436hp Won't Read ANY SD Card ... ARC 536 Won't See Scanner

[sefrischling]

OK ... so now after a day of trying to use the 436hp, which out of the box worked just fine, but issues arose after I tried loading my own stuff I am beyond pissed off. This is not made any easier by Uniden's new customer service line being 100% automated and when you get the other customer service line being disconnected twice after being on hold for one hour.

As of now three brand new SD cards, and the one that came with it, come up with "SD Card Fire Error Use Sentinel "Clear User Data" operation to initiliaze SD Card. I have done this at least a dozen times per card. I have done it via the scanner in Mass Storage mode, SD card adapter, micro-SD in card reader . I have used SFFormatter in Win 7 and Win2K. I have updated the firmware and database.

Now when I try and connected ARC 536 to the scanner or SD card after clearing the user data it never sees a scanner. It has not recognized the scanner or SD card being connected more than 30 times in the past hour. I have tried four USB cables.

WHAT THE HELL AM I MISSING AND DOING WRONG? As of this morning the 436hp is just a nice looking $500 paperweight rather than a tool I can use for work.


I have been using software to program scanners since the old Relm MS200 and Radio Shack Pro 92. I currently have the 346xt and 396xt ... and at this moment I feel like a complete novice idiot because there has to be something simple I am missing.

 

[Essexscan]

OK I see where there may be a step missing in what you're doing. when you bring up sentinel and you click the clear user data did you click on show all drives? when you do the scanner will show up with the blank sd card installed then it will format and reload the files

make sure the batteries are charged and installed correctly the radio may not write to the sd card with the batteries out of the radio or discharged

 

[sefrischling]

Thanks Essex,

Tried that ... no go. It seems as if this radio is bricked and won't take any SD card now.

 

[Essexscan]

do a hard reset press and hold the 2,9, and DEPT key while turning the radio on that will force a reset and may clear the USB/SD card hangup

 

[sefrischling]

Nope ... thanks though.

Once that message comes up the keys are locked, I can't even turn it off without yanking the batteries.

 

[Essexscan]

I hate to say it but I think you've tried it all. It might be time for an exchange unit

Sorry sefrischling

 

[ChrisP]

This sounds like exactly the same problems I had a while back, but the problem was I was using the wrong version of the Uniden Sentinel software. What version are you using?

- Chris

 

[sefrischling]

There is a wrong version of Sentinel???

 

[bama9999]

There is a wrong version of Sentinel???

There is a version for the 436 and 536's and then there's a version for the Homepatrol. The Sentinel for the 436 and 536 is available at this link.
http://info.uniden.com/twiki/bin/view/UnidenMan4/BCD436HP

 

[sefrischling]

I pulled the batteries out for an hour ... and now the friggin' thing is working just fine.

What the hell is that?

 

[ofd8001]

One thing I do for safety's sake, is to copy all of the files on my SD card to a backup folder on my computer. Actually because I have two 536 scanners - I've done this twice, one folder for one scanner the second folder for the other.

That way I know I can re-create a functioning SD card be it a new card or re-formatted card. While the card itself may have the serial number of the scanner "ingrained" on it, that isn't an issue. Once it is inserted into a scanner, the scanner will do some overwriting to make it work.

 

[sefrischling]

One thing I do for safety's sake, is to copy all of the files on my SD card to a backup folder on my computer. Actually because I have two 536 scanners - I've done this twice, one folder for one scanner the second folder for the other. .

Thanks ... doing this right now.

Now to figure out how to use this scanner since it operates differently than the 346xt and 396xt. Why the heck did Uniden remove the basic "Scan" key?

 

[ofd8001]

I suspect that all of the other features (Zip, Serv, Rang, Menu, Avoid, Replay and the holds - System, Department and Channel) probably goobled up all the room on the front of the scanner.

The "default" mode is scanning when powered up for the very first time. If the user does something to stop scanning, then to resume scanning, simply reverse what was done. For example, pressing the Channel hold button. To resume scanning, press the Channel hold button again.

If someone is in the menu mode, then hitting the Avoid button resumes scanning. There are some other features that stop scanning which will have a prompt on the screen, something like "Function + Sys" to resume scanning.

It's like when we were very young people learning to tie our shoes. It was challening, but once we got the hang of doing it, we don't give much thought to the task.

 

[Essexscan]

I pulled the batteries out for an hour ... and now the friggin' thing is working just fine.

What the hell is that?

I'm glad it's working for you and not bricked!! I forgot to ask if you had the right version of Sentinel, Bama9999 your right on

And definitely make a copy of your Sd card on your computer saves a lot of time if you want a bigger card or have a card go bad

Welcome back to scanning with a working radio!!!

 

[sefrischling]

Thanks Essexscan,

I had the right version, I had no idea another version exists. I wish I knew what the heck happened to lock it up like that until the batteries were out. I pulled them out, went to dinner came home, popped them in ready to be annoyed and BAM! the radio was working like it is supposed to.

Now is the challenge of learning how to use this scanner, and then learning to use it the way I want to use it.

I have an 8gb SD in there and have cloned over another 8gb and a 4gb exactly the same. I plan to keep doing this as I put the systems together in the scanner, converting them over from ARC XT files.

 

[K2KOH]

This is happening more and more with these radios. Does the 436 have a problem in its firmware somewhere?

 

[ofd8001]

I've been draggin my feet on using ARC 536 to convert my existing XT files for 536 use. That's because at this point, ARC 536 doesn't capture the GPS information from the XT files.

Also bear in mind that Service Types are not in the XT file structure. So when you convert the XT files to ARC 536, you might have some editing to do in the Service Types column. You can specify a default value in ARC 536 for Service Types, however.

 

[sefrischling]

I don't use GPS, so not an issue, but I have not been enjoying the adding of service types, which is what is taking me so long. Seems like a never ending process.

 

[brucewarming]

Not Saying

But can the SD card be put in upside down or backwards? Could it just not be seated just right?
When I first got my scanner I was doing a software update and unplugged the USB cable while It was still loading. I then got a error message. I can't remember what I did to fix that? But maybe it was clear user data when I went to reload the database.

 

[greggk]

Thanks Essexscan,

I had the right version, I had no idea another version exists. I wish I knew what the heck happened to lock it up like that until the batteries were out. I pulled them out, went to dinner came home, popped them in ready to be annoyed and BAM! the radio was working like it is supposed to.

Now is the challenge of learning how to use this scanner, and then learning to use it the way I want to use it.

I have an 8gb SD in there and have cloned over another 8gb and a 4gb exactly the same. I plan to keep doing this as I put the systems together in the scanner, converting them over from ARC XT files.

Good to hear the SD card incident has been resolved. Now, if you are just learning the 436 ...stand by for FUN. Its not like any scanner I have owned. The first two weeks I considered returning it, throwing it, stepping on it, valiums, even suicide.

I think if you can just stay calm with it and research every problem that comes up, you to will be good to go in a short time.