Megatune COM port problems
 

Perhaps add this to the FAQ or something?.....

You might have trouble connecting to your MS if you are using a COM port that is higher than 9. Something on mine meant it wouldn't work, so I changed the COM port from 13 to 2 and it now connects fine.

Good info. Worth putting somewhere for safe keeping.
Let's leave it stickied for a little while, let people see it so other's know about it. Then we'll put it with the other important threads.

Yea add:

That it needs to be at 9600 and eassytherm only used comm ports 1-4 so 9 like showing will not work. Also the "ports" in device manager will not evebn show up if you do not have somthing pluged in to the computer.

ASK ME HOW I KNOW THIS?????

lol

9600 is the common default unless you use the MSII downloader, then you have to change it.
The com ports don't show up unless the device is plugged in because the com port isn't being used.
If you need a com port outside of 1-4 no you cannot use easytherm but you can use the MSII downloader to flash the .s19 file that easytherm creates to pretty much any com port you desire.
Good info.

thanks i wanna tell something too i have laptop and it dont have com ports i bougt usb to serial converter and i had to many problems whatever i did i couldn't connect to ecu so that i bought pcmcia to serial converter from ebay now i dont have any problem i prefer pcmcia one

Did your laptop come with "shift" "," or "." keys?

yes it come with all why did you asked

Just wanted to check before a mod warned you for ignoring said keys.

too late.

:giggle:

Thanks. I see. :D

This applies much more to MS2 than MS1 due to the rates involved, but this article by Maxim (who make the serial chips) describes the mechanism by which poor accuracy of clock rates causes data corruption and failure of the comms link.

http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm...te_number/2141

MS2 serial clock is pretty accurate, but many cheap USB adapters and laptop built in ports are not so good. As you can see, there isn't much room for error.

Compounding this is the fact that most devices do not report framing errors. I'm not sure what MS2 code variants do with the framing errors, however they do have access to that information on the ECU side even if your PC is not reporting/logging it.

Fred.

I haven't been able to connect to my Megasquirt. I'm using a serial to USB adapter, so maybe that is the issue. Have any of you guys had success with that? Do you guys have any suggestions, tips, or potential things to try? Here's the error I'm getting. :(

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj186/pdexta/ms.jpg

*edit- I've tried what the message tells me to try so that is not the issue, I'm not quite that retarded, I don't think.*

Just tried it on a different computer with a serial port and I get the same message. Still can't connect. If anyone has any ideas to try I'd appreciate it.

EDIT : you can't communicate with it until you have a port to communicate through! Something is wrong with your pc setup. Probably your usb serial is on com7 or something?

Original post : Ummm, did you load some code to it first? (they don't come with code 9/10, ms2 anyway)

The first time is always tricky, since you don't really know if it's the PC or the MS. My experience largely mirrors rb26dett's observations- that one way to be certain is to do a firmware download into the MS.

If you have a null modem available (and know what the hell one is) then you can verify your PCs serial port against another machine that way using HyperTerm or similar.

Looks like you've either configured MegaTune for the wrong COM port under Communications -> Settings, or you have a driver issue with the USB adapter.

To find out what port the USB adapter is using, first make sure the adapter is plugged in and its light is on. Then right-click My Computer and select Manage. Select Device Manager at the left, then scroll down the right hand column until you find the entry that says "Ports (COM & LPT)". Click the plus sign next to it. You should see an entry that looks like "USB Serial Port (COMx)" where x is the number of the port it has grabbed.

If it's one of the DIYAutoTune.com USB adapters and it's not showing up in the Device Manager, grab the driver from our website.

If it's grabbed a port number higher than 4, I recommend changing it to a lower number. Double-click the USB Serial Port item. Then select the Port Settings tab at the top of the box that pops up and click the button marked Advanced. You will see a new screen where you can specify the COM port number; set it to a number less than 5 that is not already in use. Then click OK to close that screen, and OK to close the Properties box. This will set your USB adapter to a lower port number.

Yeah... I'm a complete computer noob, the majority of what you guys are saying looks like Chinese to me. I haven't loaded any code to the MS, I'll try to figure that out tonight and see if I make any progress. Thanks for the input, if you guys think of anything else, or have any tips or suggestions I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks so much man that will certainly help out a lot! :bowdown:

Could my data cable be bad? Maybe the port on the MS or computer? I'm trying to hook up my MSPNP to my laptop with a serial port, but should the port only show up when the MS is plugged in? Because there is a port listed, but nothing changes when I plug in the MS.

I specify com2 which is the only port that could be it (at least i'm pretty sure that is it) and I even changed the one port from com1 to com2 to check to see if that had anything to do with it. Still no dice.

I'll give diyautotune a call tomorrow, but I wanted to check on here to see if anyone can point me in the right direction, I'm stumped.

No. RS-232 is a very "dumb" standard- it is not like USB, where the port is only "active" when something is plugged in. The computer has no way of knowing whether a peripheral is connected- the port will show up in Windows' device manager list all the time.

Well then that means that the megasquirt is somehow not giving any signal to the port, or the port is dead, or I could be missing something very trivial.

Was I supposed to download any kind of separate driver for the computer to recognize megasquirt? Other than the megatune install stuff. As it is now nothing happens what so ever when the MS is plugged in, and like I said, I changed the port numbers around and set megatune to try to connect with the said port, but no luck.

There was another error message that came up on my last try, but I didn't get a screenshot so I'll take a look tomorrow. Something about different files on the MS not corresponding... But then after that warning I tried to connect and it still didn't recognize the MS.

If you're having trouble connecting, try the Port Check utility with the MSPNP connected and powered up. It will answer back with what port it is connected to.

Thanks, I used the port check to verify the port, and it turns out that it was connected correctly.

But now I'm getting this warning message:

Controller code version does not match signiature in MSnS-extra.ini

Expected “MS/extra format hr_10**********” (found in ini file)
Reveived “MS1/extra format 029y3*********” (from controller)

Table coruptoion may occur, this is usually a very serious problem

Terminate megatune now?

Any thoughts? Update the MS firmware?

Whoo I went and answered my own question!

Updated the MS firmware and everything is good now. Well, by good I mean I can now concentrate on my two new non MS problems.

Sometimes the simplest solutions are what you need. :)

I have a MS2 and I thought I'd found a nice little power brick that worked and during the creation of the MS it did happily. Fast forward till after I received the MS back from Richy who helped me out because of my cackhanded soldering, and I kept getting lots of odd com port errors:
http://giryan.me.uk/MegaSquirt/MS2-screenshot-1.jpg
http://giryan.me.uk/MegaSquirt/MS2-screenshot-2.jpg
http://giryan.me.uk/MegaSquirt/MS2-screenshot-3.jpg

Today I bought a new 9 battery to try as a last ditch attempt and it just worked, straight away, no problems.

trying to get a response from mspnp. ive changed the com port multiple times. ive ran the PortCheck Utility and says No connection made, then says 2 valid ports available, one being the female VGA port and the other com1(the one i set it on, itll do 2 and 4 also).

Any advice?

If Port Check finds a VGA port, something's weird with your computer. Could you please post a screen shot of Port Check?

got them communicating, updated the software from DIYAutoTune.com Megasquirt Kits / Assembled Engine Management Systems, Wideband o2 Sensor Systems and tuning products to 061608 build and it works fine :)

This post should be stickied! Great reference.

Where are you gus going to be able to choose the port etc ?

I have XP and have no clue where this is.

My MS was shelved for two mo and now out of the blue the lap top will not talk to Megatune but it talks to Log Works WTF ?!

Thanks

Go into your system properties.
Fastest way to get there is to hold down the windows key and then press "pause break"
Go to hardware> device manager> click the + on Ports (COM & LPT) you should see your port in there right click > properties > I beleive it's under port settings and then click on advanced.. cant remember off the top of my head..

Thanks but Ports is not listed on the tree. It starts with battery goes on to lism mouse etc. I clicked and expanded every single one but I don't see anything that mentions ports USB or anything related.
What else could it be under ?
can I do a desk top search ?

thanks again

Sounds like you need to re-install some drivers.

Are there any yellow triangles with an exclamation (!) point in them?

No, no yellow triangles.

I intalled the drivers that came with the usb to RS232 cable and it still does not talk to MS.

Does your computer make the "ding dong" sound when you plug the USB adapter in? if not it isnt being detected. If you dont have USB listed in your device manager something isnt right.
Installing the USB adapter driver should have added a com port into your device manager.
What kind of laptop is it?

Yes, it makes the bling/dong sound with the original adapter and with the new one.

I was able to connect to Log works but when I closed out of the program it was over. I went back after dinner to try to connect to Log works but neither cable would work.

Log works only seems to have the option to connect via one port. It just shows a number but I don't know how it comes up with the particular port.

The lap top is an old Dell Inspiron 1200.

Do I need to supply power to the MS before the laptop will recognize it? Is the power supplied through the ECU harness or the serial port?

The car has to be in the on position before your computer will see it. The ECU gets power from the car, not the laptop.

Yes.


Through the DB-37 connector.

Alright thanks for the heads up, was just curious because I know you can get a small amount of power over serial. Lookin' to be up and running by the weekend :D

Having a similar problem, the laptop is recognizing my usb to serial adapter when plugged in but no driver has worked for it, even the driver sent with the cable, when i open device manager on my windows (xp) it shows up the yellow triangles which i assume is a problem with the driver?

I don't remeber exactly how it went but I drove myself nuts with something I thought was device manager related.
It turns out that device manager will only display things correctly when the cable is plugged in.

well i have the usb to serial cable plugged in and it still shows no driver for it, or i assume thats what the yellow triangle is. It also wont communicate with the MS1 or megatune likewise

Do you have the DIY adapter or another brand ?

Their adapter comes with the driver and the driver can also be down loaded from the DIY site.

The DIY site also has a utility that helps you sort out comm problems - don't know what it is called.

I had problems connecting to Megatune only using a Rat Schack cable/adapter but was able to connect to Tuner Studio. When I got the DIY adapter I was able to connect to both programs.

You may want to email matt. He helped me out a lot with my issues ( matt@diyautotune.com )

awesome thanks for the info

I was trying to post the link to the com Check thing but it seems to be part of the software on DIY software page.

Did you make any progress ?

still no progress, it just keeps showing that the driver isnt installed. after the 3534535 time trying to install it

If you have DIY's adapter you can also down load the driver straight from them....

Did you do searches under "Communication Problems" and stuff like that. I think we have had issues with connectivity.

Also check Miata.Net

i believe its the usb-serial adapter im using, crap, im going to just get DIY's adapter

:ugh2:Chances are good that it will solve your problems

thanks for the help man....:bigtu:

No problemo :x:

I'm stumped.

I haven't tried to connect to my MS in a few months but last time I did everything was fine.... Today I can't connect to Logworks,Megatune or Tuner Studio.

Tried all the ports, tried Ports Check and it tells me there are 2 ports open. The lap top makes that "Bing" sound when I plug and unplug the cable.

I downloaded the driver for my adapter from DIY again and I still can't connect to any of the above programs !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :vash:

What port is the USB adapter using?

Hi Matt!! :wavey:

The lap top has 3 USB ports in the back. I don't know how it assigns numbers or designations to them but I tried all of them.

The ports work for other things like a wireless mouse...

Any stuff I can try ?

What type of laptop do you have? I would suggest trying a different laptop and see if that works. You might also want to go to a local goodwill and see if they have any old laptops for sale. I recently picked one up for $25 that had a real serial port and it works great for running TunerStudio.

Thanks!! It is a Dell Inspiron 1200. It is pretty old.

I meant the COM port number, sorry for not making that clear.