Sci/FTDI cable issues

I have a boostbutton sci connector that I would like to use for datalogging on my 89 t2 smec, however I have had quite a bit of issues getting it to actually work. To my understanding, it should be mostly setup already, but I have used FT_prog to ensure that the Tx and Rx are inverted as well as have the d2xx checked off (this was unchecked when I first received the cable...not sure if that makes a difference). The device manager shows that the com port is present and the usb serial converter properties shows that vcp is loaded.

When I have the ignition key on and click the record button, MPScan tells me to try again and that the key needs to be turned on and off again.

One odd thing I noticed is that the bottom corner of MPScan says FTDI port settings, but sometimes it says Generic port settings instead. I have attached a screencap of this:http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/at...id=64241&stc=1

Anyways, I must be doing something wrong, but I have no clue what it is. There is seemingly no pattern to the change in Generic port to FTDI port either.

Sounds like you have every correct. If you have the right Com port selected in MPScan but it displayed generic in the lower corner you can just close the program and re-open. It should then list FTDI.

When I first tried flashing/logging I was pulling my hair out trying to get it to work. It turned out that my SCI cables (actually the connector boards) had issues.

Reopening the program did change it to list FTDI, so that solves that mystery, but unfortunately it looks like I'm unable to borrow a cable from anyone nearby. How can I go about checking mine for physical faults or where do I go about purchasing another?

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Originally Posted by jrod1231

Reopening the program did change it to list FTDI, so that solves that mystery, but unfortunately it looks like I'm unable to borrow a cable from anyone nearby. How can I go about checking mine for physical faults or where do I go about purchasing another?

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Send us a picture of both sides of the board, it could be an assembly issue.

Attachment 64247Attachment 64248

If you have the ability to solder, I would recommend to reflow the solder on the pins, Including the Rx,Tx and ground pins of the SCI connector as several are not soldered on both side. This may or maynot make a difference.
Oh are you sure the wires are connected to the proper positions?

I'll resist asking where it came from.

I'm guessing it doesn't pass the cable test in MPSCAN or MPTUNE, whichever has it? Where you jump the RX and TX blades and run the cable test to make sure it's good.

I don't see a resistor installed. It don't believe there is any need for you to have one using this for a SMEC. But without one installed or anything connecting those pads... your TX spade isn't connected to the TX of your cable.

If you bridge those pads at "R1" you should have your connection.

If you want a quick test that might work without any soldering... assuming you can get a good enough connection just by holding it in place. Take that extra green wire that goes to the "Bt" spot. The one that isn't part of the FTDI cable. Hold it to the solder pad just above the R of "R1" or the 1 of "D1". Either should then give a connection between the TX spade and the TX wire of the FTDI cable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan H

I don't see a resistor installed. It don't believe there is any need for you to have one using this for a SMEC. But without one installed or anything connecting those pads... your TX spade isn't connected to the TX of your cable.

If you bridge those pads at "R1" you should have your connection.

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Good catch Dan

I bridged the gap for R1 and I'm able to run mpscan now, however the mpscan dash is all over the place and my logs are terribly incorrect. When idling, the map and rpm gauges bounce all over whereas the mph stays at 0.

Also, when I stop recording a log, the engine's actual idle raises to about 1500 rpm.

Does this seem like a hardware issue still? (Perhaps the missing resistor?) Here is what the board looks like now.

Any ideas on what type of diode is supposed to be used and what kind of resistor? I would be willing to solder those up if someone knows.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jrod1231

Any ideas on what type of diode is supposed to be used and what kind of resistor? I would be willing to solder those up if someone knows.

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I don't think either should have any effect on the issues you are experiencing. They are only needed for protection if you are using the cable to flash a SBEC. For a SMEC, I'm pretty certain you can just put a spade connector on the RX and TX of an FTDI cable for logging (after cable setup).
Did you re-flow the solder like Miles suggested? To me it looks like there may have been a lot of heat into the board when the header connector was soldered.

Have you double checked all of your settings in MPSCAN? Like your profile and connection has the correct ECU type selected?

A stock t2 smec or a turbonator cal?

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Originally Posted by wowzer

A stock t2 smec or a turbonator cal?

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any update?

Apologies for the late reply. It was just a dumb mistake on my part. I was using my factory smec. Once i switched over to my socketed smec, MPscan worked just fine. However, I do still have an issue with the idle.

Whenever I stop a log, the idle raises to about 1500 rpm, which is a bit odd. When I shut it down and start it back up, everything returns to normal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jrod1231

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Whenever I stop a log, the idle raises to about 1500 rpm, which is a bit odd. When I shut it down and start it back up, everything returns to normal.

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i need to do some investigating on this. i was aware that the LM sometimes would act up this way but haven't heard about the smec doing it. curious if some of the other smec users (wayne H?) experience this.

Never experienced this idle increase with a SMEC. I do see this regularly on my LM k-car.

which specific smec cal are you using?

I'm using this cal: T-SMEC_22_ATX_A124_Masi

I made a few changes, but even when running the bone stock turbonator cal, I have the same issue.

I just recently got a new laptop and I'm trying to get mpscan to work again. I'm having the same problem where Mpscan tells me that the com port cannot be setup and to turn the key off and on again.

I'm still using the same cable and I checked it out in FT prog for good measure. Tx and RX are inverted and d2xx is checked. Vcp is loaded in device manager too.

I can get Mpscan to show the FTDI port in the bottom left corner of the window, but recording a log never works. This is on a turbonator cal via ostrich. I switched back to my old laptop and I couldnt get it to work either. Is it possible that the cable broke at a coincidental time?

I reflowed the connections at Tx, Rx, GND, and R1 to no avail. I'm starting to guess that the cable broke somehow.

Is anyone selling properly made cables? or does anyone have any advice to repair this?

FT Prog didn't show any errors? If it was able to recognize it I would think it should work.
Did you download the correct drivers to the new computer?
Did anything change with the old one?
You need those .net framework drivers too.

I would suggest following the setup instructions again, and see if that works.
If you already did, then maybe someone else has some ideas.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6000 using Tapatalk

Ft prog didn't show any errors, although I'm not sure where it would alert me of that.

I had uninstalled the drivers yesterday and let the cable run through the found new hardware thing. The boostbutton tuning wiki says it shouldnt be able to be loaded as VCP if this doesnt work right and that you should get an exclamation point indicating an error. I was able to load it as VCP and I didnt get any errors after setting up the cable again.

I'm not sure what the .net framework drivers are? I might be misunderstanding a step in the process here.

Nothing has changed since using mpscan with my old computer. I used my old laptop and it recognized the FTDI in the bottom left corner of the program, but it told me that the key needed to be turned on and off again. It was working on my old laptop a while ago, but stopped with no changes in my laptop.Some time has passed since i last used mpscan with my old laptop and I'm wondering if the cable gave out within the time that i stopped using my old laptop and switched over to the new one.

Could someone elaborate on the .net framework drivers, so i could give that a shot before buying another cable?

Check your installed apps in Windows for Microsoft .Net Framework. If it is not installed click on the link that I pasted below to install the drivers.

https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet-framework

I just checked and it appears that I already have the .net framework drivers installed.

make sure you run through this thread. also, in mptune you can check if your cable works by connecting the ftdi cable tx/rx lines and running the port tester program under com settings.

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/sh...t=#post1151140

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wowzer

make sure you run through this thread. also, in mptune you can check if your cable works by connecting the ftdi cable tx/rx lines and running the port tester program under com settings.

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/sh...t=#post1151140

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I started over and followed all instructions from this exactly. Mpscan still didnt work.

I tried the com port test in Mptune by connecting the tx and rx spade on the cable and it returned "it works!"

I then tried recording a log in Mpscan with the tx and rx connected to itself and the program ran and it recorded stationary gauges.
When i tried connecting to the sci port on the car it was unable to record a log.

I'm at a loss for what to try next...

are you positive you have the rx / tx lines not reversed to the ecu? i.e. have you tried swapping them? are you connecting the ground wire on the ftdi cable?

I have the boostbutton cable with the spade terminals soldered directly to the board, so I dont think I could reverse them if I tried. Nonetheless, I grabbed some cables and reversed the TX and RX and connected the GND using wires going to the sci port, but the same exact issue popped up.

I also tried using the cable with Rx and Tx reversed in Ft prog and I also tried it without them reversed. Neither worked, even though it loaded up as an ftdi com port everytime in mpscan.

I have left this issue unaddressed all year and now I've gotten to the point where I really need to sort this out. I just got an mpflash put into a spare smec and I cannot communicate through the sci port. Consequently, I can't flash to my mpflash equipped smec.

Communications are unsuccessful regardless of what smec that I try to use. Fortunately, I can run on my socketed smec, but I cant datalog on the socketed smec due to sci port/cable issues (or potentially some other issue that I have overlooked).

Here's what I have done so far:

I spoke about a boostbutton sci cable on this thread previously. I went through it again and I have set it up according to the FTDI cable setup thread:
http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/sh...DI-cable-setup

I also tried a new ftdi cable connected to the boostbutton board, but this was unsuccessful.

I also purchased a good known working sci cable and neither of the cables work.

I have the latest FTDI drivers installed (2.12.28.0)
The Vendor ID is correct (0x0403) product ID (0x6001)
(The serial number is different than what was shown in the setup thread, but I assume this is to be expected right?)
D2XX is left unchecked so that the VCP driver can be loaded
TXD and RXD are inverted in ft_prog
IO controls were set as follows:
C0 SLEEP#
C1 SLEEP#
C2 SLEEP#
C3 TXLED#
C4 RXLED#
I then programmed the device using the lightning bolt icon in ft_prog
advanced port settings in the device manager match the settings shown in the thread
the usb serial converter in device manager has vcp checked


I performed the com port test in mptune and it returned the "It works!" message.

I have also tried uninstalling and reinstalling MPTune/MPScan on multiple laptops, but to no avail
I also have the latest .net framework installed

I also was suspicious that my wiring harness might be the issue, so I checked the pink and green RX and TX wires and they both have continuity from the sci port to the 60 pin connector at the computer. GND also has continuity to the battery.

I have tried flashing the mpflash smec with the 11 pin bootstrap wire connected and the flash fails.

I also have tried starting a log with my socketed smec on MPTune and I am prompted by MPScan to turn off the key and try again.

Everytime either of the cables are plugged in, the FTDI cable shows up in the bottom left corner of the software. It is odd that the cables show up, but I can't use them to serve any purpose.



I really feel like I have covered all my bases with the Sci cables, but maybe I have some sort of blindspot and missed something with the cables. Maybe there's some issue related to software or the wiring harness or something else? I am hoping that someone else can help me figure out what other factors could be stopping me from getting these communications to work. I have spent hours and hours trying to get it working and I can't really think of anything else that could be fixed.

Any help would be MASSIVELY appreciated. I don't know what else could be stopping the communications.

First thing that jumps out at me, only because you didn't say, is in the program settings of mptune, do you have the MPFlash module selected?
And be sure to check the default ECU type is correct, so SMEC T1 then.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6000 using Tapatalk

I would like to mention that the Rx Tx can be confusing at times. To keep the confusion to a minimum we ECU guys use a reference to the ECU.
ECU Rx green to FTDI Tx
ECU Tx Pink to FTDI Rx
If you are using a Boostbutton SCI connector it labelled in reverse and are referenced to the FTDI cable