Black Box Bin Needed

[antus]

What interface is that? I see its an STN chip. But I searched that version and I see clones. There is enough trouble with OBDLink already, but I hope we not have a new clone interface problem emerging. Do you know if it is definately clone or definately genuine? Can you try updating firmware?

If you have access to an OBDX Pro interface, I'd suggest trying to reflash with that. The PCM is in recovery mode, not outright bricked. So it will be recoverable with a working interface.

If this is a clone problem, I think I might have reached my limit for dealing with scantool related problems and I might need to do like ls-droid and drop them from future versions.

[CDNL]

Hi Antus, thanks for taking the time to help me out.
This is what I have for my bench setup.
the power supply is a 12 volt, 2.67 amp adapter.
the interface is an OBDLink sx
these connect to my homemade harness, which connects to the blackbox pcm.

I thought that I was getting a genuine interface when I bought it, but now I'm certain that it is a clone. I say that because it was shipped from somewhere in Germany and my computer would not load the software from the included disk, so I had to download the software from the OBDLink site.
I just updated to the most recent firmware which was: OBDLink Firmware 5.10.1 Nov. 16, 2023.

Also, initially when I did a write to load the new os, I got the following error message: "Error: the connected blackbox pcm binary format is not partitioned and does not support partial write. You will need to do a Write Full Flash (clone) instead." At which point I did a Write Full Flash, and the flash failed.
Unfortunately, I don't have an OBDX Pro.
Would I risk doing more damage to the pcm if I tried a write full flash with my existing setup and the updated firmware??
I hope this makes sense.

[sparepartsblazer]

I havent had any problems flashing blackboxes. I use an OBDX Pro GT.

[antus]

Being a clone, the update might fail or it might brick the interface outright if it detects it a clone. Might be nothing lost if it is not working properly anyway. Thanks for confirming the clone, perhaps I need to check for that exact firmware version and warn users. But it is also possible the blackbox and SX does not work properly as well.

The clone write is OK, you would have seen it checksums the PCM flash memory and only erases/writes segments of the flash that have changed, so It'll scan the whole thing, but still wont erase the boot sector for example.

I would suggest try the update, see if the interface will accept it, if it does try and write again. But if you can you would be better buying an OBDX Pro from https://obdxpro.com/?ref=pcmhacking and by using this link you are also helping support development of pcmhammer.

Edit: I see it did accept the update, so yes try it. But if you have any problems I can't support it further.

[CDNL]

I confirmed the firmware update by doing the update again and the interface accepted it without problem. I will try the write again and will post the results.

"Error: the connected blackbox pcm binary format is not partitioned and does not support partial write. You will need to do a Write Full Flash (clone) instead."

What does this mean? As I mentioned elsewhere, I'm new to this, so this is a learning experience for me. That's why I ask.
I have looked at the OBDX Pro VX and I am considering puchasing one. Since I'm in Canada, I will have to order it from Australia. Does anyone know what the delivery time would be?
And yes! I would definitely order from the link that would help the cause.

[antus]

It just means you have to use clone write. It'll still only write what it needs too, but its to do with the way GM designed the software.

[CDNL]

Just an update on my black box cloning problems using the obdlink sx clone.
I purchased an OBDX PRO VX from the link provided by antus and it recently arrived.
I set up my bench harness with the OBDX PRO and I was able to write the original os to the pcm, and then did a read pcm. they both worked without any problem.
Then I was able to clone the pcm with the 1999 GMC Sonoma 4.3 - 09365085 without any problem. In short, got a OBDX PRO and problem solved.

Hey ker4o, if you would still want me to read my 1996 5 connector pcm with your experimental software I'm ok with doing that. I have installed the J2435 api on the OBDX Pro

[antus]

Yeah. Shitty obdlink interface is dropping the response. There is no way the PCM is taking longer than 2 seconds to write that block. So what that means is that the interface is dropping the response. It's not a problem with PCM Hammer or its kernel, because other interfaces work fine. So the question becomes, do I spend my time investigating and working around it, or do I lock out scantool/obdlink. That company refused to work with me without a large sum of money up front back in the day, and since then they've made more money than anyone from my work despite the warnings and recommendations against scantool, I keep seeing they are very widely used out there. So I am inclined to drop support for their product. That'll suck for users who already have one but ultimately mean less bricks and a better user experience. In the mean time, if you get an OBDXPro https://obdxpro.com/?ref=pcmhacking or MDI or some other better device you'll be able to recover it.

[06:21:54:766] TX: 36000400060000B03081B000014125650A103C008B4EB900053F3C4CDF01034E752F024A3898CC6734363898C496790000BD2464024243383898C498790000BD22640242443438BE60B443640631C3BE60603CB444633831C4BE6060323638991A96790000BD20640242433838991A98790000BD1E640242443438BE66B443640631C3BE666008B444630431C4BE66241F4E7548E7C0804EB900065FFA4EB90004E9F44EB90005767A207C00FFA7104EB9000586C611C0A6CC207C00FFA6CC1038A35A4EB90005E6F61238A6CC0C380003A364621842401038A364103001B00000FB7EB20063064A3898406702200111C0A6CC4EB9000512DA4EB900060C184CDF01034E754A389CED672E26389D6CB6B89CF6656036390000DED2444331C39CF411FC00019CF2428336390000DED4D6B89D6C21C39CF6603C4A389CEE672A26389D6CB6B89CFA652C31F90000DED29CF411FC00019CF2428336390000DED4D6B89D6C21C39CFA600C21F89D6C9CF621F89D6C9CFA4E754E56FFFE48E72080340041EEFFFE4EB9000605CA4A0067524240102EFFFE103005B000021678030067047001600242000C42001266084A39000084E4672A0C42001566084A390000B02B661C0C42001666084A390000B029660E0C420019660A4A390000B029660242004CDF01044E5E4E7548E780801038988A0C00000166324238988A41F90000FF8C45F8BCBE701A34D851C8FFFC207C00FFBCBE70364EB900064B4031C0AB7A31F900010072BCF4602C0C00000266264238988A41F8BCBE701A425851C8FFFC207C00FFBCBE70364EB900064B4031C0AB7A31C0BCF44CDF01014E7542431600163031B00000A380024300FF247035B000023B104ED2103899BC60504A390000B02B670442006044103899BD163899BE4A390000B029672C18390000B0286026103899BE6026103899BB60204A390000B02B66D0163899BD103899BE4A390000B02966D442044A04670220034E7548E764004A389A96674A420114389D0AE302D401024200FF343023A0BC2E42851A01383053A09D06B8426C0CD8790000AA96B8426F0E600A98790000AA98B8426C0228023F8453A09D0652010C01000163BA60164201428316013FBC080033A09D0652010C01000163EC4CDF00264E752F05700136389A8EE24BB678A654630431C3A654B678A658640431C3A6583638A6549678A6586402424338389A943A38A65A9A44640242459878A65A64024244B679000093E06220B879000093E46218BA79000093E2621042431638AFA2C6FC0014B678A670630242002A1F4E7548E700C02078CCD44A906700005C53680004665421D0CCD44A680006670E3168000600044EB900064ABC600820B8CCD821C8CCD820680008526800046806317C7FFF00046E1822504A896712137C000200082091307CCCE24EB900066B28
[06:21:57:077] Timeout during receive.

[CDNL]

The reason I bought the obdlink sx was that it was supported by PCMHammer, it was the cheapest of the supported interfaces, it had a USB connector, and it was only for my personal use. In hindsight it would have been cheaper to buy the obdx pro then.
Personally, I think that anyone or company that profits financially from the software, either directly or indirectly should use some of their profits to support the software development. That's my two cents worth.