dusterbd

ok, im starting to try to teach myself about the art of prom burning.
as it said in the tutorials on thsi site, im working on a 1987 camaro with a TBI injected 2.8, running an s10 PCM.

ive downloaded tunercat pro, and invested in an ALDL cable for the serial port on my laptop to the ALDL in my vehicle.

i still need to purchase a PROM burner and more proms.

a cuple of newbie questions.
1. where do a get the stock .bin file and .xdf files to start playing with? is there a place other that tunercat, where i have to pay for it?
2. i still dont understand what a mask is, or where the hell to get one.
3. there are many different kinds of PROM's availible. which one is correct for my PCM?

im sure ill have many ore questions as i get into this. im making sure to read, reread, and read again all the stickies at the top of the forum, as well as search. but to be homest, i suck with the search button on most forums.

thanks for any help i can get, guys.
Michael

snardos

For stock binaries, definitions, and .ads files check out http://www.moates.net/fileman/

user name is moatesuser
password is moatespassword

You will need to find out which ecm your car has and then use the correct .xdf file. This tells the software where to find the correct data in the binary file and show it to you in a nice chart or graph.

I used http://www.3rdgenformula.com/87/promcodes.htm to find out which binary to use for my car.

93V8S10

The mask is the ECM's operating code. You will see these expressed such as this: $E6, $0D, $0E, $6E, etc. In other words, the bin file is the tune for you vehicle, that bin is written in computer code, the name of that code is the mask. That explanation probably not 100% correct, but hopefully will give you the basic ideal.

dusterbd

thanks. that answers trhat

on the moates site, how do i figure out which bin is the one i need? theyre number/letter system is truly baffling.

Michael

Nub383

You should be able to find the bin on your memcal in the ECM. You have to take the cover off and its right there inside.

Ronny

iTrader: (1)

I find that Tunercat website offers up much of that info in a nice readable format.

1987 S10 ECM could be 1227429 with a $3F mask as well as others.

http://www.tunercat.com/

dusterbd

ok, i found my stock .bin file to start looking at.

the moates site is confusing, but once you spend some time, you find what youre looking for.

as far as .xdf files for tunerpro RT, im using the 6E.xdf, as that is the only one that came with the program. i have data, but is it correct? im assuming that the wron .xdf file will cause wrong information to appear onm the screen.

if im wrong in this assumption, tell me. if im right, where do you obtain other .xdf files without having to drop a ton of money?

lastly, to operate the ALDL cable on my PCM, do i need to have the .bin and .xdf files located into the editor, or will it automatically operate?

thanks for all the help so far. i think im starting to understand this stuff.

Michael

snardos

No, the 6E.xdf file is the wrong one. It is for a V8 engine. Like Ronny said, if you are using an '87 S-10 ECM then you are going to need the 3F.xdf file and for datalogging you would need a .ads file that will most likely have "1227429" or "3F" in the file name. On the Moates site the .xdf files are in the binary editor definitions folder and the .ads files are in the datastream definitions folder.

dusterbd

ok, maybe im incompetent, but i cannot find a .xdf file for the $3F mask in the moates or diy-efi site. am i missing something, or is there another .xdf file that will work?

also, when i attempt to download the ads file, it comes up with a bunch of text. what am i supposed to do with that?

thanks for answering all the newbie questions that the stickies dont cover.

Michael

snardos

I'm not sure about the mask. There might be another one that would work. For the .ads file just right click on it and choose save as. Or if you have it open in notebook you can save it as whatever you want and then change the extention from .txt to .ads but make sure you don't change any of the text.