Flex 6400M Backup SD

Dave

It appears Flex6400 series radios boot from an SD card.  As we all know SD cards can fail.  Has anyone ever backed one of these up?  Does Flex make images available in the event of SD card corruption or failure? 

Bill -VA3WTB

Ted VE3TRQ

Now that’s a really good question! The configuration is easily backed up with SSDR on a computer, but what about the software that runs the radio (and the “M” interface)?

Mack

Ted VE3TRQ

The SD card is probably not easily accessed, but how can backing up an SD card void a warranty??? I use SD cards for Linux and Windows systems all the time, creating copies at will, including touching up partitions as necessary.

Dave

I work in IT and we have cards in commercial equipment fail from time to time. Sometimes things just get corrupted.   I think it would be great (especially for those with radios out of warranty) to be able to have access to or have the ability to make recovery images for their radios.  Just something I was pondering, food for thought.  

Dave

Thanks Mack, Was not attempting this, was just inquiring. 

Craig Williams

I would like to see a response from Flex on this issue.

DL4RCE

DL4RCE

Mark WS7M

Dean Davidson

If it's that easy to backup I dont see the problem but I will wait until warranty is out but you would think if it corrupted flex would send an image for us to image a card instead of having to send the entire radio back in.

Bobby

Where can I find the instructions for swapping out the sd card with a new one from flex, I would like to be proactive not reactive. Since my warranty is expired and apparently since the software provided is not covered under any warranty according to the manual I want to be prepared as well as I can be for the inevitable sd card issue, this appears to be the weak link in the system since its a brick without a working sd card. Thanks! Bobby

DL4RCE

Bobby

Thanks anyway I will figure it out.

DL4RCE

Bill -VA3WTB

To make this clear. There have been some cases of SD card failures. How ever in most cases the SD cards will last a life time and longer.

BL7IB

IMHO, SD card used to last for decade but recent TLC technology is very different thing. Also, even hardware is durable, and power failure during a write operation can may corrupt a file. Whether a corrupt file will **** the whole radio or not depends if the software is well designed to handle such situation. but there are chance that failure doesn’t only affect one file but whole NAND flash block containing other files.

Jack6600

SD cards have a limited number of write cycles. I’m not sure how many times a day the 6400/6600 writes to the SD card, but it is possible to exceed the number of writes. Years ago the number was more than 1,000,000 but with technological advances, the number could have doubled or even tripled.

BL7IB

Henning - DL6DH

Hi. my card failed during the last software update in a 6500. The rig stopped with a boot failure (three red flashes) I opened a support ticket and got a replacement card from the EU service center via mail, so I do not need to ship in the TRX. The card is placed inside the RF cage, to open it you habe to break the warranty seal, you should know what you do here. By the way, Flex support was quick and perfect. 73 Henning

Nick RN3KK

BL7IB

AE2A

John - AI4FR

Mike-VA3MW

I think I commented on this a while back (and I thought it was this thread).

That being said, the SD Cards are not your run of the mill Class 10 cards.  They are special bread of commercial SD card used in the medical and military world.   The engineering team (Steve, Gerald, etc) spent a lot of time researching cards and the only purchase from 1 vendor.  It is not trivial stuff.

If you have an SD card issue, please open a support ticket.

Mike

AE2A

The Actual SD Card is known to be a significantly different product than consumer issue devices. the Industrial/Medical/Military specifications are meant to protect the data from corruption from a number of sources. There is no argument that the component is special. This issue is that most Flex users are fully capable of writing the image to the card to repair a corrupted image. Although in some cases Flex has sent the replacement SD card with instructions on how to replace the SD card, the issue is that this process could potentially save Flex thousands of dollars in support costs and Flex owners days of out-of-service time (reducing frustration) by posting a legitimate image file that could be downloaded and written to a spare SD card (of the correct type) or used to rewrite a corrupted SD card. There has recently been a rash of 6000 series radios experiencing the "Corrupted SD Card" syndrome, so it is obviously not a rare occurrence. Any number of issues in the radio can cause unintended corruption of the data contained on the SD Card, including software issues (un-handled software errors), hardware issues (power supply fluctuations), RAM memory errors, and any as of yet unknown root causes.The SD card is the single component that can and has reduced many functional radios to a non-functional state (failure to boot-up) due to this issue. Like I previously mentioned, for the more capable owners/users, the ability to purchase a spare SD card and load the proper image for use if/when a suspected case of SD card corruption occurs would be of great value and save Flex hundreds of dollars in labor and support costs on each trouble ticket resolved without shipping the unit back to Austin, TX for this rather simple repair. In my case, I have performed this surgery on my 6400M and know of at least two other cases where this would have saved many out-of-service hours and days of fingernail biting and untold stress waiting for a diagnosis at Austin. If FlexRadio wants to become a World Class provider and exhibit World Class Customer Service , this simple process would go a long way towards reducing the service queue, returning failed radios to full service without shipping delays, and reducing owner stress during periods of no communication.

Dan-N7HQ

John - AI4FR

peter

Ive just received a replacement card....no protective case on the card, just a piece of paper included with the return address no S.A.S.E

Bill -VA3WTB