Slacker2223

Just finished installing my turbo system, nissan turbo .60/.48, 550 cc injectors, tial external wastegate. CXracing FMIC.AEM wideband and boost gauges. I am running a MSPNP 9495 running without the MAF, ordered from diyautotune.com.
The problem:
I can not get the computer to recognize the ms. i have tried changing the COM ports around but nothing. i am using a serial to USB wire from radioshack. a friend of mine has used the same converter and said it worked fine on his MS- computer configuration. That may still be the problem? I think im going to order the adapter from diyautotune just to be sure... i also thought maybe it was because i have windows 7 64 bit, but i switched over to my brothers netbook that has windows 7 32 bit, still didn't work so used another computer with XP on it. still no luck. it continues to not recognize the ecu.
please help... no idea whats going on

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

This is God's punishment for you sinful lifestyle.

A few simple tests are in order. First off, does the computer recognize the serial port itself? IOW, in device manager, do you see it in the port listing, and can you set it to a COM port number that your tuning software can recognize?

Which tuning software are you using? Megatune, or TunerStudio? Within that software, you'll need to make sure that the datarate is correctly set- 9600 baud for an MS1, 115,200 for an MS2, and of course, direct it to the same COM port number as what your cable is actually set for.

If you're handy with an iron, you can make a loopback plug to test the com port with something like TeraTerm. Connect pins 2 and 3 together, open a term window, make a connection, and you should see everything echo back at you twice (assuming local echo is enabled.)

Ben

iTrader: (33)

You can also try running the portcheck.exe program. It will be found in your program files/megasquirt folder. Make sure the ECU is powered up and all other software is closed. If your computers' coms system is working, portcheck will tell you which port you're on and the firmware version of the ECU.

Slacker2223

well, i just had a friend come over who knows MS better the me, and we opened up the MS and realized that the MSPNP doesn't have a boot jumper, ghetto rigged one with a paper clip. reloaded the firmware in. ran the map i wanted to use and it worked... for some reason my pnp wasn't loaded with a firmware? anyway.... i started it up...car runs....idle was kinda rough but it evened out. for some reason my IAT sensor is reading -40...probably bad wiring or something.... ill check it out tomorrow when there is daylight.
anyways, thanks for all the help

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

-40 indicates an error reading the sensor. You mentioned having removed your MAF, you do know that the IAT sensor is inside the MAF sensor housing on NAs, right?

Ben

iTrader: (33)

If you purchased a new ECU from us, it would have come loaded with firmware and the basemap. We check the MSPNPs on cars here at the shop before testing, and obviously the ECU wouldn't run the car and communicate with our laptop if it didn't have firmware and a map installed.

There is no boot jumper installed in the ECU because it needs to be removed after loading the initial boot strap code, and that's the only time it's ever needed. The MSPNP is at its heart a MS1 v3.57, so in this regard it's the same as all the other MS ECUs.

Slacker2223

yes i know this... i have a GM IAT sensor on my cold side of the IC. and the two wires go into the 3rd and 4th pins.... they are probably not getting a good connection somewhere... need to go over everything and figure it out.
also joe, i saw your wright up about the 95.5's tach problem and MS.... could you shed some more light on that? where exactly does the 1-10k resistor go? just between the ignition and the tach?

Slacker2223

what could have caused the MS to not have any firmware in it...? i thought it was really strange too.....

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

That should only be necessary for home-built Megasquirts, I am assuming that DIY has engineered the MSPNP daughterboard to handle it.

The long and short here is that on the '90-'93 cars, the tach signal is generated by the igniter. On the '94-'95.5 cars, the tach signal is generated at the ignition coils themselves (these coils have four wires each on the bottom), and on the '95.5 and later cars, the tach signal comes from the ECU (these coils have three wires each.)

If you have a '90-'93 with the stock ignition system, you're fine.

For a '94-'95.5, if you find that the tachometer on your dash isn't working, you'll need to stick a 1k resistor between the b/w wire at pin 2I and +12v. This is because the coils apparently do not generate a voltage on the tach line, they provide a closure to ground for one. In the stock config, that voltage is injected by the ECU, so with it gone, the resistor provides a substitute pullup.

After '95.5 (all cars w/ three-wire coils) the tach signal is generated by the ECU itself, so you need to build a Tach Output Circuit as described in the MS documentation, and hook that up to the wire driving the dashboard tach.

Ben

iTrader: (33)

The MSPNP MM9495 and MM9697 both have tach outputs. So feel free to change your coils at will and not worry about it.
The DIYPNP also has an onboard tach driver.

Matt Cramer

Some of the very early MSPNP-MM9495s didn't handle the 95.5 tach output correctly as the 95.5 wiring is very poorly documented. We fixed that as soon as we found out about the issue. All the MSPNP-MM9495s built in the last 2 years have that fixed.

ArtieParty

iTrader: (1)

Evan bought his MSPNP from DIY a couple months ago, so his tach should work, but it does not.

Slacker2223

So does this mean that my MS is a fluke/ something wrong with it? considering it wasn't loaded with firmware and my tach doesn't work....? ill send them an email now.... not very happy

Ben

iTrader: (33)

The solder tech who builds our MSPNP ECUs loads firmware on each one and checks the mainboard for proper functionality with a stim, before passing it off for assembly. After final assembly, either Russ or I load the basemap and actually test each ECU on a real Miata for proper operation, both running the car and communicating with a laptop.

"Things can happen", but the MSPNP ECU is checked out by two people at different stages and has a test run on a vehicle. I just don't see how one could get out there without firmware on it.

It's more likely that the installed firmware was corrupted when you were having your communications issues. I also recall that you were asking about loading hi res firmware about a month ago--it's possible that it wasn't loaded in correctly.

What I would recommend would be to re-flash the MSPNP MM9495 firmware and basemap, and then report back. Try a laptop with a straight serial port if one is available.

Slacker2223

after i installed the temporary boot jumper and loaded the firmware, things are working fine. but my tach doesn't work. what could be the problem with that? do i have to set something in megatune maybe? i know there is a tach output pin setting. what should that be set to?

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

Js0 iirc.

Ben

iTrader: (33)

Yes, I just looked in the basemap and the tach output function is turned off by default. Most 94-95 cars have their dash tach powered by the coils themselves.

For a 95.5, open MegaTune and
More settings > Tacho output pin > Tacho output pin, and change the drop down to X2 (JS0)

Burn that, power cycle, and your dash tach should work.