Issues downloading dives from Garmin on MacOS

[Stanton Champion]

Hi,

I have a Garmin Mk2i that I have used for a while with Subsurface, always reliably. Out of the blue, after I updated to 6.0.5436, it just won't connect. Any attempt to download dives gives me a "Dive data import error." Dumping the log file just shows: 

Subsurface: v6.0.5404.0, built with libdivecomputer v0.9.0-devel-Subsurface-NG (26221352623426bbc36166c9eccde923d1879cb9)

[0.000000] INFO: Open MTP device
[0.000208] INFO: Read: size=0, data=
[0.000224] ERROR: Failed to open directory 'Garmin/Activity' or ''. [in src/garmin.c:505 (garmin_device_foreach)]

Meanwhile, Garmin Connect works just fine. It synced with the watch and even uploaded a bunch of maps updates. So I don't think it's a physical connection issue? What am I not seeing? What else should I check? 

Stanton

[Michael Keller]

Hi Stanton.

On Wed, 26 Nov 2025 at 13:20, Stanton Champion <spcha...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a Garmin Mk2i that I have used for a while with Subsurface, always reliably. Out of the blue, after I updated to 6.0.5436, it just won't connect. Any attempt to download dives gives me a "Dive data import error." Dumping the log file just shows: 

Subsurface: v6.0.5404.0, built with libdivecomputer v0.9.0-devel-Subsurface-NG (26221352623426bbc36166c9eccde923d1879cb9)

[0.000000] INFO: Open MTP device
[0.000208] INFO: Read: size=0, data=
[0.000224] ERROR: Failed to open directory 'Garmin/Activity' or ''. [in src/garmin.c:505 (garmin_device_foreach)]

Have a look at https://groups.google.com/g/subsurface-divelog/c/GeGMtc0VEHo/m/MI4nAUZmAAAJ - there are some hints for how to get this fixed.

Ngā mihi

  Michael Keller 

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[Stanton Champion]

Regrettably, I'm not sure this provides me much insight. I don't use MacDroid, nor do I have Android File Transfer installed. The only Garmin connection app I have is Garmin Express.

Also, I have never seen this watch create a mount point when connected. The thread mentions the Garmin folder, but I don't believe it mounts like a traditional filesystem.

What else am I missing?

I am running Sequoia 15.7.2, if that helps. 

[Sven Lehrmoser]

hi

As you wrote I have the identical issue and it is still not solved

Von meinem iPhone gesendet

Am 26.11.2025 um 09:19 schrieb Stanton Champion <spcha...@gmail.com>:

Regrettably, I'm not sure this provides me much insight. I don't use MacDroid, nor do I have Android File Transfer installed. The only Garmin connection app I have is Garmin Express.

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[Andrew Trevor-Jones]

Here is how I get my dives from my Garmin Descent G2 to Subsurface (and it worked with my Descent Mk1 before that) on my Mac.

I have a folder on my Mac called Garmin Logs. I download the logs from Garmin Connect to this folder and unzip them.

I have another folder in my user directory called Garmin and I have an Alias (symbolic link) called Activity which points to Garmin Logs.  (Note that you could just as easily just have an Activity folder under Garmin in your user folder but mine is historical on my computer).

In Subsurface I choose Import->Import from dive computer and select Garmin for Vendor, and "Decent Mk2(i)/Mk3(i)(S)/G1/G2/X50i" for Dive computer, and my user folder for Device or mount point

I check Force download of all dives and then click Download. It loads all the dives in my Garmin Logs folder (AKA /users/me/Garmin/Activity). I then click Unselect all, scroll to the end and select the newest dive, and click OK.

Works like a charm.

Andrew.

[Michael Keller]

Hi Stanton.

On 26/11/2025 14:06, Stanton Champion wrote:
> Regrettably, I'm not sure this provides me much insight. I don't use
> MacDroid, nor do I have Android File Transfer installed. The only
> Garmin connection app I have is Garmin Express.
>
> Also, I have never seen this watch create a mount point when
> connected. The thread mentions the Garmin folder, but I don't believe
> it mounts like a traditional filesystem.
>
> What else am I missing?

Drats, it looks like Garmin removed the capability to mount as USB
storage device from their Mk2 family devices at some point as part of a
firmware update.

Unfortunately  I do not have any Garmin devices that use MTP, so I do
not have a way of testing this protocol.


Ngā mihi

  Michael Keller

[Stanton Champion]

I don't think it's a firmware thing. I haven't updated my firmware on the watch in a while, and it actually worked just fine right before I upgraded Subsurface to the latest version.

On a lark, I downgraded to see if the problem would go away. Version 6.0.5404 did not work, but 6.0.5365 worked just fine! I can import again! Something must have changed after that version.

Sven, give that version a try and see if it works for you. https://subsurface-divelog.org/downloads/

[Sven Lehrmoser]

Hi 

Can confirm

6.0.5365 works fine to import.

So something has changed in the newer versions.

Thanks Stanton for the information