OSTC3 USB firmware update problem

OSTC's running hwOS sport or tech
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Nick
Posts: 2
Joined: Monday 15. June 2020, 00:11

OSTC3 USB firmware update problem

Post by Nick »

Hi all,

I have a very old OTSC3 USB, serial 24XX Firmware 1.60. I've been having problems updating the firmware.

Mac computer running OS 10.14.6.
I've downloaded OSTC Companion 3.00 Beta 8.
I've downloaded OSTC v311 HWOS firmware.
I've downloaded / installed the FTDI-VCP Driver.

It appears I'm having a port connection problem. I don't know how to fix this.

I connected my OSTC to the Mac via USB. The OSTC goes into USB mode: OSTC screen says: "Starting... Done." then (some time later) "Port Closed" and the OSTC restarts, then returns to "Starting... Done." ... and goes into a 60 second loop of these screens.

When I open OSTC Companion and click CONNECT, I get the following error message:

tty.usbserial-A4SHCQXX
Error: Port tty.usbserial-A4SHCQXX: Unable to open port /dev/tty.usbserial-A4SHCQXX

When I try to UPGRADE FIRMWARE in OSTC Companion and navigate to the v311 HWOS firmware and try the update, I get the same message.

When I go to OSTC Companion Preferences (settings) I see "WARNING: No Port - Did you download the FTDI-VCP Driver" (Answer: Yes, and installed it and restarted).

I've searched the forum with no success.

Does anyone have any ideas how to fix this?

Thanks in advance.
jb2cool
Posts: 142
Joined: Tuesday 21. January 2014, 21:19

Re: OSTC3 USB firmware update problem

Post by jb2cool »

Do you have any other computer you can try with? Mac's have needed a separate driver at one point in time and then didn't need the separate driver at another point in time but I forget the exact scenario.

Have you downloaded from the computer recently? This would be a way to prove the USB connection and driver is all working ok.

Perhaps try updating via a different tool, something like Subsurface?
Nick
Posts: 2
Joined: Monday 15. June 2020, 00:11

Re: OSTC3 USB firmware update problem

Post by Nick »

Many thanks, jb2cool, you've sorted my problem. Very much appreciated. The new firmware raises another question that I'll post in a new subject.

In case my solution is useful to others, here's what I did:

I have another OSTC, a 2N which connected fine to OSTC Companion, and from which I was able to download info with no problem. This made me think the Mac USB connection was working ok. The 2N's port address was tty.usbserial-XXXXXXXXX. I still was unable to connect to the OSTC3 - its own screen would show it repeatedly dropping the port connection.

I opened Subsurface as jb2cool suggested, and once again was able to USB connect to the 2N with no problem. This time however I was also able to connect to the OSTC3, with port address tty.usbserial-YYYYYYYY. I was able to download dive data, but couldn't see how to upload / update the firmware via Subsurface.

Without touching anything physically I then opened OSTC Companion, which was now able to see the OSTC3 on port tty.usbserial-YYYYYYYY, so I updated the firmware successfully.

Maybe the connection was stabilised by Subsurface sufficiently for OSTC Companion to connect properly - I'm not a programmer so feel free to ignore that. Anyway, really pleased to have an updated computer. Thanks again, jb2cool.
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