club.liberty.asn.au

Guys, Tactrix cables are available here http://www.limitless.co.nz/cables/ $169US. Freight is cheaper from NZ

off you can do what BlackFlatSix05 does... steal other peoples

BlackFlatSix05 wrote:Guys, Tactrix cables are available here http://www.limitless.co.nz/cables/ $169US. Freight is cheaper from NZ

PM SENT

Guy's Tactrix 1.3U cables are available on ebay. The do the same job as the Openport 2 cable. They are fine for our cars they just don't work on the later CAN BUS Subaru's 08 onwards.

These cables may not be suitable for vehicles with SI drive. Thanks for that Parso_rex.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Tactrix- ... ccessories

I use a 1.3D cable which can just read the ECU but not write which is fine for me as I just want to monitor the ECU from the carpc

As Blackflat6 mentioned above its cheaper for us to get the cables from limitless.co.nz rather than tactrix.com simply because of the postage difference. Limitless offers a $10 postage option vs $30~40 from his and tactrix (however you don't get tracking etc.) .
You will need to get the open port 1.3U with the ecuflash licence key embedded if you wish to flash your car pre 07 car. Even better of course is the Openport 2.0 which is what I always recommend. There is another option but I consider that risky as it uses unsupported software so I won't include it
For the CAN based cars late 06 onward in the Libs you need the Openport 2.0

There is one extra benefit with getting the Openport 2 and thats onboard logging. This has only recently been released and requires a firmware upgrade of the Openport in order to support the feature.
Basically you setup a configuration file on your laptop then copy this across to the Openport's onboard micro SD card. This then tells the Openport what parameters to log. The logged data is stored on the card in .CSV file which you then analyse via the usual methods.

If your having your car done by westminist I'm thinking he might prefer to use the laptop for logging. I'm sure he could also arrange a config file for the Openports at a later date

I can do a full walkthrough if anyones interested


Mark

parso_rex wrote:As Blackflat6 mentioned above its cheaper for us to get the cables from limitless.co.nz rather than tactrix.com simply because of the postage difference. Limitless offers a $10 postage option vs $30~40 from his and tactrix (however you don't get tracking etc.) .
You will need to get the open port 1.3U with the ecuflash licence key embedded if you wish to flash your car pre 07 car. Even better of course is the Openport 2.0 which is what I always recommend. There is another option but I consider that risky as it uses unsupported software so I won't include it
For the CAN based cars late 06 onward in the Libs you need the Openport 2.0

.....

Mark

I'm guessing the method I use is the risky/unsupported one?

On the note about 1.3U requiring a license key - what exactly is this? Because I'm wondering if that was the issue I was having with the 1.3U cable I had - something to do with the license key? Because using the "risky" method I had no issues with voltage or anything, worked fine now for 3 different flashes

Well I think yours is an exception because it seem to work with the later software. The key is actually programmed in the onboard eprom inside the 1.3U. If you use an FTDI config tool you can change this but still it won't be recognised as the whole key is not modified. Maybe the ninjas flogging some of them on Ebay have discovered how to do the full key properly.
I know your works but I wouldn't want to tell someone to use that method then have their car f@#k up as it would look really bad on my part. I still only trust the cables that were designed to be used with that software plus it gives me some recourse for support if something dies.

I've still got to look at your files too hopefully this afternoon tonight

Mark

Ahh I see what you're saying now... I can certainly understand where you are coming from with regards to supporting.

From the hardware point of view though, if both cables are configured for ISO9141-2, which if i'm correct read/writes to the ECU via the K line (Pin 7) how do they configure the software to only talk with a tactrix cable? I take it that it is done within the FT232RQ chip? (this is the EEPROM?)

Because looking at the "other" schematic it seems a far simpler implimentation to allow communication to K line. Therefore if this key/logic isn't even there, if the software can't read a license key, does that mean it should Not work? Or with the different hardware, it simply means it isn't looking for the key with the different EEPROM, and thus why its working?
(note I dont quite understand ALL of the components shown, thus the question)

Tactrix 1.3 schematic


"Other" schematic
http://www.planetfall.com/obdii/schematic_b1.pdf

The licence key is soted within the FTDI FT232 chip itself. The software looks at this to see if the key is valid. Actually I remember reading somewhere that this might have been canned when the openport 2 came out.

The tactrix cables s a bit more sophisticated than that one better interface higher speed etc

Has anyone purchased a cable from them( http://www.limitless.co.nz/cables/ )if so any problems, or are they OK to deal with as Iam going to buy one
Thanks George

Lib 3.0LR wrote:Has anyone purchased a cable from them( http://www.limitless.co.nz/cables/ )if so any problems, or are they OK to deal with as Iam going to buy one
Thanks George

Yep see the posts above. Go an openport 2.0 if you can afford it if not a openport 1.3U and chose the $10 postage option. Don't add in the optional logger program its a piece of shit

parso_rex wrote:The licence key is soted within the FTDI FT232 chip itself. The software looks at this to see if the key is valid. Actually I remember reading somewhere that this might have been canned when the openport 2 came out.

Well it would kinda make sense that the valid key part was removed if I can use the "other" however that obviously wasnt the issue with the 1.3U cable I had then - I think that may have had hardware issues that cable, was fairly old in thinking about it now.

parso_rex wrote:The tactrix cables s a bit more sophisticated than that one better interface higher speed etc

Well, the schematic I posted before, I dont think that is the one for my cable after a bit of research, but I still have no doubt the Tactrix is a better cable.

looks like prices have gone up...

http://www.limitless.co.nz/cables/

Is the correct one with this description?

OpenPort 2.0 Universal USB Cable
Datalogging and EcuFlash Reprogramming Cable.
Perfect Cable for Performance tuning your Evo5/6/7/8/9 yes Evo10 too! Also perfect for tuning with ecuflash your 2001+ Subaru WRX and STI vehicles. Works great with EvoScan v2.6 (only $20 with every cable purchase)

Includes a FREE Evo5/6/7/8/9 Reflash connector + FREE Subaru 2001-2002 WRX Reflash connector + FREE Subaru 2003-2005 WRX Reflash connector

EZ30RB wrote:looks like prices have gone up...

http://www.limitless.co.nz/cables/

Is the correct one with this description?

OpenPort 2.0 Universal USB Cable
Datalogging and EcuFlash Reprogramming Cable.
Perfect Cable for Performance tuning your Evo5/6/7/8/9 yes Evo10 too! Also perfect for tuning with ecuflash your 2001+ Subaru WRX and STI vehicles. Works great with EvoScan v2.6 (only $20 with every cable purchase)

Includes a FREE Evo5/6/7/8/9 Reflash connector + FREE Subaru 2001-2002 WRX Reflash connector + FREE Subaru 2003-2005 WRX Reflash connector

Hey Justin just looked at the one I got and I think it's the same, but price has gone up.
Cheers George.