Suunto Dive Manager Problems

[beasleym]

I tried contacting Suunto myself but lo and behold there's no link to really send a comment to! I also noticed that Suunto is not listed in the manufacturer section on Scubaboard. My take (again) is that they just don't give a damn!!!

Having spent several years in strategic planning for a major corporation there are a couple of observations I can make here:
- Listening to customers is one of the most important things any company can do. The point that Dive Manager is so good is because they listen to their customers. Bravo! I bought it too. Suunto should know that Dive Manager is crap and (again) they either aren't listening and don't know or they know but don't care.
- Building software for your hardware is frought with decisions. Is it value add or to protect your base or to make money. Suunto chose value add but I suspect they also want to protect their base.
- It's clear that they not meeting minimum requirements. Most companies that get in this boat usually go to a third party and help them develop their product and either bundle the software with their product or offer a minimal version with a discount to upgrade. Suunto hasn't done this I suspect because they have their own software group and don't want people to be able to easily switch to other software. (That I suspect is the same for all scuba computer manufacturers else they would push for a standard interface, but that's a whole separate discussion.)
- People usually vote with their buying decisions. Now that I'm on software that interfaces to a bunch of different computers makes it easier for me to switch. And I will change as soon as I can for two reasons: I want a product that is the result of customer input, and secondly I don't trust any company that doesn't put customers first.

Nuff said.

 

[Colliam7]

My questions: Are there other members out there using Suunto's Dive Manager and what experiences are you having? There are lots of Suunto users, but do you use the software?

I agree with the challenges of the SDM. V 1.6 was not the most user friendly software but I found it useful, and still prefer it. Each newer version has seemed to be more of a PITA. On one hand, you have a company that allows you to easily download new versions from the website. On the other, the new versions are not very good (kindest way I can think of to describve them). Suunto is a maker of fine instruments, for diving and other outdoor activities. They are just not a software firm, and improving the SDM is probably not a corporate priority. Because I don't care that much about downloading my dive data, I continue to use my Vytec, which I love. I periodically download the data, and spend (?waste) time cleaning up the files, but the download capability is not a particularly valued feature.

 

[Colliam7]

I tried contacting Suunto myself but lo and behold there's no link to really send a comment to! I also noticed that Suunto is not listed in the manufacturer section on Scubaboard. My take (again) is that they just don't give a damn!!!

In fairness, I am not sure that is true. They probably give a damn about manufacturing precision instruments. They cared enough to send a team, from Finland, to exhibit at DEMA. I think it is more a matter that they don't understand the characteristics of a functional, pleasing customer interface, both in their SDM and as a company. We're looking for a Cary Grant, they're Gary Cooper.

 

[surfsidedav]

Maybe I'm lucky so far. I've got a Cobra 2, loaded the disk that came with it, then did all of the updates, and I've no problems so far. And I'm running Vista.

 

[ladbak1]

And I thought it was just me!!!

My problems started when my laptop died and I went to switch to a new comp. I was trying to use an old serial port to USB cord but this setup just never seemed to jibe with vista.
But, as luck would have it, my son was just getting into diving so I went out and got a T3 and Elite, so I could monitor his air. All seems to be pretty good now!

I just hate the idea of loosing the data from the old computer. Just after trying to deal with the cord and all was frustrating enough. I don't think I want to spend the $ to get a new cord and have it not work as well.

The problem with the new comp's was that you need a cord for each computer. The cord for the T3, I was told buy the support guy I spoke with, said there's a chip in there that automatically sets the computer to the transfer mode. That doesn't work on the Elite.

So, now all that's left to do is get some more dives on the new computers.

 

[Colliam7]

My problems started when my laptop died and I went to switch to a new comp. I was trying to use an old serial port to USB cord but this setup just never seemed to jibe with vista.

Interesting. That's how I do it with XP, but I also still use SDM 1.6. Got a RadioShack USB to Serial cable (and associated software), connected it to the download cable for the Suunto Vytec, set the Vytec in TR - PC mode, and I upload to SDM 1.6. It was awkward the first time, but is now fairly quick. The bigger problem is editing the dive data in SDM. What a PITA! And, if you forget to Save regularly, you can waste a lot of time (as I did this AM).

 

[beasleym]

Thought you folks would like to see the wonderful support you get from Suunto's help desk. Here's a log of the messages (note that it reads bottom to top):

Discussion Thread
Customer (Mark Beasley) 11/30/2007 06:22 PM
1) How do you screenshot that a dive is not showing up?
2) Are you just to dense to understand? Dives 1 to 24 are on the Cobra. Start transfer. Connection completed. Lists dives 18-24. 1-17 are not there.
3) Your dive computers are great. Your software is crap. Your support is abysmal. I bought a third party dive log and it works just great with the Cobra and it actually works and has a lot more features. I'm not going to waste my time with you anymore.

Just for fun I've posted this entire thread on Scubaboard for all to see!

As soon as I can afford it my Cobra is going on Ebay and my next dive computer will not be a Suunto.

Response (Jenni Jusi) 11/30/2007 02:56 PM
Dear Sir,

1) It is fairly impossible to give any answers about a software error, if you don't tell us what's happening. For instance a screenshot might help a little. Did you view the logs in the logbook or in the dive history?
2) Still would like to have a wider explanation.
3) The link we provided is to the newest version, which is NOT available at the download center. It is a debug version. So if you could download that one and then send us for example the d9.mdb -file.


With Best Regards,
Suunto Helpdesk

Customer (Mark Beasley) 11/30/2007 01:48 PM
Better yet follow this link to Scubaboard. I think it will give you insight into the problem I'm having as well as others with the same problem

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...zers/211472-suunto-dive-manager-problems.html

Customer (Mark Beasley) 11/30/2007 01:43 PM
Useless answer:
1) Don't ask me why - that's what I asked you! No error messages. Dives are on the dive computer but do not show up when the transfer shows dives.
2) See 1 above
3) This is the latest version. Try reading my message above.

Response (Jenni Jusi) 11/30/2007 01:31 PM
Dear Sir,

Thank you for contacting Suunto.

1) Why wasn't it possible to download the dives? Did you get an error message?
2) What do you mean by losing the dives? They shouldn't disappear at any way.
3) You could download an even newer version from here:
http://www.suuntosports.com/mysuunto/downloads/sdm2/DM_Update_2.5.0.170D.exe


With Best Regards,
Suunto Helpdesk

Customer (Mark Beasley) 11/27/2007 04:09 PM
I have several problems:
1) There are 5 dives that I can find on my cobra but I cannot download them into dive manager 2.3. I upgraded to 2.5 to try to fix the problem but that didn't help.
2) After upgrading I lost several manually entered dives. I tried restoring the database but that didn't help. Can I get them back?
3) After using 2.5 for a while I started getting access violations on every dive I try to access. How do I fix this?

 

[Matt S.]

My favorite thing about SDM is it numbers the dives backwards if I download more than one at a time.

For example: I get home after doing 2 dives, connect the D6, select the last 2 dives on the list... Click, shift-click, you know? Or click, shift-down-arrow.

When I do this, Dive #1 should be (for example) Dive #51 in the log, and Dive #2 should be Dive #52. But it's reversed, every time! I have to download one dive at a time to keep the numbering correct. Can't SDM check the timestamp in the dive data?!

Once, I tried to install SDM on a minty fresh new install of WinXP. All that was on the system was WinXP, the current patches, Suunto's USB driver, and SDM. SDM would not start due to some kind of database engine error. I could not have given it a more hospitable environment! I had to put it on another computer; the problem completely defied me and I know Windows well.

It's truly terrible.

 

[Colliam7]

An interesting outcome, for me at least, on this. After reading the email exchange between the OP and the Suunto 'Help Desk', I downloaded the 'debug' version of 2.5 to try it. One of the things I found was that it did not seem to recognize the interface with my computer - I had just uploaded data into 1.6 so I knew the interface was active, but 2.5 didn't see it. BUT, I went to the Suunto website, reviewed their FAQs, and found that if I followed their suggestions, the interface worked. I also noticed some incomplete transfers of information when I imported data into 2.5 from 1.6. So, I emailed the 'Help Desk'. Got a very quick reply, acknowledging the email, and then a second more thorough one a day later. While not perfect, I get the impression they are trying to be responsive, AND that language is an issue - yes, it is English, but the vernacular context is not there. Suunto acknowledged there are 'bugs' in the transfer of information across versions, and said a new v2.6.0 will be out shortly. All this doesn't address the OPs initial problem, but does suggest at least a desire to provide custoimer service.

 

[wardric]

good for them, coz sometimes, with even the best product, you can lose customers with a crappy service