Beware Suunto Dive Manager

So I downloaded the latest version of Suunto's Dive Manager software
about 10 days ago, just after downloading my most recent dives from my
Vyper to my PC. My previous version of Dive Manager read those dives
fine. I input the dive details to go with the data, then decided to
see if there was a new version of DM. There was, so I downloaded it
and installed it, then imported the dives in my dive log.

And the last dive recorded was Dec. 10, 2005, nearly three years and
200 dives ago. The rest of the dives had vanished.

I sent a message to Suunto Tech Support. They asked me to send the log
file, which I did. Five days later they informed me the file was too
big to come into their e-mail. I zipped it and sent it again. Still
too big. They gave me another address to send to, then told me what I
already knew, that the last dive in the log was from 2005. They could
not tell me what happened to the other dives, but they helpfully added
that they are probably gone forever.

I wrote back and asked them why, under the circumstances, I should
consider buying another Suunto product. I don't expect an answer to
that one.

This is not the first issue I've had with Suunto's Dive Manager
software. It seems like every new version has a bunch of snazzy new
features, but they come at the cost of losing something, usually the
ability to read certain data.

Suunto tends to be very conservative, as most people know, and that
doesn't bother me that much, but when a computer company, which they
are, after all, makes software that destroys the data recorded by its
own products, you have to wonder about the quality of the whole
product line. I can pretty well guarantee that this will be my last
Suunto.

So if you're in the market for a dive computer, I can tell you what
NOT to buy. Starts with an S, made in Scandinavia...

gc

"George Cathcart" <george.cathcart@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:b2ceefa7-0480-4a03-9ddb-9efd38fe961c@u28g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> So I downloaded the latest version of Suunto's Dive Manager software
> about 10 days ago, just after downloading my most recent dives from my
> Vyper to my PC. My previous version of Dive Manager read those dives
> fine. I input the dive details to go with the data, then decided to
> see if there was a new version of DM. There was, so I downloaded it
> and installed it, then imported the dives in my dive log.
>
> And the last dive recorded was Dec. 10, 2005, nearly three years and
> 200 dives ago. The rest of the dives had vanished.
>
> I sent a message to Suunto Tech Support. They asked me to send the log
> file, which I did. Five days later they informed me the file was too
> big to come into their e-mail. I zipped it and sent it again. Still
> too big. They gave me another address to send to, then told me what I
> already knew, that the last dive in the log was from 2005. They could
> not tell me what happened to the other dives, but they helpfully added
> that they are probably gone forever.
>
> I wrote back and asked them why, under the circumstances, I should
> consider buying another Suunto product. I don't expect an answer to
> that one.
>
> This is not the first issue I've had with Suunto's Dive Manager
> software. It seems like every new version has a bunch of snazzy new
> features, but they come at the cost of losing something, usually the
> ability to read certain data.
>
> Suunto tends to be very conservative, as most people know, and that
> doesn't bother me that much, but when a computer company, which they
> are, after all, makes software that destroys the data recorded by its
> own products, you have to wonder about the quality of the whole
> product line. I can pretty well guarantee that this will be my last
> Suunto.
>
> So if you're in the market for a dive computer, I can tell you what
> NOT to buy. Starts with an S, made in Scandinavia...
>
> gc

George. Here is a good example of why we back up our files. If the
original is corrupted, you have the backed up file. I'm somewhat surprised
the original file was destroyed in the conversion process. It seems the
conversion could be done just reading the file and leaving the contents
intact. You could then reinstall the old program and read the file. One of
these days I'll get around to converting my old dive log into the new format
and see how the Uwatec software functions. For the last year or so I've had
two programs on the computer. That works well since each computer interface
is different. Good luck with getting something back.

But of course you had it backed up...

"George Cathcart" <george.cathcart@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:b2ceefa7-0480-4a03-9ddb-9efd38fe961c@u28g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> So I downloaded the latest version of Suunto's Dive Manager software
> about 10 days ago, just after downloading my most recent dives from my
> Vyper to my PC. My previous version of Dive Manager read those dives
> fine. I input the dive details to go with the data, then decided to
> see if there was a new version of DM. There was, so I downloaded it
> and installed it, then imported the dives in my dive log.
>
> And the last dive recorded was Dec. 10, 2005, nearly three years and
> 200 dives ago. The rest of the dives had vanished.
>
> I sent a message to Suunto Tech Support. They asked me to send the log
> file, which I did. Five days later they informed me the file was too
> big to come into their e-mail. I zipped it and sent it again. Still
> too big. They gave me another address to send to, then told me what I
> already knew, that the last dive in the log was from 2005. They could
> not tell me what happened to the other dives, but they helpfully added
> that they are probably gone forever.
>
> I wrote back and asked them why, under the circumstances, I should
> consider buying another Suunto product. I don't expect an answer to
> that one.
>
> This is not the first issue I've had with Suunto's Dive Manager
> software. It seems like every new version has a bunch of snazzy new
> features, but they come at the cost of losing something, usually the
> ability to read certain data.
>
> Suunto tends to be very conservative, as most people know, and that
> doesn't bother me that much, but when a computer company, which they
> are, after all, makes software that destroys the data recorded by its
> own products, you have to wonder about the quality of the whole
> product line. I can pretty well guarantee that this will be my last
> Suunto.
>
> So if you're in the market for a dive computer, I can tell you what
> NOT to buy. Starts with an S, made in Scandinavia...
>
> gc

On Oct 7, 8:39*am, "Clive Mitchell" <cl...@not-here.com> wrote:
> But of course you had it backed up...
>
> "George Cathcart" <george.cathc...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:b2ceefa7-0480-4a03-9ddb-9efd38fe961c@u28g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
>
> > So I downloaded the latest version of Suunto's Dive Manager software
> > about 10 days ago, just after downloading my most recent dives from my
> > Vyper to my PC. My previous version of Dive Manager read those dives
> > fine. I input the dive details to go with the data, then decided to
> > see if there was a new version of DM. There was, so I downloaded it
> > and installed it, then imported the dives in my dive log.
>
> > And the last dive recorded was Dec. 10, 2005, nearly three years and
> > 200 dives ago. The rest of the dives had vanished.
>
> > I sent a message to Suunto Tech Support. They asked me to send the log
> > file, which I did. Five days later they informed me the file was too
> > big to come into their e-mail. I zipped it and sent it again. Still
> > too big. They gave me another address to send to, then told me what I
> > already knew, that the last dive in the log was from 2005. They could
> > not tell me what happened to the other dives, but they helpfully added
> > that they are probably gone forever.
>
> > I wrote back and asked them why, under the circumstances, I should
> > consider buying another Suunto product. I don't expect an answer to
> > that one.
>
> > This is not the first issue I've had with Suunto's Dive Manager
> > software. It seems like every new version has a bunch of snazzy new
> > features, but they come at the cost of losing something, usually the
> > ability to read certain data.
>
> > Suunto tends to be very conservative, as most people know, and that
> > doesn't bother me that much, but when a computer company, which they
> > are, after all, makes software that destroys the data recorded by its
> > own products, you have to wonder about the quality of the whole
> > product line. I can pretty well guarantee that this will be my last
> > Suunto.
>
> > So if you're in the market for a dive computer, I can tell you what
> > NOT to buy. Starts with an S, made in Scandinavia...
>
> > gc

Of course I wish...

gc

George Cathcart wrote:
> So I downloaded the latest version of Suunto's Dive Manager software
> about 10 days ago, just after downloading my most recent dives from my
> Vyper to my PC. My previous version of Dive Manager read those dives
> fine. I input the dive details to go with the data, then decided to
> see if there was a new version of DM. There was, so I downloaded it
> and installed it, then imported the dives in my dive log.
>
> And the last dive recorded was Dec. 10, 2005, nearly three years and
> 200 dives ago. The rest of the dives had vanished.
>

George,
Any possibility you could do a "system restore" taking it back to before
you installed the latest DM software? Just a thought.

Andy

On Oct 7, 9:06*am, 1hogrider <nitesp...@cox.net> wrote:
> George Cathcart wrote:
> > So I downloaded the latest version of Suunto's Dive Manager software
> > about 10 days ago, just after downloading my most recent dives from my
> > Vyper to my PC. My previous version of Dive Manager read those dives
> > fine. I input the dive details to go with the data, then decided to
> > see if there was a new version of DM. There was, so I downloaded it
> > and installed it, then imported the dives in my dive log.
>
> > And the last dive recorded was Dec. 10, 2005, nearly three years and
> > 200 dives ago. The rest of the dives had vanished.
>
> George,
> Any possibility you could do a "system restore" taking it back to before
> you installed the latest DM software? *Just a thought.
>
> Andy

Thanks Andy, that's a possibility I hadn't considered. Don't know if
it would restore data, but it might be worth a try.

gc

[Default] Thus spake George Cathcart <george.cathcart@gmail.com>:

>On Oct 7, 9:06*am, 1hogrider <nitesp...@cox.net> wrote:
>> George Cathcart wrote:
>> > So I downloaded the latest version of Suunto's Dive Manager software
>> > about 10 days ago, just after downloading my most recent dives from my
>> > Vyper to my PC. My previous version of Dive Manager read those dives
>> > fine. I input the dive details to go with the data, then decided to
>> > see if there was a new version of DM. There was, so I downloaded it
>> > and installed it, then imported the dives in my dive log.
>>
>> > And the last dive recorded was Dec. 10, 2005, nearly three years and
>> > 200 dives ago. The rest of the dives had vanished.
>>
>> George,
>> Any possibility you could do a "system restore" taking it back to before
>> you installed the latest DM software? *Just a thought.
>>
>> Andy
>
>Thanks Andy, that's a possibility I hadn't considered. Don't know if
>it would restore data, but it might be worth a try.
>
>gc

Depends on what OS you are using and how you've partitioned your
disk(s).

On Oct 7, 9:06*am, 1hogrider <nitesp...@cox.net> wrote:
> George Cathcart wrote:
> > So I downloaded the latest version of Suunto's Dive Manager software
> > about 10 days ago, just after downloading my most recent dives from my
> > Vyper to my PC. My previous version of Dive Manager read those dives
> > fine. I input the dive details to go with the data, then decided to
> > see if there was a new version of DM. There was, so I downloaded it
> > and installed it, then imported the dives in my dive log.
>
> > And the last dive recorded was Dec. 10, 2005, nearly three years and
> > 200 dives ago. The rest of the dives had vanished.
>
> George,
> Any possibility you could do a "system restore" taking it back to before
> you installed the latest DM software? *Just a thought.
>
> Andy

Followup:

Andy, you are a gentleman and a scholar. I did system restore and got
back the SDM version I had before AND all the dives I had downloaded
to the PC.

I'm still unhappy with Suunto (and I will backup the data file to
protect myself from them), but at least I have all my dives again.

Thanks again, very much.

gc

George Cathcart wrote:
> On Oct 7, 9:06 am, 1hogrider <nitesp...@cox.net> wrote:
>
>>George Cathcart wrote:
>>
>>>So I downloaded the latest version of Suunto's Dive Manager software
>>>about 10 days ago, just after downloading my most recent dives from my
>>>Vyper to my PC. My previous version of Dive Manager read those dives
>>>fine. I input the dive details to go with the data, then decided to
>>>see if there was a new version of DM. There was, so I downloaded it
>>>and installed it, then imported the dives in my dive log.
>>
>>>And the last dive recorded was Dec. 10, 2005, nearly three years and
>>>200 dives ago. The rest of the dives had vanished.
>>
>>George,
>>Any possibility you could do a "system restore" taking it back to before
>>you installed the latest DM software? Just a thought.
>>
>>Andy
>
>
> Followup:
>
> Andy, you are a gentleman and a scholar. I did system restore and got
> back the SDM version I had before AND all the dives I had downloaded
> to the PC.
>
> I'm still unhappy with Suunto (and I will backup the data file to
> protect myself from them), but at least I have all my dives again.
>
> Thanks again, very much.
>
> gc
George,
Glad it worked for you. It was just a passing thought as I read your
message.

Andy

On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 20:19:25 -0700 (PDT), George Cathcart
<george.cathcart@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Oct 7, 9:06*am, 1hogrider <nitesp...@cox.net> wrote:
>> George Cathcart wrote:
>> > So I downloaded the latest version of Suunto's Dive Manager software
>> > about 10 days ago, just after downloading my most recent dives from my
>> > Vyper to my PC. My previous version of Dive Manager read those dives
>> > fine. I input the dive details to go with the data, then decided to
>> > see if there was a new version of DM. There was, so I downloaded it
>> > and installed it, then imported the dives in my dive log.
>>
>> > And the last dive recorded was Dec. 10, 2005, nearly three years and
>> > 200 dives ago. The rest of the dives had vanished.
>>
>> George,
>> Any possibility you could do a "system restore" taking it back to before
>> you installed the latest DM software? *Just a thought.
>>
>> Andy
>
>Followup:
>
>Andy, you are a gentleman and a scholar. I did system restore and got
>back the SDM version I had before AND all the dives I had downloaded
>to the PC.
>
>I'm still unhappy with Suunto (and I will backup the data file to
>protect myself from them), but at least I have all my dives again.
>
>Thanks again, very much.
>
>gc

Glad you were able to recover your old data. USB memory chips are cheap
backup media for your mission critical files. I recommend backing up your
logs to be sure you can recover from any other accidents.

It would be interesting to learn what happened in the Suunto application to
kill your data. I suspect the Suunto people are clueless because they
subcontracted the code writing to some kids in their dorm rooms. :)