ecuFlash 1.43.3252

[Davezj]

does this version work?

i installed it and now i can't read any roms
i seems to have reprogrammed my OP2.0 cable with new drivers and i can go back to version of ecuFlash that was working.
i have moved the VR4 folder to the new rommetadat folder in the latest version, and made sure the path is set to it.
but all i get now is a box that opens with the headings along the top like model, etc. i think it is the box that used to come up that had all the different types of ecu you could try to connect with, but the box is completely blank.
there is also a licensing section in the help menu that i never noticed before and it has an empty box as if i need to put some activation code in it.

Whats going on please help.

[foxdie]

The licensing menu should allow you to add additional licenses, it should still pick up the license from the connected OP 2.0 (which is around 8-10 random alpha/numeric/punctuation characters).

It won't be the OpenPort firmware that dictates what ROM definitions EcuFlash can use, that will be something to do with the options.

Be sure to enable developer mode too.

[foxdie]

Sorry, forgot to add, I'd try backing up your VR-4 definitions (I can send you them again if you want), completely uninstalling EcuFlash, deleting all its folders etc, then reinstalling from scratch and moving your VR-4 defs back into place.

[Davezj]

I have done that.
can you pm me the pef file you are using. just i case.
is it for kens mods, and does it have all the original stuff in it. or did ken strip out and rename a load of stuff to make room for his tables.
if you could send it any way and i can try it.
cheers dave

[foxdie]

Well, I believe in sharing what I have been given, you can find all the ECU defs I've collected here;

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/36481366/ECU/galant-defs.zip

In there you'll find all the 7201, 7202 and 7203 defs for the VR-4 that have been put into the public domain, Kens 1.3 ROM, plus a couple of N/A V6 ones :)

[Davezj]

i have now realised that it is the read request connection window. it does not matter if the cable is connected to car or not it still comes up the same.
with a empty window where the selection of type of ecu should be made.

i have gone through a very good thread about setting up ecuflash i started a while ago and funnily enough you (jason) gave me all the info i needed to do the correct setup. and yet again he comes aid of a muppet!

[foxdie]

Meh, we all help each other :)

[Davezj]

Can someone help me do a little test.
Can you boot up ecuFlash and connect you OP2.0 cable to it and press the read ecu button.
Do you get a an empty box with headings with a read button (greyed out) and cancel button (which can press).

This is all I can do with ecu flash since I upgraded to this version of ecuflash.
I have tried to go back to a previous version of ecu flash and it is the same story.
I can use evo scan with this OP2.0 cable, and it sets the dash into flashy mode when evoscan connects to the ecu.
I think it might be the new driver that got installed when up grading ecu flash.
I am just a bit miffed at the moment.

[foxdie]

Right, you need to make sure you've got the ROM reading templates in the same folder that you've chosen as your Metadata Directory (see attached screenshot).

51139

Inside my metadata folder, I've got a subfolder called "read templates" with all the ROM reading templates that come with EcuFlash and this works fine. I've zipped this folder up for you and uploaded it here to save you some time, extract it into the same folder you've selected above; http://dl.dropbox.com/u/36481366/ECU/read-templates.zip

Hope this helps!

[Davezj]

cheer jason,
had just uninstalled my ecuflash completely and gone through and deleted the remaining folders,files, shortcuts, everything i could find that the uninstaller left behind.
i reinstalled 1.43.3252 and checked the read template folder and it had all the files in it, but i am sure i checked this folder before and it was empty.

"dave goes out in the cold to test it now"

been out tested it and made no difference.
it is as if the read template folder is in the wrong place.
i have the folder in the same place as you have it in the meteadata folder.
or there is something wrong in the latest ecuflash and it is pointing to the wrong location.

what version are you using jason is it the 1.43.3150

[Davezj]

it does not matter water i do this is what i get when i try and read the rom, and does not matter if the OP2.0 cable is plugged into the car or not.

51142

when look at the log file it is finding the read templates as they are seen listed.

[foxdie]

If those read templates are in your rommetadata folder, and you've set that same rommetadata folder as your "Metadata Directory" in the settings menu, but you still can't get a list of memory models when you click "Read from ECU" then somethings quite considerably broken.

The default Metadata Directory should be: C:/Program Files/OpenECU/EcuFlash/rommetadata

The read templates (read_evo5.xml etc) should be in: C:/Program Files/OpenECU/EcuFlash/rommetadata/read templates

Also, in the settings, double check the Metadata -> User Level is set to Developer :)

Regarding versions of EcuFlash, I use both without issue;

.3150 on my flashing laptop
.3252 on my XP Virtual PC (where I generated the screenshot).

Hope you can sort it.

[foxdie]

Ahh I see what you've done, you've got the "Metadata Directory" set to C:/Program Files/OpenECU/EcuFlash/rommetadata/mitsubishi/VR4, remove the "/mitsubishi/VR4" bit off the end :)

[Davezj]

Thanks again for the in Jason, i do appreciate all you help and time spent on my particular problem.

i have now realised what the problem is, had my metadata folder pointing to rommetadata\mitsubishi\VR4 which always worked for me in my original version of ecufalsh, but my read template folder was in that location as well so it worked for me.
so with it in the rommetadata folder it was not being seen be ecuflash.
i have tested it and by moving it to the VR4 folder it now works.
i think i was advised to move it originally so the rom opening and saving location would jump straight to the VR4 folder every time.
however i think i will take a leaf out of your book and move the metadata location to a separate location outside of openecu folder structure so this does not happen next time i update ecuFlash.

it is totally down to you Jason that i got this sorted, thanks again your a star.
rep coming your way and well deserved.

so to confirm, my issue was the location of read template folder, it has to be at the same level in the folder structure as you specify the metadata file location so ecuFlash knows where to look for it.

your Rom storage folder can be located anywhere, but if you want ecuflash to open by default in your Rom storage folder then the read template folder needs to be in your rom storage folder and that location is specified as the metadata folder.

[Davezj]

hopefully this thread will stop anyone else making the same mistake i did.

[adaxo]

Well done Dave and Jason /bounce, now its FLASHING TIME !

Dave, when I can pop in for some flash job??:inquisiti

[Davezj]

I can flash 24\7 but the police told me stop it and put some pants on.

Only Joking!

i will check with vicky to see what we have on this weekend, and if not that busy then this weekend.
give me a pm and let me know what you had in mind.

[Davezj]

Hmm, i am still having a issue with ecuflash.

i can't connect to the ECU.
i just get an error message saying connection failed.
i get the list of ecu types to connect to and i pick the second option 7202F.
then i get the following,

there are a couple of attenmpt to connect but the result is the same each time.
51210

i get exactly the same result if i disconnect the extra white flash cable, so i think it is something to do with that.
i have resitance checked the cable as it is only a single pin connection from white connector to tip of the jack connector and it is less than 1 ohm so that should be ok.
i keep coming back to there being something wrong with the cable.
i have retested evoscan and it works great, but something i have noticed is when i have a micro sd card inserted in the OP2.0 cable it acts like flash drive and opens an explorer window to show what it on the card, which is nothing at the moment. This did not happen before the latest drivers where installed in it.

[foxdie]

I can't make out any of that text, screenshot is too small.

Have you tried flashing it without the MicroSD card in ?

[Davezj]

yes i have tried with out micro sd and still no connect.
i will do a better pic.

51215

[foxdie]

Can I just check a couple of things?

1. Your ignition is on (dash lit up) but the engine is NOT running when you try to flash
2. Your battery voltage is 12V or above (Check with EvoScan by scanning MUT-II EFI DTC, it'll tell you the voltage at the top right)
3. There are no other programs open such as EvoScan when you try and flash

If so, the only thing that springs to mind is Nutter_John reported he had a problem with the latest version of EcuFlash, I never found out what specifically but it could be this.

I use 1.43.3150 on my flashing laptop without problems, the driver versions differ slightly, try uninstalling your version of EcuFlash completely (backing up your VR4 defs like before) and then try this version; http://www.evoscan.com/ecuflash/ecuflash_1433150_win_beta.exe

[Davezj]

battery voltage?
now that is a possibility, i was runnign my laptop that does not have a good battery of an inverter plugged in to the car battery.
1. check
2. not sure
3. check

now i have the ecuflash environment setup correctly i will try the older version of ecuflash, and run the laptop off mains extention cable.
good tips

[foxdie]

I give everyone reading this a strong warning, do not flash your ECU unless your battery is above 12V or you risk bricking your ECU, of which I believe the only way to recover it may be to have to start soldering things onto the PCB or worst case, desoldering the CPU and programming in a flash programmer.

Regardless, it's ugly, make sure your battery has a good charge in it :)

[Davezj]

my battery is good
is there some kind of monitor within ecuflash that will stop the process if the battery voltage is low, or are you saying it as a good practice thing.

[foxdie]

One example; http://forums.evolutionm.net/ecuflash/526546-ecuflash-connection-problems.html

It's a best practice to only flash above 12V, some people have had problems flashing with lower voltages (lumpy running / idle, etc etc), some ECUs have even been bricked. I don't know for certain if the 7202 can be bricked in such a way because it's bootloader-based, however people here have bricked their ECUs, so it's not worth the risk.

I'm not sure if EcuFlash has a low battery lock-out protection.

[Shtiv]

I've seen it bricked by turning the ignition off during a flash so I would guess it can be bricked from low voltage....

[foxdie]

Incidentally, if anyone has a bricked 7202 or 7203 ECU, I'd love to give it a good home to develop a refined method for unbricking them :)

[Davezj]

right i have installed, tried, uninstalled, installed different version, tried, uninstalled, etc, etc.
and i can not read my ecu, i get a time out after about 1 second and get and error message saying connection failed. it is the same error message that you get when you try and read and ecu and you don't have the extra white flashing connector unplugged.

this is really starting to bug me now, i think my cable may be knackered. after i updated the divers last time i updated ecuflash to 1.43.3252 which i downloaded from the evoscan website.
but i have looked on the ecuflash open ecu website and this version is not listed on there.

can someone test my cable for me, as i have no faith in the cable is still working. i can post the cable to someone if they can test it for me. this will confirm/disprove my thoughts.
the cable does for logging with evoscan 2.9 with no problems.

help wanted please.

[Davezj]

if an ecu is bricked, is it just a case of it can not be read and written to, but will still work correctly and run the car ok.
and of course allow evoscan to log it.

or is just trashed and the car would not run as the rom code is garbage, and would have to be effectivly reset and formatted to allow a new rom image to be loaaded up.

[foxdie]

Hi Dave,

You wanna come down one weekend, or go to the Midlands Rolling Road Meet (http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?62407-Rolling-Road-Day.-Midlands) (which I see you're on the attendance list for), I'll happily test your cable and set your laptop up for you.

A bricked ECU is just that, its totally trashed until the flash area is manually reprogrammed using either a JTAG interface, or desoldering the CPU -> fitting it to a flash programmer -> reflashing it with a good ROM -> resoldering it to the PCB.

[Davezj]

cheers jason that is a very kind offer.
i will be coming down to the midlands RR day, but i wanted to get it sorted as soon as possible.
where abouts are located, i know you birmingham area, are you north or south.
i might take you up on your offer and pay a visit for a morning to find out one way or another, it is very frustrating.

just had a thought, can i have too many files in my rommetadata folder, as i have put all defs and roms i have in that folder for safe keeping.
maybe i should cleare it out so there is only one def.xml file in there. i also have sub folders in the as well.

i have 1.43.3252 installed after uninstalling ecuflash and all tactrix drivers installs and deleting the open ecu folder in programe files folder, so it was a clean install the drivers took a while to install which is how i know the drivers were a new version from the 1.43.3252 installation.

[foxdie]

where abouts are located, i know you birmingham area, are you north or south.
i might take you up on your offer and pay a visit for a morning to find out one way or another, it is very frustrating.

I'm in the south-west Birmingham area, very close to Frankley services on the M5 (http://g.co/maps/ke63h) (I can easily meet you there).

Ps. There shouldn't be any problem with too many folders or defs, unless one def is claiming "responsibility" for a ROM and is corrupt / invalid.

[Davezj]

Ok, cheers jason
i think i will have to pop down. the only bad thing about my laptop is the battery is rubbish so it has to be run from a mains power. which i do when trying to read the ecu.

[Davezj]

should i be setting the the car into flashy dash mode before trying to connect to the ecu.
evo scan auto matically ground pin 1 on the conector when it connect to the ecu and start logging.
but ecuflash does not do this.
i have tried so many thing over the last week or so i don't know what i am supposed to be doing or not supposed to be doing.

[adaxo]

Dave, in the meantime I could come to you with my laptop with installed old ver of EcuFlash and we can try connect to mine/your car via my gear and see whats happen, if its work then you know at last your cable is ok and you need to try sort out your laptop. I know Im not that knowledgeable as Jason is, but Im just round the corner if you need me (or my laptop to be precise)

[BCX]

should i be setting the the car into flashy dash mode before trying to connect to the ecu.
evo scan auto matically ground pin 1 on the conector when it connect to the ecu and start logging.
but ecuflash does not do this.
i have tried so many thing over the last week or so i don't know what i am supposed to be doing or not supposed to be doing.

For ecu to be in flash mode, you dont want pin 1 to be earthed.

from memorry, SAE J2534 states that the openport can only change the state of one of the 'unused' pins at any given time. Our cars dont use an 'unused' pin to reflash, instead mitsu put it on a second plug - to the openport, that is it's AUX pin.

[BCX]

just as a fyi to anyone - you also need the vector table at the start of the rom. this vector rom contains addresses to all the relevant sub routines. without it, the H8 will not boot as it wont know where to start running it's code from.

if either the flash routine or vector table get corrupt or wiped, thats the end of it, and you'll need to flash the H8 at a hardware level.

[foxdie]

Ok, cheers jason
i think i will have to pop down. the only bad thing about my laptop is the battery is rubbish so it has to be run from a mains power. which i do when trying to read the ecu.

Well if we need to, I'll take you back to mine and run an extension cable out to your car.


should i be setting the the car into flashy dash mode before trying to connect to the ecu.

Nope, to flash, all you need is the ignition on but the engine stopped. EvoScan shouldn't be running when EcuFlash is either, I've noticed that the latest v2.9 interferes with EcuFlash, causing it to hang.

Regarding your visit, you've got 3 choices...

1. A weekend visit
2. A weekday evening visit (between 7-8pm ideally)
3. A weekday lunchtime visit to central birmingham (I can start my 1 hour lunch break anytime between 12-2pm)

[Nick Mann]

Also not far from Jason, also have an as yet unused open port 2 thingy. I'd be up for a mini meet if anyone fancies it?

[foxdie]

Nick, I still need you to service my car, this month it should happen, maybe kill 2 birds with one stone? :)

(Still haven't swapped the AYC pump out yet, fancy swapping that out in exchange for helping you get set up remapping, training etc? ;))

[Davezj]

i feel a meet at nick's in the offing.

[foxdie]

I do too :)

Nick, which Saturdays do you have free between now and April? :)

[Davezj]

thought i would round this thread up with the conclusion to my problem.
after meeting up with jason on the rescent birmingham meet, my troubles are over, and i am back up and flashing.

so i had some good news, i tracked down to my problem with my Flashing cable and ecuflash.
well it was the cable at fault, and not the main OP2.0 part but the little flash enable cable that was causing all my issues.
yes the sigle pin cable that is so simple it couldn't possibly fail.
Oh yes it can, i have the double ended 2.5mm male jack to male jack cable with the added female jack socket with the white connector on it that plugs into the flash port on the car. (same as yours Nick)
the connection between the male jack and the female skt was very intermitant connection, so when ever i tried to read my ecu it would try to connect and then fail.

so today i bit the bullet and cut the cable the leave a 150mm cable with one 2.5mm male jack on it and cut the female socket off the other cable and soldered them directly togather.
i did a resistance measurement to find which of the internal wires connected to the tip of the jack and in my cable it was the white one.
so it was just a case of soldering the white internal wire to the wire coming from the white connector wire and covering with heat shrink.

all tested and job is a done, reads the ecu evry time time now. Excellect.

[foxdie]

A happy ending :)

[Davezj]

Yes mate, much appreciated.

[Nick Mann]

Noted, Dave! I haven't tried yet, but I guess I will be having similar issues.

[Davezj]

not necessarily, but if you do start having an issue with connection to the ECU and it does not make any difference if the flash connector is plugged in or not then it is a prime suspect.

the other thing i would suggest, is when you are storing your flash cable when not in use, unplug the white coonctor off the male jack, i didn't do this and had it scrunched up in the glovebox so i think i must have applied sideways pressure to the joint for long periods and this must have bent the internal spring in the female jack socket so when i used it, it did not make a good contact.
unplugging it should prctect the intenal spring contact.
well it is a theory.

[ersanalamin]

Well, I believe in sharing what I have been given, you can find all the ECU defs I've collected here;

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/36481366/ECU/galant-defs.zip

In there you'll find all the 7201, 7202 and 7203 defs for the VR-4 that have been put into the public domain, Kens 1.3 ROM, plus a couple of N/A V6 ones :)

Jason do you have a modified ROM for MH7202 chip that gain additional 40 hp according to merlin's tutorial? I think I make mistake in modifying my ECU rom, didnt realize my mistake and know what to do. please attach us a copy okay?

[Nick Mann]

I am having issues here too. Most frustrating! I am clicking the read from ECU button. I then get the select your ecu box. I select the 7202F option, second item down. I then get a warning/dialogue box telling me to connect the cable and turn the ignition on. I click okay and ecuflash starts doing it's thing. In the log box I get:
[12:53:48.328] J2534 API Version: 04.04
[12:53:48.328] J2534 DLL Version: 1.00.3210 Nov 22 2010 23:18:50
[12:53:48.328] Device Firmware Version: 1.11.3209
[12:53:48.328] Device Serial Number: TAIe5RVD
[12:53:53.218] sending init sequence 2
[12:53:55.231] J2534 error [ERR_TIMEOUT].
[12:53:55.746] J2534 error [ERR_TIMEOUT].
[12:53:55.746] interface close

All the items above marked [12:53:48.328] happen when I select the ECU type, then the following accurs at the end after I click OK.

Anyone got any ideas?

[foxdie]

Anyone got any ideas?

Working through this via WhatsApp now, will post up the results :)

[Davezj]

if not already sorted by jason, bring you lappy and cable to the RR Day and we can sort it out then i am sure we will have plenty of time to do it.

[Nick Mann]

Will do.

It's not sorted. I thought I had a bad connection on the ODB2 connector, because I could only intermittantly talk to the AYC ecu but could always talk to the EFI ecu when using evoscan.
However, I have now discovered that after trying to connect with ecuflash I can't talk to the ayc ecu in evoscan unless I talk to the efi ecu first. That rule seems to work reliably. I have no idea if that has a bearing on it or not?

I have tried lots of different ways of bodging the reflash connector too, to see if I had the same problem as you mentioned in post #43 above, but that doesn't seem to have had any effect at all.

[Nick Mann]

On the plus side, I discovered that my car was missing due to leads/coil packs, not afr's, so at least it is running better. It is still slow though, as the afr's flatline at 10.0 on my wideband as soon as boost builds!

[Davezj]

seems like a good chat point tomorrow.

[foxdie]

Agreed :)

[Nick Mann]

Closure for me - my reflash adapter was not connecting properly, similar to Daves post above, #43, but not the same wire. Having a second cable to compare it with meant diagnosis was much easier!

Many thanks to Jason for not only providing the comparison but also re-soldering my lead in to something that worked! :D

[foxdie]

Glad we got you flashing ;)

Ps. this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/370393889075) is that boost solenoid I mentioned, yeah it's a lot of money but as a drop-in replacement without faffing around with wiring, it's not bad :)

[darren1976]

does this mean you can start mapping in the north dave as its a long old drive to jasons (no offence jason)

i cant find anybody in the north of england who can remap vr4s and also pfl ecus like mine but on look out for a fl ecu i guess it will work in a pfl car