some vagcom questions

[thomp1983]

hi i bought an autonostics cable from ebay and have a registered copy of vagcom 311.2-N

when i go to select control module then choose module 01 engine i nearly always get the error no response from controller or occasionally get baud can't sync error. what causes these issues and how do i solve them? the car is a '98 ahu engined a4 tdi.

thanks
chris

 

[madvw]

is the cable a serial cable, or a usb->serial cable? what are your serial port settings?

 

[thomp1983]

serial cable

chris

 

[dummi]

have you an aftermarket radio? there are problems with k-lines on aftermarket radio adapters '97<

 

[thomp1983]

i do at the minute, but the problem happened with the factory stereo aswell
chris

 

[dummi]

check ross-tech.com they may be able to give you support because you are registered, but i'm not sure about for v409>

 

[Tallpaul]

Ross-Tech get all pissy with support if you're not using one of their official cables.

Are you using a Serial-USB converter to plug in your cable?

Have you tried switching COM ports in Devices on Windows and on VAG-COM?

Have you played with the Baud rates for the COM port on Windows?

 

[Sebastian]

We get "pissy" because the 3rd party hardware vendors are too cheap to put high quality components into their hardware and they usually don't give support to their customers. These "customers" then blame us for bad software, but let's get real here - this is not a software issue.

The described issue really sounds like a hardware problem or a problem with your notebook hardware. We have seen some "lame" notebook ports that result in errors like this.

Read these pages and try whatever they tell you.

http://ross-tech.com/vag-com/faq_2.html#2.4
http://ross-tech.com/vag-com/faq_2.html#2.5
http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/issues.html

Also try playing with the power supply of the notebook, if you are running on battery, try with a real power supply and vice versa.

If neither of this works, try a "real" interface.

 

[thomp1983]

tbh the laptop im using is a bit old, im using the cable with a proper serial port no adaptor involved and the laptop is plugged into the mains, ill have a play with the settings which i suspect to be the cause

cheers
chris

 

[Sebastian]

Please define "a bit old" with some more real details. Processor? RAM? Operating system?

 

[thomp1983]

166mmx processor, 64mb of ram running windows 98

cheers
chris

 

[dummi]

166mmx processor, 64mb of ram running windows 98

cheers
chris

^^thats more than enough.

if all else fails do look into the radio connection, i didn't realise it for a while but i had that problem.

 

[madvw]

The described issue really sounds like a hardware problem or a problem with your notebook hardware. We have seen some "lame" notebook ports that result in errors like this.

Too true. Some laptops simply do not ouput the right stable voltage on the ports to enable reliable communication. Some older DELL laptops unfortunately fall into this category...

 

[Tallpaul]

See told you Ross-Tech don't like it

 

[Sebastian]

166mmx processor, 64mb of ram running windows 98

Not perfect, but should be enough. Now what I would do is double check with a different notebook and if this doesn't help, get some real hardware.

See told you Ross-Tech don't like it

See, what I often ask people in cases like this is "What's your hourly wages at work? How many hours did you waste now?" - guess you know where this goes.

 

[Tallpaul]

See, what I often ask people in cases like this is "What's your hourly wages at work? How many hours did you waste now?" - guess you know where this goes.

To be honest, if you look at the context of my original post it was in response to somebody saying contact Ross-Tech for support. I was pointing out that as the user didn't have an official ross-tech cable, it was unlikely that they would offer any support. I then went on to offer some suggestions based on my own epxerience of non-official cables.

I don't care how much you get paid, i'm always appreciative of good advice and have found other employees of Ross-Tech (particularly 'Uwe' who posts on other forums) to be very helpfull.

 

[bearthebruce]

166mmx processor, 64mb of ram running windows 98

As said, this should do the job with a serial cable. You may have to play with the baud settings for it to work with your engine controller. I don't recall seeing which engine you are having trouble with but some controllers are known to be finicky on timing in the communications. You will just have to play around to see if you can make it work.

To TallPaul: Ross-Tech is comitted to helping people use our products. Frankly, most of us spend our "free" time supporting these forums. There are so many threads dealing with the subject of aftermarket cables that it gets old for us. But you may have a point. We do tend to act "pissy" when being asked the same questions over and over and over. The aftermarket cables are "cheap" for a reason. They do not put the hardware needed for reliable communications in their cables. Then, they do nothing to support their customers. So, yeah, Ross-Tech grows weary of loosing business to these guys and still being expected to lend a hand when they don't work. Perhaps you can understand the frustration.

Uwe, the owner of Ross-Tech and creator of VAG-COM, is indeed a patient man and loves to offer support and help. Thanks for the kind words said about him and the product.

-Bruce-
Director of Operations
Ross-Tech, LLC
Bruce@ Ross-Tech.com

 

[Tallpaul]

To TallPaul: Ross-Tech is comitted to helping people use our products. Frankly, most of us spend our "free" time supporting these forums. There are so many threads dealing with the subject of aftermarket cables that it gets old for us. But you may have a point. We do tend to act "pissy" when being asked the same questions over and over and over. The aftermarket cables are "cheap" for a reason. They do not put the hardware needed for reliable communications in their cables. Then, they do nothing to support their customers. So, yeah, Ross-Tech grows weary of loosing business to these guys and still being expected to lend a hand when they don't work. Perhaps you can understand the frustration.

Uwe, the owner of Ross-Tech and creator of VAG-COM, is indeed a patient man and loves to offer support and help. Thanks for the kind words said about him and the product.

-Bruce-
Director of Operations
Ross-Tech, LLC
Bruce@ Ross-Tech.com

Thanks Bruce.

Just to clarify my position; I'm fully aware that the issues of using non-official cables is age old and that throughout the many VAG forums their problems and possible solutions has been discussed ad infinitum.

Obviously using the term 'pissy' hasn't gone down too well

I was in no way implying that Ross-Tech's user support is anything less than fantastic (i know first hand that it is outstanding). I was mearly trying to disuade somebody from going direct to Ross-Tech when there should be more than enough knowledge available through this forum to rectify their issue.

 

[thomp1983]

it's the ahu 1.9tdi engine

chris

 

[bearthebruce]

I'm not aware of any timing issues with that engine controller. I suggest you follow the advice given and play with the baud rate on the Options screen to see if you get better results. Or, as has been suggested, contact your cable vendor for more support.

Best,
-Bruce-
Ross-Tech,LLC
bruce@Ross-Tech.com