, and enhanced it at will.
The early TI computers had hardware that was disabled, so you would have to buy an enabling device (a dongle)
If a 'hacker' came up with his own home-built dongle, he generally shared it within a small group of buddies.
If somebody got greedy, then it would doubtless get somebody's attention.

chunkyfrog wrote:If a 'hacker' came up with his own home-built dongle, he generally shared it within a small group of buddies.
If somebody got greedy, then it would doubtless get somebody's attention.

Yeah, the CPAP police would surely get wind of it if someone got greedy. My husband kids me all the time about mailing out mask parts and machines along with the ones I receive. Tells me the CPAP Police are likely to come knocking on my door one of these days.

I lack the skills to do any serious computer hacking anyway even if I could lay my grubby little paws on the necessary equipment.

So it is the 550 model.

I think I figured it out though.

Mucking around in the clinician settings, it seems the device somehow ended up on Split Night mode, and configured to do fixed CPAP for 2 hours and then Auto the rest of the night.

I'm not sure how this got set. It's not mentioned anywhere in my prescription, so I don't know if it set itself this way after about a month of use or if I drunkenly did it myself or what...

Disabling this set it back to Auto 7-9, as prescribed.

Very odd.

I only know enough computer to not look stupid for a couple of minutes, then I get 'distracted'.
I cut out before I'm tempted to expound and reveal my ignorance.

Split Nite mode....the machine won't do that on its own but it is real easy to accidentally change the setting. At least that demon is suitably vanquished now.

Yeah seriously. I was so confused.

Thanks for all the help guys!

Pugsy wrote:I hadn't thought about the flow sensor thing in the bricks...do we know for sure that there are none or are they just not activated?

The schematics show the flow sensor only for the Pro and up. There are two sets of schematics, one for each group of machines. Of course, that may have changed at some time.

Pugsy wrote:There has to be some sort of flow sensor to compensate for leaks...at least it seems to me like there would be something there.

I expect they would simply monitor the pressure at the blower unit, and adjust to keep it constant.