ADS - INPA interface

[rv8flyboy]

Just found this web page about changing the dll file that controls what comm port is used in ADS mode, I have no experience with it (yet) but it looks interesting/promising.

http://blog.jaroslavklima.com/2011/0...th-pcmcia.html

please post if you try and it works for ya.

[Beemer187]

Just found this web page about changing the dll file that controls what comm port is used in ADS mode, I have no experience with it (yet) but it looks interesting/promising.

http://blog.jaroslavklima.com/2011/0...th-pcmcia.html

please post if you try and it works for ya.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1633825

[BIG 5]

Has anyone downloaded the patch file that allows a PCMCIA-Serial adapter to work using ADS interface? Gert, for cars like 2000 Z3 that have both 20-pin ADS and OBD port, can all modules be accessed using the OBD port on car or does the 20-pin round port need to be used? I'm asking because I heard that when a vehicle has both the OBD & 20-pin round that the 20-pin usually allows access to all the modules where the OBD may or may not. Gert how does your interface compare to the one on ebay below?

[rv8flyboy]

Well, IMHO, the reason BMW puts a 20 pin round in the car is that there are probably modules in the car that need both the K line and L line.

K-line only interface won't wake up the modules that require the L-line.


I do not know how it compares as I have not tested it, I believe David Mc has. It is based on the same document as mine. That is pretty much all i know.

mine has a manual reset switch for the Service Interval timer, not sure if the one shown has one.

I have a few more blinky lights... does that count too??

[David Mc]

I have just completed a review of Gert's ADS/OBD interfaces and they are absolute crackers! The review can be found here http://www.repairdynamics.com/Rv8flyboy_Review.pdf for those that are interested.

Has anyone downloaded the patch file that allows a PCMCIA-Serial adapter to work using ADS interface? Gert, for cars like 2000 Z3 that have both 20-pin ADS and OBD port, can all modules be accessed using the OBD port on car or does the 20-pin round port need to be used? I'm asking because I heard that when a vehicle has both the OBD & 20-pin round that the 20-pin usually allows access to all the modules where the OBD may or may not. Gert how does your interface compare to the one on ebay below?

I rate this interface about 6/10, compared to Rv8flyboy's at least 9.3/10 .

[ZGator]

Thanks for the review, it was interesting seeing pics of the yellow OEM, original fister, the older Gert, and the newer Gert interfaces. I assume Gert knew or collaborated with fister - at least through forums - I am sorry for being nosy, but the whole openecu.org, now closed, kinda secretive, fister missing, maybe ill, reverse engineering, history of it all is rather fascinating to me. Gert I thank you for providing such a nice kit at reasonable price - as well as the document in deutsch which seems to be the basis for all above cables.

I will contact rv8flyboy to see if I can get a kit - the price is the cheapest out there to get ADS interface - and I have spent some time looking - granted you do need to put it together..

I have some questions:

I read from another document that anytime you (1) have a 20 pin ADS and (2) pin 15 is present then you need an ADS interface - can you confirm that? (I checked my 2000 Z3 and indeed pin 15 was present - and this seems to confirm what I have read that to access all modules I will need the ADS interface.) I would guess that pin 15 is the L wakeup line?

When I do switch into OBD mode do I need to use the OBD 16 pin vs ADS 20 pin port? (I wanted to use PROGMAN on my z3 with rv8flyboy interface for example)

Why would you rate the rv8flyboy over the other ebay type? Anything in particular?

[David Mc]

If you have power on pin 15, you will need an ADS interface to access all modules. The round 20 pin port was deleted from later cars, so an adapter cable to connect to the 16 pin port will allow you to use Gert's interfaces with these cars. If you have a round 20 pin port, you will always be better off using that than a 16 pin, particularly with earlier cars where OBD requirements did not require access to all modules via the 16 pin OBD port.
Why are these interfaces better? They have the ability to detect true ignition signal, are not manufactured using surface mounted electronic components (therefore they are robust and repairable) and they have a switch for service interval resets. The external housings are also far more likely to survive in a workshop environment in the long haul.

[m2pc]

If you have power on pin 15, you will need an ADS interface to access all modules. The round 20 pin port was deleted from later cars, so an adapter cable to connect to the 16 pin port will allow you to use Gert's interfaces with these cars. If you have a round 20 pin port, you will always be better off using that than a 16 pin, particularly with earlier cars where OBD requirements did not require access to all modules via the 16 pin OBD port.
Why are these interfaces better? They have the ability to detect true ignition signal, are not manufactured using surface mounted electronic components (therefore they are robust and repairable) and they have a switch for service interval resets. The external housings are also far more likely to survive in a workshop environment in the long haul.

I'd be more concerned with cheap eBay junk that's poorly made than surface mount components. Have you opened up any of the OEM modules like the DME or the OBC? Those are almost entirely surface mount.

[BIG 5]

Hats off to you David Mc for taking the time to provide the rest of us with such an informative review. I went ahead and purchased Gert's interface & have yet to use it due to my vMware laptop not having a serial port. I am in the midst of installing a PCMCIA card. Quick question: Will Gert's interface allow DIS v44 to autodetect ADS (pin 15 present) vehicles?

[colo525i]

Question to the more experienced. Just got gert's interface, this thing is well worth the money, well built piece of kit.

Some modules aren't responding, (ZKE). The DME also doesn't respond in INPA, but does respond in DIS.

I have the serial port at 9600 N/8/1 FIFO buffers at 8. Anything else i should be looking at?

[David Mc]

I'd be more concerned with cheap eBay junk that's poorly made than surface mount components. Have you opened up any of the OEM modules like the DME or the OBC? Those are almost entirely surface mount.

True, BMW's do contain surface mounted electronics, which require proper assembly techniques for reliable operation but how many people do you know who can service individual components on these boards? Since they are generally soldered using a special paste and a temperature controlled environment (which is beyond the skill of most hobbyists), repair generally requires factory replacement of an entire board vs replacement of a single discretely mounted component at a fraction of the cost. Even a simple dry joint can be the death knock for a surface mounted component board vs re-flowing a discrete component board. Quality control does not even seem to exist in some of the factories selling stuff on Ebay, where your warranty often expires as soon as the vendor has your money.

Both Gert's interfaces auto detected the test car in DIS, which seems to contain some data files that are missing from INPA for some vehicle configurations.

[ptikkala]

can you use that cable thru usb-serial? Or do you need oldie computer?

[David Mc]

A computer with a true serial port is my preference, but you can read more here http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1633825

[betaruce]

sorry to ask a silly ques
what is the difference of the more expensive OBD+ADS interface with those cheaper OBD interface? as they look alike with simliar plugs on both ends? and both need to connect to the car with a 20pin to OBD2 adapter cable??

[David Mc]

ADS interfaces can communicate with all modules on earlier BMWs like the E36, which use both the K and L data lines, OBD interfaces only use the K data line.

[rv8flyboy]

@ ptikkala, read post 28 in this thread, on the first page, regarding why serial-usb adapters are a problem.

I can say this, Quatech ssp-100 PCMCIA card will do, with some fiddling, 0x3f8 and irq 4. I was also pleasantly surprised that with the Quatech i could see more modules on my car than with the build-in DELL serial port. Their support sucks though. I tested this on both a D820 and a C640 laptop.

Yes I had many a musing with Ken Fister, who encouraged me at the time to go the route i did for my interface. Sadly he went AWOL at the start of the development.
Anyway, Ken figured out that certain modules, especially on older cars have odd/non standard baud rates for communication. He wrote some special ADS32.dll files to handle those situations. Sadly the standard multi i/o chip in my Dell Laptops doesn't seem to handle these baudrates gracefully.

Interestingly, I have a serial port sniffer, when I start the sniffer, certain modules communicate, but only on the D830 laptop. the C640 does not seem to have enough horsepower.

Also, on the C640, I get better results when i shut the wi-fi network card down, so more computing power goes to the VMware network. Go figure.

[betaruce]

I have just completed a review of Gert's ADS/OBD interfaces and they are absolute crackers! The review can be found here http://www.repairdynamics.com/Rv8flyboy_Review.pdf for those that are interested.


I rate this interface about 6/10, compared to Rv8flyboy's at least 9.3/10 .

this interface from eBay looks convenient as it can be connected to either 16pin or 20pin (so we don't have to make another cable)?
but they are not as good as Gert's one because of the following reason?

Why are these interfaces better? They have the ability to detect true ignition signal, are not manufactured using surface mounted electronic components (therefore they are robust and repairable) and they have a switch for service interval resets. The external housings are also far more likely to survive in a workshop environment in the long haul.

[David Mc]

This interface is a clone of the do-it auto ADS/OBD interface, it does not have the ability to reset service intervals and construction is as above. In terms of quality, they feel like toys compared with Gert's interfaces.

[betaruce]

ordered one of Gert's interface and pending it to come. can't wait to try it!

i want to buy a PCMCIA card adapter as my notebook (IBM T40, win XP) don't have serial port.

wanna ask does the num of bits (16 or 32bits) and the type (I,II,III) or other spec of the adapter matters?
or i could just buy any PCMCIA-to-RS232 card?

[rv8flyboy]

"wanna ask does the num of bits (16 or 32bits) and the type (I,II,III) or other spec of the adapter matters? or i could just buy any PCMCIA-to-RS232 card?"

It does not matter for the serial port function, ADS or OBD, this would be strictly a software driver function, the part that interfaces with the hardware on the PCMCIA card and the operating system.

IMHO, as long as the driver allows 0x3F8 and IRQ 4 u should be golden. I have downloaded the software from here http://blog.jaroslavklima.com/2011/0...th-pcmcia.html but have not tried it out as I can get the Quatech SSP100 to go to the above mentioned adress and IRQ.

[betaruce]

how do you get your Quatech SSP100 to go to the above mentioned adress and IRQ?

I tried Jarda's program but no success yet. so want to know your way.

I got your interface and do the connection, your interface could show the ignition on but not in INPA, so it must be the problem in setting those address/IRQ

[rv8flyboy]

In Device manager, Multi-port serial adapters, Quatech ssp-100, Resources tab (SSP-100 has to be inserted and recognized)

Settings based on: Override configuration 3 or 4, if i remember correctly,
just check out the various Override configs, one of them is the correct one

[betaruce]

In Device manager, Multi-port serial adapters, Quatech ssp-100, Resources tab (SSP-100 has to be inserted and recognized)

Settings based on: Override configuration 3 or 4, if i remember correctly,
just check out the various Override configs, one of them is the correct one

how about your BIOS setting?


when I plug in the PCMCIA-RS232 adapter, it reads "High speed communication port (COM26)" in the device manager under the item "Ports (COM & LPT)", but 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


I am not sure if I did anything wrong, as there is no resources tab in the former one....
but in that case should I change the latter one to 03F8 and IRQ4?
yet there is 2 IO range I duno if that matters....

[betaruce]

just find that after i plug in the pcmcia adapter, besides the "high speed com port (com26)" was shown in device manager (but no resources tab), there is also another item called "serial pc card" with resources tab.

i can set this item's irq to 4 but cannot set the address to 03f8 despite it is not occupied (checked in winmsd)
device manager only allow me to set it to 03f0-03ff, but 03f6 is occupied by primary ide channel thus it keep saying the setting is wrong...

any ideas? thanks.

[rv8flyboy]

in the bios u will need to make sure that comm 1, 0x3f8 and irq4 are free.

I found that although laptops do not have a physical serial port, they still have multi-i/o chips that can occupy that address space.

On my laptop I made the build-in serial port comm 2, then i had to go into XP and rename comm 1 to comm 2. XP names the first available comm port comm 1, regardless of what it really addresses. so first move motherboard serial port to comm2 (in my case) , then start XP, rename comm1 to comm 2.

reboot, check 2 make sure comm 1 is now available. insert quatech. make sure it is recognized. then go to the device manager and after making sure no other serial port is comm 1, set quatech to one of the Override options that contains the 0x3f8 and irq4 option. rename quatech port to comm 1

reboot and make sure all settings stayed. Thats what worked for me. If at any oint the laptop hangs just remove the quatech and reboot, redo the process.


i can make some screen shots but that will have to wait till I am back in town