Vag com

It doesn't include the B6 chassis in the compatibility chart though.
 
you need the hex-can-usb interface, that works with almost everything.

Still doesnt get you a licence from rosstech since its not coming from them, but may still unlock the full program (in a kind of illegal sort of way lol) - the one I got from china does. Mine was fatally wounded by the rosstech 704 upgrade, but may be fixable / half fixed. I only paid £19 for mine but it only worked with versions 409 and 607, though that was more than enough.

fleabay is full of replicas now, just buy the cheapest hex/can/usb one you can find, and get the freeware version of the program it needs. rosstech no longer give out ver 409 (maybe not even 607) due to the issues with copied cables (which arent illegal - not copyrighted or patented, existing technology and all that) but their software can only be unlocked by a "genuine" cable......enter the chinese :)

And you can get the software from some other sources, some come from fleabay with a disc.
 
quattro,
why is this ?
does it mean it only works on 100% canbus cars, i thought ours had canbus or is it k-line
 
dual k-line I think mate, and weird timing issues in the protocol.
 
audi upgrades
HEX-CAN is what we need sadly, otherwise I'd be bidding on that one!
 
evilscotsman said:
you need the hex-can-usb interface, that works with almost everything.

Still doesnt get you a licence from rosstech since its not coming from them, but may still unlock the full program (in a kind of illegal sort of way lol) - the one I got from china does. Mine was fatally wounded by the rosstech 704 upgrade, but may be fixable / half fixed. I only paid £19 for mine but it only worked with versions 409 and 607, though that was more than enough.

fleabay is full of replicas now, just buy the cheapest hex/can/usb one you can find, and get the freeware version of the program it needs. rosstech no longer give out ver 409 (maybe not even 607) due to the issues with copied cables (which arent illegal - not copyrighted or patented, existing technology and all that) but their software can only be unlocked by a "genuine" cable......enter the chinese :)

And you can get the software from some other sources, some come from fleabay with a disc.
Click to expand...




i was under the impression the authenticity code was imprinted into the genuine cables ? as you can download vag-com for free
 
The new cables come with an in-built dongle so no need for activation. Also you can still get shareware copies of 409 from the ross-tech site.
 
I think the cheap ebay leads and shareware software should work fine on a B6, as its not CANBus, its K-line.

You can get a licence from rosstech to use the cheap ebay lead with their 409 software for £70, which gives you a fully legal, activated setup for under a hundered quid. I would only go for the expensive kit if you can really justify the extra cash, because even if the ebay lead fails, the difference in price buys you many replacements.
 
B6 needs ONLY dual K-line, B7 needs dual K-line plus CAN.
 
aragorn said:
I think the cheap ebay leads and shareware software should work fine on a B6, as its not CANBus, its K-line.

You can get a licence from rosstech to use the cheap ebay lead with their 409 software for £70, which gives you a fully legal, activated setup for under a hundered quid. I would only go for the expensive kit if you can really justify the extra cash, because even if the ebay lead fails, the difference in price buys you many replacements.
Click to expand...

So will a cheap cable with 409.1 give full usability ? I have a copy of 409.1 and a cheap lead, will this let me do output tests etc etc.
 
if the lead is the smart kind and can unlock the program, you will know because on the config screen it will tell you. Only after using the lead on a car though, it wont register when its not connected to a motor.

It doesnt record anything, its just only meant to operate connected to the car so thats what you do, then run the reg test (you'll see what I mean) and viola.

Dont want to go into more detail but its not hard to get them set up, then read the rosstech wiki to learn codes, fault reasons and config tips for the car's adaptable settings, everything works with a cable thats used with the version it is said to need by the seller.... ;)
 
audi upgrades
aragorn said:
a cheap lead, and 409.1 CAN do everything, assuming you have a licence for the software.
Click to expand...
I'd love to see you recode the Audi phone module using 409.1...

That's a b.tch of a module to recode with any version earlier than 6xx, and only 7xx or 8xx are totally reliable.

What about the engine and multi/tip-tronic gearbox controllers on a B7 A4? - they have CAN bus diagnostics not K-line, so you need a CAN capable lead to access them.

Plus ALL the diagnostics on an 8p A3 are on the CAN bus.

Any lead without CAN bus might be fine on a B6, but when you come to geat a B7 or any newer Audi you will need a lead that's dual-K + CAN capable.
 
PetrolDave said:
I'd love to see you recode the Audi phone module using 409.1...

That's a b.tch of a module to recode with any version earlier than 6xx, and only 7xx or 8xx are totally reliable.

What about the engine and multi/tip-tronic gearbox controllers on a B7 A4? - they have CAN bus diagnostics not K-line, so you need a CAN capable lead to access them.

Plus ALL the diagnostics on an 8p A3 are on the CAN bus.

Any lead without CAN bus might be fine on a B6, but when you come to geat a B7 or any newer Audi you will need a lead that's dual-K + CAN capable.
Click to expand...

Oh for sure.

Its been said a few times in this thread though that the B6 is K-Line only and will be fine on the cheap leads.

Bar the phone module, which i wasnt aware of, the cheap lead is in my opinion MUCH better value.

Not only does it mean you can get the entire kit up and running with full functionality for £85, but rosstech also give you the value of the licence as a discount off buying their full hardware, so should you need to upgrade to the official kit at a later date due to having a car that requires CAN your only £15 worse off...
 
So does 409 allow you to log live data - dyno runs, turbo vnt actuator movement, boost levels, egr range of motion, code rns-e etc, etc? All with a cheap cable?
 
It certainly does all the logging etc with the full licence. I've done a number of logging runs on both my bro's S4 and our 1.8T which worked perfectly. The only thing you dont get is the "Turbo" mode for faster sampling, as this only exists in later software.

Not tried to recode an RNS-E with it, however i have recoded the central locking controller without any problems.
 
aragorn said:
Bar the phone module, which i wasnt aware of, the cheap lead is in my opinion MUCH better value.
Click to expand...
Depends how much value you place on your own time.

I've read lots of people having problems with USB versions of the cheap leads haviong to uniinstall and re-install the USB drivers almost every time they try to use the lead.

Personally I want the lead to work every time I need it to check/fix something on my car and I don't want to waste time messing around with the PC.

With that plus I do a lot of setups of the Audi phone module, so for me there are two reasons why I think the genuine Ross-Tech leads are the best value, they're not cheap but they're hassle free.
 
Personally i've only had very mild issues, usually with windows allocating the USB->Serial Bridge a Com port number over 4, which vagcom cant see. Only takes seconds to change it to a lower number though, and as long as you use the same USB port each time it doesnt usually forget the altered allocation.

I guess it depends how comfortable you are tinkering around in the device manager etc, however i do feel that for most people, who are mostly going to use it to pull codes and perhaps log some data now and then the cheap leads are good value.

I guess its upto the person making the purchase to choose, all i'm trying to do is correct the misinformation that was at the start of this thread claiming the ebay leads were junk and a waste of time etc.

The simple fact is that for £85 quid your getting MOST of the functionality of the real lead, while saving yourself a lot of money, plus, you've always got the option of upgrading to the real kit, and getting the money you spent on the licence offset against it, which in my eyes makes it an even better deal.
 
aragorn said:
The simple fact is that for £85 quid your getting MOST of the functionality of the real lead
Click to expand...
We can agree on that, it's just that most of the things I do with a VAG-COM lead need the things that are not in the MOST subset of the cheap leads so for me they would be a waste of money. But that wouldn't be the case for most people...
 
i got a cheap lead of ebay downloaded the free copy off rosstech and input a licence and its worked ok for me
 
mine also unlocked the whole functionality so I was missing nothing. Just dont try to run the cheap cable with ver 704 of vag because it has an auto update feature that writes to the eprom chip in the cable head, and will ****** a copy cable completely.

stick to the version intended for the copy cable, up to 6xx worked ok for me, 7xx doesnt.

You can however copy over the definition files from ver 7xx and place them in the 6xx directory in the correct folder, giving even more named labels and info learned for the later build, they work fine same format.
 
So has anyone done any live readings with the cheap cables? I really need this functionality, however I'm holding back on stumping up the full £250+ for a full version and lead as this car seems to be costing me a packet!!!
 
Yes, I have done logging with my brothers 1.8T, boost levels, air/fuel etc etc while driving. Thats with 3.11 fully registered. PM me if you want it...
 
technics100 said:
Yes, I have done logging with my brothers 1.8T, boost levels, air/fuel etc etc while driving. Thats with 3.11 fully registered. PM me if you want it...
Click to expand...

Thanks Technics100. Now I'm confused again - 3.11?
 
Yeah 311 was specified for some early cables. It works fine, and should also work with 409 and 607 too, ie if the cable works with 311 it should work with the others below version 700.
 
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