dodd1980

Can anyone shed some light, Can i datalog my 2001 Y plate Bugeye WRX Prodrive.

I found the OBD connector. DO i buy a cable and use romraider?

is it that simple, i only want to datalog at the moment. I've been reading on the Net and find conflicting information.


An idiots guide would be nice if possible

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

Nearly that simple

£50ish gets you set up http://www.evoscan.com/

aXeL

Romraider IMO is ideal data logging software, done me proud for learning to log & tuning for a long time now, it's totally free with a large community supporting it. Tried and tested for you car.

The consensus for cables for the standard ECU was the Tactrix Openport 1.3 which works brilliantly with Romraider. If you look on NASIOC, they recommended it and I've never looked back. Don't know if you can still get them though.

I agree that the Evoscan is a very good tool, however I couldn't find anything it could do over RR that made it worth paying for.

A few others swear by ECUEdit, but you really need to know what you're doing before you mess with it unless rebuilding engines is a hobby for you! Plus, again it's payware and I couldn't find any value for me over RR.

sc_sjo

iTrader: (7)

I used a £10 cable on ebay and Romraider. Don't see the point in spending more.

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

Yeah, probably the wrong link to post, i was being selfish . My MY requires (SSM1) 9 pin OBD socket. So, rather than buying cables and adaptors that may or may not support it (not that i could find one at the time), i went for a diffinite fit and the s/w was free at the time, so only cost me £25.

fpan

iTrader: (11)

Can you read an Ecutek-ed ECU with RR?

dodd1980

Downloaded Romraider as it was free and i borrowed a cable, but it doesn't see the car. I made sure i had the right COM port but still nothing. This cable was used on his BMW but has the OBD (scart looking plug) on it??

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

That's another reason i went for Evoscan, no pi$$ing about as i know exacly what i have. Cable and s/w for my MY.

dodd1980

True, i really don't know why the automotive industry make it so difficult for quite simple things

jeffwrx

iTrader: (50)

does your cable work well on your 93 wrx/sti , don't know if you could help , i have just bought the ssm1 cable and software from evoscan for my 95wrx, but mine failed to connect , not sure what I'm doing wrong , cheers

Splitpin

Blimey, these threads are like buses, you get nothing for weeks and then two come along at once.

If you're sure you've ruled out user error (i.e. incorrect setup), the reason why you couldn't get it to work will either be that you have the wrong sort of cable (i.e. something with an ELM chip, rather than a bare ISO interface).

aXeL

That's because IT in the automotive industry is about 15 years behind IT in any other industry ....even the NHS

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

It worked fine for me mate, haven't used it for some time now though. IIRC it was almost plug and play. I was on XP though not 7 as now, i've not even tried the s/w on this laptop.

I'm more ratchet than mouse, so probably not much i tell you anyway.

Have you tried Evoscans forum/tutorials ect, not that i have, just a thought.

aXeL

Can't use just any OBD cable. A common misconception about OBD is that because just about every car has the same shape socket we can all share cables. OMG don't get me started about this. It's an unfortunate consequence of automotive technology designed by retarded cave painting ******* who think modern laptops have serial ports (I SAID MODERN). Knuckle dragging half-wits - damn, too late.

Let's start with the basics, I'll bet my whole car that the pin-outs used with the BMW are the wrong ones for the Subaru. That's right, which pins are wired depends on who made the cable, why and for what car. Hence the points raised about the Tactrix and the cable for the Evoscan.... they just work.

Oh yes, and most of the automotive software developers think that Vista is what you see when you go outside....

dodd1980

Ah that's fine just needed an explanation, i didn't realise the wiring was different for different cars, i assumed it was a standard with variations on the programming

Splitpin

The primary reason for that is not, as you started to go on about, due to differences in pin configuration, it's because of the differences between the various subtypes of OBDII protocol, but, specifically as far as Subaru is concerned, it's because most of the aftermarket software available for our cars does not use the OBDII communication language at all. As such if you want to use Evoscan/ECUExplorer/etc on a Subaru, you cannot, as I said above, use a cable with an onboard OBDII interpreter chip.

Given the title of this thread is "datalogging", telling someone to buy a Tactrix cable is a bit of a waste of money. These cables are bog standard ISO9141 to USB interface cables. The only thing special about the Tactrix product is that it has a flash voltage source built in - therefore enabling convenient ECU reprogramming with a compatible car and application.

As above if all you want to do is log the car's behaviour, any old 9141/single K-line interface is all you need.

jeffwrx

iTrader: (50)

haven't tried evoscan forums yet ,will give that a go , cheers

dodd1980

Thanks for the Help Splitpin, i think i get the jist now.

aXeL

Sigh - here we go.

First - the pinout differences are relevant, hence the OP couldn't mix and match cables

Second - Stop calling OBD a comms protocol - it isn't

Third - My tactrix cable has no voltage source built in, the 13v write signal is stepped up in the cable through the OBD port.

Fourth - there are no subtypes of OBDII. There's OBDII and EODB which are pretty much identical

And for the record, Tactrix is a proven way to do this with huge community support and you can get v1.3 now cables for less than the Evoscan kit and the RR software is free. Why waste money on Evoscan when good logging software is free. And RR is by far the more widely supported method of logging in the Scoob community IMO so why you would you pan it and point the OP to something less popular where he has to pay for both software and cable instead?

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

The OP asked for an 'idiots guide'. So as an idiot, i guided him to Evoscan as it worked 'out of the box' for this idiot. I did not check their site for changes and i explained my reasons in a later post. For non-tech idiots, like myself, ease of use and compatibility wins over price every time.

aXeL

Florid but succinct

Splitpin

Axle, really. If it isn't/doesn't include a communications protocol, could you please explain to all of us why this page details an overview of the OBDII command table - and describes it specifically as a communications protocol?

I didn't do the above, B13 did. Whose post did you think you were replying to?

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

Florid, in what context??

aXeL

Colourful!

aXeL

It's axel not Axle. Been wiki'ing again I see... The source of all expert and carefully written information...

Splitpin

While Wiki certainly can be wrong, are you seriously trying to suggest that the link I posted is incorrect to the point that someone has invented a list of non-existent commands and added them to it? I've heard of clutching at straws but that's a bit silly.

Seeing as you aren't happy with that link, here's one that goes right to the front page of the thing you claim doesn't exist:

So, while you're claiming that OBD/OBDII is "not a communications protocol", the standard above defines the "message formats for request and response messages" and the timings used in and between them. Sounds rather like a comms protocol, don't you think?

You've got to pay for a copy of that document, so if even that ain't enough for you, here's a link to a DIY project that runs all the way through from the electrical interface, and goes on to detail the command protocol - inc the baud rates, initialisation sequence, packet format and the two byte SID/PID command and response list.

Incidentally Axle, if OBDII is not (or does not include) an actual communications protocol (i.e. a messaging language), how exactly is the diagnostic tool at the end of the K-line/VPW/PWM/CAN connection going to be able to ask the ECU any questions and get any data back out of it?

aXeL

The fact that you still can't spell my name despite prompting and using wiki as your reference pretty much nails your lack of attn for itself. But go ahead, I'm content to watch you prattle on aimlessly - it's a fun read when there's nothing on TV...