Calgary280ZT Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 You might say I had an eventful day...finished up the head/T3-T4/etc install and promptly started the car on fire. Don't ask, I'm too exhausted to even think about nearly burning my baby to the ground... Anyhoo, the fire got started when I was trying to transfer my new fuel map to the ECU. I don't have a serial port on any of my laptops and was trying to use a cable I bought at Best Buy. The computer recognized the ECU and said it was starting to load the map, but nothing would happen. I talked to Robbie at Wolf and he made two suggestions i thought you guys might be interested in: 1) Baud rate has to be 38,400 or greater. Mine was set at 9,600 2) The adapter has to use the newer FTDI chipset. My adpater had an older chipset. I know Bo bought an adapter cable that worked fine on his laptop and I suspect it had the FTDI chipset. Now how I'm going to get the geek in Radio Shack to check for that chipset tomorrow when I buy another adapter is another story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughdogz Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Calgary, did you buy the Keyspan one? I found that works great with Wolf and Innovate. However, I tried using that one from DIY autotune, and it didn't work for me. I tried adjusting the Baud rate too in Wolf too. I didn't know that 38.4k rate was minimum. Thanks for the info! I think the DIY one is the one that Bo is using. I must be doing something wrong since it wouldn't work with Innovate either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calgary280ZT Posted September 18, 2008 Author Share Posted September 18, 2008 Calgary, did you buy the "Keyspan" one? I found that works great with Wolf and Innovate. However, I tried using that one from DIY autotune, and it didn't work for me. I tried adjusting the Baud rate too in Wolf too. I didn't know that 38.4k rate was minimum. Thanks for the info! I think the DIY one is the one that Bo is using. I must be doing something wrong since it wouldn't work with Innovate either. Nope, I think it was called Dynex...Best Buy house brand. Thanks for the tip on Keyspan, I'll check around here for that brand. Problem is getting help from geeky 16 year olds. Kid assured me it would work. Didn't even come with drivers. Sheesh. Frustrating thing is we are SOOOOO close. Everything is buttoned up, just waiting for the new fuel map. We needed it to be done today so I could trouble shoot tomorrow and leave for Vancouver and California on Friday. Now I'm going to have to drive my Matrix through the mountains (arrghhh, I hate having no power) and won't be able to get the Z down to CA for the winter, so no driving for 6-8 months of snow. That sucks! I apologize for the venting...so many hours of work and so bloody close... EDIT: Hugh, I checked Keyspan's distributors, only one in Canada is in Ontario...may as well be on the moon from my perspective. I'll check for other adapters that use the FTDI chipset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Hey Mark, A quick search for FTDI RS232 will bring up some searches like this (if you choose Canada as the Region for your google advanced search settings) http://www.liquidware.com/shop/show/FTDI/FTDI+USB-+Serial+adapter+cable These guys have a calgary/Internation Number, and stock the following unit which requires a dollar store extension cable to plug into the USB Female port: http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=867 These units here seem to use the FTDI chipset (as noted by the last review concerning drivers procured from the FTDI website). There may be similar units if you search by the nGear name within your city. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?mode=productreviewread&product_id=17281 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calgary280ZT Posted September 18, 2008 Author Share Posted September 18, 2008 Hey Mark, A quick search for FTDI RS232 will bring up some searches like this (if you choose Canada as the Region for your google advanced search settings) http://www.liquidware.com/shop/show/FTDI/FTDI+USB-+Serial+adapter+cable These guys have a calgary/Internation Number, and stock the following unit which requires a dollar store extension cable to plug into the USB Female port: http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=867 These units here seem to use the FTDI chipset (as noted by the last review concerning drivers procured from the FTDI website). There may be similar units if you search by the nGear name within your city. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?mode=productreviewread&product_id=17281 Thanks Raff. I'll phone around this morning. How did your wiring project turn out? Did you ever use that adapter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Did not end up fiddling with it much more than I did once I put it away for the summer. I've been working at this stupid VG motor that nissan shoe-horned into the Z31. Just took off the heads 2 days ago to remove 5 broken studs. Tried for 2 weeks to take out one stud on the passenger side and it didnt work out. Yesterday I took out 4 studs in about an hour and a half. LOL. damn VG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calgary280ZT Posted September 18, 2008 Author Share Posted September 18, 2008 Guys, followed up on Raff's lead for adapter from HVW Technologies. Looks like a great product....picked up one before lunch. Comes with the adapter and a separate cable....total cost $20. If this thing works, this is the way to go. I'll post later tonight after I try updating the ECU file. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktm Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 I picked mine up from Radioshack and it is working fine with both Wolf and Innovate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators BRAAP Posted September 19, 2008 Administrators Share Posted September 19, 2008 I’ve tried 2 different USB-serial adaptors with my WOLF V-500, one is the FTDI Chip brand as supplied through WOLF directly, the other is the DIY-AutoTune version. On my Lap top, both work and both are setup on two separate USB ports, though I’m not 100% sure the DIY–AutoTune version would still work if I didn’t install the FTDI Chip drivers first…. Now we also tried my DIY-AutoTune USB to Serial adaptor on Rons laptop for his V-500, prior to installing his WOLF supplied FTDI Chip drivers and the DIY-AutoTune version did NOT work on his lap top. He is successfully using the FTDI Chip adaptor right now. Conclusion; Gambling with a USB to serial adaptor other than the "exact model" of FTDI Chip brand that WOLF sells, appears to be hit and miss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calgary280ZT Posted September 19, 2008 Author Share Posted September 19, 2008 Got the Parallax cable from HVW Technologies today and it worked like a charm. Total cost: $20. Bonus feature: the cable retracts, so you can just hang it under the dash without it getting in the way. Can't tell you how happy I was to see the ECU loading the file into Wolf after having spent an entire evening fighting with it the night before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughdogz Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Success!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators BRAAP Posted September 19, 2008 Administrators Share Posted September 19, 2008 Got the Parallax cable from HVW Technologies today and it worked like a charm. Total cost: $20. Bonus feature: the cable retracts, so you can just hang it under the dash without it getting in the way. Can't tell you how happy I was to see the ECU loading the file into Wolf after having spent an entire evening fighting with it the night before. Glad to hear your success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinjitter Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 This is great information guys! I pretty much gave up after buying 2 different usb to serial adapters. Maybe I will try again. Thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calgary280ZT Posted September 19, 2008 Author Share Posted September 19, 2008 If anybody is interested in the Parallax cable, apparently it's manufactured in the States....or I can pick up some from HVW and if you pay the cost, I can ship them to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 just another day at the office (wish I did actually have a laptop so I could google and develop application for web from my throne) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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