Using The Ebay/VAG-COM Cable To Datalog

Just ordered one. Thank you.

 

Check out the other stuff ebay seller obd2tec is selling. Very funny!!!!

I cant for the life of me figure out how to download this stuff. i dl it then i cant find it on my computer and i'm doubting that i will be able to figure out how all this works. i have a vagcom cable and now i just need to do some logs but hell. the terminology is way above my level. can anyone help me out before i go insane?

I believe it's been covered in post #1. There's a reference for terminology here:

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67940 along with many other resource links.

You just need to pay attention to where you are putting the file when you download it. When you click on a file to download it and then click SAVE; it will pop up an explorer window that should have to location it's saving to listed in the address bar. Write it down if you have to. Windows genreally defaults to a folder in My Documents. The other method is to change the folder during the download to one you can easilly find or just put it on the desktop.

Not to be a dick here or anything, but if you don't have sharp enough computer skills to figure out where a downloaded file goes; I'm thinking that messing with your cars ECU may not be such a good idea;).

 

 

I cant for the life of me figure out how to download this stuff. i dl it then i cant find it on my computer and i'm doubting that i will be able to figure out how all this works. i have a vagcom cable and now i just need to do some logs but hell. the terminology is way above my level. can anyone help me out before i go insane?

All the VAG-COM cables I saw on ebay say they're for Audi's and Volkwagen's. I haven't seen an Subie cables.

Has anyone simply done a learning view with the vag-com cable? It sems like a pretty simple way to test the connection but it did not work. I have the com port set as mentioned with the FTDI 2.4.16 driver. What am I missing?

 

I also had trouble with the 1.29a version of ECUFlash. I uploaded it from megaupload.com but it will not launch. The newest version will launch fine.

All the VAG-COM cables I saw on ebay say they're for Audi's and Volkwagen's. I haven't seen an Subie cables.

That is because they are all originally for Volkswagen. For this application we are adapting it to work with the Subaru ECU.

I have the com port set as mentioned with the FTDI 2.4.16 driver. What am I missing?

In this post I describe my cable and experience.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2604725&postcount=225

 

Did you set the virtual com port driver's speed in the advanced properties to 4800 baud while you have the cable attached to the computer?

In this post I describe my cable and experience.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2604725&postcount=225

 

Did you set the virtual com port driver's speed in the advanced properties to 4800 baud while you have the cable attached to the computer?

 

Nope. I loaded the driver, set the baud rate (com5 for me), installed ECUFlash, RomRaider (with definitions), Learning view and then tried. Since It's my first time with any of these software apps and after reading about Learning view, I thought testing learning view would be a simple way to test the cable connectivity. It wasn't.

Did you install the driver that came with the cable or with EcuFlash?

If not the EcuFlash one then try updating the driver (you need the cable plugged into the computer) through the Device Manager with the driver contained in the "Program Files\OpenEcu\EcuFlash\drivers\x??" folder, obviously you need to install the EcuFlash package and drivers first.

The easiest way to test the cable is with RR logger. If you have plugged in the cable and watched it pop up in Device Manager, found the correct COM Port, adjusted the BAUD rate(not bit rate) then it should work with RR logger. Please comb back through the tread and make sure you are following all the instructions thouroughly.

Make sure you turn the key forward to the "ON" position before starting RR. Make sure you are selecting the correct COM port from the drop box in RR. If your COM port shows up in RR it should work(might be flakey, but it will work). Watch to see if the words in the top right corner change from red to green when you select the com port(should change from Connecting to ECU to Reading Data also). Make sure you select something from the Parameter list on the left AFTER you connect to the ECU.

 

It's all rather basic. It may take a little work on your part to figure it out, but I'm sure you will if you try. Again, read back through this thread. Every possible problem has been covered more than once. I made the instructions as simple and thourough as possible. It's all covered in here somewhere;).

Still working on it. Thanks for the summary.

FTDI version 2.06.00 is out

Compatible with Windows 7 as well

http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/CDM/CDM%202.06.00%20WHQL%20Certified.zip

 

Mark, I'd just post the link to the drivers page imho, so you don't have to worry about constantly updating it.

Edited November 7, 2009 by fishbone

It's always been in Post#1 for the D2XX drivers. I added a link to the main drivers page for all operating systems. Thanks for the update. Edited November 8, 2009 by qikslvr

Trying to get this cable to work with a new laptop. Got the latest drivers and installed them. Got RomRaider and the ECU defs. Changed port setting baud rate to 4800, 2400. No luck, can't get RR to work. Weird thing is that Learning View works just fine. WTF?

 

Later edit. Yes! Got it to work. It was a rookie screw-up. I had not properly set up the ECU defs for Rom Raider. Then after I figured out that part I further screwed up by not getting the LOGGER defs loaded up.

 

Tip for anyone reading this and having trouble. If you install the dongle drivers correctly and can get Learning View to work, then your cable is basically working fine and ROM Raider should work as well.

If you are pulling up ROM Raider Logger and on the left-hand side under Parameters there is nothing listed, then you did not load up your definitions. That's the crucial part in getting this to work.

Edited November 21, 2009 by fishbone

Very flakey behavior again. Would connect and work for a while, seconds later it would drop connection. I tried all the baud rates I could think of, different settings on the COM port and still does not work. I'm going to try my luck with another one.

Mark, maybe we can try yours out and see if I get the same behavior. I tried mine on two laptops, same behavior. It's gotta be the cable.

Sure. I think it' still hanging in the garage where it's been forever. My little blue netbook went up in smoke one day when I plugged it in, so I bought another Dell netbook to use while my original netbook was in for repairs. When I migrated everything over to the Dell; I also had issues with RR synching up and staying connected.

 

The problem I have with this laptop is that the properties/settings window for the ports is different. I use two cables(1 for RR/ 1 for WB) and both have serial->usb convertors in line. The Cobb v1 cable I use with ST and the APv1 shows no advanced settings at all now and the cable I use for the wideband now shows a completely different different advanced settings tab:confused:.

 

ST-A hooks up to the ECU real quick and works flawlessly, but RR is still flakey at best. I get zeros from the wideband like every tenth line of the log. I'm thinking that Microsoft did us a favor and re-wrote that part of device manager in the last full release of XP. It's basically treating USB1 devices different than it used to.

I'm using the same cables and drivers I've always used, so something else has changed. I'll go back out with my original netbook and see if the wideband works properly with that one. If it does; then it's got to be something in windows.

I would like everyone to know that I have had problems getting my Autonostics cable to maintain a solid connection since day 1. I am not sure if mine is defective or it is a compatibility issue, but I have verified that qikslvr's cable works great.

Here is the Autonostics cable that does not work right for me

http://autonostics.com/product.php?productid=2&cat=0&page=1&featured

Look at the picture attached of the model cable that qikslvr has and works for me. Just search eBay for VAG-COM USB

Thanks for the pic. Now I know where my driver disc is now that I've seen the picture.

I was half expecting your cable to be finnicky, but it did not flinch. Plugged it in, picked it up as a new VAGina-COM cable, set it up on a new COM port and I was up and logging in seconds.

And that's the way it's been on the three of those cables that I have had. This is the reason why I get a little frustrated with these people who just can't seem to make it work. If the cable is good; it should be pretty much plug and play:confused:.

Maybe they also have the same cable I do and the logic board is fundamentally different, enough so that it doesn't work right.

I would like everyone to know that I have had problems getting my Autonostics cable to maintain a solid connection since day 1. I am not sure if mine is defective or it is a compatibility issue, but I have verified that qikslvr's cable works great.

Here is the Autonostics cable that does not work right for me

http://autonostics.com/product.php?productid=2&cat=0&page=1&featured

Look at the picture attached of the model cable that qikslvr has and works for me. Just search eBay for VAG-COM USB

 

I am using a cable from ebay that looks exactly like the one you posted. Blue connector, clear/silver cable, same sticker on the "driver" cd. Interestingly enough, the cd did not have a driver on it, but only had a link to the same website in the first post of this thread. However I used the most recent ecuflash and tactrix drivers included in the ecuflash download. New Dell netbook with winXP. Everything works perfectly, including romraider and learning view.

 

I am also using this serial-USB converter with the default winXP drivers to datalog my gauge type AEM UEGO wideband within romraider's logger without issue.

Edited December 29, 2009 by timmafod

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I ordered my fleabay cable yesterday........