SubSurface and the new Deep6 Excursion firmware

[rhwestfall]

Is there any initiative or timeline for the new deep6 Excursion (firmware re-write) to be included in SubSurface supported devices? I've delayed upgrading from the current firmware due to wanting logging support.

Thanks.

 

[TnT]

There are now automated nightly builds available on github: Releases · subsurface/nightly-builds

See the announcement:

new "nightly" builds available

groups.google.com

 

[BenjahminJohnH]

Got around 20 dives on it now absolutely Loving it Ill give it another shot with one of the Nightly builds,

Cheers!

Ben

 

[MaxE]

I use a Mac desktop. I have yet to even be able to get them to connect. If anyone has or is able to make it work on a Mac please post the daily build number.

 

[piotrbania]

I use a Mac desktop. I have yet to even be able to get them to connect. If anyone has or is able to make it work on a Mac please post the daily build number.

Hi, I was able to get this working in September (see below). However, I had to send my Mac (MBP, Intel processor) in for service and reset the OS, so I was faced with getting my D6 Excursion re-synced to SubSurface this evening (now running MacOS Sonoma 14.2.1).

I was successful using the version of SubSurface found at this link: https://subsurface-divelog.org/downloads/test/Subsurface-5.0.10-236-g2a3c0d981f55-qt6-universal.dmg

Once in SubSurface I still had to click "Choose Bluetooth Download Mode" then "Show all BT devices". From there, I would put the D6 Excursion into "Sync" and immediately click "Scan" in SubSurface. "Excursion" would be one of the many BLE devices that showed up. For some reason I couldn't click, I had to key down with my arrow keys and press enter to select it. After that, I was able to import my dives! SubSurface did crash once during the import, but aside from that, no issues.

I hope this helps!

I just wanted to chime in and say that I was able to get the Excursion to work with Subsurface on Mac OS Ventura (Macbook Pro, Intel processor). I believe I'm using the newest firmware (D01-6C), which I installed today.

For me the main issue was getting the device to show up at all on my computer. Turns out BLE-type bluetooth devices (like the Excurision) will not show up in the native Bluetooth menu and the production version of Subsurface kept either returning a "Device Discovery Error" or not displaying any Bluetooth devices when I tried to "Show all BT devices".

I solved this by downloading the .dmg linked here Index of /downloads/test (Thanks, TnT). This version of Subsurface behaves like expected when searching for all BT devices (no Device Discovery Error and plenty of BLE devices, including one named "Excursion"). The first time you do this, you will likely need to give Subsurface permission to use Bluetooth.

From there, it was super straightforward. Just downloaded my dives and there they were, in Subsurface. No need to power cycle, delete and re-add the computer, or any extra steps that were previously mentioned by others.

However, I still haven't gotten it to work on iOS. There, I sporadically get the device to show up, but even when I do it says "Info: No new dives downloaded from computer".

Hope this helps someone!

 

[MaxE]

Hi, I was able to get this working in September (see below). However, I had to send my Mac (MBP, Intel processor) in for service and reset the OS, so I was faced with getting my D6 Excursion re-synced to SubSurface this evening (now running MacOS Sonoma 14.2.1).

I was successful using the version of SubSurface found at this link: https://subsurface-divelog.org/downloads/test/Subsurface-5.0.10-236-g2a3c0d981f55-qt6-universal.dmg

Once in SubSurface I still had to click "Choose Bluetooth Download Mode" then "Show all BT devices". From there, I would put the D6 Excursion into "Sync" and immediately click "Scan" in SubSurface. "Excursion" would be one of the many BLE devices that showed up. For some reason I couldn't click, I had to key down with my arrow keys and press enter to select it. After that, I was able to import my dives! SubSurface did crash once during the import, but aside from that, no issues.

I hope this helps!

@piotrbania To confirm, Is your D6 Excursion is running the new "Tech Lite" firmware or the original firmware? I can get subsurface to connect to my computer but then get a message that there are not new dives to download

 

[piotrbania]

@piotrbania To confirm, Is your D6 Excursion is running the new "Tech Lite" firmware or the original firmware? I can get subsurface to connect to my computer but then get a message that there are not new dives to download

I believe it's the Tech Lite. I'm just a recreational diver, but I vaguely remember using an Android phone to update it early last year using the APK on the Deep6 website. The least conservative GF setting is "Extra Crispy," which I assume is not the original firmware, right? The computer itself says firmware (SW) version is: D01-6C. Does yours say the same?

 

[MaxE]

It sounds like you are running the new firmware on the computer. I can't seem to make it work with my computer and desktop set up. It does give me hope that you have been able to make it work, it must be something on my end. I'll keep trying,

 

[MaxE]

Subsurface has updated the mobile version. I see that the dive computer will briefly connect to my iOS tablet (iPad) but will not sync and download the dives. I wonder if the two versions of the dive computer and lack of an option to choose which I have is at play or if Subsurface has decided not to support the computer? Has anyone had luck with the new mobile app? Has anyone been able to use any other divelog software ?

 

[MaxE]

Update:
I was able to get the new mobile iOS subsurface update to download my dives from my excursion with the “tech lite” firmware. I was running into some issues but with the help of Jef at libdivecomputer I was able to sort it out. Incase anyone else is having issues I’ll describe what was happening, the cause and the fix. It was not perfect but it’s a path forward and hopefully the future will not be a problem.
The issue :
I was unable to get the dives to download no matter what nightly build I used on the desktop and still no joy when the mobile update came out. I reached out to the developers on their forum and Jef asked that I send him some logs. He was able to see that the computer was saying it was the new firmware but trying to communicate like the old firmware, he said that was a known issue with some early builds. He suggested I reload the firmware and try again.
The fix:
I loaded the hacked DiveStory that works to update to the tech lite fiemware
https://deep6gear.com/firmware/com.crest.divestory_RC23.apk
I did not know if this would completely erase the memory as it did when I first loaded it, I could not download the dives anyway so figured worth the risk. After updating the firmware I did the forget all dive computers and find all Bluetooth devices in the advanced settings of subsurface and tried again.
Success…kind of.
The update did not wipe the log, the computer connected to Subsurface and dives downloaded. I have 26 dives on the DC but only 12 have loaded. What’s strange is it loaded the last dive I did, not the one from that same morning and then the previous trip. I had noticed on the trip before this last trip that there was a dive I watched the computer count down the safety stop and function as expected but later when I tried to pull up the dive on the DC log it was not there. So maybe there was another issue with that firmware and logging that is at play here. Time will tell. I can’t understand why it chose to stop at 12 dives and why it won’t download the others, some were the same trip. The oldest dive it loaded does look really strange on the log, it has two cylinders used, it’s possible I forgot to enter the correct gas before the dive and then immediately fixed it (on my primary computer shearwater) but the data looks ok on the shearwater but not excursions.
Conclusion:
Progress. I’m hopeful that the new firmware will resolve the issues moving forward and look forward to testing it.

 

[BenjahminJohnH]

Update:
I was able to get the new mobile iOS subsurface update to download my dives from my excursion with the “tech lite” firmware. I was running into some issues but with the help of Jef at libdivecomputer I was able to sort it out. Incase anyone else is having issues I’ll describe what was happening, the cause and the fix. It was not perfect but it’s a path forward and hopefully the future will not be a problem.
The issue :
I was unable to get the dives to download no matter what nightly build I used on the desktop and still no joy when the mobile update came out. I reached out to the developers on their forum and Jef asked that I send him some logs. He was able to see that the computer was saying it was the new firmware but trying to communicate like the old firmware, he said that was a known issue with some early builds. He suggested I reload the firmware and try again.
The fix:
I loaded the hacked DiveStory that works to update to the tech lite fiemware
https://deep6gear.com/firmware/com.crest.divestory_RC23.apk
I did not know if this would completely erase the memory as it did when I first loaded it, I could not download the dives anyway so figured worth the risk. After updating the firmware I did the forget all dive computers and find all Bluetooth devices in the advanced settings of subsurface and tried again.
Success…kind of.
The update did not wipe the log, the computer connected to Subsurface and dives downloaded. I have 26 dives on the DC but only 12 have loaded. What’s strange is it loaded the last dive I did, not the one from that same morning and then the previous trip. I had noticed on the trip before this last trip that there was a dive I watched the computer count down the safety stop and function as expected but later when I tried to pull up the dive on the DC log it was not there. So maybe there was another issue with that firmware and logging that is at play here. Time will tell. I can’t understand why it chose to stop at 12 dives and why it won’t download the others, some were the same trip. The oldest dive it loaded does look really strange on the log, it has two cylinders used, it’s possible I forgot to enter the correct gas before the dive and then immediately fixed it (on my primary computer shearwater) but the data looks ok on the shearwater but not excursions.
Conclusion:
Progress. I’m hopeful that the new firmware will resolve the issues moving forward and look forward to testing it.

Ill try it out thanks heaps!!