Cannot get PA Soft working on Windows 7 64-bit

[roarf]

I cannot seem to get this to work for some reason. I've read through the entire thread on E46Fanatics (linked below) and tried different things, tried them in different orders, etc, etc. Here's what I'm working with.

-Dell Latitude E7440, Core i5, 8 GB ram, 128 GB SSD
-Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
-BCables software is already installed (INPA, NCS Expert, DIS, TIS, SSS Progman, Navcoder)
-following this guide... https://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=942966

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A little bit of background, if this is helpful at all:
Prior to picking up this laptop I have been using 2 laptops for BMW software. A Dell w/ 32-bit Win7 running the BCables software package (just INPA, NCS, Navcoder) along with BMW Scanner 1.4.0 purchased from Amazon. All of these programs worked fine together on one computer. The second computer was a Samsung netbook running Win7 64-bit so that I could run DIS and SSS Progman (the only Bcables programs requiring 64-bit)
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Fast forward to now, I am trying to consolidate all of this software on one good laptop with a full sized display (not a netbook) and a good battery (I had to keep my old Dell plugged in all the time). This is the message I get when I just install the software, turn the key to position 2, plug cable into car, then plug into computer. The computer is offline throughout all of this, and Windows firewall is disabled.





I started by going through the process outlined in the first post, which is pretty much the same process posted everywhere (with slight variations), here's what I get after I go through the last step of attempting to manually choose the driver.





I've tried running PA Soft again after this point, rebooting, uninstalling the drivers and the software, and reinstalling and still no luck. I then realized that BCables installs these same drivers to C:/USB Drivers. So, I tried to point the PA Soft cable to those drivers. Tried saving the latest drivers from the FTDI site into that folder just to make sure I had the latest. Still no luck. Get the same message when I try to open PA Soft.

Sometimes the cable comes up in device manager as "Unknown Device" under USB and already has installed a driver. Sometimes it will actually come up as "BMW Scanner v1.4" in the "Other Devices". Sometimes not. Sometimes it brings up a message like the screenshot above but is (Code 0) instead. It acts like it has installed the "USB Serial Converter", so I then try to install the "USB Serial Bus", but still end up with an error. I forgot to save a screenshot of everything. I even tried hooking it up to my old laptop just to make sure the cable hadn't randomly given up the ghost. The cable is still fine.

The only other things I can think to try at this point are completely uninstalling all of the BCables software and starting with PA Soft first. Not sure if installing the BCables software afterwards will screw up my PA Soft driver though. I think they should be using the same FTDI driver, no? It's either that or I just try to run PA Soft through a virtual Windows XP machine (which is already installed for SSS and DIS) but I have never done that before so that will be a learning curve.

Anyone have any other ideas? What am I missing here? Any help is appreciated. I feel like I am very close to getting this to work.

[wjgud123]

I was have similar problem, but I download and install FTDI drivers from official website, and everything was working again.
Try to first connect scanner to car, then to laptop and start program.
If you try only open software without connect interface to car you will see first window from your post

[roarf]

I was have similar problem, but I download and install FTDI drivers from official website, and everything was working again.
Try to first connect scanner to car, then to laptop and start program.
If you try only open software without connect interface to car you will see first window from your post

Yeah, that's the order I'm doing it in.

[wjgud123]

Yeah, that's the order I'm doing it in.

And that should working.


Few days ago I make a fresh windows 7 install on my old laptop, and I use this solution to push bmw scanner to work:

https://www.germanaudiotech.com/page...cking-software

Movie with all steps is in slavic language but is very clear; and is working fine.

[jharmon718]

I had to put my laptop into test mode in order for windows to allow it to install unsigned drivers.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[roarf]

And that should working.


Few days ago I make a fresh windows 7 install on my old laptop, and I use this solution to push bmw scanner to work:

https://www.germanaudiotech.com/page...cking-software

Movie with all steps is in slavic language but is very clear; and is working fine.

Yeah, followed that one too.

I had to put my laptop into test mode in order for windows to allow it to install unsigned drivers.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Yep, did that too.

[jharmon718]

Do you have the USB adapter hooked up to the vehicle when you are getting that message? The adapter is powered by the vehicle not by your computer.

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[roarf]

Do you have the USB adapter hooked up to the vehicle when you are getting that message? The adapter is powered by the vehicle not by your computer.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Yes, I do. Put key in, turned to position 2, plugged in OBD end, waited 5-10 sec, then plugged into USB port on laptop.

[jharmon718]

Lights are on, on the adapter?

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[roarf]

Lights are on, on the adapter?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Yep.

[roarf]

Update: Still can't get it to work.

I tried uninstalling all of the BCables software, deleting every single file that had the word "FTDI" in it, and deleting the FTDI registry key. Started fresh. Once I plug the cable in, it comes up as "unknown device" in the USB device list and shows as having successfully installed a driver. So I try to update the driver but still get the same error "This device cannot start (Code 10)". In the device manager it changes to "USB Serial Converter" with a yellow exclamation point but still doesn't work. Sometimes if I unplug and plug back in, it will come up as "BMW Scanner v1.4x" in the unknown devices list. Try updating the driver, still no luck. Only change is now when I open PA Soft, it doesn't show me this screen anymore.




I suspect that might have something to do with me deleting the folder with the Windows XP FTDI drivers that PA Soft installs. Instead, it goes to the "turn on ignition" message and lets me try to connect to the car. Of course, it just comes back with the "hardware not ready" error.

Opened up the OBD dongle to see which pins were soldered. I'm not sure why this would matter since it was working fine with 32-bit, but here's what it looks like. Does this look right?



Just to add another twist, it somehow worked during one of the million tries and I actually managed to read and clear a fault in the IKE. Of course, as soon as I unplugged the cable and tried it again, it no longer worked. I have no idea what is going on...

[roarf]

Update:

I finally got it working. I decided to format my hard drive and buy a new PA Soft cable, even though my old one still worked with a different (32-bit) computer. First piece of software I installed was PA Soft. Followed the youtube video that shows how to install the drivers and it worked flawlessly first try. Weird...