Sentinel: Sentinel doesn't see sd card with AMD processor

OddManOut

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Purchased some low cost pc's to do some satellite radio work and had a couple left over from my learning experiences. Decided to set one up for Sentinel for my SDS 100 and 200. !st pc has an AMD processor. Got the Sentinel installed via the link provided by another member in a different thread. Installed ok but no matter what Sentinel won't show the card installed in the scanner under any circumstance. Put the card in a card reader and Sentinel can see it on the AMD. Card back in the scanner is a no go. Tried all variations of reformatting and starting from scratch. Tried ll kinds of Windows settings. No go. Then I installed Sentinel into an Intel processor stick pc and it works great. It sees the sd card installed in the radio and it works great. I'm only bringing this up because in my setting radios up for Inmarsat I've discovered that AMD processors don't work too well with programs written in C++. For instance Jaero won't run on AMD processors. At least not the one I have. Can be very frustrating. Don't know if the sd card problem is an AMD thing or not but this has been my experience. Both of these pc's are running Windows 10 pro. Just thought I'd pass it on in case someone knows a magic trick to make it work with the AMD processor. I've read and done all the things mentioned in the other threads. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
 

jtwalker

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Seeing the card has nothing to do with Sentinel and everything to do with Windows. Did the scanner prompt you to select mass storage mode on the pc that isn't working? I'd suspect it's the usb port on the pc, so try a different one. You using same cable in both pc's?
 

jaspence

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Do other devices work with the USB port? If so, it may be a software issue.
 

RandyKuff

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The card reader your using on the AMD computer see's the card...
Is this card reader internal to the computer or an external one you plug into one of the USB ports?

If the card reader is external, did you plug the scanner into the same USB port you used for the reader?
If so. did the scanner prompt you when plugged into that port to select the Mass Storage Mode?
Mass Storage Mode makes the scanner look like an external card reader to the computer...

If the card reader is internal to the computer, then it looks like your USB ports are not functioning on the AMD computer...
If you have a USB Flash drive does it see that...
 
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RandyKuff

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The card reader your using on the AMD computer see's the card...
Is this card reader internal to the computer or an external one you plug into one of the USB ports?

If the card reader is external, did you plug the scanner into the same USB port you used for the reader?
If so. did the scanner prompt you when plugged into that port to select the Mass Storage Mode?
Mass Storage Mode makes the scanner look like an external card reader to the computer...

If the card reader is internal to the computer, then it looks like your USB ports are not functioning on the AMD computer...
If you have a USB Flash drive does it see that...
Just a note: If you don't select the Mass Storage Mode on the scanner (When prompted) when you plug it in to USB port...
The scanner will default to Serial Mode... You will see that because the scanner will be running like normal...
 

a417

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Then I installed Sentinel into an Intel processor stick pc and it works great. It sees the sd card installed in the radio and it works great. I'm only bringing this up because in my setting radios up for Inmarsat I've discovered that AMD processors don't work too well with programs written in C++.
Please show your work.

I write code in C++ on an AMD machine, and have seen nothing in the documentation (or practical application) regarding your statement.
 

OddManOut

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The cables are all good. The ports are good. The card reader is external. It prompts me to press E for mass storage when scanner is connected. Makes a little beep on computer acknowledging something was connected. The device manager sees the SDS but no card shows up in the drive column if card is in scanner. With sd card in card reader I uploaded from sd card to Sentinel and then put a new card in reader and formatted it from the AMD computer. Wrote the Sentinel database to it, installed it back into the scanner. Powered it up disconnected from the computer and got the error it was bad and that I should hook up to Sentinel and use the Clear Data option. Put my original card back in scanner and it's ok. I saw a suggestion somewhere to start the Portable Device Enumerator in Services. That didn't help. As far as C++ goes I've seen arcticles about this problem but that may be outdated. I'm not a programmer. If the C++ was originally written on an Intel processor it may be different than C++ written on AMD? I know that may sound ridiculous but Intel has hobbled AMD in the past and they are bitter rivals. I may just be stuck with an outdated pc that has an old problem. No big deal. I have the other one that works and can use my scanners just fine. I do have an old Windows 7 pc with an AMD processor that works just fine with Sentinel too. Probably an older version of Sentinel since I haven't turned that machine on for quite some time. It's all good. Just putting this out there because I've read about other folks having a similar problem and maybe the info helps someone. Have a good one.
 

OddManOut

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Here is a clip I took a while back for a friend. Don't remember where I found the article on the internet. Would have to dig. Just points out some possible issues. Also a program called JAERO that I use for Inmarsat reception of ACARS data doesn't run well on the AMD pc I've been talking about and it's in C++. It opens etc. but does not perform so I don't use the AMD for that. Just an observation. Screenshot 2023-07-09 at 10.11.39 AM.jpg
 

KevinC

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The cables are all good. The ports are good. The card reader is external. It prompts me to press E for mass storage when scanner is connected. Makes a little beep on computer acknowledging something was connected. The device manager sees the SDS but no card shows up in the drive column if card is in scanner. With sd card in card reader I uploaded from sd card to Sentinel and then put a new card in reader and formatted it from the AMD computer. Wrote the Sentinel database to it, installed it back into the scanner. Powered it up disconnected from the computer and got the error it was bad and that I should hook up to Sentinel and use the Clear Data option. Put my original card back in scanner and it's ok. I saw a suggestion somewhere to start the Portable Device Enumerator in Services. That didn't help. As far as C++ goes I've seen arcticles about this problem but that may be outdated. I'm not a programmer. If the C++ was originally written on an Intel processor it may be different than C++ written on AMD? I know that may sound ridiculous but Intel has hobbled AMD in the past and they are bitter rivals. I may just be stuck with an outdated pc that has an old problem. No big deal. I have the other one that works and can use my scanners just fine. I do have an old Windows 7 pc with an AMD processor that works just fine with Sentinel too. Probably an older version of Sentinel since I haven't turned that machine on for quite some time. It's all good. Just putting this out there because I've read about other folks having a similar problem and maybe the info helps someone. Have a good one.
Does the scanner display show "USB Mass Storage"?
 

OddManOut

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I'm using the original and 3 others all of which work on the Intel machine and also work with the card reader on the AMD machine. Yes the scanner shows USB Mass Storage.
 

KevinC

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Did you actually try "Clear User Data" on the new or reformatted card? It wasn't clear if you tried it or just saw it on the computer.
 

OddManOut

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Did so many things I forgot so I started all over from scratch. First I checked how my working sd card was formatted. It'f Fat 32 so I reformatted the new card with Fat 32. Next I had to use the show all drives in the Clear User Data, New card showed up. Cleared it then wrote the data base to it. I had the database in Sentinel because using the card reader I previously uploaded my original files from my working card. With the new card programmed I installed it into the scanner and powered up. Got the error message saying to use the Clear User Data to activate the card. So I plugged the scanner back into the computer usb (no hub) but since the card is in the scanner nothing can be done because Sentinel can't see it unless I pull it out and put it in the card reader which puts me back to square one and the same thing happens. So far I believe there is nothing wrong with the scanner, I don't believe there's anything wrong with Sentinel because it works perfectly in the Intel pc, and there's nothing wrong with my cables etc. Somewhere there must be an obscure setting that allows the AMD to see past the scanner (which it sees in the device manager) and into the built in card reader in the scanner. It does that in the Intel pc. Or there is the possibility there is a physical defect in the AMD processor that got past QC in the factory. Believe me that's a real possibility. One more thing I'll try after lunch is remove Sentinel and re-install everything from scratch. Maybe something went sideways during first install. I'll post again after that.
 

a417

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The confirmation bias that you have with AMD processors being the issue that your SD card isn't working is amazing.

bias.png

Here's a little more of your very heavily cropped, unlinked and unreferenced online forum post that you use in support of your beliefs. I included the followup post that you neglected to mention. I didn't know that RedFlagDeals.com was authoritative. They are talking about Matlab and hardware virtualization, neither of which are required for USB access.

Good luck with your issue, I hope you get it sorted.
 
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OddManOut

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Is it plugged direct or via a hub?
Sorry I meant to mention it's direct. There are 4. 2 USB 2's and 2 USB 3's. I tried them all.
The confirmation bias that you have with AMD processors being the issue that your SD card isn't working is amazing.

Good luck with your issue, I hope you get it sorted.
I don't have anything against AMD I'm just mentioning observations. My old Windows 7 with AMD works fine with Sentinel. Something changed.
 

a417

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Sorry I meant to mention it's direct. There are 4. 2 USB 2's and 2 USB 3's. I tried them all.

I don't have anything against AMD I'm just mentioning observations. My old Windows 7 with AMD works fine with Sentinel. Something changed.
It's likely a hardware incompatibility in those low cost systems in the supporting chipset, hardware driver or other fault. I highly doubt that AMD proccessor is the reason that the USB mass storage issue is having troubles with your program.

Low cost systems frequently have counterfeit chips of dubious origin that represent themselves as one thing, and are another. The OS thinks it supports this feature set, does that...and it looks the part, acts the part, and then it falls flat on it's face when you need it to do something. Usually I see it with amazon grade sound devices or video hardware. They say "oh this device uses this device driver", and then when you go and cross reference the USB device ID, you see that it's a compatibility mode of another device that this one is using, and that it's an act of Congress to get it working the way the original device was designed to - if at all.
 
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RandyKuff

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The confirmation bias that you have with AMD processors being the issue that your SD card isn't working is amazing.

View attachment 146426

Here's a little more of your very heavily cropped, unlinked and unreferenced online forum post that you use in support of your beliefs. I included the followup post that you neglected to mention. I didn't know that RedFlagDeals.com was authoritative. They are talking about Matlab and hardware virtualization, neither of which are required for USB access.

Good luck with your issue, I hope you get it sorted.
The windows kernal I believe is written in C... Everything else is C++
 
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