As most of you may already know by now, the PEM2 has encountered an unexpected but solvable issue that has been discovered with the monitor’s handling of the leap year transition.
On or after the last day of the leap year (12/31/08), when uploading data from the monitor an error message will appear showing the number 4 and the wrench icon on the display. This issue is easily rectified and data prior to 12/31/08 will not be lost or compromised in any way. However, there will be a gap in data collection from 12/31/08 until the monitor is reset. Prompt resetting will minimize any impact in long-term data analysis.
The steps for resetting the monitor are relatively simple. Should you prefer to implement them yourself, instructions can be found at:
http://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/pem2_restore.shtml
Below are some helpful tips from a fellow webERA partner, Wayne Gathright UW-Madison:
“University of Wisconsin-Madison has monitors in ten buildings spread throughout the 933 acre main campus. To make the job more efficient, I took a wireless-equipped laptop and two USB flash drives to each of the monitor locations. Each location has wireless access. I used one flash drive to retrieve the data from the PEM2. The other flash drive contained the reset command file.
After I retrieved and corrected the data files, I saved them to the laptop’s hard drive. Using the wireless Internet connection, I could verify that the files were corrected and viable as described in section 2, step 8.
IMPORTANT STEP: After the corrected data files have been verified as viable, the retrieval flash drive needs to be cleared using “Quick Format”. (Right click on the drive letter for the flash drive. Select Format. Check the Quick Format option.) Otherwise, the next PEM2 can’t write the data file to the flash drive.
I cleared the retrieval flash drive and used the flash drive with the command file to reset the monitor.
I wanted to visit each location only once. This setup worked quite well for me.”
- Wayne Gathright UW-Madison
We have been contacting everyone to implement the solution, which takes only a few moments. You may also call us at (585) 475-5199 and we will assist you at your convenience. Our goal is to reset all monitors as quickly and efficiently as possible, with minimal interruption to the users.
If you have anything else to add or need assistance, please leave a comment.
Posted by IPI Team 