To add to my text from earlier, I assembled a unit and put it in my car. I'm leaving it in there. The thing rocks! No problems whatsoever. Other than that, the below text still applies:

It's ready.

http://ice.prohosting.com/moates/gmecm/index.html

Check the website to see the photos. It's a little different than the Hypertech/Jet adapters, since a little more clearance and repositioning is useful for the ZIF. Should work very, very well though.

I'm planning on soldering one together tonight and trying it out to make sure everything works properly.

The only problems I've run into so far are:
1) A bench-grinder, file, or dremel is needed to take just a hair of meat off the ends of the middle of the 3-pieces that make up the ECM socket so they can have clearance with each other in-line as they are assembled. A 35-wide IDE socket would be preferable, but I haven't been able to find one. This ought to work fine though.
2) Cutting the PCBs apart is kinda touchy, I'll want to order them pre-cut (a little more $ though) next time.
3) The traces are kind of crowded right near where I'll have to solder for assembly. Routing them through midway to avoid having ANY traces next to soldering locations will be on the list next time to ease assembly without flowing over traces.

Anyways, I've got parts enough to make up 6 units total right now. If you want one, email me now. A few are already spoken for, so maybe I only have 2-3 left. If demand is there, I could order up a bigger batch of PCBs. However, having them pre-cut will offset some of the savings of a volume order, so it'll likely break even. I'll have to see what it comes to.

I'm not sure what a fair price is on these things. As a kit, maybe $30 plus shipping including ZIF & all. You could drop a few bucks by dropping the ZIF, but that kinda defeats the purpose. I feel kinda bad charging money, not sure what I'm gonna do.

I don't know about assembly, maybe after tonight I'll have a better idea...maybe add 10 bucks or something. There's a lot of joints to make.

I'll keep you guys posted on how it works out, maybe get a pic of the installed deal. Until then, send me a firm email if you're interested in one of these early-run units, either kit or assembled.

Best regards,
Craig

 

G O D Bless Craig Moates

 

Now THAT is what I am talking about!! A MemCal adapter with a ZIF. I've been preaching it for so long .....

Awesome job Craig!

Tim

 

OUTSTANDING Job Craig!!!

Hopefully after my trip to Arizona next month I can scrape together $45 and pick up an assembled unit from you.

 

looks good Craig! Changing to a double sided board will help with the trace issue. However it will add to the overall cost.. :/ What is your cost per board? There is a circuit board manufactuerer here local. I could check and see what Circuit Center would charge and what minimums they may have. cheers, Bob

 

While everyone wants it to be cheap don't feel too bad about charging for it. Look at the service you're providing! I'm going to use my modified memcal with zif for now but I must say your little project looks sweet. If it takes off I may have to order one too. Makes these modified memcals alot of us are using look like cheap garbage.

 

Woohoo!!! I'm ready!

I wouldn't sweat too much about charging for your labor.

We want it!!! :hail:

I sent you an email; don't know if I was quick enuff to get in on the first batch, but definately put me down for whatever comes next!

Great job!!!

 

Hey Craig: Nice job man.

Unfortunately I really don't see how this can work in a 165 ECM. I don't think there is enough room in there. If someone knows otherwise - PLEASE feel free to correct me as I would very much like to use one of these myself.

When do you think you are going to be ready to sell these on a regular basis? I would be interested in ordering several for cars that I do PROM work on a regular basis on.

Once again - good work. We appreciate your effort man.

 

I didn't think it'd fit either, but on my 165 (1987), when you roll that original Memcal on its side, there's just enough clearance. It doesn't bind or anything. Once again, the lid won't fit on top of the ZIF-based EPROM, but with one of those cheapo low-profile ones it probably would.

I've made 2 so far, and have 4 I'll put together this evening probably. I tested it out with the 29C256 and it works there also. I think like 10 are spoken for right now.

I'm wondering how many I should get prepared for. I mean, I could just get them 6 at a time, or place a larger order (maybe 50 or so). I'd like to place a large order on Monday and have plenty of availability by the end of the week.

The market isn't really huge, and I'd like to verify that they work in the 730s in terms of placement. Should be OK.

Are there other years this'd fit in? I mean, the LT1 stuff is different right? Any need for something there? Or is it all PCM/serial.

-Craig

 

I'd like to point out that you can raise the cover of your 165 as much as 1/2" and have lots of room for MemCals. The OEM plastic ECM holder would need modifying, or just chuck it and lay it on the floor. Block off the holes on the one end where the harness connects. There is also the top 1/3 of your 165 just empty space; the aluminum partition can be removed, which leaves more room for a lay-down adapter.

The 730 lid can likewise be raised. Longer screws and spacers/standoffs for the screws that go into the partitions; new lid holes for the side screws.

Space is no problem.

 

Awesome Craig! Cash is on it's way...

I just sent you a paypal payment through your donation screen with shipping information.

Chris

 

It may work on 92-93 Vette's and 93 F-bodies. All LT1's prior to 94 use prom's just like you guys.


But it would be hard to say if it would actually fit without trying it though. FWIW my stock memcal w/low profile ZIF still fits under the ECM cover.

 

Hey guys. New at all this, but I saw the adapter that Craig made. I was hoping someone could explain something to me? On a factory prom it has two little chips on it besides the eprom. What do you do about these? It doesn't look like there is another chip on the PC board he has. Please help me understand.

Thanks

 

Those are the "limp-home" mode chips; totally independent of the main EPROM, they contain enough code to get your car started and let you crawl slowly home...

Craigs' adapter bypasses the main EPROM on the MemCal and connects the add-on EPROM to the ECM while letting the "limp-home" chips have a direct connection. So, you get the code from the add-on EPROM *and* the "limp-home" code from the MemCal without sawing up your MemCal.

...At least, so we hope...

 

Thanks Sharky,

I still do not see how it works, but do understand what it is you are saying. Just wish I understood more of this stuff. All in due time I guess. Thanks again for the reply. Wait just a second.

I saw a set of pins sticking out of that board he had. This wouldn't happen to be where you plug the org. memcal unit in, to get the limp home chips info if needed, and since the eprom on the org. memcal will have no connection then the new eprom which does will be read. Did I get it did I get it right? :lala:

 

Correcto...

Sarkee,

I sent your adapter out. Hopefully you'll get it pretty quick and can report back how things work out.

-Craig

 

Cool!

 

Just so I can get this staight the part that you made is like the Poket programers adapter thing? that they sell for around 90 bucks? I looks like thats what it is. So with your adapter, and the pocket programer(to connect to your adapter) and the Pocke adapter to your laptop, with the Win bin running? you can modify your bin real time while engine running? before making a "test" chip for the modified bin to install in your ECM?

Sorry I have a few questions. I was looking at the patch cord to a laptop so you could have the laptop running your ECM BIN to keep the car running then you could modify the BIN realtime to engine performance.

 

Not quite!

Normally to use a custom chip (EPROM), you first have to desolder the old one from your MemCal and resolder some sort of adapter to facilitate ease of istallation and removal of your newly burned chips. This is time consuming, frustrating, and sometimes damaging to the MemCal.

With the adapter that craig is working on you dont have to butcher your original MemCal at all.

The adapter plugs into the ECM in place of the MemCal. The Mem Cal then plugs into the adapter with pins contacting only the "limp home mode" side of the MemCal. Your newly burnt EEPROM's then too plug into the adapter. They can now be easily installed and removed for further reburns.

The best part is, if you want you can put everything back to original and it looks like nothing was touched. No butchered MemCals!

 

Craig - I'm in for one, but no hurry. I have a Jet Adapter, just want a backup.

 

Ok. So what is needed to program the chip "real time".

I have a few mods now, and have quite a few more planned and I want to get the most out of all of them. I know the best way to do it is have the ECM plugged into a laptop that allows the car to run throught the stock BIN, but have the BIN running through a program that allows you to modify it "real time on engine performance"

I just do not want to have to go buy all these chips and be "ify" on weither or not they will work on the street like I want them to.

I know I can hook up a lap top to the ECM and record the parameters while running, so I can find the problems with the stock BIN and what to modify. But after I correct for the biggest probs I go back out with the first burned chip to only find that more things still need to be changed. And so on....

I just want to be able to go out and through a half hour/hour of driving have the bin modified to the best possible parameters without having to program a number of chips and it taking a week to get done.

 

Got it yesterday, Craig! This looks awesome! Fits OK; I can get the top alum cover on if I squeeze it a little; but I'll shim it just to be safe.

I was hoping to test it this weekend; but an ice storm hit here Friday morn and there's still no power or heat, much less light...

Hopefully, this week sometime...If the roads clear up...

 

Sarkee: Good to hear you got it, hope all works well! It fits OK in the housing? 730 or 165? Hope it works good, I got most of the parts in for 40 more units today.

Camaro_Hunter: I'm pretty sure that you're living in a fken dream-world, no offense really. Half-an-hour of tuning to optimum? Right. If you're afraid of spending a couple of bucks for blank chips, then you're in the wrong game. We're talking about trial-and error to some extent, looking for improved tuning via modified instruction sets for timing and fuel curves, bottom line. Just for reality grounding, what actual PHYSICAL modification would you envision affecting on a car or any other device in under an hour that would yield a positive result?

What it sounds like you're looking for is an EPROM EMULATOR, which is available from the PocketProgrammer folks I believe. I don't have any direct experience with it, but something like that has a lot of potential. Actually, it doesn't sound like that would put you one step ahead of where you are right now in terms of want. I mean, with a Pocket Programmer and 2-3 29C256 flash chips, you could probably REASONABLY expect testing a new TRIAL program every 20 minutes or so. This gives you time for programming, swapping chips, data collection during car running, data analysis, and re-programming. Repeat this cycle until all is optimum. I'm sure others can offer some information in this regard.

To clarify, the device I am selling is NOT an emulator, but it is an adapter to allow easy swapping of EPROMs/Flash-proms without damaging your system/Memcal. It will allow you to swap chips in and out of your ECM very quickly and often. You will HAVE to go through iterations to determine whether the changes you make have any positive/negative impact on performance via datalogging using a scanner (Mattei/Moates) and data analysis (Brain/Excel) and re-programming (Emulator/Flash-chip/eprom, your choice). Maybe if someone, OTHER than me, wants to go ahead and WRITE the optimization-feedback routines to progress auto-tuning, that would be great. It'd be REALLY interesting to see an optimization routine tied in with an emulator and HP calculation from data acquisition. Anyone want to step to the plate? I have yet to hear of but one or two instances of this approach. Might want to do some reading on Newton-Raphson, Gauss-Jordan decomposition, heck Green's Theorem for that matter. At LEAST successive substitution or secant method. It's certainly doable, but not DONE. A feedback-based software based on an integration of an emulator and a scanning package would be ideal, but it exists only in our aspirations and not on diskette for point-and-click consumption.

Anyways, excuse my sarcasm, stopped off at a buddy's house to give him some Sago palm starters and ended up drinking some really good Rum. So it goes... Now my Saturday's a waste. Have to make up for it Manana. I'm normally not abusive and if I've come off that way, apoloigies are rendered...

Regards,
Craig

 

BRAVO!!!!:hail:

 

Then this is not for you; you want a Haltech programmable ECM, the "E6GM" I believe it is.

There is at least one guy here looking to get a price quote on 10 or more; a search for "Haltech" either here or at CorvetteForum/C4 Tech Performance will turn up the web site, pricing, swapping required, etc.

This adapter is for fussy perfectionists who don't mind 200 - 400 burns to get their setup *right*...And who will promptly bolt on another piece of hardware and have to do it all over again...(sigh)...

 

well thanks for the sarcasim Craig. I am sure your here to help these guys but I really do not need your ****. I am not "living in a dream world" as you put it. the programing is availible, and yes you could get the modifactions done a a$$load faster then modding 1 or 2 parameters at a time then put in that chip to find other things to mod and waste several days doing it. Yes you can get alot more done in a solid 30-60 minutes of driving modifing the BIN as you drive as you see fit(Or as the engine requires it). I am not looking to waste alot of time going through 200 chips to get the BIN down to close to perfect. I would rather have the car running on a DC powered COMP all the time and have everything adjustable from a preprogramed base setting all the time. That way you can modify anything at any time(its called a touch screen LCD) for control.

nevermind, I am obviously wasting my time here. I can figure this out alot sooner on my own. About the only truely useful thing I have gotten off this board is my BIN(about 5 months ago(from Traxion I believe) and where I can buy an interface cable) I forgot who gave me the ady for the cabvle buy thanks thats what I was looking for.

 

Dude, I must apologize.

What I meant was that getting your car optimized within an hour or so just driving around, even with a real-time setup, might be a little optimistic. If you're set up with a DYNO and a real-time emulator or Haltech/DFI-type setup, then maybe it's a different story.

The whole swapping of chips and trial/error with parameters and data analysis and such is pretty slow, and something like what you describe does sound pretty sweet as an alternative.

Hope I didn't get under your skin or anything. Truce?
There are people here, unlike myself, who know what they're talking about. They have some pretty good ideas about what kind of changes to the code will improve performance, drivability, etc. Those same concepts should apply whether you're clunking chips in & out or get a slick emulator/dyno/real-time setup. Certainly worth hanging around.

-Craig

 

I know from my home business(I sell Import performance parts) that the Live tuning through a laptop IS the easiest way to do it, and the programs exist. I meant that by using that programing you could even after spending 45 minutes be ALOT closer to having the BIN down for good performance then going through chip after chip after chip ect.
You could go throught 50 chips and still not be close to where the BIN should be. With the "LIVE" tuning you'd even be able to run around all day recording, modifing, tuning and still MAY NOT be perfect, but you'd be a hell of a lot closer then having to stop every 30 minutes to burn a chip then go back out and test that chip just to find out something else needs to be changed.

Alot of the systems I have seen installed in (hondas and the such) have the ECM chip removed and an adapter cord(That I found thanks so someone on here) that plugs into the printer port of a laptop, that have the BIN running through "LIVE WIRE" program to where the BIN is ran through this program and they can bring up any parameter they want to modify and do it there on the spot. The modified BIN is then transmitted through the printer port to the ECM.

You need more fuel? bring it up hit the Up arrow a few times you have more fuel as you watch the entire 3D fuel map change and rise with every key stroke. This is done with EVERY possible parameter in the BIN. Have an Electronic controlled Trans, change the shift points. and it goes on and on. You could get more done with this type of system in less then 2 hours then a day of the "burn and test" method.

I am planning to be running a High output boost motor(4.3 turbo) and I want to be able to tune on the fly(until I get the BIN down to where I and the enigine want it). Dealing with the stage 3 boost level of 25-28 PSI, I NEED FUEL NOW. Not pray to G O D that the piston does not burn up so I can make it back home and Mod the bin(just to try again). I see the A/F going red, Bam I punch up the fuel and add away till it goes green again. Then I know that the Base level needs to be raised to this point and go from there.

 

Where do you get the map for the BIN? I mean, how do you know what each bit of code in the BIN does?

 

What exactly are you looking for? I mean you can made an ALDL connector for less then 5 bucks, plug it into your cars diag port(s) run around with the laptop recording and watching the action VIA CarChat(My fav so far) and watch the mapping of the info, or you can bring up the 3d maps and watch as the peaks move as you drive. I personally just zoom in on 1 factor IE A/F ratio and look where it needs more fuel then change it. On the newly burned chip.(which CarChat will do)

 

Could you post the name of the Honda programming equipment, and a rough price? I am interested in this setup. As for the the GM ECMs, only one kit for programming while the engine is running appears to be available and it isn't for the 4.3 turbo ECM.........
Thanks,
J

 

it is possible ... to run a EPROM EMULATOR .. .. connect the output (which is identical to chip pin out) into the PROM SOCKET.. and as long as u have the EPROM EMULATOR running uve got ur PROM bin in there.. if u make a change. just modify the bin in the Emulator and ur all set. this is definitely a good method. but i donno if the cost to build the emulator would be the same as wasting PROMs.

 

and junkcltr,
there is equipment available for the VTEC honda cars.. APEXi sells some of them. (pretty expensive). ur lookin in the 500$ range

it changes fuel curve, manifold pressure signal..

alters a whole lot of other things..
this works only if u have a VTEC engine

 

Thanks for the info on the Honda. I was curious cause it seems like everyone wants to do EPROM programming with the engine running for under $100 on the GM ECMs. It don't see that happening.
The Honda hardware only works with the VTEC....OK.
Thank You,
J

 

emulator topic..............emulators emulating microprocessors are a good thing. Emulators emulating RAM or ROM real time are not a good thing. What happens when the ECM tries reading data, and the emulator (PC) tries writing data...............bus contention, garbled data, limp home mode. It was a good thought though.

 

ive used emulators before.. thats the same thought i had ...when me and camaro_hunter tried working some things out yesterday..simaltaneous read / write is not a good idea..

but it is possible.. if ur just modifying just one value( only one value influences something in the engine ) its fine. but if ur modifying an array it might be a problem.. cos u might not have finished updatign the array .. abnd the ECM might read the data.

ive built EPROM emulators before.. it is not very expensive if compared to buying one..

with teh emulator it is not even necessary to keep teh laptop on all the time.. only when u need to update.. u need hte laptop...
emulators can run w/o the computer hooked up all the time.. unless ur using the computer as the EMulator.. which is a whole different ball game

and junk before u buy somethign from APEX be 100% sure they work on ur car... (honda ECM controllers are more xpensive bcos i think they have more parameters)

 

I don't know what else to say........you guys seem like you are on the right track. I guess it depends how involved or what your needs are (key off programmer, or full out engine running programmer). Thanks for the info. on the Honda stuff. My friends got one and was looking into that stuff before. Me......I like V8s. What ECM are you targeting your emulator for ('165 or '730 or other)?

 

the 7730.

I was thinking of not a read & write emulator, but having a small comp Perminately mounted into my car that will read data from the ALDL connector, then the same comp will supply the required info to the cars ECM. The "BIN" is never a "hard" feed. It is always refreshing in the MINI comp. The "refreshed" BIN is then feed to the ECM. Doing it this way you can actually change the values that the ECM receives and the ECM will not get confused, it will concider it a "transition" and adapt to it.

But yes Venom and A'pexi both make stand alone adaptable comps to place into cars. They are expensive as RS stated. The thing is they control 1 aspect of the ECM. I am looking into getting into EVERYTHING in the BIN not just say the fuel map. I want to be able to change to less adavance timing for bad fuel to keep away from detonation among other things.

but Me and RS will get these things figured out, fixed and implimented. Then we will let you guys in on it. If you want to do this kind of system for a one off chip then you may be better doing the old method of test and burn, but if you are in the beginings stages of a build up then our/this system would be the most benificial for you.

 

You guys have some good ideas. You should check out the Winbin homepage. It sounds like what you want to build is somewhat like what is displayed on that page. I have put in a few hours myself thinking about how this could be done. My end result was that the hardware part is easy. The software part isn't. Basically, an integrated sortware package needs to be written that includes a scanner, a comm. interface, a bin editor, and some other misc. stuff. It was too much coding. I started a MSVC++ software app. but chucked it after not too long. I hope your endurance is stronger than mine.
The only issue I see with reading via the ALDL is that the interfaces is quite slow for updating the EPROM data. Not too mention all of the assembly that will probably need to be written. These are not big issues.........but worth thinking about. Check out the other thread labeled with something about emulators that is current right now. Craig Moates just wrote in some info. about not updating the ECM fast enough. Good luck,
J

 

well I have the 8162? baud rate. So reading the info real time is easy(it refreahes VERY fast). I am only milli sec's behind the read. 89 has the 160 buad so he will have to data log then write/modify the bin. But even doing it that way you could still get the BIN done faster then burning testing, burning testing...

We are going to use carchat for the reading of the ALDL, I like it best cause it also lets you make and place your own guage read outs.

 

You are correct that the ALDL is pretty quick for an RS-232 interface. The ECM executes instructions at a rate of 8,000,000 per sec. You can load data through the ALDL one byte per 10/8192 = 1.22 milliseconds. Once you get that byte loaded to some device then you have to get it to the ECM by robbing a bus cycle. The only problem is that the GM ECM was not designed to allow bus cycle robbing. The processor is the only bus master.

 

I just realized that you said that you are using charchat. If carchat is reading the ALDL data, how can you transmit data new bin data to the ECM using the ALDL signals. Are you planning to write a new version of carchat with this capability or make another serial communications interface to the ECM (another ALDL to the ECM?)?

 

Actually I found the secondary ECM that I am going to use. Tiger Direct sells it for about $575(the only draw back), BUT this thing is GREAT, it runs on DC power ONLY, has a 1GHtz Processor, 256KDDR RAM AND a 10 GIG HD. It has all the serial/printer/mouse/video ports, and is about 7"X7"x4" Perfect size for installing under the seat, or in teh center console!.

Now what I was planning utilizes a in car DVD/LCD screen(hooked to the Video out of the mini comp) and a hand help mouse. I have the MINI comp running the CarChat(to see the info real time and where to make modifacations) AND I have the "BIN" perminately loaded in an active file that puts the reference signals that the ECM asks for out through the Printer port. I then have a custom cable going from the printer port to the Chip harness on the board.

You basically have a program that you can send the "chips" BIN through the printer port into certain wires in the custom cable that are connected to the ECM.

89 was showing me a program that you can make a "test" board and it allows you to designate what "pins" on the chip do what and where they go. I am sure that with some of this program we can get a program made that has a mock up of the chip on a table and has the Pins and what wires those pins conect to to send their signal. Now with knowing what pins&wires are sending what we can then get into the printer port and find the output signals and connect them to the appropriate pin on the ECM board.

The thing that we are both kinda wondering is that the ECM usually likes feedback, and the printer port is a 2 way com port. There has to be some way where we can wire it togeather to keep the ECM happy. But if not, we have the readings coming into the ECM and we have the readings going out. We just kinda eliminate the "Decision making" capability of trhe ECM and have it "Hard input" only.
I mean we will see when it needs fuel, and what not so, if we feel that nothing needs modded the original BIN will supply the appropriate info.


And To the one that said that this was imposable. THANKS, you just set me out to prove you dead wrong!. And by the ideas that me and 89 are coming up with there is really very little to figure out.

 

And reading back through some of this topic, this adapter thing will come in handy... especially for what I am intending to do....

 

YEP .. WE ARE thinkin of coding the Bin so that it is kinda resident in teh computer all the time.. (use serial port to read ALDL)

and then use the parellel port to either control a eprom emulator / mock a eprom emulator (even the comp can emulate )

well ur right junk there are gonna be problems with cycle stealing and bus contention... but if i use the comp to mockl the rom then all i have to so is to change the bits that need to be changed ,... its ready to go.. but im not sure how the ECM is gonna like this thing im doing ... but i guess for example if u are modifyin the fuel curve then... itll kinda start adjusting immediately *(though im not sure about this) but what im sure about is i can refreshh the bin in realtime in the emulator / computer based emulator..

whatever it is it requires some serious coding in the end to make it self adjusting and intelligent ( what i mean is really intelligent) .
(based on some datasets that it has logged)

 

Camaro_Hunter:

You know what you could do is to take out the ECM altogether, just tie in your TPS, IAC, FIs, MAP, MAF, timing, what-have-you to an A/D board that you could pop into a PC. The interfaces are not too expensive, and that way you could write your own code from scratch to control the car directly in the absence of any GM logic whatsoever. It might not be too difficult.

When I compare the number of inputs and outputs you have to deal with on a car to some of the stuff we pull off at work (petrochemical process research), I am certain you could make it all happen with a 386, a nasty little circuit, a parallel port (or A/D board), & very little coding.

I mean, you could just take the main harnesses coming from the car and re-pin them into the A/D board in the PC. That would let you take full control of the car's functionality. Then you could build in all the real-time versatility you want in the software end of things, set it up for true real-time optimizations. Might even (and this is a jump) set something up with a servo-controlled throttle for self-tuning algorithms (might want a deadman switch of some sort). Once you get it going, this would be rather portable from one car to another. All you'd have to do is have different harness adapters for different cars, but the hardware would be very similar.

Once you were able to develop/derive the most optimized maps of timing & fuel as a function of al variables of concern, then you could translate this information into an ECM-friendly EPROM code, burn it in, and install it for regular usage.

One thing I'm aware of that may be extremely powerful, although I have yet to exploit it, is something called "Mode 4" communications through the ALDL. If I understand it correctly, it will allow you to do much of what you're talking about real-time merely through the ALDL. I think it resets back to the actual EPROM content once you exit the communications mode. I don't know for sure, but I was almost getting there in terms of being able to specify alterations of memory locations real-time through the ALDL during 8192 communications. I thought the modifications available were limited to timing and fuel, but that's what you probably want to control anyways. Might be worth some reading through some of the disassemblies to see if it strikes a fancy.

I'm perceiving the merit, sorry I appeared so slow on the uptake. And yeah, if you want to feed in an emulator or other PC-based communications in place of the EPROM, the ZIF-to-ECM adapter should help make it a little easier.

Seems that dream-world thinking might be bearing some fruit here shortly! Good to see.

-Craig

 

It is nice to see some good ambition going on here. Craig, what you just posted is a good thought. a PCI card running at 33 MHz would be more than enough to keep things in check. It sounds like 89 and Camaro_hunter_d have already put some time into their current setup. It seems like they have the will to get it completed too. That would be adding the finishing touch that GM didn't. The good news about updating the EPROM is that the bus cycle is long (~150 ns) and the 68HC11 only looks for valid data at the end of the bus cylce. That leaves about 100 ns or so for bus stealing.
I checked out the device you built Craig and it looks like a quality piece. I made one of these last year but it isn't nearly as nice. I never got to use it though cause I couldn't find a connector to fit into the blue ECM connector. Is it just an IDE connector from a PC harddrive? Can these be bought from JDR? It would be nice if I could put it to use.

 

hey craig,

can u tell me more about the mode 4,

as far as i know we cant reprogram to PROms cos ull need a UV eraser to erase the data.. thats in there..

how does mode 4 work and is there any software out there i can look at ...

if there is something like that i wanna see it ..

and junk.. ur right thats a narrow margin for bus stealing ...

ive not written code thats that perfect and that fast.. looks like VC++ code has to be really perfect or it wouldnt work... (looks like need to do some low level programming )

any ideas there junk? are u a good VC programmar??

yep i was thinkin of the 68HC series controller to emulate the prom

 

Mode 4 allows the user to change about a handful of parameters that reside in the RAM of the ECM processor. Things such as the target air/fuel ratio, spark advance, TCC lockup, fan control, etc. It only update the processor RAM..........so when you exit mode 4 everything is forgotten. It does not update the PROM. It is good if you want to test something out real quick but you have to burn a PROM later to make the changes stick. This mode is very limited as to what one can change. Nothing like an emulator. That's about all I know. Craig can probably give more info......he has actually wrote some code to read the ALDL. I have only read through some code I found kicking around the web. If you could find that guy I am sure he could tell you everything you need to know. From what I read, he seems like the MOST knowledgable person on this stuff.
I have written one VC app. before. Overall, I know enough VC to be dangerous, but that's about it.
Craig, I thought a bit more about running the I/O card in a PC. I don't know if it is the best route to take.........it is essentially an efi332 spinoff. It is almost like starting with nothing again. I don't know where I read it, but I remember someone posting something to the effect about using the GM ECM because of all the engineering that went into it. I think their words are wise. I am not saying that into wouldn't be neat to try though.

 

hey junk,

what i was targettin was a small processor running in the car all the time ... maybe now im thinkin about using a small controlelr to startup and psuh aldl to mode 4 and then supply what codes u were using earlier ... this might happen everytime u start the car and u might just be able to save what u were tryin on it too..

im tryin to hardwire the code into small microcontrollers so that the comp with an OS running is done away with eventually ...(think about windows hanging when u are running the car LOL)

is this mode 4 possible on a OBD I machine ... i know OBD 2 guys have a lot like this ... but is it possible in our car??

i have a 1227302 and hunter hsa a 7730

my car has jacks for both 160 and 8192 baud
his has only 8192 baud ...

mode 4 runs on 8192 i pressume...

craig , can u tell us something more on this ...