Has my GQ-4X died?

[Charlescrown]

Well I'm no computer wiz kid and usually fumble my way around but this blows my mind.
Using windows 7 on my laptop.
All the features of the GQ-4X work fine. I can read write etc. I view the data after reading and it looks like it's there and not corrupted. I compared to the last memcal bin file and they look the same.
I saved it to my desktop and then turned off the reader. I then reloaded the saved bin file into the GQ-4X and it all looks fine. No scrambled data from what I see with the code.
I take the bin file into tunerpro and all the data is scrambled. I then loaded the previous saved bin file in tunerpro and it all looks fine. No scrambled data.
I then went back to the GQ-4X and viewed both the saved desktop bin file and the previous saved bin file and they look identical.
There seems to be an issue with tunerpro reading only the downloaded bin file.
Yesterday I did a minor change to the previous saved bin file and it's running fine in the car but I have yet to read that memcal and see what shows there.
So 2 memcals same program same XDF but scrambled data showing in tunerpro from both memcals. Also erased tunerpro and downloaded a new copy.
Well beyond my level of expertise.

[Charlescrown]

OK the latest. Tried to read the 27SF512 with the GQ-4X and again garbled data. The funny thing is looking at the data with the GX-4X program it looks fine. I'm going off seeing the PCM hacking recognition at the end of the file.
I then got a VN memcal and read it and in tunerpro it views fine with all the data correct.
So I decided to use the Flashtool to read the bin from the car and with great delight it is spot on when viewing in tunerpro so my conclusion is I do quiet possibly have a damaged reader or corrupted software.
Thanks for all the advice much appreciated.

[antus]

Did you confirm the file size? If it's 32kb Can you take my advice about not using the offset, as I have seen it break GQ and could be part of the problem. For me, I was not able to get it to work properly with offsets and I stacked and unstacked bins outside of GQ and from there it was fine.

[Charlescrown]

Well the bin stacking worked. I think I did it the clumsy way by writing 2 files one with the offset the other without but it can now be read with tunerpro but there are a few little errors. I see tunerpro can do it but I need a tutorial with that one.
I do get lots of errors erasing and writing the bin files so I do think there is an issue with the GQ-4X.

[antus]

If its intermittent then its probably dirty contacts like vlad suggested. If you have any kind of electric contact cleaner it might help to try and give the zif socket a bit of a clean, but it is still entirely possible the programmer is on they out.

The bin stacking is more about putting the files together. The second copy is the one the PCM will use. So if you load the stacked file direct in tunerpro, tunerpro will edit the bottom one and the ECM will use the top one. Not what you want. So you need to cut it in half for editing with tunerpro.

Having said that you can modify the 12P XDF header and add a 0x8000 offset there. Then save the xdf as and give it a clear filename. Use that one to edit the 64k file from the programmer and the original XDF to tune over ALDL. Then tunerpro always has the right context for how you are working without splitting any files.

[Charlescrown]

Yea I took it apart removed the socket and gave it a good clean with contact cleaner but it made no difference to the performance.
Boy that info is good but it will take me some time to get my head around it. Being retired I have time to play around.
As I said my computer skills are all discovery learning and what you can do in minutes takes me days. Have a good weekend.

[antus]

32kb 12P binary (the bin, as you need it) 0x0000->0x8000
64kb 12p binary (whats on the chip) 0x0000-0x7FFF (blank or unused) then 0x8000-0xFFFF the 32k bin

xdf-> 0x0000-0x7FFF (the 32kb bin, on disk)
xdf with 0x8000 offset in the header -> 0x8000-0xFFFF (the 64k bin as you read and write it)

Special case -> oseplugin. XDF is 0x0000-0x7FFF, ECM is 0x8000-0xFFFF OSEPlugin adds a 0x8000 offset you dont see so it works over ALDL.
Special case -> you mod the XDF and add the 0x8000 in the header -> works with the 64kb exe in tunerpro on your PC direct and without oseplugin.

or so I thought. breaking news, we actually put a -8000 offset in the XDF. So remove the offset to work with the 64k bin.
eeek probably should update that web site url too....

[vlad01]

Before mine died, the drivers and software went weird where I needed to force the driver to worked as unsigned or something alone those lines. Was complaining the drivers were not signed all of the sudden. Then the program refused to start unless it was under compatibility mode, thought it was something that a windows update did. It still worked but I had to do all those things to use it. Then a few days later, one by one the USB ports were failing to detect it, then when I erased a memcal, it blank checked fine, then upon uploading the update tune, it just froze and then the laptop made the sound like you unplug something and the lights on it no longer lit, the VCC and one other led went out permanently. It never worked after that.

So prior to actually kicking the bucket it did some weird some in windows first, then physical hardware started to play up and then dead.

[Ken]

So prior to actually kicking the bucket it did some weird some in windows first, then physical hardware started to play up and then dead.

Had a friend give me one that showed similar problems till it no longer detected, seems a resistor and track leading to the usb port got
too hot and burned away, I managed to fix it, and glad I did, it had the newer, if not the last firmware revision running the unit,
which fixed a problem I was having with the earlier unit I purchased 5+ years earlier.
My original unit had firmware revision 1.30, the newer was 2.20.

I also posted the signed drivers here 6 years ago.

[Charlescrown]

Hi Ken and thanks for the info. I have found that both the GQ-4X and Tunerpro work fine with windows 7 but not 11. I tried compatability mode for windows 7 but hopeless. I finally (after some time) worked out how to stack 2 bin files using Tunerpro. I kept looking at the Tunerpro bin stacker trying to work out how to input the 2 bin files and discovered I had to expand the page Tunerpro provided. So it's all working with my laptop. The GQ-4X gives me a headache with bad erase read etc so I'm thinking of buying the one vlad recommended. It looks like a good unit and the price is very reasonable.
I would love to get both working on windows 11 but I'm happy I can still do what I want. Thanks for posting the drivers and thanks to antus for his patience sorting this out. Cheers for now.