Atomic COBALT : WORST DIVE COMPUTER EVER !

[RonR]

Ron:

I took my Cobalt2 to my Windows 10 laptop. I plugged into USB and held the FORWARD-SELECT combo (screen on Cobalt was still black) for about 30 seconds. It mounted. Bootloader was visible. I downloaded the firmware and loaded it. It acted normal. I ejected the boot loader. It acted normal and the Cobalt came to life. Set clock and checked firmware version. It shows the correctly updated version.

Perhaps Mac has fiddled with their USB interface in High Sierra?

Anyhow...things working now. Thanks for your prompt response.

Macs tend to be pickier but I doubt it's related to the OS- the Cobalt just uses the same interface as would a USB stick or a flash card or or any other USB storage device. My best guess is that there was some sort of glitch or interruption in the original download, possibly due to a weak connection, and that prevented the firmware from downloading completely. If you didn't see the "Bootloader" when first plugging it into Windows (before the reset procedure) that indicates the Cobalt was in some sort of state where the firmware did not fully start, but not in boot mode. The boot code is permanent in the processor, so it's effectively impossible to "brick" the Cobalt, even if the firmware update totally fails. Good to hear that you got it to update.

Ron

 

[covington_diver]

I just updated my Cobalt 2 firmware using macOS High Sierra, 10.13.1 Beta (17B46a). No issues on my end.

Interesting. I have used my Mac to update my Cobalt several times before with no issue. Today, it refused to eject the bootloader “volume” and my Cobalt would not then reboot. Have no idea why it refused to work on the Mac. What i tried on the Windows machine that finally worked was also something I tried on the Mac (with no results). I have also had issues with some USB external drives that worked fine under Sierra.

 

[RonR]

RonR, you mentioned that there was a substantial redesign of the Cobalt 2 that addressed the button corrosion, leaky cases, etc. What serial number and later would I expect to find these improvements in? I'm considering buying one from a friend (new in box, never used), but if it's in the problem date range, I'll probably pass.

These changes took place over some time, so it's hard to assign a serial number. They were almost all in place during 2015, and in any case Atomic will replace things like rusting magnets with no questions. The third and fourth digit of the serial # are the year it was made. If the Cobalt is from the last couple of years you can be pretty confident it has the changes made to magnet sealing and case design.

Ron

 

[TheKraken]

These changes took place over some time, so it's hard to assign a serial number. They were almost all in place during 2015, and in any case Atomic will replace things like rusting magnets with no questions. The third and fourth digit of the serial # are the year it was made. If the Cobalt is from the last couple of years you can be pretty confident it has the changes made to magnet sealing and case design.

Ron

Thanks, if it is 2015 or newer, I'll probably go ahead with it. Just want to be careful since it will be out of warranty and I'm pretty much stuck with any problems it might develop.

 

[TheKraken]

The unit being offered has a mid-2014 production date.

 

[mdb]

So I just learned that the unit being offered has a mid-2014 production date. Much as I want it, I think I may have to pass on this one.

Smart move.

 

[LStewart]

Alright, here we go again. So, I sent in my Cobalt 2 a while back and they replaced it with I assume a new one. Took it to Bonaire end of last month and it worked "mostly fine". I say mostly fine because on 11/1 it recorded a dive with no info at 11:23 then at 11:24 it recorded a dive for 1093 minutes to a depth of 3551 feet. I will be submitting this as a world record for depth, SAC rate, fastest decent/ascent, time warping, etc!
When I returned from the real dive at that time, it was stuck on a blank dive profile page. I had to reboot it to get it off that page.
Now, I just went to download all my dives from Bonaire to my PC and it downloads back to those bogus dives and STOPS! It won't download those or any older dives.

ANy ideas ust to get the dives downloaded?

Atomic Cobalt 2
SN: 3716-0512
Ver: 2.430/4

Side by side with my wife's Cobalt 2
Her (purple frame) #55 = my #17 (black frame)
54=16
53=14/15
and so on

 

[RonR]

Alright, here we go again. So, I sent in my Cobalt 2 a while back and they replaced it with I assume a new one. Took it to Bonaire end of last month and it worked "mostly fine". I say mostly fine because on 11/1 it recorded a dive with no info at 11:23 then at 11:24 it recorded a dive for 1093 minutes to a depth of 3551 feet. I will be submitting this as a world record for depth, SAC rate, fastest decent/ascent, time warping, etc!
When I returned from the real dive at that time, it was stuck on a blank dive profile page. I had to reboot it to get it off that page.
Now, I just went to download all my dives from Bonaire to my PC and it downloads back to those bogus dives and STOPS! It won't download those or any older dives.

ANy ideas ust to get the dives downloaded?

Atomic Cobalt 2
SN: 3716-0512
Ver: 2.430/4

Side by side with my wife's Cobalt 2
Her (purple frame) #55 = my #17 (black frame)
54=16
53=14/15
and so on
View attachment 435850

The dashes on dive 14 indicate a dive that didn’t complete. I can’t say why without looking at memory in detail, but almost the only reason this could happen is a power interruption during the dive, causing a reset. This could be a loose battery connection or an internal battery problem. Since dive 15 starts in the next minute, and on reset the Cobalt goes back to the time of the last dive, one hypothesis is that the Cobalt reset, started a new dive registering a higher ambient pressure, which meant that it didn’t detect your actual surfacing time. Looking at the dive log profile would be a clue- is there a long period of shallow depth at the end of the dive? But if you actually show 3551’ in the log, then the depth sensor is bad. I’d like to know more about what you see in the dive log detail and profile. I will send you a PM to get details.

As to getting your dive log out, first try installing the latest firmware, 2.45, and attempting to download again. http://www.atomicaquatics.com/software_download.html One of the changes made with this version will help dive log programs overlook and not get stuck on incomplete dives. What dive log software are you using?

Since you experienced a power interruption during a dive there is a physical hardware problem that needs to be fixed, even though it appeared to work fine on the last two dives. It could be very simple, but it needs to be addressed by Atomic.

Ron

 

[LStewart]

As to getting your dive log out, first try installing the latest firmware, 2.45, and attempting to download again. Atomic Aquatics Cobalt Updates One of the changes made with this version will help dive log programs overlook and not get stuck on incomplete dives. What dive log software are you using?

Since you experienced a power interruption during a dive there is a physical hardware problem that needs to be fixed, even though it appeared to work fine on the last two dives. It could be very simple, but it needs to be addressed by Atomic.

Ron

OK, I downloaded the update and installed it. Cobalt Logbook is processing them now. It skipped 13 and 15 but downloaded the rest back to 7 so far. I use Cobalt Logbook and Subsurface, still seeing which one I like best. Neither program would download past the bad dives before. Thanks for the info and help.

Larry