Bad USB Cable/SD Card Error - 536HP

[jmsanders83]

Like a little kid at Christmas I unboxed my 536HP today and immediately followed UPMan's instructions he posted at BCD536HP < UnidenMan4 < TWiki.

Much to my dismay, Sentinel could not locate the 536 with the supplied USB cable. After powering the unit off and back on, and trying two different computers to determine if the issue was on my end, I rebooted the scanner and was greeted with a lovely SD card error. Oh joy.

I could not reformat the card via Sentinel because of the previously mentioned USB issue, so I used a SD card reader to do it (after searching my electronics stash for several minutes to find a USB card reader). So I managed to reformat the card, and still no joy. Sentinel still could not see the scanner.

So I started my search again and found an old USB cable. Started from the beginning and was pleasantly surprised that my old USB cable did the trick. Apparently the USB cable Uniden sent was bad. So, for anyone else who has this problem hopefully my 30 minutes of frustration will help you out.

I'm hoping my experience is better moving forward. Hopefully my 436HP doesn't have the same problem when it arrives. If it does, I guess I'm well educated now.

Josh

Get the Latest Sentinel, Firmware, and Database
1. Download the latest version of BCDx36HP Sentinel. BCDx36HP_Sentinel_Version_1_02_01.zip
2. Unzip, then install the new version by clicking the Setup.exe file.
3. Launch Sentinel, then select UPDATE --> Update Master HPDB.
4. Plug your scanner into your PC using the supplied USB cable. Press E to select Mass Storage mode.
5. From within Sentinel, select UPDATE --> Update Firmware.
6. From within Sentinel, select Scanner--> Write to Scanner.
7. Unplug the USB cable. The new firmware will be applied.

Apply the Latest Firmware to your Wi-Fi Dongle
Note: The following has not been tested to work on any operating system beyond Windows 7. 1. Download Wi-Fi-Updater.zip.
2. Unzip the files downloaded in Step 1. Then, unzip the files in STM_VCP.zip.
3. Navigate to the STM_VCP directory and run either VCP_V1.3.1_Setup.exe or VCP_V1.3.1_Setup_x64.exe depending on whether you are running a 32-bit or 64-bit OS.
4. Plug the Wi-Fi dongle directly into a USB port on your PC and allow it to install.
5. Unzip the files in BC-WF1_FirmwareUpdater_Version0.00.03.zip.
6. Navigate to the BC-WF1_FirmwareUpdater_Version0.00.03 directory, then run Setup.exe to install the updater.
7. Run the program you installed in Step 6 by navigating to the Uniden --> BCDx36HP --> BC_Wifi_Updater application launcher in your programs list.
8. When prompted, point the updater to the FWUpdate_WriteData_UartDisable_ver.5.1.bin file part of what you unzipped in Step 2.

 

[RickSuthers]

I'm having almost the same issue with my 436. Just received it, and I can't get the card to read on 3 different configs. Windows 7, WIndows 8, and Windows 8.1. Yet, when I turn on the scanner, I can select my state and the scanner appears to work. So the card can't be bad can it? Windows is telling me it is corrupt and it shows Zero files and bytes.

All I can say is this bytes... I tried switching cables. What happens if I try to reformat the card, can I get sentinal on the web and then download the whole database to the card and would that be like it just came from the factory??


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[RF23]

Like a little kid at Christmas I unboxed my 536HP today and immediately followed UPMan's instructions he posted at BCD536HP < UnidenMan4 < TWiki.

Much to my dismay, Sentinel could not locate the 536 with the supplied USB cable. After powering the unit off and back on, and trying two different computers to determine if the issue was on my end, I rebooted the scanner and was greeted with a lovely SD card error. Oh joy.

I could not reformat the card via Sentinel because of the previously mentioned USB issue, so I used a SD card reader to do it (after searching my electronics stash for several minutes to find a USB card reader). So I managed to reformat the card, and still no joy. Sentinel still could not see the scanner.

So I started my search again and found an old USB cable. Started from the beginning and was pleasantly surprised that my old USB cable did the trick. Apparently the USB cable Uniden sent was bad. So, for anyone else who has this problem hopefully my 30 minutes of frustration will help you out.

I'm hoping my experience is better moving forward. Hopefully my 436HP doesn't have the same problem when it arrives. If it does, I guess I'm well educated now.

Josh

Get the Latest Sentinel, Firmware, and Database
1. Download the latest version of BCDx36HP Sentinel. BCDx36HP_Sentinel_Version_1_02_01.zip
2. Unzip, then install the new version by clicking the Setup.exe file.
3. Launch Sentinel, then select UPDATE --> Update Master HPDB.
4. Plug your scanner into your PC using the supplied USB cable. Press E to select Mass Storage mode.
5. From within Sentinel, select UPDATE --> Update Firmware.
6. From within Sentinel, select Scanner--> Write to Scanner.
7. Unplug the USB cable. The new firmware will be applied.

Apply the Latest Firmware to your Wi-Fi Dongle
Note: The following has not been tested to work on any operating system beyond Windows 7. 1. Download Wi-Fi-Updater.zip.
2. Unzip the files downloaded in Step 1. Then, unzip the files in STM_VCP.zip.
3. Navigate to the STM_VCP directory and run either VCP_V1.3.1_Setup.exe or VCP_V1.3.1_Setup_x64.exe depending on whether you are running a 32-bit or 64-bit OS.
4. Plug the Wi-Fi dongle directly into a USB port on your PC and allow it to install.
5. Unzip the files in BC-WF1_FirmwareUpdater_Version0.00.03.zip.
6. Navigate to the BC-WF1_FirmwareUpdater_Version0.00.03 directory, then run Setup.exe to install the updater.
7. Run the program you installed in Step 6 by navigating to the Uniden --> BCDx36HP --> BC_Wifi_Updater application launcher in your programs list.
8. When prompted, point the updater to the FWUpdate_WriteData_UartDisable_ver.5.1.bin file part of what you unzipped in Step 2.

The USB cable is wrapped fairly tightly perhaps the bends in the cable are to much? I would not recommend rewrapping it after each use it will certainly break some of the wiring I would think.

When your 436 arrives DO NOT unplug the USB cable as indicated in step 7. Remember in the 436 the USB cable is your power source!

The Firmware updater will give you good instructions follow them and you will be in good shape. Indeed, it strongly warns you NOT to unplug your USB cable. So, my 436 firmware update went just fine since I followed the instructions on the screen.

However, I knew that a power-loss during a Firmware update was to be avoided, so, I put fresh fully charged batteries in at the very start and this paid off when I updated my 436 database.

However, I still do not know the best way to update the 436 database; (with good batteries installed) should I remove the USB cable (which I did and it seemed to work just fine) or should I use the power button as described in the Firmware update.

With my 396T, 396XT you removed your batteries to do a Firmware update and with the HP-1 you kept it plugged in to the AC and removed the USB cable.

You will not find the need for batteries mentioned in the owners manual that comes with the radio, the PDF of the owner's manual we have now or in "Do This First" instructions. Unless in the last day or so changes have been made.

Hopefully, you will have more than the 10 minutes I had to unpack the 436, update the Firmware & database and leave a note on RR about the apparent problems I found with the instructions before having to leave (with the 436 in my coat pocket).

So far the radio is GREAT!

 

[BigEvil]

DELETED

 

[kb8rvp]

Yesterday I received both the 536HP and the 436HP and I was able to update both units via the USB cable. A local friend of mine also received his 536HP yesterday and could not update his or get it to talk to his windows 7 computer at all. He called me and came over to my house to see if I could get it to talk to my windows 7 laptop and get it programmed. His will not do anything via the USB cable via sentinel software. Not able to update the firmware or program his favorites. So best I can tell it looks like he got a bad one too. He is sending it back for a replacement. It acts like the front connector is not making a connection inside the scanner so maybe Uniden has an issue with the front port not sure. Maybe Upman will have some feedback on this.

Mike

 

[N9TZO]

I had the same error when trying to connect my 436hp to a different computer. It said the card needed to be formatted. I downloaded the SD card formatter from https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4 and ran it to format the card. It took Windows a few minutes to get the process to run, it kept saying "not responding". Just bear with it and click format in the tool and wait for the popup boxes to complete the entire process. This might take 5 minutes. Once done run the CLEAR USER DATA from the SCANNER menu and select show all drives to see the newly formatted card. I then ran the UPDATE FIRMWARE and the wrote the favorites and full database back to the scanner and was back in business.

The bottom line was that out of the box the SD card was formatted as RAW for some reason. After using the SD Formatting tool it is now FAT32.

Sentinel software now works with the scanner on my Windows 7 workstation and running Windows 7 in Parallels Desktop on my MacBook Pro.

 

[Randdon]

Looks like there is a theme starting here ... there is another post in this thread that speaks to the memory card error Sentinel throws out ...

I starting to get afraid of plugging my 536 in !!!

 

[wb3anq]

SDCard error

I have the same problem! Have tried mulitble cables and computers!
Even a new SD card but still get the same SD card error!
I am returning my BCD536 today.

Larry WB3ANQ

 

[K2KOH]

I started a thread about this. Glad I found this. Both micro SD cards I got from Uniden will not load. However, two 2GB cards from my Icom D Star radios had no problem. I bought two 8GB cards...my 536 likes the 8GB card but the 436 does not. This is driving me insane.

 

[n1ic]

I had the same error when trying to connect my 436hp to a different computer. It said the card needed to be formatted. I downloaded the SD card formatter from https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4 and ran it to format the card. It took Windows a few minutes to get the process to run, it kept saying "not responding". Just bear with it and click format in the tool and wait for the popup boxes to complete the entire process. This might take 5 minutes. Once done run the CLEAR USER DATA from the SCANNER menu and select show all drives to see the newly formatted card. I then ran the UPDATE FIRMWARE and the wrote the favorites and full database back to the scanner and was back in business.

The bottom line was that out of the box the SD card was formatted as RAW for some reason. After using the SD Formatting tool it is now FAT32.

Sentinel software now works with the scanner on my Windows 7 workstation and running Windows 7 in Parallels Desktop on my MacBook Pro.

BCD436HP Sentinel Software won

I had come up with the same solution.