Perdix AI and bluetooth...

[outofofficebrb]

I had problems with the Shearwater bluetooth. I was unable to get it to work on a new PC with Windows 7 (work) as is or even with their bluetooth dongle. My Macbook Pro from early 2011 (personal) doesn't have the right kind of Bluetooth so I did not expect it to work but it also did not work with the dongle. I e-mailed Shearwater about it and they were unable to help me find a solution. I ended up using an early 2013 Macbook Air (Mr. OOO's) which worked fine without the dongle so that is what I use when I want to change or update the start up text/image on my Perdix.

No issues getting it to work with an iPhone 7, though. I have been seamlessly using it with MacDive as well as the Shearwater Cloud app for updates, etc. I don't use the log function there but it does work if I cared to use it.

 

[taimen]

Yes I have; figured I'd see if other people have similar issues and/or recommend other things to try while I wait for a reply.

I have very similar Bluetooth connectivity issues with my Shearwaters.
My Perdix AI is slightly easier. I am not able connect to it with my Win10 PC but it used to be quite stable with my Macbook Pro (both SW Cloud and Subsurface). After some iOS updates I haven't been able to connect to it anymore. Currently I can connect it with my OnePlus 5 Android phone with Subsurface and downloading dives is relatively stable, but slow.
I also have a Petrel 2 as controller for my rebreather. This one is much trickier. Actually I have only once succesfully connected to my Macbook Pro and Shearwater software after some serious tweaking with BT pairings and ports. I was able to update the firmware. Since that, I have not been able to download any dives from that handset. I can pair the Petrel2 with my Android Phone and apps, but the connection is never stable enough to download dive data before I get some BT error messages on the handset display. I have tried both Shearwater cloud app and subsurface.
Unfortunately I can't offer much help because I haven't been able to sort out these problems.
I have contacted Shearwater, but they were not really helpful and stopped replying to my emails.

 

[mwerle]

So apart from the Perdix being fairly reliable connecting to my phone (although not reliably downloading dives, getting "LOG ERROR:Timeout" with the Shearwater cloud app), things are not looking any better following the various suggestions.

I _did_ find some interesting comments on the Subsurface mailing list though (some pretty talented developers on there) and they don't have the highest regard for the Shearwater bluetooth implementation. That's a bit poor for an otherwise top-tier piece of kit. I hope it's something firmware rather than hardware related and thus fixable at some point.

One of the big things from the mailing list is that the Shearwater dive computers don't like switching between devices; once connected to one they're generally a right bugger to connect to another device. And I was trying 3 different devices (well, effectively 4, counting the PC dongle). still, having powered it down for a while and turning all other bluetooth off it still failed with the desktop PC.

Still waiting on a reply from customer service too.

 

[mwerle]

Another Update: I tried the bluetooth dongle in a usb port on the rear of the pc and with some timing practise as well as making sure the Perdix was NOT paired to the PC was able to download the test dive using Shearwater Desktop.

Still no luck with Shearwater Cloud (refuses to connect at all) or Subsurface (fails to download dive).

 

[Protondecay123]

It works well with MacDive and my IPhone. I gave up on trying to make it work with the cloud on my Windows 10 PC. No fix ever emailed to me made it work properly.

 

[taimen]

I would buy a pc/laptop/phone for this purpose if they specified a configuration that works.

 

[mwerle]

I would buy a pc/laptop/phone for this purpose if they specified a configuration that works.

I'd buy another brand divecomputer. To be blunt, I find this somewhat unacceptable for a device at this level.

I _really_ hope Shearwater finds another developer to fix their bluetooth implementation. And that this does not reflect on the quality of the rest of their code.

Got a reply from Shearwater Tech support (below); effectively implying that the Shearwater computers run an insecure bluetooth implementation, and require a bunch of hoops to jump through in order to connect now. While of course Microsoft should be rightfully criticised for not even giving users an option to override their "security" update, the device should be updated in order to comply.

This also does not address my connectivity issues with my phone (although to be fair at the time I wrote Shearwater, I thought that was working reasonably well), nor with Linux/Subsurface (although that is outside their supported configuration).

I also find Shearwater Cloud to work even _less_ reliably than Shearwater Desktop; I did manage to get it connected -once- (after toggling bluetooth on and off half-a-dozen times or so).


Well, looking forward to getting it wet this weekend. Hopefully it works better underwater than above!!

Spoiler: Shearwater Tech response

I'm sorry to hear about this issue, this is related to the recent Windows 10 update:
Microsoft warns that Windows 10 update will break some Bluetooth devices.

To start we are depreciating Shearwater Desktop. Please download our Shearwater Cloud Application, which you can download on our website here: Shearwater Cloud - Shearwater Research

The workaround is to remove your Bluetooth pairing each time you want to connect:
1. Press Start
2. Search for "Bluetooth and other device settings" and select it.
3. Search for your Dive Computer and remove it:

4. Try connecting again.

You should be able to connect after following the steps above.
Unfortunately, after connecting, the next time you will need to perform this step again in order to connect again.

I am sorry for the trouble and please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.
Best,

 

[taimen]

I'd buy another brand divecomputer. To be blunt, I find this somewhat unacceptable for a device at this level.

Underwater it is better than anything else.

 

[Protondecay123]

I'd buy another brand divecomputer. To be blunt, I find this somewhat unacceptable for a device at this level.

I _really_ hope Shearwater finds another developer to fix their bluetooth implementation. And that this does not reflect on the quality of the rest of their code.

Got a reply from Shearwater Tech support (below); effectively implying that the Shearwater computers run an insecure bluetooth implementation, and require a bunch of hoops to jump through in order to connect now. While of course Microsoft should be rightfully criticised for not even giving users an option to override their "security" update, the device should be updated in order to comply.

This also does not address my connectivity issues with my phone (although to be fair at the time I wrote Shearwater, I thought that was working reasonably well), nor with Linux/Subsurface (although that is outside their supported configuration).

I also find Shearwater Cloud to work even _less_ reliably than Shearwater Desktop; I did manage to get it connected -once- (after toggling bluetooth on and off half-a-dozen times or so).


Well, looking forward to getting it wet this weekend. Hopefully it works better underwater than above!!

Spoiler: Shearwater Tech response

I'm sorry to hear about this issue, this is related to the recent Windows 10 update:
Microsoft warns that Windows 10 update will break some Bluetooth devices.

To start we are depreciating Shearwater Desktop. Please download our Shearwater Cloud Application, which you can download on our website here: Shearwater Cloud - Shearwater Research

The workaround is to remove your Bluetooth pairing each time you want to connect:
1. Press Start
2. Search for "Bluetooth and other device settings" and select it.
3. Search for your Dive Computer and remove it:
View attachment 538486
4. Try connecting again.

You should be able to connect after following the steps above.
Unfortunately, after connecting, the next time you will need to perform this step again in order to connect again.

I am sorry for the trouble and please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.
Best,

My experience mirrors yours. I do keep a hard copy dive log as well, just in case I get separated from my phone. I have a friend with the New Scubapro G2(?) Galileo (?) and he swears by it. I’m not a big Scubapro fan nor inclined to switch computers after such a relatively big recent purchase. But surely Shearwater could hire someone to do the proper coding and update the software?

 

[Shearwater Cloud]

So a rather frustrating weekend later..

Got my Perdix AI (firmware V65) delivered on Saturday morning and proceeded to have a play with my new toy, setting it and my PC up to configure everything and make sure it's all working.

The Perdix itself seems to be fine, but its bluetooth compatibility and connectivity does not appear to be very robust.

Hello mwerle,

We are very sorry you are having so much difficulty connecting to your Perdix AI. Bluetooth connectivity has been an issue back and forth with our dive computers and the four platforms we support (Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS). The latest Windows 10 updates have changed how Bluetooth LE interacts with our dive computers and we are hard at work to improve this connectivity experience.

I'm sorry that I don't have more to say at the moment, but I want you to know that we understand your frustrations at the connection issues, and that we are working hard to fix them.