What's wrong with my hole?

[steve]

Yeah, after I try this is says: "serial comm error".

That means that MMCd didn't receive anything back on the serial port from it's command. If you get "ECU comm error" it means that it received the echo of it command back but no response from the ECU.

If you can take a clear picture of the DB9 with the covers off I bet we can tell you if there is a problem with it.

Steve

 

[bosljeff]

also look here and verify you have a PDA thats Palm Operating system 3.5 or Higher, and its one of the PDAs thats supported.

Yup, it's all good.

 

[bosljeff]

Does this help. Here is what I see:

pin 1 has the blue resistor thing, and the red wire coming off it.
pin 4 has the other end of the blue resistor and the black wire coming off it.
pin 3 has some sort of resistor thing that comes off it then has a wire that does a loopty loop around the shit coming off pin 4....

Sorry guys, I'm not electrical or I would have made this myself.

I appreciate your help and tolerance.

 

[bosljeff]

The other end with color 'legend'

 

[steve]

Does this help

That helps greatly. Once last question, is the connector male or female?

It looks like a male, and if so the guy messed it up badly.

Steve

 

[bosljeff]

Shit, well male (prongs), but why is that bad? The sync cable end that is serial is female as all serial sync cables are, right?

 

[steve]

It's not the fact that it is a male connector that's bad. As you point out for a Palm it should be. But this guy put the stuff on like he was wiring for a PC but with a male connector so it's all backwards (the pins are reversed on a female connector so that pin 1 is on the left), used the wrong resistor, and generally did a crap job.

What it should have been was:

pin 2 should have the diode anode
pin 3 should have the diode cathode (banded end), the other end of the 10k resistor, and the black wire coming off it.
pin 5 should have the 10k resistor, and the red wire ground coming off it.

Normally we would have also have used the black wire instead of the red where he has the two spade connectors and the red wire for the single connector.

At least now I know why it wouldn't work for you. It never would.

Steve

 

[bosljeff]

So based on what you see, what (if anything) can be done? I'm not electrical genius, but I am not a total idiot either.

Can what I have be salvaged? Or do I need new pins, diodes, or whatever?

If something can be done, a simple step by step would be seriously appreciated.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[steve]

If your able to solder you could fix it. You just need to move the stuff around and possible replace the resistor. Or go to radio shack and ask for a 1N914 small signal diode and a 10k 1/4w resistor and start over.

If you don't mind me asking what did you pay for that?

Steve

 

[bosljeff]

If your able to solder you could fix it. You just need to move the stuff around and possible replace the resistor. Or go to radio shack and ask for a 1N914 small signal diode and a 10k 1/4w resistor and start over.

If you don't mind me asking what did you pay for that?

Steve

I got ripped off for a total of 18.98.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...&item=7918741690&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT

 

[66gsx]

I made myself a cable similar to bosljef's except without the issues that he's having, and it seems to be working ok but I'm curious about the cable that they show on the mmcd web site.

Any info, pros cons and construction tips, you could share on that would be much appreciated.

The only possible problem my current cable might have is poor sample rate if I'm reading it correctly. It usually says 6hz. Once I saw it say 30hz.

mark

this is a related thread I started http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148942

 

[danwheelspin]

I bought the same ebay cable.Im also having the same problem as you.I keep getting
serial comm error.Its hooked up right in the Diagnostic port.Im stumped,Ive decided its the cable and not the software or palm.The only thing that worked was the injector test.I wasted my whole day trying to get this POS to work.

 

[bosljeff]

I bought the same ebay cable.Im also having the same problem as you.I keep getting
serial comm error.Its hooked up right in the Diagnostic port.Im stumped,Ive decided its the cable and not the software or palm.The only thing that worked was the injector test.I wasted my whole day trying to get this POS to work.

We should both hit him up via email on the same day asking for a return and citing the above posts as evidence his product is shit. I figure if both of us hit him the same day, we may get the refund...?

This sucks.

I'm going to give this dude's a try I think:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77657

 

[steve]

I bought the same ebay cable. Im also having the same problem as you. I keep getting serial comm error. The only thing that worked was the injector test.

Before we jump to conclusions, I'll suggest, if you can, to post a picture just like bosljeff did. Then I can tell you if you have the same problem.

Steve

 

[danwheelspin]

Ill try to get a picture up by tomorrow.

 

[danwheelspin]

Looks to be the same.

 

[danwheelspin]

Looking at it a little closer,there are little differences between ours,but I did buy it from the same guy in the ebay link you put up.

 

[steve]

If you flip yours over you notice that yours is at least in the correct pins unlike bosljeff but I have no clue why this guy thinks just looping the diode around the resistor is going to make a good connection, same for the wires.

I can't see which end of the diode is banded but if it's the end in pin three then it's possible cleaning up that looped end might make your work.

I hope you haven't given him good feedback. This guy is making crap.

Steve

 

[danwheelspin]

I got the loop tighter around the resistor,it didnt seem to be touching,also going to make the wires tighter,you can move them quite easy and and down the resistor.Ill see what happens after I mess with it tomorrow.Heres one more pic.

 

[steve]

Nope, now that I can see it that diode is in backwards. The banded side needs to go to pin 3.
Are the colors on the that resistor brown, green, brown, gold?

Steve

 

[danwheelspin]

Those are the colors on the resistor.So your saying the diode is upsidedown?It just needs to be turned around?

 

[Talonman]

wrapping the wires tighter wont give a good connection, you need to get a soldering iron and solder all the connections once you get the parts in correctly. I dont know the proper pinout/alignment of parts, if someone could make a diagram it would be helpful. I know someone described the layout up in a previous post but to the electronically untrained its kinda obscure.

btw, the cable on the mmcd websight is for older rs232 devices that dont have rs232-ready powered ports. All of the Palm devices from the M100 up should have powered ports so no need to hook up to 12 volts in the car and have the chip and associated circuitry like the cable on MMCd's website. Your cable will work if you get the parts lined up right.

 

[Talonman]

I felt generous and made a quick diagram, Steve please comment and make sure I got it right per your description in the thread above, and make changes where needed

 

[steve]

btw, the cable on the mmcd websight is for older rs232 devices that dont have rs232-ready powered ports. All of the Palm devices from the M100 up should have powered ports so no need to hook up to 12 volts in the car and have the chip and associated circuitry like the cable on MMCd's website.

You'll have to explain what "rs232-ready powered ports" means, because in the 30+ years I've worked with various serial interfaces I've never heard that before. To me that has as much meaning as muffler bearings.

danwheelspin, yes I mean the ends of the doide need to be reversed. Look at your second picture and you notice that one end of the red diode has a black band. That end need to be soldered to pin 3 just like I said in post #32.

I'm still not sure that a 150 ohm resistor is the right choice here. I always use a 10k ohm so 150 ohms seems way to small.

Steve

 

[Talonman]

You dont need the rs232 circuit below (From MMCds website) with a Palm or anything with a rs 232 serial interface built-in. Notice all you need with a Palm or any device that has rs232 serial comm circuitry is the 1N914 diode and 10K ohm resistor. There are some PDA's that dont have the 232 interface just usb. He states: When pin (10) is shorted to ground (12) ECU enters diagnostic mode. In this mode pin (1) is used to exchange diagnostic data with a scan tool. Serial communication is done using 1953 baud, 8 bit, 1 stop bit, no parity, TTL(?) levels. I used the following RS-232 adapter (taken from Club DSM Colorado)

Possibly his "scan tool" is something other than a Palm m100 and above? MMCd Whats your explanation for the 232 circuit MMCd is showing for thier cable when apparently a Palm works fine without it?