Since I'm kinda slow at all this(need lots of sit and think before I can do), what is everyone here using as theie preferred method of logging while emulating.....

Not looking to bash anyones stuff, but looking more for opinions and experiences.....

I tend to use TC(99%) of the time and also have Moates software and Diacom for logging....

I'm sick of having to jam two laptops in when I want to emulate something on the fly.

Also would like to know what type of aldl cable u are using and what settings are used if something like TunerPro is your preferred editor... Would also like to see whether you are using USB or serial and/or USB adapters.

I'm trying to educate myself and make some choices in regards to my own methods as well as collect some information to be added to the "Tuning Bible"

later and thanks
Jeremy

 

I'm using TunerProRT with Moetes gear. USB ALDL cable and USB Ostrich. Seems to work good except I have found that if you make TunerPro's Com port match the ALDL com port, you have better luck connecting. Example Com 4 on tunerpro and com 4 on usb port with ALDL cable. Then use com 1,2, or 3 for Ostrich.

 

hey jackballs where did you get your aldl cable from or did you make yours yourself. i was looking at the moates and you need the cable and the box that converts it to use the usb. i was looking for a cable that i can plug straight tio the laptop. i am also using the ostirich. i am about to start up the motor soon but i am looking for a baseline bin file so i can start it.

 

I got the moates set-up with the box. Moates has the bins on his website. Tunerpro comes with the '89 ARAP. I am assuming that you will disconnect your 9th injector and go with the '89 bin.

 

I'm using an Ostrich on the USB for emulating and typically use either TP-RT or Datamaster on the serial port for datalogging...

 

Jeremy -

Two laptops?! Yikes.

For this, let's not take into account what hardware you specifically may already have, but what hardware is available for the different configurations. This allows us to be more general, which is useful for the masses.

Note: This pertains to being able to emulate and datalog at the same time. The outline below is not necessary if you only wish to emulate or datalog independently. This assumes real-time emulation is what is desired.

Note 2: This reply does not take into account all emulation/ALDL hardware. Use the info that is here and the info you have for the hardware of your choice to determine port and configuration compatibility.

The following suggestions should work well with most ALDL and Tuning software, namely:

Tuning:
-----------
TunerCat
TunerPro

Datalogging:
------------------
Datamaster
TunerPro
WinALDL
EASE
FreeScan
etc

-----------------------------------

PC Configuration 1: 1 Serial port, at least 1 PCMCIA slot, no USB ports (this is probably the most common)

One of the better routes to go would be to go with a PCMCIA USB hub. I believe Craig sells one for $20 (the guy sells everything, doesn't he?).

With this, you have a couple of hardware options:

Tuning Hardware Option 1) (Recommended for compatibility simplicity)

- Serial ALDL cable
- PCMCIA USB hub/interface (Moates sells one for $20 - of course - he sells everything, right?)
- Ostrich (USB emulator)

With this setup, you can get up and running with minimal effort.

Tuning Hardware Option 2) (Still recommended, but a little harder to configure)

- Serial ALDL cable
- PCMCIA USB Hub/interface
- Serial to USB converter
- Romulator

This setup is a little harder to configure and may not work in all situations (because of the involvement of a serial to USB converter), but will probably work in 9 out of 10 PC configurations. The idea is to use the serial to USB converter with the Romulator, since it uses a very standard 115kbaud communication baud, which is compatible with all converters. Doing it this way is recommended over using the USB converter for the ALDL cable since 8192 baud is not universally supported by USB converters.


-------------------------------------------
PC Configuration 2: 1 Serial Port, 1 or more USB ports

Tuning Hardware Option 1) (Recommended for compatibility simplicity)

- Serial ALDL cable
- Ostrich (USB emulator)

With this setup, you can get up and running with minimal effort.

Tuning Hardware Option 2) (Still recommended, but a little harder to configure)

- Serial ALDL cable
- Serial to USB converter
- Romulator

Again, a little harder to configure because of the use of the serial to USB converter, but it should work great under most circumstances and with most software.


--------------------------------------
PC Configuration 3: 1 USB port, 1 or more PCMCIA slots, no serial port

Tuning Hardware Option 1) (Recommended for compatibility simplicity)

- USB ALDL Cable (from Moates)
- PCMCIA USB Hub/interface
- Ostrich (USB emulator)

With this setup, you can get up and running with minimal effort.

Tuning Hardware Option 2) (Still recommended, but a little harder to configure)

- USB ALDL Cable
- PCMCIA USB Hub/interface
- Serial to USB converter
- Romulator

Again, a little harder to configure because of the use of the serial to USB converter, but it should work great under most circumstances and with most software.

--------------------------------------
PC Configuration 4: 2 USB ports no serial port

Tuning Hardware Option 1) (Recommended for compatibility simplicity)

- USB ALDL Cables (from Moates)
- Ostrich (USB emulator)

By far the simplest setup

Tuning Hardware Option 2) (Still recommended, but a little harder to configure)

- USB ALDL Cable
- Serial to USB converter
- Romulator

Again, a little harder to configure because of the use of the serial to USB converter, but it should work great under most circumstances and with most software.

 

Mangus?

Have u ever tried to drive and tune with two laptops?
(thats a joke, honest, I'm dumb but I have my limits)

Anyhow,

I use the Romulator w/ the USB to serial adapter and TC, but then I am stuck from a dataloggin standpoint. When doing the above and attempting to use the Moates datalogger(serial) I get broken communications or at a very very slow transmission rate.

The USB/serial adapter(Radio shack) works like a charm every time, provided I have it plugged in when I boot the PC. No issues using the Romulator, its always something on the serial/datalogging side.(using serial to aldl)

Desperately trying to make this work as I am very familiar with TC because I have been using it for 4yrs + now. The computer compatibility/solutions are what is eluding me currently.

Yesterday I downloaded the complete TunerPro RT and appropriate ECU's, etc and am going to try to make it all work happily on one laptop. Havent had a chance to test it yet, I'm working on a secret project with Bruce(lol).

Ultimately I would like to have TC/ Romulator w/ datalogging and your TunerPro working w/ datalogging and be able to switch back and forth relatively easily if I reboot or exit everything completely out.

My own hardware consists of:

Dell Inspiron 700: 1 USB port, 1 serial port
Romulator
Tunercat RT
TunerPro RT (untested/ in progress)
Diacomseperate laptop, older, one serial, no usb)
Mastach style cable for ALDL(usb to aldl)
serial to aldl cable(name i forgot at the moment, rec. here)
lockers board of Rbob(for the 148 TTA)

While investigating all this I realized mistakenly I wasnt using the Mastach cable, it is USB to ALDL. Would it be worth a try to run Romulator on the serial and datalogging on the USB to ALDL.

Stupid me, I never noticed I had it so I havent tried that configuration but I sure will now.

Thanks, hoepfully something works and my own stupidity will now allow me to run on one laptop.
(sorry its been 6 mths since I was doing serious hardware/tuning issues)

thanks
Jeremy
PS Mangus, its almost like you know alot about this stuff :-)

 

I don't understand why you're stuck from a datalogging standpoint.

Explain to me what your port configuration is (in terms of what your PC has available).

It sounds like you have 1 USB port and 1 serial port. Thats the best setup given the hardware you're using. Use the adapter for the Romulator (like you currently are), and the serial port for ALDL.

For your '91, TunerPro should work great. So does Datamaster. I'm not sure why you'd be having problems with Moates's logging software, but it does run in DOS mode, which tends to hamper things on the Windows side. I'd recommend moving to native Windows logging software.

 

Sorry, u posted before I could re edit the above....

Could the Maotes hardware be what it killing me then?

What would the best/cheapest pure window datalogger be for me?

Due to circumstances beyond my control, funds are currently very scarce :-)

I will try and snag all the comport setting/availability for you later, have to go now

I appreciate the time
Jeremy

 

Be careful using the USB port for datalogging. Not all USB to serial (which are virtual COM ports) converters support the 8192 baud. If you can't get it working, this is almost certainly why. Use the Romulator on the USB side and use a simple serial cable for datalogging.

 

Okay,

Now I'm running really late.

I downloaded datamaster from tts and your latest TunerPro 4.0.

Going to try using the TC + Romulator on USB with datamaster and see what it gets me.

Then I'm going to try TunerPro 4.0 and see what my results are also.

I'll stick to using the Romulator with the UDB adapater as I know that part of it always works.

Just want it fixed lol.

Thanks for all the help
Jeremy

 

Not meaning to hyjack at all but ...is there an option where the Prominator PRO can be in the datalogging/emulation catigory ?

 

Be careful with quoting length posts. =) They just take up space.

Yes, TunerPro can communicate with the Prominator Pro, but currently only allows full binary uploads. I haven't yet implemented page uploads for "realtime" emulation. Realtime will come in a near-future release.

 

Hearing about all the cable/port problems makes me so glad I spent the extra for the Autoprom USB. The extra cash appears to make up for saving a lot of time.
It's so simple, hardly ever any problems at all. I attribute all problems to having only 64meg of memory. 266mhz pII, 1 usb,1serial, 98SE and TP 3.09. Never logged data, but plenty of emulation time. Doubt I'd have any problems running a log file too. Need to test out 4.0 still.

Hey, I can just cut and paste this to the product review Craig wants.

 

Never got a chance to test it today.

I'm thinking that pulling my head out of the sand and upgrading to pure windows based logging(datamaster) should clear it up for me.

Try it out that way and move onto testing with TunerPro 4.0

Doing them both in the morning, gimme a real reason to use all the extra memory I bought for that dumb laptop :-)

Thanks
Jeremy

PS Mangus your listing from this post is going into the "Tuning Guide"

 

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I owe you a great big hug and a beer mangus :-) lol

Went out today using Datamaster and TunerCat RT and bam we are good to go.

It was the whole dos emulation vs. pure windows datalogger doing it....

Worked fine using the Mastach cable and datamaster along w/ the Romulator with TunerCat. No hitches.

If it sopts raining I'm going to give it a full work out with the lady driving t-nite.

After I got home I loaded up TunerPro RT and was also able to connect to the Romulator and to the ALDL for datalogging. Functionality wise, everything worked, had a couple questions or issues. Not sure which they are so I'm putting that in the TunerPro 4.0 post

thanks again
Jeremy

 

Well I like beer, anyway! :-D

 

Sorry to bring this back from the dead but I have 2 questions. I have PC Configuration 2: 1 Serial Port, 1 USB port and I'm currently using a Serial ALDL cable to scan using Moates pimptastic DOS scantool and only recently TunerPro to tune. I'm ready to move up to Emulation and I've been seriously considering the Ostrich. Mainly because I dont want to deal with serial/usb conversion boxes or usb hubs (or more specifically their drivers). From what I've read here the only downside with regards to how I'm currently doing stuff is that I wont be able to use Craigs software to scan/log and TunerProRT to Emulate at the same time, mainly because of Windows Legacy DOS support.

So my first question is, if I were to use the Serial ALDL cable and Ostrich combo, would I be able to scan/log and Emulate all at the same time using only TunerPro? I know it does scan/log (and very nicely I might add), but unsure if it would do both scan and emulate at the same time using a serial and usb port without some sort of conflict

My second question is, would Autoprom give me any advantages over this ALDL/Ostrich combo aside from using less wires to connect everything and using USB to power everything? Like perhaps a more stable transfer of data, or faster transfer?

Thank you very much for the help, I appreciate it!! And YES I will be making a donation to TunerPro!! hehehe great program ..

 

Question 1: Yes. Should work quite nicely.
Quesiton 2: For your specific application, I'd go with the Ostrich and a separate ALDL cable. It's cheaper that way, too. With your Ostrich you're entitled to a reg key for TunerPro for 15 smackers.

 

What happens when you upgrade your laptop and it doesn't have a serial port?

 

Thanks for the reply Mangus! I'm definately going to upgrade TunerPro to a full reg version. Ostrich here I come!!

I think if you upgraded and then had no serial port then you wouldnt be able to use the serial ALDL cable. You would have to buy the Moates ALDL USB adapter/converter and use 2 USB ports. But its no worries for me because I'm never going to upgrade this laptop. I got it in exchange for a favor, Toshiba Vectra 8100, P3 500 w/ 192mb ram and a DVD drive, talk about a score.