Strange files and unable to open them in Fed3Viz

[Nicky]

Hi, 

I have just finished running my first Fed3 experiment. When I tried to extract the data files from the Fed3 boxes' SD cards, most of the files didn't look quite right. Half the files also didn't open in the Fed3Viz program. 
For starters, the dates are all wrong (e.g., it gives dates such as june 2001 or december 2086). In addition, the timepoints in the files also seemed off, and I think this is where the main issue might be in regards to the files not opening in the program. In these files, the timepoints start, e.g., at 25h or 39h. I think because the timepoints exceed the usual 24h in a day, that the program has trouble making sense of the files. I have tried to change the timepoints, but this didn't help. 

My supervisor and I have spent the last week thinking of a possible solution, but haven't found one yet. If the problem is in the SD cards, we can get new ones for the next batch/experiment, but we'd still like to be able to use the data gathered from this first batch. 

Might anyone know how to fix this? Thanks a lot in advance!

Kind regards, 

Nicky 

[Lex]

Hi Nicky,

It sounds like you have a problem with the real-time clock inside FED3 not being set correctly.  FED3 has a clock inside like a digital watch, and if that clock is not set correctly it will show incorrect time-stamps on the screen and record incorrect time-stamps to the card.  When you look at your FED3 devices you'll see the date and time printed on the bottom of the screen.  This is the same time that is written to the SD cards, so if you look at the screens you should see this match up with the (incorrect) dates/times recorded from each FED3:

Is your data useable? It might be!  If the clock was set to an incorrect time but was otherwise incrementing normally, you can shift it to the correct time in the datafile.  ChatGPT is great at things like this, you can upload the FED3 datafile and ask it to add 20 years and 2 months to the timestamp column, for instance.  However, if the FED3 was writing corrupted or non-sensical values this won't work.  That said, depending on what you care about, the Poke and Pellet counters will be accurate even if time-stamps are not.  So if you just want to know how many pellets they ate, and you know how long each file was, the data in those columns may still be useful for you.  If you need the timestamps of each event and the clock was not functioning you are likely out of luck, like if you timed a sequence of events with a broken clock.

How should you fix the clock?  I recorded a video showing how to re-set the clock on FED3, which you should do first. After setting the clock and reflashing your behavioral program, if everything works you're good to go.  However, it's also possible that the coin cell battery (red arrow below) that powers the RTC might need replacing. That battery lasts ~3 years, so if your FEDs are older than that it's a likely culprit.  The battery is a common CR1220, it might not be a bad idea to just replace these if you're not sure how old they are.  To do so, you will need to loosen the screws that secure the circuit board inside to pop it out.  This post has a bit more detail/photos on how to replace it.

Hope this helps, and that you're able to use the data you collected! Best, -Lex

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[Lex]

Hi again Nicky - I uploaded a small video on replacing the coin cell here if you're still interested!

[Nicky]

Hi Lex, 

So sorry for the late response, I wanted to get back to you after trying all your suggestions. Thanks a lot for all the input and for uploading the extra video, I really appreciate it! 
I have managed to replace all the coin cell batteries on the boxes and I'm pleased to say that about half of them seem to work properly again! :) However, the other small of half the boxes still won't show the correct date or time. I can reset the clock and flash the code for the program just fine, and it will initially give me the correct time, but when I switch them off and back on again, it goes right back to displaying incorrect values, so I'm not quite sure what to do with those boxes? I'm also wondering if incorrect values is really that big of a problem for now, since Fed3Viz can also analyse according to elapsed time (although the incorrect/extreme time values (25:11 e.g.) might pose a problem, but maybe that's a glitch where the time would just be 01:11 then and I could potentially manually fix this in the files)? 
There is also one which doesn't seem to want to start up altogether. I can also flash the code on this one, and it will run the program fine immediately after the code is finished uploading, but if I turn it off and on again it wants me to 'check the SD card' (which I replaced, but this also does not seem to work). 

Kind regards, 

Nicky