SUCCESS: Interface in ADS mode without a real COM port [Archive] - Bimmerforums

jarda

04-06-2011, 07:12 PM

I am happy to report that I just got my ADS interface working with a laptop without a real COM port, all through a modification of EDIABAS files.

My setup is
- HP laptop without a real COM port
- cheap PCMCIA-SERIAL adapter that creates a virtual COM with wrong parameters (IRQ is not 4 and hw address is not 03F8)
- ADS interface
- 1998 BMW E38 (works in both ADS and OBD modes)
- 1993 BMW E36 (cannot work in OBD mode, only ADS)

I have yet to try the same approach with a USB-Serial interface.

I will post details as soon as I confirm that the method works on other laptops.

EDIT: no luck with USB adapters, PCMCIA works, update here http://blog.jaroslavklima.com/2011/04/make-ads-interface-work-with-pcmcia.html

jamie123

04-07-2011, 02:20 AM

cool!

randomy

04-07-2011, 10:06 AM

If you post the steps you performed, I can attempt to replicate and connect to an E36 with my ADS interface and post the results.

jamie123

04-07-2011, 10:33 AM

sweet as! im very interested to see this!

djscotch

04-08-2011, 03:25 AM

sweet as! im very interested to see this!

Me too!!:buttrock

vince59

04-08-2011, 09:31 AM

Randomy, I am a little bit OT, new on this forum but quite smart and confident with palyng with these toys I set up two pc and just using diaghead emulator everything works fine. I am waiting to get my actual interfaces. I bought three pieces form china, two com port and one usb port.
Now just a question to have my ideas clear.
Is there any actual adavntage in using an IBM t30 fort installing this stuff like DIS? when yes...why?
Thanks :redspot

vince59

04-09-2011, 06:38 AM

:confusedNon one reply thank you very much for your kind ccoperation....:confused

David Mc

04-09-2011, 07:37 AM

vince59

04-10-2011, 10:43 AM

Vince, IBM T30 is usually used for a native install using a yellow head. There is no advantage in using a T30 for a vmware installation of DIS, other than the fact that they have a genuine serial port.

Thank you very much!

OT: I loved my experiencein Australia, I spent 3 months for business down there..and it is fantastic....I really miss Australia :(

jarda

04-13-2011, 03:36 AM

So I have bad news (and some good news..)

I finally got a chance to test my tweak with a USB-Serial interface and it does not work.

The good news is that I have been successful with a different car, laptop and PCMCIA adapter.

The problem with the ADS interface is that its driver writes stuff to a certain hardware address directly. This is the address of the real COM1 port. Fake ports don't have the same address.

What I did was patch the ADS driver to target a different address. This works with a PCMCIA-Serial adapter, but not a USB-Serial adapter. It is because the PCMCIA serial port has its own hardware address, but USB devices don't.

I have made a program that allows you to input a new COM number and hardware address and then patches the ADS driver. I will post it here (probably in a couple of hours), I think it might be useful to some even if it does nothing for the USB adapters..

jarda

04-14-2011, 07:52 AM

I posted the tool on my blog.
http://blog.jaroslavklima.com/2011/04/make-ads-interface-work-with-pcmcia.html

If you have a PCMCIA adapter and an ADS interface, please tell me if it works for you.

betaruce

05-20-2011, 11:45 AM

i have ordered an ADS interface and also will buy a PCMCIA adapter for my notebook

anyone got any updates?

benemorius

05-20-2011, 03:35 PM

What I did was patch the ADS driver to target a different address. This works with a PCMCIA-Serial adapter, but not a USB-Serial adapter. It is because the PCMCIA serial port has its own hardware address, but USB devices don't.

I have made a program that allows you to input a new COM number and hardware address and then patches the ADS driver. I will post it here (probably in a couple of hours), I think it might be useful to some even if it does nothing for the USB adapters..

Perhaps if it can be patched to an address in ram then a utility could be written to relay ads commands to an arbitrary serial port. As far as I can see the only funky stuff it does in ads mode is toggle the tx pin directly to achieve insanely slow baud rates like 5bps. These cases could be ignored if not handled. Only the oldest of modules need initializations that slow. My windowsfu isn't good enough to approach this, but maybe someone can look in to it.

jarda

05-20-2011, 05:36 PM

i have ordered an ADS interface and also will buy a PCMCIA adapter for my notebook

anyone got any updates?

So far it seems that the patched driver works with all PCMCIA adapters. INPA works flawlessly, tool32 seems to work also, but NCS expert does not (I haven't tried to fix it yet).

RallyQ

05-20-2011, 07:10 PM

I'll give this a try and report back. Sounds like a great idea so far. Good work!

cheffi

05-21-2011, 06:37 AM

another way are modern thinkpads with a port replicator (docking station), works as well.. (tested on a x61)

LPCapital

05-23-2011, 04:08 PM

I have a person that I've helped install DIS to use on a 1997 Z3. I couldn't get it to read anything but the ECU so I suspected his car was on ADS. The interface he bought is both OBD and ADS, but he was connected via PCMCIA.

I will try to get in touch with him again and see if he's still in trouble and I'll try your tool... Thanks!!! I'll report back

jarda

05-23-2011, 04:34 PM

Please try it... I suspect it will be able to "read" but not code (INPA works, NCS expert does not... work in progress..)

LPCapital

05-23-2011, 06:54 PM

Unfrtunately it doesn't work. The PCMCIA card is recognized by Vista as USB-to-Serial. I can patch the driver, but when I reboot Vista says there's a problem with it. If I force it and start DIS once I hit diagnose Vista crashes and reboot...

Apparently the problem is with the PCMCIA card: it's based on the Prolific chipset which is a USB-to-serial adapter. I suspect the PCMCIA creates a USB connection so it doesn't work. I've noticed that various of the cards sold on eBay mention compatibility with the USB2.0 standard, because they are probably based on the Prolific chipset...

Anyone has a link to an eBay PCMCIA-to-Serial card recognized as such and that works with this patch?

jarda

05-24-2011, 04:39 AM

I don't understand the part "Vista says there's a problem with it"
What driver are you talking about? The tool patches only one file - the ADS32.DLL from EDIABAS/BIN ..... does Vista say anything about this file at startup? If yes, could you please post the error message?

LPCapital

05-24-2011, 12:08 PM

After I run your patch, in resource manager the driver for the USB-to-Serial (read on...) is shown as not properly working. If I try to either fix it or run the Diagnosis in DIS the computer crashes and restart. After restart the driver is back to fine.

As I mentioned the problem is likely with the hardware: the PCMCIA is based on the Prolific chipset which is a USB-to-Serial bridge, so even if physically is a PCMCIA, for Vista is viewed as a USB...

jarda

05-24-2011, 12:13 PM

I am sorry but I don't think my patch has anything to do with your "driver not working properly". It does not affect the driver at all, it just changes some things in ads32.dll to redirect EDIABAS (INPA, DIS....) traffic from real COM1 address to a different address (in this case the address of your virtual serial port). I don't think it even has the capacity to make your driver not work, be it Prolific USB-Serial or other.

LPCapital

05-24-2011, 12:17 PM

Well... I'm not sure what happens but as soon as I run your patch the driver stops working.

Nonetheless: when I right click on the properties of the virtual COM I don't get the resource tab anyway to pull the address from...

The person just bought a different PCMCIA card, but just a word of caution: some of the PCMCIA card sold on ebay, although they are packaged as a PCMCIA use the Prolific chipset and WILL be recognized by Windows as a USB-to-Serial.

I'll report back how it goes with the new card...

jarda

05-24-2011, 12:20 PM

I'll look into the pcmcia cards with prolific chip.

If you don't have the resources tab, what I/O address do you enter in the patch tool?

LPCapital

05-24-2011, 12:24 PM

I just left it as it was...

Here's an example: http://www.computercablesource.com/pcmcia-serial-port-adapter-expresscard-to-1x-serial-rs-232-db9-port-34mm-prolific-chipset-1688.html

You'll notice that in the description it mentions about being USB2.0 compatible...

jarda

05-24-2011, 12:26 PM

If you leave it as it is then it does not do anything (it rewrites parts of the ads32.dll file with the same numbers that are there already)

LPCapital

05-24-2011, 12:30 PM

Then I really have no idea what went wrong. I tried it twice and all I can say is that in both situations right after patching I went into device manager and the driver was not working (it was working before and never stopped working by itself)... Computer reboots if I either try to fix the driver or run the Diagnosis and then the driver is back working and remains that way...

But anyway... The patch is not compatible with the card anyway so no problems... We'll try with the next one

jarda

05-24-2011, 12:36 PM

OK, thanks for the feedback, I'll see what I can do about it...

LPCapital

05-24-2011, 12:38 PM

Tonight I'll try to replicate it on my own setup: I have a rael USB-to-Serial adapter based on the Prolific chipset as well. I see if the same thing happens...

betaruce

05-27-2011, 11:22 PM

i hv bought an ADS interface and also a PCMCIA->RS232 adapter

the adapter reads "High speed communication port (COM26)" in the device manager under the item "Ports (COM & LPT)"
it does not have the Resources tab

there is another item "PCMCIA adapters", under that with "Texas Instrument PCI 1520 cardbus controller"
this should be the socket that I plugged the adapter into
it has a resources tab
it has 2 IO range: FE00-FEFF, FD00-FDFF, and iRQ 11

does that mean i need to run the patch so that the ADS driver would point to the PCMCIA adapter? if yes, I don't know what I should type into Jarda's programe (which COM number? and which address as there is 2 IO range)
I tried COM1 with address FE00 or FDFF but no luck

betaruce

05-31-2011, 02:22 AM

any suggestions would be appreciated.....

cjbanas

06-03-2011, 12:47 PM

With a bunch of help (ok, truthfully I think I was mostly an observer) from LPCapital and your patch, I now have ADS working. I have a '97 Z3 and can run both DIS and INPA over the ADS connection. I have a Toshiba laptop (probably 3 or 4 years old) running Vista. We tried an import PCMCIA card that would not work. I am now using a StarTech card (model EC1S952) that works without a hitch. Thanks again!

CJ
Tampa

cornis

06-03-2011, 06:02 PM

Thanks jarda, your patch is awesome, my ADS interface works on ExpressCard->COM. :buttrock sometimes INPA shows strange errors, but working.

hakentt

06-04-2011, 01:41 AM

OK, thanks for the feedback, I'll see what I can do about it...

Can you read EGS computer on that 1993?

Orphee

07-25-2011, 04:57 AM

Hi, I post here what I said on the blog :

I saw your tool a few weeks ago and I decided to buy a PCMCIA to Serial adapter and the ADS/OBD2 interface.

Before appliying the patch :

When I plugged the serial adapter (without the cable just COM Port) launched INPA the Battery point was always ON and Ignition always OFF

I tried your tool but at the beginning I did not understand I had to find MY I/O Adress and not de default one (3DF8) set in the TOOL. So it did not work of course.

Mine was FDF8, I set the right value, I had to reboot because just after patch INPA was bugging "CreateFile_ERROR" at launch.

This error appears normally when COM port is not set on COM1.

So I rebooted my PC and retried INPA.

I don't have an old car right now to test but INPA does not show battery ON anymore. I think it is good now, I have to try :)

Thank you for your tool :)

Edit : It works in OBD mode on my 330ci E46 :)
So I guess it will work too in ADS :D

Fautzemann

09-01-2011, 03:45 PM

hello. i also have an e36 compakt 323ti
i would coding anything, but i can´t
can someone help?

jarda

11-05-2011, 07:07 AM

I am sorry I haven't had time to support the tool/users...

The current (and probably final) status is:

- works with adapters that create a serial port with an I/O address (many, but not all PCMCIA adapters, no USB adapters)
- INPA works, NCSEXPERT does not.
- works on all cars that support ADS mode

P2Hakes

11-29-2011, 12:07 PM

Just some feedback:

I had success with this card using the ADS patch
http://www.amazon.com/CablesToBuyTM-PCMCIA-RS-232-CardBus-Adapter/dp/B00241IRB2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322586208&sr=8-1

**seller ONBENE

using a true serial ADS interface on an acer laptop running 32-bit Win XP

fpschris

06-08-2012, 08:43 PM

jarda

06-09-2012, 06:50 AM

Thanks for telling me.. it seems that someone hacked into my FTP and uploaded a .htaccess file that redirects all requests for my tool to their website.

The link should work now.

fpschris

06-13-2012, 04:50 PM

Thanks, just having a play with an express card to see if I can get one working.

Just got obd running and connected so far on sss prog and dis on win7-64.

Working on the ads via usb-comm express card. I know there's a way.:buttrock

jarda

06-13-2012, 04:54 PM

Yes, there is a way - rewrite the ADS driver. There is a company that did it and sells ADS interfaces that work over USB (I don't remember the name; saw it at bmwecu.org about a year ago..)

mrf

08-31-2012, 04:21 PM

I bought this : http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-EXP15005-Express-MCS9901-Chipset/dp/B0026713WE/
One of the reviews said this about it :

So I have an old Sharp XE-A202 Cash Register that I usually have to bring home every time I want to add/update item prices since I only have a laptop with no serial ports at work. For about 5 years I've been searching for something that can connect my laptop to this register. Every USB to Serial port adapter did not work. Hell, even some express cards were just using USB to Serial hardware and ended up being an emulated port. This item truly IS a serial rs232 port. Worked perfectly with the cash register. My current laptop is running on Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. I had no problems installing the hardware and software for this device. Some people here have said it's a bit flimsy, so I just keep it in a really small, but strong cardboard box I had lying around. I haven't had any problems carrying this in a backpack with my laptop. I've had it for about a month now, still works like a charm.

Wonder if I'll get a resource tab with its own hardware address so it'll work with jarda's program.
EDIT - Yep! I've got a real serial address with it! Thank you very much jarda!
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-5CY2TDirT_s/UEpXZfUE-GI/AAAAAAAACHY/5q5TJQ6FT18/s931/Syba%25201%2520Port%2520Serial%2520Expresscard.jpg

davyM3

12-20-2012, 09:28 AM

Jarda,

Thanks for the nice utility worked great for me.

David

gpeterson

12-21-2012, 06:53 PM

I built an ADS interface that works well with all modules on my e36 when using a PC with a real COM port, but am having issues using a Syba PCIe serial card. I ran the ADS patch and INPA can see everything except the DME. Any ideas?

Orphee

03-21-2013, 07:30 AM

Hi,

I just bought a new computer, it don't have Express card slot...:(

USB serial adapters don't work, is there a chance something like this can do the trick ? :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-USB-2-0-To-Express-34mm-Card-Adapter-480MB-S-Transfer-Rate-Plug-and-Play-/250924464212?pt=US_Internal_Port_Expansion_Cards&hash=item3a6c437854

http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00080950.html
(http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00080950.html)

Orphee

04-15-2013, 04:30 PM

Hi,

I'm currently trying some experiment about ADS interface without a real COM port, with a USB to COM port...

I recently discovered in a virtual machine like Windows XP, you can connect the HOST COM port to the Virtual Machine COM port directy in VMWare settings...
I don't have a USB to COM port adapter currently, but I have my DCAN cable... (it use a USB to COM port emulation)

In my host machine, my DCAN cable emulated COM port don't have real hardware address, it don't have ressource tab too...
But when you link in to a Virtual Machine, in this virtual machine, the COM port in it has a real address, and the ressource tab here too !!

So I installed all INPA/Ediabas stuff in my virtual machine... Installed my USB COM port (DCAN cable) in the HOST machine, and used VMWare settings to link the COM1 port in the virtual machine (not the USB cable directly).

INPA works well with my DCAN cable in the VM.
The VM don't see the USB cable, in think it has a real COM port.
The ignition detection works well.
I installed ADS driver, and I tried to use jarda's patch to see if it works in the VM, and yes, it works, it finds the COM1 port, and finds the driver, and can patch it.

So now I just need to receive my USB to COM port to test my ADS interface with it...

If it works, I will have to make EasyDIS VM works INSIDE the XP VM. (You must have a good computer for this)
(In fact I already installed it, everything seems to work, but didn't try on the car yet.)

I'm not sure my explanations are clear... if not, I'll try to explain it better...

I'll keep you updated this evening if EasyDIS through XP VM works or not...

- - - Updated - - -

Some updates,

I finally succeeded to make EasyDIS work INSIDE the XP Virtual machine...
It was harder than I taught...

But in the end, it works...
Latest step is to try with the USB to COM port on HOST machine... It should work...

I can explain how I did if someone needs it.

Bye

Orphee

04-16-2013, 06:31 AM

Hello,

Here is a screenshot of my configuration (with DCAN cable connected to HOST machine currently)

453766

As you can see I have the following :
Host : Windows 7
VM1 : Windows XP
VM2 inside VM1 : EasyDIS

In the VM1, COM1 port with real hardware address, and behind, in VM2, EasyDIS connected to my car.

EasyDIS VM2 uses IFH service (VM1) to access COM1 VM1 port, and VM1 use linked COM1 port to access Host Windows 7 machine with USB/COM DCan cable.

Now i'm just waiting a USB to COM port to try it with ADS interface. I have an E36 '96 to try it.

Bye

benemorius

04-16-2013, 08:20 AM

Now i'm just waiting a USB to COM port to try it with ADS interface. I have an E36 '96 to try it.

I don't know off hand what DME will be in that e36, but it will be best for conclusive testing purposes to test it with a DME that is old enough to require a slow wakeup on the L bus since those seem to be the only modules which actually require the use of the direct hardware control used in the ADS ediabas driver.

I think it's the 40.1 DME and older that use the slow wakeup. If your setup works with one of those DMEs then it should be pretty safe to say that it will work with anything and is indeed a fully functional USB ADS setup.

I've tried what you're trying, but with virtualbox on a linux host. I don't remember the exact results so I'm interested to see yours, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't 100% successful since I'd have started a thread about it if it was.

Even if it didn't work for me, it could still work for you since the hardware api will be different. I'm pretty sure the reason that the ADS driver uses direct hardware control is because the only way to do the slow init at 5 baud is by toggling the TX pin manually. I don't know whether it is even possible to do that with a usb-serial adapter, but I'd like to think it is. If so, then all that's needed is to make sure that the manual toggling makes it all the way from the ADS driver in the virtual machine to the usb-serial adapter attached to the host. Since virtualbox is open source, that would seem to be possible to accomplish.

So even if initial tests are unsuccessful, we may finally have a way to fix it if the changes that need to be made are limited to the virtualization code and its device drivers.

Orphee

04-16-2013, 08:45 AM

The simple fact DIS can connect to the E36 car with my settings will be a success (ignition detection & co).

Currently, if you try ADS interface with USB COM port, it fails directly.

my E36 has the PIN 15, and needs an ADS interface, if the connection work, I'll do a quick test on all modules.

I cross my fingers

Edit :

I don't know how it works in Virtualbox, but in VMWare Workstation 9 (installed on host machine) I had to set some parameters to activate the VM configured like a real computer and not a VM.
The install of VMWare workstation 6.5 INSIDE VM1 failed without theses parameters because the installer detected it was in a VM.

If you can do the same with Virtualbox, and make VMWare 6.5 inside Virtualbox VM and fake VirtualBox VM as a real PC... maybe it could work with Virtualbox

benemorius

04-16-2013, 09:46 AM

The simple fact DIS can connect to the E36 car with my settings will be a success (ignition detection & co).

Sure, but if it can only connect to the same modules which an OBD interface could connect to, then nothing has been gained over a USB OBD interface setup.

I was just pointing out that if you are able to test one of the older DMEs then it will prove not only that something was gained, but that full, genuine ADS mode over USB had been gained. That's all.

I was able to connect to my e36 using a usb-serial adapter through virtualbox in ADS mode, but only to the same modules which I could already access with a normal USB OBD interface. There was no benefit to the virtualbox setup, despite the fact that it was, in fact, a successful setup. I'd have been better off with just an OBD interface and no virtualbox.

Orphee

04-16-2013, 10:20 AM

Ok I understand, we will know it soon.

vitch82

09-09-2013, 04:05 PM

hello

I have the same situation you had success with the patch? how?

- - - Updated - - -

i hv bought an ADS interface and also a PCMCIA->RS232 adapter

the adapter reads "High speed communication port (COM26)" in the device manager under the item "Ports (COM & LPT)"
it does not have the Resources tab

there is another item "PCMCIA adapters", under that with "Texas Instrument PCI 1520 cardbus controller"
this should be the socket that I plugged the adapter into
it has a resources tab
it has 2 IO range: FE00-FEFF, FD00-FDFF, and iRQ 11

does that mean i need to run the patch so that the ADS driver would point to the PCMCIA adapter? if yes, I don't know what I should type into Jarda's programe (which COM number? and which address as there is 2 IO range)
I tried COM1 with address FE00 or FDFF but no luck

hello

I have the same situation you had success with the patch? how?

benemorius

09-09-2013, 04:31 PM

the adapter reads "High speed communication port (COM26)" in the device manager under the item "Ports (COM & LPT)"
it does not have the Resources tab

there is another item "PCMCIA adapters", under that with "Texas Instrument PCI 1520 cardbus controller"
this should be the socket that I plugged the adapter into
it has a resources tab
it has 2 IO range: FE00-FEFF, FD00-FDFF, and iRQ 11

Can anyone confirm whether this is the expected result in the event that the PCMCIA card does not have a hardware I/O port for the serial port and cannot work with this patch tool? This seems likely to me but I'm not an authority on the subject and I don't have any PCMCIA cards to play with.

vitch82

09-10-2013, 06:45 AM

hello

i'am new in bimmerforums and i'am portuguese sorry for my inglish.

supposed when we insert the pcmcia serial adapter card in the device manager appears in item "pcmcia" to install the drives? why appears in item "ports" (com & ltp)?
in device manager in item "pcmcia" i have:
-controller O2micro OZ6933 cardbus with 2 address: FD00-FDFF; FC00-FCFF; IRQ 5
-another controller O2micro OZ6933 carbus with 2 address: FA00-FAFF; F900-F9FF; IRQ 11
-controller texas instruments pci-1410 cardbus with 2 address: F800-F8FF; F600-F6FF; IRQ 5-i think this is the wireless mini pci card controller.

my pcmcia serial adapter its this:
http://viewitem.eim.ebay.pt/PCMCIA-to-RS232-Serial-DB9-I-O-Card-Adapter-Notebook-PC/130569374155/item?transId=835682924003

the problem is my laptop or the adapter?

waiting for help

dfwarden

04-02-2016, 09:57 AM

I had success with this tool and:

Thinkpad T400s
Windows XP 32-bit Service Pack 3
StarTech "Native Expresscard RS232" (EC1S952) Expresscard34 serial adapter
INPA version 4.4.7 in ADS mode
1998 M3 (CD93, 04/98 build date)

328 Power 04

04-02-2016, 01:03 PM

Here's the thread I was looking for finally!

Yes, I have had success with mine as well,
details here
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2270258-HELP-WITH-INPA-DIS-on-an-E34&p=29159137#post29159137

2JZ E36

09-18-2019, 01:02 PM

I know this post is super old, but I think I found something very useful. The ADS interface uses the DriverNT.sys file, which directly accesses the COM Port. I actually found the source code for it. It was written by C't, which is a german computer magazine and they uploaded the source code on their website. I dont know much about driver programming, but I am sure there is somebody here who does. This might enable us to use virtual com ports like USB adapter or make it run on 64 Bit systems...

Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vuxvmZSX1DVlQCA5wv8NwUcG6Aimg6Tf

The comments (in the .h file) are in german, I can translate those if somebody is interested

2JZ E36

09-23-2019, 03:57 PM

So, I have good and bad news. Bad news: The DirectNT driver is only used to give full IO access to EDIABAS, all the other functions are unused. I thought that all communication goes through this driver, but this is not the case. To make USB work, the ADS32.dll will have to be reverse engineered. Good news: 64-Bit ADS is working with a modified DirectNT driver!

BC5 (only works with ADS) on Windows 10 64 Bit: https://i.imgur.com/tvq1IZ7.png