DIY USB cables for Suunto Zoop Novo

[Sean Walberg]

Anyone had luck building a USB cable for the Novos? I found a few circuits for the plain Zoops and haven't had any success. One which is for other Suunto models will put the watch into data transmit mode but won't transfer any data. Another is a much simpler circuit made for the Zoop, but I get nothing out of it. If it makes any difference I'm using Subsurface on OSX and a CP2102 USB-UART controller.

Haven't been able to find any specs, such as what triggers that data mode, and if the barrel connector needs to be wired up, as that doesn't exist on previous models.

Thanks,

Sean

ps for reference, Suunto Zoop/Cobra USB Interface by jjhuff 07fc525d60e6c0ed - Upverter and Roli's PC Interface for Suunto Dive Computers are the two circuits I've been looking at. That first one is the same as the USB variant of the second one with all the "optional" stuff stripped out.

 

[Umuntu]

My Vyper Novo came with a USB cable. It works fine with Subsurface on a Mac.

 

[Bubblesong]

I have the zoo novo cable for one DC, but i need one for my two Suunto vypers That use a different $100 cable. Do you have advice for what i could try with that?

 

[undrwater]

but I get nothing out of it.

Have you tried the libdivecomputer "dump" command? It could be that data is flowing, just not in a recognizable way.

 

[Sean Walberg]

Have you tried the libdivecomputer "dump" command? It could be that data is flowing, just not in a recognizable way.

I didn't do that specifically... I turned on the libdivecomputer logging and the logs indicated it wasn't getting an answer back from the watch. I just downloaded dctool and will try that when I rebuild the circuit, thanks.

 

[Sean Walberg]

Same thing when trying to dump. "Failed to receive the echo".

 

[Sean Walberg]

My Vyper Novo came with a USB cable. It works fine with Subsurface on a Mac.

When you plug the DC into the cable and then your computer, does it immediately go into data transfer mode? Or does that only start when you try and import your dives?

Thanks,

Sean

 

[Umuntu]

When you plug the DC into the cable and then your computer, does it immediately go into data transfer mode? Or does that only start when you try and import your dives?

It goes into data transfer mode as soon as the DC's cable USB is plugged into the computer port (I attached to DC first).
This happens even without Subsurface being launched.

 

[Streydog]

My DC will go into transfer mode as soon as I plug it into the computer, even though the cable is damaged. There is no connection to Subsurface or DM5 and it will not transfer data. When it used to work, there would be a line running on the DC showing that it was transferring data. I read somewhere of someone else having this issue and having to replace the cable after about a year. Hopefully you can figure something out.

 

[undrwater]

Sean, the older suunto devices did not auto connect (my D9 does, but my Vyper and the one the Zoop replaced didn't). Perhaps there's another pin needed for handshake or something similar.

You might get a more technical response in a subsurface thread, or perhaps at the irc channel (#subsurface on freenode).

Ask electronics on reddit could be helpful as well.