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Technical Support Bulletin 11 ? SymphoniePLUS3 SD Card Formatting


Julia Austin

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Technical Support Bulletin 11 ? SymphoniePLUS3 SD Card Formatting     13 August 2012

Scope

This bulletin applies to SymphoniePLUS3 data loggers with serial numbers below 494102284 and firmware version 34 or lower. These loggers shipped from NRG Systems before 1 August 2012. Any SymphoniePLUS3 logger shipped after that date has newer firmware installed that eliminates this SD card issue.

Description of Issue
NRG Systems has discovered a vulnerability in the SD card data storage of SymphoniePLUS3 data loggers. The problem is an addressing issue that causes the SD card to stop storing logged data. We have seen this condition develop after approximately 250 daily raw files are written to the SD card. In some cases, the Symphonie iPack?s programming can also become corrupted. This issue does NOT affect earlier Symphonie and SymphoniePLUS loggers which use an MMC memory card.

Resolution
NRG Systems has developed a proprietary format for SD memory cards used with SymphoniePLUS3 loggers that resolves this issue. SD cards that have been formatted using this structure will work with all Symphonie loggers and will prevent the issue with SymphoniePLUS3 loggers described above.
NRG Systems factory formatted cards can be identified by the marking ?NRG FAT-A? on the card label. This will also show as the ?volume label? if inserted in a PC and viewed in Windows Explorer.

A Windows application - SymphoniePLUS3CardFormatter.exe - has been released and is available as a free download by following this link: http://nrgapps.com/SDformatter.php

All SD cards used in SymphoniePLUS3 loggers that are not marked ?NRG FAT-A? must be formatted using this program. Alternatively, NRG can provide newly formatted SD cards upon request free of charge.

What you should do:

1) Identify which of your sites have SymphoniePLUS3 data loggers.

2) Check RWD file numbers from each site to estimate the number of days remaining before reaching 250. SymphoniePLUS3 creates daily files, and each RWD contains a file number counter in the 3 digits to the left of the .RWD file extension:

SSSSYYYYMMDDXXX.RWD
SSSS = site number; YYYY = year; MM = month; DD = day; XXX = file number

3) Schedule a field visit to install a properly formatted SD card before it reaches file number 250. If it has already stopped logging, be prepared to reprogram the attached iPack (if present) with its IPK file. Feel free to contact us if you need assistance with this.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you, and please contact NRG Technical Support if you have any questions: support@nrgsystems.com.

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