pcmhacking.net

Tre-Cool wrote:just throwing this out there as an idea.

Flashing in tunes. With E38 etc gm stuff, it would be good to be able to flash in different saved calibrations via your phone. Not do a full flash, just the calibration portion.

Tuner would need to use tuning software to set the main tune files, just read them out & save each 1.

Then ya could have a normal petrol tune file, speed/rpm limited tune, ethanol tune.

That would work well for some of my friends, since they wouldnt need to buy a tuning cable just to flash different calibrations.

Ultimate idea for transmission stuff would be to edit shift speed tables, especially if you could log via your phone things like rpm, gear, speed. That would be handy for guys to fine tune shift points when drag racing. Downside to that is you would need to be able to edit the files & thus need calibration definitions.

This kind of stuff is already part of a "proof of concept" setup I was playing with. The 'client' reads their tune and saved to their account and sends it to the 'tuner'. The tuner can then modify and resave to the clients account for modified tunes, and finally the client can just open their phone and select the new tune to upload.

^^This is the future. Once this app is sorted, this is the next project.

Yeah i kinda figured that would be something you had thought of, there are a few existing/similar products on the market. especially the euro sector. but that is generally master/slave arrangements.

I'm more in favour of being able to do both. the trans side of stuff would be handy for my mates/customers who race when im not at the track to log/make adjustments. I'm realistic though & I do think the market of users for this would probably be limited.

Tre-Cool wrote:Yeah i kinda figured that would be something you had thought of, there are a few existing/similar products on the market. especially the euro sector. but that is generally master/slave arrangements.

I'm more in favour of being able to do both. the trans side of stuff would be handy for my mates/customers who race when im not at the track to log/make adjustments. I'm realistic though & I do think the market of users for this would probably be limited.

Both is what the plan is (Eventually).

The average joe that I talk to just wants their car tuned, they do not want to actually try make edits themselves. And tuners want a larger audience to cater to then just their backyard, hence remote tuning is a real possibility.

Being able to log and tune from a client would mean tuners could perform their changes from anywhere around the world. And a client would only ever require a dongle and smartphone.

I can only laugh, or I'll cry. Silicon labs option is now out of stock now.

Going to do another small run without the FTDI IC on the board, and I will just solder it on for testing.
I have another manufacture which says they are happy to assembly if I supply the FTDI (As they do not have it either), but at least they are happy to accept ship in parts

Windows server is both cool and pain in the arse. The example applications I run on it will happy run under the debugger with localhost, but as soon as i try call it from the browser, it doesnt execute (sigh). Likely missing some stupid option to allow execution outside of the IDE.

What I have had massive luck with though is the ability to read RPO codes and compatible parts from VIN, this is being validated server and will allow some automation in regards to what a vehicle has fitted from factory when performing certain programming options, along with being able to validate parts that are fitted are compatible
I am still sorting out the compatible parts, this seems to be a little more complex then first expected since there are multiple filtering points to find actual parts for a specific VIN, and then also ensuring only desired items are brought up (ie, radio) and not other accessories related to it.

Progress, but its getting hectic!

Tazzi wrote:

Tre-Cool wrote:Yeah i kinda figured that would be something you had thought of, there are a few existing/similar products on the market. especially the euro sector. but that is generally master/slave arrangements.

I'm more in favour of being able to do both. the trans side of stuff would be handy for my mates/customers who race when im not at the track to log/make adjustments. I'm realistic though & I do think the market of users for this would probably be limited.

Both is what the plan is (Eventually).

The average joe that I talk to just wants their car tuned, they do not want to actually try make edits themselves. And tuners want a larger audience to cater to then just their backyard, hence remote tuning is a real possibility.

Being able to log and tune from a client would mean tuners could perform their changes from anywhere around the world. And a client would only ever require a dongle and smartphone.

I am in FULL support for this movement haha

Prototype 4 of usb/serial variant on the way

After talking with a few shops and manufactures (sparkfun,seeed, ST community and even arduino community), it seems alot of people actually swapped over to the CH340 (WCH) series after FTDI was killing clone units, and unintentionally killed genuine units at the same time due to a driver update designed to target clones. WCH then pulled their finger out their ass and better documented their products/drivers so the CH340 has now become quite popular.

Key differences between them are:
1) CH340 drivers do not come on windows by default (FTDI are built into windows/updates)
2) Theres almost zero configurations that can be done on CH340 (FTDI has a variety of options)
3) CH340 supports up to 2mpbs, FTDI is 3mpbs (tool is run at 0.5mbps).
4) CH340 is almost 10times cheaper, at larger quantities, it can be bought at $0.40c.. which seems almost too good to be true. FTDI is still floating at $4-8 depending on variant and quantity.

Ill be using this prototype to determine reliability. The update system for the scantool requires sending over 1MB of data, so Ill get it to repeat this a few hundred times over 24hours straight in a row and see if theres any hickups.

If it does work, at least I can report it here as a cheap alternative, but it appears they are an absolutely bare bones kinda deal so any customization is stripped, but would be why they are so cheap.

The Allpro uses the CH340 ...

I have a couple other things that use the CH340, never had an issue I could point to the CH340.

-Enjoy

Sounds amazing Tazzi. Looking forward to trying it out on mobile, lappy and got Mac lappys to use with it too.

Hiya Tazzi,
The CH340 is a good alternative if it does all you want. It is a bit limited but if you are not trying to use all of the cool serialization and other crapolas of the ftdi and just need simple usb to serial you should be fine. Serial comm has always been one of my peeves and I enjoy figuring it out old school, the timing is very enlightening when you figure it out on a non known standard. 160 and 8192 baud was a joy back in the day

In-Tech wrote:Hiya Tazzi,
The CH340 is a good alternative if it does all you want. It is a bit limited but if you are not trying to use all of the cool serialization and other crapolas of the ftdi and just need simple usb to serial you should be fine. Serial comm has always been one of my peeves and I enjoy figuring it out old school, the timing is very enlightening when you figure it out on a non known standard. 160 and 8192 baud was a joy back in the day

Perfect. Fingers crossed it works fine. Im a stickler for using products that I know have been reliable in the past. If they work perfectly, then it might be the new go to