Contents
Compatible Devices
There are many compatible garmin devices, but they tend to be at the high end of the range – they need to be able to run ConnectIQ apps, and we need ConnectIQ v2.3 or higher. You can tell if a particular watch has ConnectIQ enabled by checking the specs on the Garmin web site (e.g. Vivoactive 3), but there is not an easy way to find out which version of ConnectIQ it supports.
The following table shows the watches that I know it works on – if you are using it on another one, please let me know so I can add it to this list.
| Watch | Status |
| Venu SQ | **Currently an Issue with it Freezing after Several Hours – avoid for now *** |
| VenuSQ 2 | Some users have reported issues similar to the original VenuSQ (see above), but others report it working without problem. |
| Vivoactive 3 | Works, No issues, but battery life seems shorter than VenuSQ |
| Vivoactive 4 | Works, but 4s (small) version has short battery life (12 hours) |
| Venu 2 | Works, No issues |
| Vivoactive HR | Works fine – this was our ‘production’ device until we switched to the PineTime watch. |
| Forerunner 735xt | Works, but needs software update via Garmin Connect. Needs V1.2 of the Garmin Watch App, not more recent ones. Heart Rate indication slow to respond when watch removed. |
| Forerunner 245 | Works ok, but battery life seems quite short (around 15 hours) – I have not worked out why! |
| Forerunner 55 | |
| ForeRunner 255s | Works, No issues reported. Good battery life (80% after 24 hours reported by a user). |
Note that it NOT work on a Forerunner 35, 45 or 235 (lots of folks ask about this one!)
Installation
Please see the Garmin Seizure Detector installation instructions here.
Start-Up
- Start the OpenSeizureDetector Android App (or if it is already running select the ‘Start/Stop Server’ menu item to start the beackground service)
- Remove the watch from its charger
- Start the ‘GarminSD’ Watch App by pressing the right button to show the list of apps and selecting GarminSD.
- Check that after 5 seconds the OpenSeizureDetector phone app status changes from ‘Fault’ to ‘OK’, showing the watch is communicating with the phone ok.
- Once the watch is communicating with the phone ok, re-start OpenSeizureDetector on any slave devices that mimic the primary one using Network Data Source to communicate via wifi.
Shut-Down
- Remove the watch
- Shutdown the GarminSD watch app by pressing the Left button or swiping the screen to the right, and confirming you want to shutdown when prompted.
- This will result in a fault condition on both the main phone and any slave devices. To stop the fault ‘pips’, Open the OpenSeizureDetector Android App and select the start/stop server menu option to shutdown the background service.
- Charging watch shuts down the GarminSD watch app, so it will be necessary shutdown the background service as above to avoid fault ‘pips’
Watch App User Interface
- Mute Alarms for 5 minutes:
- VivoActiveHR (Benjamin’s Watch): Right Button
- VivoActive 3: long press of screen
- Exit App:
- VivoActiveHR (Benjamin’s Watch): Left Button
- VivoActive 3: Main Button or Swipe Screen to Left
Troubleshooting
If the system does not work as intended, please check that you have followed the installation instructions here.
Then check the following:
- Re-boot the phone and switch the watch off and on again (to make sure all the software is in the correct starting state).
- If you see the display alternating between ‘OK’ and ‘FAULT’ this could be a sign that the system has not re-started correctly – it is especially an issue when you are changing settings because it re-starts a lot. Re-booting the phone or going into the phone settings ->Apps->OpenSeizureDetector and selecting ‘Force Stop’ then re-starting OpenSeizureDetector should solve it.
- Check that the watch is connected to the phone ok – open the Garmin Connect app on the phone to check the status – press the watch icon on the Garmin Connect app main screen – it should show a page that says it is ‘Connected’.
- Check that there are no other devices connected to the watch (e.g. if you have a phone and a tablet that connect to it, the wrong one may be receiving the data).
- Check that the GarminSD watch app is running – it shuts down when you charge the watch and you have to start it yourself manually. The watch display should look something like this:
- Check that the OpenSeizureDetector phone app is running (icon shown in status bar)
- Some newer phones have aggressive power saving features that shutdown apps when the screen goes to sleep. You may need to look in the phone settings to set OpenSeizureDetector as a ‘Protected’ app to prevent this – some guidance can be found here.
- A default on a lot of phones now is for apps to be ‘Optimised’ for battery usage. This means shutting them down when the phone screen is asleep and they are running on battery. If this happens the watch will display ERR -xxx errors and OpenSeizueDetector will not be able to generate alerts. Search for ‘Optimise Battery’ in the phone settings and make sure that OpenSeizureDetector is set to NOT be optimised. The video below shows how to disable battery “optimisation” for OpenSeizureDetector (note though that the dialog box warning you about the issue is a feature of Version 4.x of OpenSeizureDetector so you will not see it with the current version – the fix is the same though:
- I have had reports that the OpenSeizureDetector app can have issues where it appears to be running, but no data is received, and it can be cured with the following procedure:
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- 1. Turn on phone and unpair your watch(es) and turn off bluetooth
- 2. Go to settings on your phone and select Apps and Notifications.
- 3. Select App Info (should tell you how many apps you have installed on your phone and list them)
- 4.Select ‘OpenSeizureDetector’. it should open up to app info and give you categories like app notifications, permissions, storage, etc.
- 5. Click on storage and select both the ‘clear data’ and ‘clear cache’ options
- 7. Restart your phone, turn on bluetooth and re-pair your watch
- If the above look ok, but you are still not receiving data from the watch and generating alarms etc., it may be that the phone is running some sort of security app that is blocking the communications between the watch and OpenSeizureDetector App. This has been confirmed to be an issue with Xiaomi phones, so these should be avoided. Try a different android phone if possible to confirm it is an issue on the phone or not.
- If it is still not working, obtain debugging information from the watch app (see instructions here), and send me the resulting files (graham@openseizuredetector.org.uk) and I will have a look at what is happening. I will need to know:
- Which phone and android version you are using.
- Which watch you are using
- The version numbers of the OpenSeizureDetector Phone and Watch apps being used (the watch app displays the version number on screen for 5 seconds after the app is started).
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