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

[Jef Driesen]

On 2014-08-20 10:40, Davide DB wrote:
> Seiko exited the DC business so I can understand. Sad but true.

The story is a bit more complex. Seiko made dive computers for other 
companies like Cressi and Zeagle. Those companies are still around. But 
because Seiko is no longer interested, they can no longer offer support 
for their own products, even if they wanted too. The hardware and 
software development.

> IMHO a company who stands behind its product behave differently. They 
> could
> try to change driver, update it, or maybe change serial/usb cable 
> offering
> to their customers a discount on the new interface or something like 
> that.
> From what I see the Sensus itself has just a plain old standard RS-232
> serial interface so it shouldn't be a difficult task for them finding a 
> new
> driver that works.
> Given that nothing of the above happened, I simply believe that this is 
> a
> dead product not worth of further development or, if you prefer I'm the
> only one with these problems.

We can keep arguing about this forever, so let's put it to rest and 
instead try to find a solution for your problem.

If your Sensus Ultra PC interface is the same as mine, then it should 
look similar to this one:

http://www.plongeur.com/scuba-planet/data/92/5399sensus_interface-large.jpg

Two parts, the download interface with an RS-232 (serial) connector, and 
a separate usb-serial cable. If I'm right, the Prolific chip is embedded 
in the cable, not the download interface. That means you can easily 
replace it with another usb-serial cable. If you pick an FTDI based 
cable, you'll no longer have to deal with the prolific driver.

Jef