Partial push of Josh's configure-dive-computer GSoC project

[Jef Driesen]

On 2014-08-19 15:20, Davide DB wrote:
> Months ago, when i started to use Subsurface, I asked to support Sensus
> ultra devices. I helped Miika to understand their CVS format. Miika
> implemented only the CSV import via their file. So the device must be
> downloaded via their client.

That's not true. The Sensus Ultra is a supported devices. You can 
download your dives directly from subsurface. Have you actually tried 
this?

> The problem lies there. Their client is one of the worst piece of 
> software
> I ever seen. From their site you can see they do not update it from 
> 2010.

If you mean it only offers basic functionality with a somewhat dated 
look and feel, then I agree. But it's far from the worst software I've 
seen. Why would it need an update if it already worked fine in 2010?

Reefnet is actively encouraging third-party developers to support their 
hardware, rather than trying to write a great application of their own. 
If you ask me, that's the right thing to do. You get their basic app, 
and if you want something more advanced, there are plenty of other 
choices.

> The icing on the cake is their USB driver. They used a Prolific PL2303
> driver widely used but just google for it and you will see tons of post 
> of
> people going crazy about it.
> 
> https://www.google.it/search?q=driver+usb+pl2303
> 
> On Windows XP it works but on Windows7 it fails on 90% of installations 
> I
> tried.
> Moral of the story: I know of at least 12 sensus ultra lying in a 
> drawer
> just because after changing PC it was impossible to detect the device
> connected.
> I had to install a XP VM on my dive buddy box just to download his 
> dives,
> then he got bored and throw it away.
> Moreover I don't see that Reefnet cares too much about it. And it's a
> shame. I agree they fully documented their product but... no, you are 
> not
> supposed to be an space engineer to use a datalogger.

So you are blaming Reefnet for problems with the Prolific drivers? There 
is very little they can do about that, because the driver is made by 
Prolific, not Reefnet.

I guess many of those Prolific driver problems are due to the fact that 
their Windows driver started to blacklist counterfeit chips a few years 
ago:

http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=155&pcid=41

Those "chinese" counterfeit chips are probably widespread in existing 
hardware :-(

> So IMHO, before spending time on a obsolete device, try to solve the
> download problem.

There is a long standing problem with libdivecomputer and the Sensus 
Ultra on Mac OS X (seems to be a timing or latency issue). But on my 
Linux system it's rock solid. I have to admit I haven't tested on 
Windows in a long while (it's not my primary OS).

At the time of its introduction, which is more than 10 years ago, a dive 
computer with a PC interface was pretty rare. Nowadays, you may no 
longer need one, because even the cheapest dive computer model has it. 
But even by todays standards, the Sensus Ultra design isn't outdated. 
For example the memory capacity (2MB) and precision/accuracy still 
exceeds that of many current dive computers. Compare that with Suunto 
(8-64K), Oceanic (32-128K) or Mares (16-1024K) just to name a few. Only 
state of the art technical dive computer like the OSTC and Petrel have 
comparable (or more) logbook memory.

Jef