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Thread: Bad chinese K+DCAN cable - possible to fix it?

  1. #1
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    Bad chinese K+DCAN cable - possible to fix it?

    Hi,

    I too took my chances and lost... I have one of the dreaded white PCB boards with the big transistor. I tried everything and the cable is not rcognized by any software, including the dcan.exe tool used to set the correct mode.

    It had pins 7 and 8 soldered togethet and I removed that shunt for my 2009 E60. Still nothing.

    With INPA it did at one point show the ignition and key status, but that was all. For everything else I got a now connection or timeout error.

    I read about the white and green PCB and that some white ones work, especially if they have the small SMD transistor instead of the big one.

    My thoughts and questions are: does anypne know what the common defect of these white PCB is? Is it the big transistor? Is the Atmel not proframmed or defective?

    Perhaps the cable could be repaired, saving some money and hey, just for the sake of it...

    Regards,
    dazed1970

    - - - Updated - - -

    sorry about the typos... i am using a tablet

  2. #2
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    Giftschrank Projekt

  3. #3
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    Hi,
    Thanks for the reply. I already read and tried everything. The cable consists of a microcontroller that implements the k+dcan protocol and has a rs232 interface for pc communication. This goes straight to the FTDI rs232 to usb converter. This is working fine, at least for me. The problem is with the communication to the microcontroller (atmel chip i think). I asume it is powered by the obd2 port and some component on the pcb is broken.

    What is the reference on the small transistor, which was replaced on the white board with the big one? Perhaps the specs are out of limit...

    Regards,
    dazed1970

    - - - Updated - - -

    look here, where it says good diode

    http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/1941441184_1/Wholesales-with-white-board-For-BMW-INPA-K-DCAN-INPA-K-CAN-USB-Interface-Coder-Scanner.jpg

    I believe this is the culprit of all faulty cables and an easy soldering job. I just need to know what the good diode/transistor reference is.

    - - - Updated - - -

    i hope the link is not against any forum rule... is so, my apology

    - - - Updated - - -

    http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2023829-Warning-my-generic-K-DCAN-cable-burned-out

    seems that the big thing is a power regulator to obtain the 5V... even worse than I thought

    - - - Updated - - -

    Took the cable apart again and checked:

    7805 voltage regulator indeed. This is used to provide stable 5V to the Atmel controllers. These are powered by the car and not by the USB port. The reason seems to be the evolved architecture: the interface started out as a pure RS-232 interface, the FTDI 232-to-USB has been added later.

    There is a diode close by, an SS14, which I suspected could be dead, but using a simple measurement, it seems to be OK, delivering the same aproximate results as a similar working SS14 on an old motherboard. I'm not swapping the diode, as I think this is not the bad component.

    I believe that there is something preventing the FTDI chip to talk to the Atmel controller. This is not a problem with the PC to FTDI chip connection, but rather from the FTDI chip to the Atmel. I'm tired now, but I will investigate further.

    I read all existing posts on all relevant forums about these white PCB cables and one thing that annoys me is that people do not give any feedback on how the story ended!

    Also, I am annoyed to see that apparently the same cable is sold from 15 Euro to 65 Euro! They all look the same, except some are white PCB, others are green PCB. What do the expensive cable have, which the cheap ones don't? Better quality control?

    How can one be sure to get a good cable from a seller on eBay or Amazon, if the pics look all the same? Example: one of the recommended Amazon sellers has pictures showing the white PCB with the big fat 7805 on it. How can that be a good cable?

    Something is fishy and I want to clear this one up!

    Regards,
    dazed1970

  4. #4
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    I gave up and returned the cable...
    ...and just ordered a green PCB one. Hopefully this one works.

    My suspicion right now is this: the big fat 7805 regulator is hand soldered on the white PCB. Excess heat may have interrupted one of the traces in the inner layers, so the Atmel controllers are not working properly.

    Cheers,
    dazed1970

  5. #5
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    Hey,

    Just a little update:

    1) I returned the white PCB cable and got a refund - lots of wasted time, but at least I got my money back!
    2) I bought a new cable with green PCB on eBay (asked the seller before placing the order) for aprox. 28 Euro + 7 Euro shipping (Gemany based, shipping to Portugal). This cable worked right away, plus I got a much better DVD (wasn't necessary, though, as I had everything installed, already).
    3) I managed to achieve my goal of unlocking the DVD IN MOTION function.

    I used a video on Youtube as a guide, but had to use my head, too. Some details were wrong on the video and my CIC module is CIC.1A instead of CIC.09. I now understand what it means.

    Everything working!

    Lesson 1: stay away from the white PCB cables
    Lesson 2: you don't need to buy a cable for over 65 Euro - there are cheap ones for under 30 Euro which work just fine

    Cheers,
    vma

  6. #6
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    upload the picture of green PCB cable?

    Quote Originally Posted by dazed1970 View Post
    Hey,

    Just a little update:

    1) I returned the white PCB cable and got a refund - lots of wasted time, but at least I got my money back!
    2) I bought a new cable with green PCB on eBay (asked the seller before placing the order) for aprox. 28 Euro + 7 Euro shipping (Gemany based, shipping to Portugal). This cable worked right away, plus I got a much better DVD (wasn't necessary, though, as I had everything installed, already).
    3) I managed to achieve my goal of unlocking the DVD IN MOTION function.

    I used a video on Youtube as a guide, but had to use my head, too. Some details were wrong on the video and my CIC module is CIC.1A instead of CIC.09. I now understand what it means.

    Everything working!

    Lesson 1: stay away from the white PCB cables
    Lesson 2: you don't need to buy a cable for over 65 Euro - there are cheap ones for under 30 Euro which work just fine

    Cheers,
    vma
    Would you please upload the picture of green PCB cable? Do you mean any one of the following pictures?
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Austingreen; 01-30-2015 at 04:47 AM. Reason: upload pictures

  7. #7
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    Hi,

    Yes. The cable I have now is the transparent one with green PCB and silver cable.

    This one worked right away.

    The one I had before was in transparente case and silver cable, but had a white PCB. That one was faulty, as most seem to be, according to what I read on several forums.

    Regrads,
    dazed1970
    My cars: BMW 520D (F11 - 2015)
    Regular Hobby: Satellite TV, hacking & modding, electronics...

  8. #8
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    The green pcb it's genuine and all others are clone of ftdi chipset.
    I have the solution to fix this fake kdcan,
    Is just changing the vid or PID for the number that the original have by default.
    This can be done editing the 2. Ini files and putting the PID and vid numbers of our kdcan.
    How to know our PID and vid (product ID and vendor id)?
    Just by using the software Usbview.

    After that edition just run the installer ftdi

  9. #9
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    Mobydick: that was not the issue with my cable. The FTDI chip was correctly recognized and the driver worked. It was the Atmel chips that did not respond. I had the correct PID and VID numbers, too.

    Cheers,
    dazed1970
    My cars: BMW 520D (F11 - 2015)
    Regular Hobby: Satellite TV, hacking & modding, electronics...

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by dazed1970 View Post
    Mobydick: that was not the issue with my cable. The FTDI chip was correctly recognized and the driver worked. It was the Atmel chips that did not respond. I had the correct PID and VID numbers, too.

    Cheers,
    dazed1970
    I have one of these with the white PCB.

    Sadly it doesn't work for me either. Always got a "no-connection".

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by dazed1970 View Post
    Mobydick: that was not the issue with my cable. The FTDI chip was correctly recognized and the driver worked. It was the Atmel chips that did not respond. I had the correct PID and VID numbers, too.

    Cheers,
    dazed1970
    One version of the FTDI drivers would intentionally brick fake FTDI chips, but otherwise the fake FTDI chips are generally indistinguishable from the legit chips and are recognized by the drivers just fine. For K-Line stuff, you could just buy a normal serial cable and then the cheapie developer FTDI USB-RS232 cable from a legit vendor like Digikey.

  12. #12
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    I have exactly the same problem with my white board cable. In the cable description said: models before 2008. I suppose that atmega firmware does not support dcan protocol in our cable. The d-can utility can only turn off green led and ahow error cable not connected. May be cheaper cables have different firmware.

  13. #13
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    quick question: Did anybody have had a problem with a sub 50€/$ k+DCAN cable closing the connection or losing the connection to the car? Like error 009 timeout?

  14. #14
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    i have fixed my cable with white board. I just buy new cable. Exactly this - http://ru.aliexpress.com/item/Best-P...pNumber=706066. This cable with green board and same price. DCAN.exe working ok with this cable. The cable works with old drivers from white cable (be careful with version ftdi drivers must be older 1.10.2014 otherwise new drivers from ftdi reprogram vid and pid in ftdi chip)
    Last edited by pistoletov; 11-20-2015 at 05:35 AM.

  15. #15
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    switch mode k+dcan cable i'm using
    http://www.obd2express.co.uk/wholesa...expressuk.html
    it' good
    physically connect (K-Line) or disconnect (DCAN) pin 7&8

  16. #16
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    Do you have a contact so we can talk pls? I have a question

  17. #17
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    Hello I finally received cable but now I have different problems, the cable is not working. I follow all instructions closely but I just can't make him work. I also tried on two different laptops with different windows but results are same. When I open INPA battery and ignition are just flashing relay fast on-off and it's same when is cable connect to car or disconnected. And when I open DCAN Utility I just get error: Timeout answers. Can you please help me to resolve this problems?
    Last edited by MilanZ; 07-02-2020 at 08:26 PM.

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