Neil,

Is this something that can be put on a disc, loaded to the laptop then just connected to the car ?

I'll pay for the disc and someones time obviously

Or better still, a disc and the cables as a complete kit. I'd be willing to pay real cash money for that

Just tried with Vista and I think it works

I am getting error in ram address and not a clue what that means ?
I did have the engine off though....may give it a try with it running.
Looks good though mate.
paul
ps....was dry so I could be arsed going outside and taking Piccy....

Your problem could be with the 120% Alcohol Paul.

I know my brain throws up error messages with hard liquor at that percentage

My be right there mate
Do you think the old bill would mind me driving around with a laptop strapped the dash

Prt Sc is your friend

Was it working ok with your car running Paul?

I will give it another go in a minute with it running.
I'll post back with some more pics.
paul

just ordered up my cables will be interested in this and as I have a car pc installed it should be usefull.

I obtained the same, but the adapter is not connected to the car (not powered by 12 volts)

For those that want to know what to buy I would recommend the following

The OBD to 3-pin connector

The 409 KKL USB adaptor

You can then plug it all in, go into control panel (on xp) and find the serial port and make a note of the serial port number its using).

Then download barnacles software, install and follow the instructions.

Its easy.

Paul - the error in your picture say's it's not getting the response back from the ECU that it's expecting.

If you get that far, it's correctly found the USB adaptor, but the string of 'ECU ID: 00-00-00-00-00-00' is telling you it hasn't initialised the ECU properly.

Likely fault is either that the ignition isn't on, or the engine is doing more than 2,000 rpm, or that the adaptor isn't attached to the power on its red lead.

For the record:

I have absolutely no objection to anyone packaging this as a disk or disk'n'adaptor kit. I don't care how much they charge for it - though no doubt people will vote with their wallets if they think you're taking the pee!

I have no intention of providing kits or disks; I'm sorry, but I have too much on. Also, you can expect changes at least in the near future as I get bug reports and fix them, or make improvements - new versions will be posted on my site and advertised here.

Please note the terms of the licence: LGPL. See www.gnu.org for the details, but basically, do what you want with it but you *must* include the source code if you redistribute, and if you make changes to the software (you are encouraged to do this) you *must* identify your changes and include the modified source code.

Neil

Just tried it and it won't recognise the serial port.
Have to have another play around with it and maybe check my drivers.
It worked fine on the airbag ECU though.
paul

If it worked on the airbag, you're probably telling it the wrong port number. Check in the device manager to see what port number has been given, make sure you're telling it that number.

Here's what you should see as it fires up (Windows 7 64-bit):

1) start the terminal through the 'run' option from start


2) type 'cmd' and return


3) which drops you into the terminal


4) change directory (and drive if required) to wherever you dropped the executable


5) now you need to find out the port number - so fire up the control panel and then the device manager


6) look in the 'ports' section to see what port it is - in this case, com4 - you need to remember the '4'


7) now back to the terminal - enter the program name and the port number and then return


8) for a couple of seconds you'll see this, if you got it right...


9) and then it will try and start talking - here I don't have the ECU attached, so the ECU ID is 00-00-00-00-00-00 and it will take several seconds before you see anything - that will be rubbish!

Tried it again Neil and still no luck.
It is still not communicating with the ECU.
I am pretty sure everything is right.
ignition on....12volts on lead....all plugged....port recognised.

ps....the pc has 3 gig of ram and is basically a gaming machine so it is fast enough.

I wonder if the speed of the machine is important. Timing is everthing, I could never get the code to initalise on my old pc but on a dual core 2 4 meg machine it worked fine.

I've just ordered the leads off eBay

Just read you need a good spec laptop (which this isn't)

Nah, it works fine on this and on my 4-year-old XP machine. The only timing critical bit is the 200ms delay and that should work on pretty much anything... the 16v is a bit more critical; it uses an odd comms baud rate.

Paul, are you sure you're not talking to the ABS ecu? Um, another thought - com3 is often attached to an internal modem; have you confirmed the com address?

That was the same com port I used for the airbag mate using the same lead and I used the same USB port.
It is defo the right ECU......the plug by the expansion tank.
Flea had to find it for me when he remapped my ECU.....it had "disappeared" ...lol.
I need to have another go when I get time,it is probably something silly and I do love a challenge.
Everything seems right but there's just no hand shaking going on for some reason.

paul

Update.
Just had another go and I can report that it works fine on Vista
Thanks Neil.
The battery voltage seems out though and I was not doing that speed....car was on the drive.
Paul

Battery voltage is disturbing.

I'll find my meter and double check it but if it was that voltage.....don't think I would have that much left working.
Think I will try it again.

Hmmm, that speed.....your NIP is in the post!

This is too easy!

Tried it again guys and it worked this time......I don't know where those figures came from
One with just ignition and the other with engine running.
Paul

A glance at the code will reveal that there's a single internal packet structure which is used for comms in both direction. When asking for data, the appropriate fields are filled by the requestor, and on a response from the ECU the info field is completed.

That field is never cleared, so if the ECU fails to respond, it will contain probable garbage (from the last call). That's translated as if it's real... anybody's guess what it translates to.

If you get something like that, or if it locks up in a comms glitch, I recommend using 'ctrl-c' to exit the program rather than 'q'; the official way may require several dozen time-outs and could take minutes before it responds, and I've had a couple of occasions where it's frozen with even the system manager unable to close the window.

btw - according to the docs, the throttle pedal position is returned with engine off, ignition on. I haven't yet found one that does. If you've got one, please let me know!

look like it works on all the modern OS's Neil
Paul

Is there to be a version of this available for the 16vt and would this work with that beautiful dial display software you created last year

Have to be fair though,it does look good,I think Charles Babbage could have added a few extras here ?
Paul

Swaynie, there's been a 16v/vt version forever, seems like - check the microwidget FAQ and in particular the update section: current versions run the same hardware as this 20v version.

Paul - For the Charles Babbage look, what you do is set this:

as your desktop, and set the transparency on the terminal at perhaps 50%.

Simples!

I think of it this way: Ole Charlie built a 'difference engine'; this is a 'makes a different *to* engine'.

Hiya Folks,

Just a quick one to say I'm all fired up after seeing today's Demo at the East Anglia meet My cables are on order, but there's a 10-25 day delivery estimate.

Just out of curiosity, how does your solution compare to this one I found tonight:

http://www.fiatecuscan.net/SupportedVehiclesList.aspx

I presume it woud have to use the same cable, and it's just a different front end. Is that right?

Ta,

Ian.