- The problem(s) with using the Aeris 300G dive computer on a modern PC are:
- The software is NOT compatible with Windows Vista, 7, 8, or 10. The newest OS I could get the Aeris 300G to work on is Windows XP (even then, it helped to run the program in compatibility mode as Windows Me or Windows 98).
- The hardware requires a parallel port (IEEE-1284 port as LPT 1, 2, or3).
- The solution(s) are:
- You must either run the software on a PC with an older OS (using Windows 7 or newer and running in compatibility mode with older OS will NOT work) OR run a virtual older OS inside a newer OS using a virtual machine. Options for this include VirtualBox (or other freeware/shareware) or Windows Virtual PC and XP Mode.
- Getting a parallel port in a modern PC requires one of these:
- USB to parallel port adapter (WARNING: most of these will NOT work b/c they only function as printer adapters). Only 1 I know can work is here: https://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund um den PC/USB2LPT/index.html.var
- PCI card or PCI express card to parallel port adapter (WARNING: you may need a base address shift driver).
- PCIe based ExpressCard to parallel port adapter (better than USB based ExpressCard to parallel port adapter).
- Another solution is to get a newer dive computer (sad if your Aeris 300G works fine, and the only issue is dive downloading software).
I own one of these, and have been researching how to make it work properly on my newer hardware, given that I am ready to finally retire my real, physical Win98se machine (and make my "backup machine" my somewhat newer WinXP machine). I'm presently running Win7x64 on my main machine... with no plans for the immediate future to "upgrade" to Windows 10.
I've been able to keep my 300G in full duty for a long time (I'm not a FREQUENT diver, but a semi-regular one, so it's mainly a matter of taking out the batteries before storing it away, and keeping desiccant packs in with the device.) And so far, I've been doing my transfers using my old Win9x machine.
With my choice to finally send the old machine off to digital heaven... or at least the digital retirement home... I needed to find a new means of doing what we're talking about, and thus a search led me here (where I've just signed up for an account).
It seems to me that what we're looking at is a two-fold problem, as you suggest, but also that the first problem isn't as complicated as you make it seem.
The issue is that the "Dive Downloader" can't be used by emulating an "LPT printer port" (which is not actually a Centronics type parallel port, after all). The issue, then is to find a "USB to IEEE 1284 adapter." (IEEE 1284 is what is commonly referred to as a "centronics printer port," and can either use the centronics type connector older printers used, or a 25-pin D-sub port, which is what was ALWAYS found on the "computer end" but usually not on the "printer" end.
Here's a standard "centronics port."
While the standard PC end was always the 25-pin D-sub, like this:
You can be CERTAIN that if you get a cable like the one at the top, it will be IEEE 1284, but you'll then need a "centronics to 25-pin D-sub" adapter to go in between. On the other hand, if you get a 25-pin, and it has the FEMALE (referring to the pin sockets, as seen above) version, it will PROBABLY be an IEEE 1284 version, but you can't be certain unless you read the specs.
Any device which actually meets IEEE 1284 standards WILL BE CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING THE DIVE DOWNLOADER. The issue is, some less reputable manufacturers will claim "IEEE type connectors" or the like and not truly be IEEE 1284 compliant.
That's the thing. You need a cable which LOOKS like the second one, above (or like the first, with an adapter) to use the Dive Downloader for the 300G.
That's the first step. The second step is what you described, correctly, above... but it's not so much a matter of the operating system as it is the ability to directly access the hardware mode of the port. Windows XP and later all removed (by default) "direct hardware access" to parallel and serial ports, replacing those with "emulated" modes, in the case of printer ports, "emulated modes" which push the data through a software package rather than giving direct access to the application.
This is what I'm concerned with. I'm uncertain that you can trick the software into believing it has "direct hardware access" through a virtual machine. I'm curious if you, or anyone else, has had success doing so.
Now, it SHOULD be possible... though I haven't resolved that just yet... to enable "direct hardware access" to the parallel port on ANY operating system... especially if there's a driver for this beyond the "canned Microsoft drivers" (which are what disable that capability, supposedly as a "security" matter, but in fact, this was used to invalidate a lot of older-type "security keys" which would plug in, in-line, to parallel ports, and to force people to move over to Microsoft's software security-key mechanism... ie, it was a matter of "marketshare capture" on MS's part, not a matter of providing better security!)
So, I'm looking into devices which may have their own custom drivers. THIS is where the "one device which you've found to work" may be different from other solutions... as the creator clearly did write just such a driver, and is very clear about that.
But... in THEORY... any device which claims to be actually IEEE 1284-compliant should work perfectly fine, even in Windows 10, as IEEE 1284 REQUIRES actual direct-hardware access. And if that is, in fact, the case... running in the OS should work just fine, or running in a virtual machine (such as Oracle VM Virtualbox) if the software is being blocked by OS constraints.
I'm glad to see what you posted here, but I hope to get this working (without the use of VMs or a specific hand-made adapter you have to build using the instructions on that guy's page) and thus make these 300G Dive Downloaders "practical" again.
Of course, Aeris OUGHT to have provided such a solution years back... they could easily have created their own USB interface and sold a boatload of them to those of us who have the 300G, but when I called them, the only response I got was "well, don't you want to buy our NEW version?" In which case, I answered... "yeah, if I have to buy a new one, I'll buy from someone else." (sigh)
