Just purchased a USB ALDL cable from aldlcable.com and can't get it to communicate with my 92 Z28. I've tried two different laptops and call their tech support with no success. I confirmed that I have 5V at the ALDL connector and that it goes through the ALDL cable and is present at the cable jumper. I've installed the latest drivers and Windows XP seems happy. I can't get any communication to the ECM through Hyperterminal. Here is the confusing part. I hooked the same set-up to a friends 86 Corvette and got some data streaming in Hyperterminal. I didn't check if I could read it properly (I just wanted to confirm the set-up worked). I know the ECM's are different (I have a 7730) and they communicate at two different baud rates (160 and 8192). Has anyone had any experience communicating with a 7730 ECM and their cable? Any help would be appreciated. I've been able to see data with a friends tech1 in the past. Thanks.

I've never used that particular cable, but I don't think it should matter. I've used tunerpro-rt with my 7730 with no problems. OTOH, hyperterminal can cause you no end of trouble and confusion. Try using some other software with it.

Actually in the DIY Prom board i was having a similar issue. I bought the same cable and if in jumper mode it will set the engine light into the diagnosis mode or w/e you want to call it. I have the 3.1l Engine vin T tho so its a diff engine and .ads file but i sill have the 730 ecm. I cant get it to connect to my car either. Ive tried alot of different things and cant get it to work. I was talking to both Mark Mansur and Craigs Moates about this problem directly and both have helped me do everything from check the car to updating all files on my vista 64 bit laptop. Nothing so far has got it to connect. Robert Saar also helped me out and tweeked an .ads file to maybe get it to connect for me but still no luck. We know its not the software...hopefully its not the cable but now that you said you have problems now im not sure. We think its my car as the laptop is all updated and SHOULD work right. I am now waiting for a local guy to get his car back together to try my laptop and cable out on his car to see if its maybe just my car. Next step will be to try another laptop on my car and also his car. Good luck man and hopefully you figure it out.


Oh btw im using TunerPro RT to connect. I would try that out on yours if i were you. Just make sure you get the right .ads and .xds and also the updated .bin for your car if there is one. The .ads is what communicates with the car tho so thats the most important one. It will tell you if you have the wrong .ads file for the .xdf that you are using so dont worry if you accidently get that wrong.

Either way let us know what you figure out. I REALLY need to get my car to hook to the laptop so i can do some logs. Once i can get it to log a few runs i will buy the ostrich and do some tuning to get the most out of the setup i have for now.

I've tried TunerPro RT with no success. When I test for valid cable it says "Cable found and functioning". However when I go to initialize attached hardware I get the "Hardware Not Found" message at the bottom of the screen.

I assume if it doesn't see the hardware it wouldn't matter if I had the correct .xdf/.ads files.

The guy at OBD Diagnostics said if I don't see anything in hyperterminal, the PC's not seeing any data from the car.

I'll try and locate another OBD car and test the cable PC setup. I'm also going to see if I can try and borrow a tech1 to verify I can see ecm data through it. Won't be able to do that until tomorrow.

Well I checked the voltage coming from the ALDL and it reads a constant 5 Volts (not switching). I thought something may have happened to the communication to the ECM. Next I hooked up a TECH2. No problem. I can communicate fine and read all the data. Next I tried the ALDL cable on a 1993 Firebird with an LT1 - no communication with the cable.

I'm going to return the cable and try to find one that works. In the mean time I'll just keep borrowing the TECH2 until I get things fixed.

Any recommendations for a different cable?

did you ever come up with a solution? i have the exact same issue. thanks.

I could never get the cable to work. I was able to borrow a TECHII to diagnose my problem.

Returning the cable was a problem as well. I called the people at aldlcable.com and told them I was going to return it. They said to return it with a letter describing the problems. I returned it (with Post Office confirmation) and they never credited my credit card. I left them several messages (they never answered the phone) and emailed them as well. Eventually I had to dispute the charge with my credit card company (through Pay Pal). Someone at aldlcable.com told Pay Pal that if I returned the part they would give me credit. I gave Pay Pal the receipt confirmation and told them that I returned it weeks before. Eventually I was credited for the return, but the incompetence of the people at aldlcable.com was very frustrating. There are a lot of cars out there that their cable does not work with and they don't seem to interested in fixing it.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to borrow a TECHII, but I still like o find a system that will work at home.

Good Luck.

Just curious, did you set the jumper to use the 10k resistor? When I first got my cable I forgot to set that and spent about 30 minutes messing with it before I realized to set it. Worked like a charm after that.

my issue was that i forgot to load the ADX file and create a log name first.