concept2 windows utility

[LtMandella]

I tried to update my PM5 using concept2 utility on my windows 10 machine with PM5 connected via USB.
The concept2 utility just shows "not responding" no matter what function I select:update, data, etc.
Just freezeup.
NOTE that I remove the PM5 from the rower to connect because computer and rower are different rooms.
Does the PM5 need to be electrically connected to the rower for concept2 utility to do an update via USB?

The freezeups no matter what I attempt make this utility totally unusable...

[MPx]

The first thing you need to do is make sure the PM is connected to the PC in the Utility. If its not saying that in the top right of the app then nothing will work. Normally for me I just plug in the USB/printer cable, the PM asks if you want to connect to the PC, I say yes and then it connects and displays that in the app.

[gvcormac]

There's a thread on this: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=208819&p=587686#p587686

Bottom line is that you should hit four buttons to put your PM in "loader mode" while not connected to your PC. Then start the C2 utility and plug in the PM. Then it should go.

Here's my final post in that thread:

----

I tried various combinations.

Windows 11 laptop with USBA-C adapter. No go. PM3 said "USB connected" but nothing. Tried various combinations of reset, starting C2 utility.

Windows 10 laptop with USBA. Worked second time. First time I started the C2 utility before plugging in the PM3. Started but hung (like my Windows 11 original attempt).

What worked: Windows 10, USBA, start C2 Utility and select download, PM3. Then plug in the PM3.

-----

Epilogue: I only had to do the 4-button monty once to get the PM3 in loader mode. Now that I've done it, I think my original attempt at using the C2 utility also put it into loader mode, so 4-button monty was probably unnecessary. If I were to try again I would wait for the C2 utility to hang. Then unplug the PM3, restart C2 Utility, select update->pm3 and then plug the pm3 back in.

Unclear to me whether either Windows 11 or the USBC adapter caused a problem. Windows always tries to install drivers and the like so maybe it messed something up. Maybe having the C2 utility ready and waiting circumvented that.

[LtMandella]

Thanks for the replies guys!

either way, connected or not, windows simply reports "... is not responding"

I gave up with the utility on windows. Piece of junk. I spent 20+ years as a developer, I know what poorly designed/implemented software is.

In any event, I tried using my IPAD to do the update via bluetooth, and that worked. Slowly, but it worked

The reason I wanted to do the update in the first place is because I could not get the PM5 to work reliably with USB stick for the logging. I tried numerous different sticks, partitioned small with fat, partitioned medium sized and formatted fat32.

PM5 would log inconsistently and crash, or simply report unrecognized USB.

After the PM5 firmware update using bluetooth and the IPAD, I tried one of the same chips again and it is working perfectly. Same chip, same PM5, same erg, same user
No question in my mind the firmware was the problem. So again, shitty software.

Having said that, I guess I cannot expect the best rowing machine in the universe to also have the best programmers. I certainly would rather have a great rower and shitty software than the other way around.

I will just add about 50K meters manually for all the lost rows over the mast few months and I should be good.

Thanks again for the replies! And happy rowing on the best machine in this galaxy!

[Carl Watts]

First what is the current version of firmware on it ?

Second, factory default reset it by holding down the change units and change display buttons while putting a paper clip in the reset switch on the back.

As long as the PM5 is showing connected top right in the utility it should be good to go.

[LtMandella]

thank you for trying to help

As long as the PM5 is showing connected top right in the utility it should be good to go.

It was not. Even when it showed "connected" as soon as I clicked ANYTHING on the interface, it would just show hourglass forever and go into never-never land.

As a last resort, I ended up using my IPAD with ergdata and connected via bluetooth, and that worked although it took 15 minutes.

I'll uninstall the windows concept2 utility and won't bother with it again. After 20+ years programming finance systems, web apps, and databases, I have low tolerance for blocking/freezing apps. Very low tolerance...

[Carl Watts]

The Windows utility works fine, I have literally updated hundreds of monitors.

You needed to reset the monitor and it would have take 5 minutes.

Sometimes if it on a really old firmware version it can be slower.

[Sakly]

My update through utility tool took 12 minutes, so not much faster than using BT, if your reported 15mins are correct and not estimated by feel.
I only used the utility tool, as a cable connection gives me higher confidence it will work.

[gvcormac]

thank you for trying to help

As long as the PM5 is showing connected top right in the utility it should be good to go.

It was not. Even when it showed "connected" as soon as I clicked ANYTHING on the interface, it would just show hourglass forever and go into never-never land.

As a last resort, I ended up using my IPAD with ergdata and connected via bluetooth, and that worked although it took 15 minutes.

I'll uninstall the windows concept2 utility and won't bother with it again. After 20+ years programming finance systems, web apps, and databases, I have low tolerance for blocking/freezing apps. Very low tolerance...

Sorry to flog a dead horse, but did you use the four-button-hold reset on the PM before starting the C2 utility and connecting it? It is a little awdward because you need to hold one button at the back with a pin, and three buttons on the front.

If you correctly do the 4-button reset your PM will say something like "waiting for upload." Only then should you connect the cable to connect it to C2 utility.

My conjecture is that when you plug in the PM, Windoze tries to start some sort of driver that messes up the connection. If you strart the PM and have the loader running, it seems to work. I can't swear this works with Windows 11, but it did work for me with Windows 10.

[Sakly]

Sorry to flog a dead horse, but did you use the four-button-hold reset on the PM before starting the C2 utility and connecting it? It is a little awdward because you need to hold one button at the back with a pin, and three buttons on the front.

If you correctly do the 4-button reset your PM will say something like "waiting for upload." Only then should you connect the cable to connect it to C2 utility.

When I did the update with the utility tool, I only connected USB to the running PM5 and had not to reset it or do any button command. Utility showed connection and I could press update without any further action.
It was a Windows 7 laptop.

[MPx]

Sorry to flog a dead horse, but did you use the four-button-hold reset on the PM before starting the C2 utility and connecting it? It is a little awdward because you need to hold one button at the back with a pin, and three buttons on the front.

If you correctly do the 4-button reset your PM will say something like "waiting for upload." Only then should you connect the cable to connect it to C2 utility.

When I did the update with the utility tool, I only connected USB to the running PM5 and had not to reset it or do any button command. Utility showed connection and I could press update without any further action.
It was a Windows 7 laptop.

I do the same as Sascha with a windows 10 laptop.

[LtMandella]

Admittedly I did not go through any of the corrective steps suggested by responders. Maybe one of them would have helped. In any event the advice provided may help others in the future so I think not a wasted effort here.

And now I won't bother with the update utility on windoze since the IOS app version on the IPAD worked just fine on first try. And the time to complete the update via the IPAD I reported was not an estimate, the update utility showed a count down timer.

I have one new question now that I have the PM5 seemingly working reliably with a USB stick. But I will start another thread. Thanks again to all who contributed advice!

[gvcormac]

When I did the update with the utility tool, I only connected USB to the running PM5 and had not to reset it or do any button command. Utility showed connection and I could press update without any further action.
It was a Windows 7 laptop.

Indeed that's how it usually works. But one time it did not for me and, apparently, OP.

[Tsnor]

The reason I wanted to do the update in the first place is because I could not get the PM5 to work reliably with USB stick for the logging. I tried numerous different sticks, partitioned small with fat, partitioned medium sized and formatted fat32.

There's root cause. You will not enjoy usb flash as your log repository now or in the future <opinion>. Very few people are using USB flash drives with their PM5s so support is spotty at best. You have 20+ years as a SW developer so you know that stabilized support breaks often and is rarely extensively tested. The C2 windows utility previously was heavily used to update firmware. Now FW updates are over bluetooth from Ergdata. The C2 utility looks 'legacy/deprecated' to me. The PM5 has several HW versions which makes USB testing worse. Some PM5s are known to stutter in some cases when simultaneously using USB stick and app connection. C2 support warns against using both at the same time on any PM5.

Instead of USB drives most people use BTLE to connect a phone running ERGDATA (or some equivalent) to get data to the C2 log. Suggest you give that a try. Downloading C2 log data as CSV works great if you later want to use the data offline. If you need a platform for Ergdata I had no stability with chromebook and limited success using a kindle. The Android phones I have work great. I use an older phone (pixel 1) as a dedicated ergdata controller.