I know this isn't a question. It's a bit of an informational tutorial for anyone without a Windows based computer thinking about getting into the Tuning game. Admins, if this post is in the wrong section, please let me know.

Personally I use Debian based linux operating systems however this information will be useful for anyone running any form of linux or mac.

Getting software to run:

This first section is two parted. First you have to get your system capable of running Windows files. Unfortunately this is because no popular tuning software is developed for anything but Windows. Fortunately, however, this is a very easy thing to accomplish. All you need is WINE. WINE is a Windows compatibility software for non Windows based computers. It's produced for most linux and mac operating systems and all the information you need on it, including installation instructions, can be found at www.winehq.org.

Second you need software that is compatible with WINE. No, unfortunately not everything you try to run will work in WINE by default. However, Tunerpro and the EBL WUD work flawlessly so I would recommend these two pieces of software.

If all you need is to be able to create .bin files for rom burning you don't need to really read the next section of this. However, if you use or would like to use the EBL Flash ECM, this next session is a big help.

Working with the EBL Flash:

Once the software is running on your computer you will notice that you're not able to talk to the EBL Flash by default, this is for two reasons. First, you need to allow your computer to use the USB to serial adapter and allow it to use a Com port. Second, at least under linux, you need to change permissions for the system file that controls the USB to serial connection. Detailed instructions on how to do this are included in the .txt file I attatched to this post. The instructions for this part are most likely different on a mac, but this should give you a good place to start. For linux users you will need to run the following command or a variant of it every time you unplug the USB to serial adapter and plug it back in for all of this to work:

sudo chmod 777 /dev/ttyUSB0

This is the command mentioned earlier that changes the permissions of the system file responsible for the USB to serial connection.

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Disclaimer:

The steps included in this post are based on personal experience and research only. This is not guaranteed to work for everyone nor is it a guaranteed solution for your needs. I encourage everyone to do at least some research aside from this post on the software and steps included so that you may prevent any damage to your computer or ECM. I am not responsible for any damage that occurs in the process of following the steps or information above.

 

I assume the instructions you gave for the usb-serial adapter are the same for a ALDL cable for datalogging? What about a driver for the cable? Is it needed?

 

I have not personally used an ALDL cable for datalogging however the steps should be the same. As for drivers the only thing that requires one is the usb to serial adapter, and in most cases the generic driver works with the steps in the file I provided to get it working. I haven't had any need to install third party drivers.