Dexcom unfriendly to Linux
Well, I finally found something to complain about with regards to Dexcom...
Their Data Manager 2 software is completely hostile to anything non-Windows.
This is surprising, considering they could very well have written the thing in Java, but they chose .Net, and then they chose to use a hardware layer that adds further complexity; the CP210x UART controller from Silicon Labs.
Now, Silicon Labs are actually friendly to Linux; you can download VCP drivers for Linux from their driver page for CP210x devices.
But Dexcom apparently specifically decided that "diabetics don't use Linux". Grr.
I actually have Windows XP installed on Virtualbox, so I thought I could get it to work that way; no dice. While the application installs, there is some problem with the UART controller driver. My only hope is that a newer driver - the one I downloaded from Silabs - will fix it (DM2 comes with version 4.40, the newest is 5.2.2).
Their Data Manager 2 software is completely hostile to anything non-Windows.
This is surprising, considering they could very well have written the thing in Java, but they chose .Net, and then they chose to use a hardware layer that adds further complexity; the CP210x UART controller from Silicon Labs.
Now, Silicon Labs are actually friendly to Linux; you can download VCP drivers for Linux from their driver page for CP210x devices.
But Dexcom apparently specifically decided that "diabetics don't use Linux". Grr.
I actually have Windows XP installed on Virtualbox, so I thought I could get it to work that way; no dice. While the application installs, there is some problem with the UART controller driver. My only hope is that a newer driver - the one I downloaded from Silabs - will fix it (DM2 comes with version 4.40, the newest is 5.2.2).
posted by Blinkered at 6:34 PM
2 Comments:
I like the results from the latest application, but I don't like how they continue to encrypt the data and use so much .NET.
I agree with you that this would have been better written in Java. I'd love to see a device maker standout from the crowd by supporting open standards.
Bernard,
This is more than just convenience though - since it doesn't work in virtual machines either (I tested it on KVM, Virtualbox AND VMware) there is a major problem.
It's more than about supporting open standards; it's recognizing that this is a medical device and thus it is quite necessary to provide something that will work for patients. I am suspecting this won't work for MAC users either, since OSX is based on FreeBSD.
I am pretty certain at this point that the problem has to do with the UART bridge, but I can't figure out what exactly is going wrong. The receiver IS recognized by DM2; the data exchange times out. Nasty.
Post a Comment
<< Home