More Open Source Cochran Utilities

[jvanostrand]

I've developed a set of tools to aid in creating libdivecomputer.org modules and Subsurface functions to read Cochran computers and log files. These tools can read Cochran dive computers, and read ANA, WAN and CAN files.

These tools may not be of much use to non-computer savvy people but I hope that others might find this useful. This software is a work in progress so if you can program and are interesting in helping you're more than welcome to.

The software is distributed in source code form and was written to run on Linux. It should be easy for someone who has skills in Windows and Mac to port this code to those platforms.

GitHub - jvanostrand/cochran: Software to communicate with and parse Cochran dive computers

 

[nwbrewer]

i have decent knowledge of computers and cant figure this out. if you could help tell me what to run to extract the files form the dive computer that would be very helpful

thanks

 

[jvanostrand]

The software in the original post was developed on Linux. A programmer would be able to port that for Windows or Apple and might be able to extend it to do other things too. I put it on Github so that others had access to the data structure and protocol. I created that software to develop the algorithm to access the computer. When I had it understood I modified the code for LibDiveComputer and SubSurface.

The easy answer is to use Subsurface to download dive logs. It's open source and freely downloadable. it runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iPhone. I know for sure you can download Cochran dive logs on Windows and Linux, I'm not sure about the other platforms. You'll need a Cochran transfer cable. Visit HTTP://subsufrace-divelog.org/ to download. I expect a custom cable could do the work too, but I haven't worried about working out the schematics for that while Cochran was still in business.
I like using Subsurface on my laption and my Android phone, but you could choose to simply use it to download from Cochran computers and then export it to a variety of formats and import into your preferred software.

The long answer is that there may be other software that does it too. Cochran's Analyst is the official one, it runs only on Windows. Subsurface uses a library called LibDiveComputer, which is the software that actually interfaces with the dive computer. Other open source software may use that library too . Proprietary software is not allowed to use the library so I'd be surprised to find one that did.
Now if you want to download firmware, or read/write settings that's a different thing altogether and the software I mentioned in the original post would be a good starting point for developing something that did that.

Be aware that Cochan dive computers aren't reliable communicating. They work mostly, but large transfers will likely fail and need to be retried. LibDiveComputer does some amount of retried but if you're planning on making your own, keep that in mind.

 

[rhwestfall]

I have had very good luck/success with SubSurface and my Cochrane computers (currently an EMC20). It is my wife's computer, adopted from me as I went to Shearwater many moons ago....

She now has a Peregrine, but loves her Cochrane on a console connection...

 

[davehicks]

I have had very good luck/success with SubSurface and my Cochrane computers (currently an EMC20). It is my wife's computer, adopted from me as I went to Shearwater many moons ago....

She now has a Peregrine, but loves her Cochrane on a console connection...

I cant image there will be many Cochran's around much longer. Both of mine eventually died due to LCD or Sensor failures. I liked it as a backup computer while it worked, but downloads of dive data were so painful that i gave that up after a few tries. The Analyst software should be showcased in a museum of Bad UI to help future generations learn from our mistakes.

 

[jvanostrand]

The Analyst software should be showcased in a museum of Bad UI to help future generations learn from our mistakes.

I agree. I think the original Cochran was in 1990s and I suspect the Analyst software came out at the same time. It looks like it was designed for Windows 3.1 and hasn't changed. Mike Cochran seems to have been a genius electronics expert but you should never let that kind of guy write UI software.

 

[GreenGas]

The software in the original post was developed on Linux. A programmer would be able to port that for Windows or Apple and might be able to extend it to do other things too. I put it on Github so that others had access to the data structure and protocol. I created that software to develop the algorithm to access the computer. When I had it understood I modified the code for LibDiveComputer and SubSurface.

The easy answer is to use Subsurface to download dive logs. It's open source and freely downloadable. it runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iPhone. I know for sure you can download Cochran dive logs on Windows and Linux, I'm not sure about the other platforms. You'll need a Cochran transfer cable. Visit HTTP://subsufrace-divelog.org/ to download. I expect a custom cable could do the work too, but I haven't worried about working out the schematics for that while Cochran was still in business.
I like using Subsurface on my laption and my Android phone, but you could choose to simply use it to download from Cochran computers and then export it to a variety of formats and import into your preferred software.

The long answer is that there may be other software that does it too. Cochran's Analyst is the official one, it runs only on Windows. Subsurface uses a library called LibDiveComputer, which is the software that actually interfaces with the dive computer. Other open source software may use that library too . Proprietary software is not allowed to use the library so I'd be surprised to find one that did.
Now if you want to download firmware, or read/write settings that's a different thing altogether and the software I mentioned in the original post would be a good starting point for developing something that did that.

Be aware that Cochan dive computers aren't reliable communicating. They work mostly, but large transfers will likely fail and need to be retried. LibDiveComputer does some amount of retried but if you're planning on making your own, keep that in mind.

Jvanostrand, may I discuss a problem I’m having trying to extract my dives from a Cochran EMC-20H into Sub-Surface? Im stumped.
Steve

 

[jvanostrand]

Sure. It's been a while since my 20h was working but i can try.

 

[GreenGas]

I have had very good luck/success with SubSurface and my Cochrane computers (currently an EMC20). It is my wife's computer, adopted from me as I went to Shearwater many moons ago....

She now has a Peregrine, but loves her Cochrane on a console connection...

Rhwestfall, I’m unable to get subsurface to communicate with my EMC-20H, running on Linux (Pop!OS). Everything I’ve checked indicates that the kernel is communicating with the Cochran USB adapter, and has mounted it as /dev/ttyUSB0, but SubSurface can’t connect to the EMC-20H to extract and download the data. Am I missing anything i need to do to put the EMC-20H into a mode that will allow it to download?

 

[GreenGas]

T

Sure. It's been a while since my 20h was working but i can try.

Thanks. Let me shift to my Linux box so I can post the results of lsusb and dmesg.