ECU stock bin files to reverse engineer

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eightfold_sg
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ECU stock bin files to reverse engineer

Post by eightfold_sg »

Hi

Does anyone know where I can find a repository of stock bin files to reverse engineer? would like to get my hands wet.

thanks
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antus
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Re: ECU stock bin files to reverse engineer

Post by antus »

any particular type? there are a number of early holden ones and some P01 here, if you want something in particular someone could probably add it. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3
Have you read the FAQ? For lots of information and links to significant threads see here: http://pcmhacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1396
eightfold_sg
Posts: 6
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Re: ECU stock bin files to reverse engineer

Post by eightfold_sg »

Hi Antus thanks for the reply, was busying surfing the net for clues that I didn't realized u replied until this morning.

then again.

I guess I should have came up with a better question since I need more experience in this subject.

How would one, who would like to hack OEM bin files to read calibration maps , get their bin files from? Assuming one does not have that particular model or car.

I mean, it's highly plausible to have people before me who would like to analyze bin files from the ground up in order to learn and understand code and interconnected functions of the car at the same time, just like how there might be open-source DNA repositories or labeled data online of a particular subject for hobbyists to analyze/categorize.

I think my asking of how someone went about a journey similar to mine might be a better question instead of my asking brainlessly without any framework. . even though I guess if I'm interested in Ford I should be asking at a Ford forum?
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antus
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Re: ECU stock bin files to reverse engineer

Post by antus »

Well, for such a general question, the answer is to use google. You wont find one place with all manufacturers, all years. They'll generally be grouped by manufacturer, or by brand and model of ecm, and then within that different generations of hardware. TIPerformance has a collection of ford bins. https://www.tiperformance.com.au/library/tuning-files/
Have you read the FAQ? For lots of information and links to significant threads see here: http://pcmhacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1396
eightfold_sg
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Re: ECU stock bin files to reverse engineer

Post by eightfold_sg »

cool! I was coming to that conclusion too! I'm also now looking up on the ECU market ie which companies uses what brand of ECM for their cars and maybe what unique traits I may look out for. Jeff Hartman gives a good brief insight on the ECM market in How to Tune and Modify Automotive EMS. I'm not expecting much; I guess there's not much deviance in microcontrollers' firmware since lowest human language is probably assembly then binary. Maybe the applications might defer more.

anyways hope you're having a rejuvenating weekend.
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Re: ECU stock bin files to reverse engineer

Post by antus »

yeah, i guess there are different manufacturers like delco/delphi, bosch, siemens, etc and then different hardware platforms, with different instruction sets, different hardware layout, different features and different operating systems over time. in general theyre all doing the same thing at a base level - watching rpm, measuring air, calculating and delivering spark and fuel. but there is a lot of additional stuff going on particularly as you look at newer platforms. some eg gm e38 even have 2 processors. older ones such as gm '808 have discrete fuel and spark controlers and newer do that in software. getting started your probably best to look at the older stuff and a platform which people have been hacking on for years as you'll find more reference info to start coming up to speed. the 2 ways to start learning the code functions are to look at the data tables which you can identify then start at the code which references them, or start at the comms interupt code and look to understand how a known request is handled.
Have you read the FAQ? For lots of information and links to significant threads see here: http://pcmhacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1396
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NSFW
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Re: ECU stock bin files to reverse engineer

Post by NSFW »

Yeah, it varies enormously by manufacturer, and between models and years within each manufacturer. We're doing some near stuff with early-2000s GM/Holden V8 stuff in another subforum here because there were a few years where all GM V8s used very similar electronics, but if you go a couple years earlier or a couple years later GM was using completely different systems.

Subaru switched from 16-bit CPUs to a completely different 32-bit CPU around 2004/2005, and then switched from one ODB2 wire format to another around 2008 so while the 32-bit firmwre is pretty similar you need different hardware to read and write.

So anyway, the thing to do would be to look for communities of people who are already tuning your particular car and see if they're doing it in a way that lets you see the raw firmware. If so, dive in. If not, you have a big job ahead of you. :) It seems to me that it's as much a digital-circuits electrical-engineering challenge as a programming challenge. I do software for a living and would probably still be beating my head against these GM V8 computers if guys like Antus hadn't already figured out what chips are inside, got the data sheets, figured out how to communicate with them, and so on.
Please don't PM me with technical questions - start a thread instead, and send me a link to it. That way I can answer in public, and help other people who have the same question. Thanks!
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