"Preparing SD Card" Message Keeps Popping Up

[EnsignRo]

Hi all. Quick question: I have a Resmed Airsense 10, and a couple of days ago I took my SD card to my provider to get a readout of the stats to send to my doctor. Ever since then the "Preparing SD Card" window pops up multiple times when I turn the unit off. It didn't used to do this before and the window blocks the readout report, so it's a little bit of a pain. The card is unlocked. I'm not getting any actual error messages.

Has it gone bad? It's a year and a half old so it's not new.

Note: I know most people just call in the code, but I have to take the card in physically to my current medical supply shop because I bought my CPAP from a different shop that won't send in patient reports to doctors, and my current shop says they don't know how to set my machine up so I can just call in the code number to them.

[Osiris357]

Welcome to the forum.
I’m not sure what’s going on but the whole thing doesn’t sound right to me. Which supplier did you get it from?

[ApneaQuestions]

It sounds like the machine is struggling to write to the SDcard.

Possible remedies might be..

1) Unplug the power from the machine, wait a few moments, then plug it back in again and see if that clears it up. (it should show the message you mentioned just once).
2) Reformat the existing card on a computer and see if that clears it up. (This will lose any data currently on the card).
3) Tell the supplier you need a new SDcard and see if that clears it up.

If none of those work, the card reader/writer in the machine may be failing and you'd need a new machine or a repair. No one seems to repair equipment these days so a new machine is the most likely of those two options.

EDIT: Also check to see if the metal contacts on the SDcard are clean and free of any grease or goop. Maybe wipe them with alcohol and a lint-free cloth.

[EnsignRo]

Thanks all. I cleaned the card and unplugged the CPAP for a few minutes but the problem persists. I suspect carrying this around twice a year to get a readout has put wear and tear on it.

I can't connect the card to my computer because I don't have the right kind of card reader. (Bought two on Amazon that were supposed to be SDHC readers but neither were, so I'm apparently starting a collection of useless card readers, what fun.)

The card is the original one that came with the unit, and is labeled "Resmed" on the front.

I'll buy a new card and try again on getting a reader and see what happens.

I bought this unit from cpap (dot) com and they don't have SDHC cards, and Resmed's own website says SDHC doesn't work in an Airsense 10 (???) so I guess I'll get a 16GB Sandisk SDHC and another reader and try again.

[ApneaQuestions]

Another possibility..
Shine a light into the card slot on the machine and see if any of the metal connectors look bent out of shape.
If so.. they may be giving an unreliable electrical contact.
Poking with an unbent safety clip might straighten them out.

[Jeff8356]

I get that "Preparing SD Card" window every time I insert the SD card into the machine.  Pops up for a few seconds then goes away.  Never had any problems with the data on the card so far.
It may be possible that your DME removed your SD card improperly and corrupted the data on it.  But the only way to know for sure is to get yourself a working SD card reader for your computer.  Most of the time any generic card reader should work.  What type of computer and operating system are you using?  (Laptop/Desktop, Windows/Mac/Linux)?

I'm not familiar with the Resmed Elite model but it may have a function in the settings to "format" the card.  Although this will wipe out any data that is stored on it so use it as a last resort.

I think the ResMed warning about the SDHC cards were for older ResMed S9 models.  I have the S10 and it came with a 4GB SDHC card.  Any SDHC card up to 32GB should work.  You would just need to format the card as FAT-32 . (once you get a working card reader, that is).

[70sSanO]

Are your card readers compatible with an SD (not SDHC) card?

If they are, you can just buy a regular SD card, they may not be as easy to find as a High/Capacity card, but you’ll have a card reader that will work and you can download your data to OSCAR or Rescan.

I have had to re-format an SD card on my computer so it will work in my machine. Had one card that would never work in my machine even after re-formatting it a few times. Figured the card was bad.

Found it in a drawer a couple years later and tried it in my old machine and it worked. Not sure why, but it seemed to happen on my S9 machines every now and then.

On a side note, collecting data and just giving it to your doctor, or DME, without downloading it to your own computer makes little sense as that data is basically gone. If you need to go to another doctor, you have nothing and will probably have to go back to square one.

When I needed an ASV machine I had all sorts of Rescan data to show what was happening. I still had to do an ASV titration, but my doctor (new for me) had enough data to justify it for Medicare.

John

[EnsignRo]

I have a Windows 10 laptop which I'm assuming will work just fine once I get the proper reader. The OSCAR program works fine as far as I can tell, though obviously I haven't been able to read the data yet.

Thanks for the info on formatting as FAT32, I wouldn't have even thought of checking that.

Talked to the DME this morning and they got the data off the card just fine, so I'm thinking either they removed the card improperly like you said, or it got jostled around when I brought it home. Had a little plastic case for it but maybe that wasn't enough protection.

Also ApneaQuestions: I wasn't able to get a good look inside the machine, sorry. Fingers crossed that it's just the card and not the CPAP itself.

[EnsignRo]

Hi - just to update, a new card did the trick and the pop-up has stopped.

However, I can't find an SDHC card reader that will actually work on my Resmed branded SDHC card, so I'll be starting a new thread on that. Very frustrating.