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• TunerPro FAQ
General Questions
Is TunerPro really free? What about TunerPro RT?
Why or why not?
It would be great
if you could view values in their raw hex format. Can you add
this?
3D graphing seems
to be slow and choppy. What can I do to make this better?
Does TunerPro support
my ECM and code mask? Will you make a definition for you?
TunerPro Troubleshooting Questions
When I first started
TunerPro, I got an error message. Something about "IO.SYS".
When I start TunerPro the next time, everything works fine. What
did I do wrong?
My preferences don't
look the way I left them. I just upgraded to the latest version
of TunerPro (or GMECM Edit). What happened and what do I do about
it?
Nothing appears in
the ALDL Data and ALDL Bits pages. Why not?
RT Related Questions
What is emulation
and what do I need to emulate with TunerPro?
What is ALDL/OBDI
and what do I need to make use of it with TunerPro?
I can't seem to register
on my Windows 95 or Windows 95 OSR2 machine. Why not?
I have the ALDL sample
rate set at X hz, but the actual sample rate is much slower. Why
is this?
• Answers
General Questions
Is
TunerPro really free? What about TunerPro RT? Why or why not?
Both TunerPro and TunerPro RT are free. TunerPro
RT has a "nag" window at startup for unregistered users,
but the software is feature-complete even without registration
and the software never expires (many shareware packages do). A
$30 "donation" will allow you register TunerPro RT,
removing the nag window. Registration is not
required.
Why is TunerPro and TunerPro RT Free? Because
its fun for me. I have a day job. I can't "sell" enough
registrations to even get close to paying myself back for my time,
so why try? And ultimately in my opinion, this stuff should be
accessable to everyone who wants to explore it. Lets face it,
many of us drive our cars not simply because we love them, but
because have to (we don't make a lot of money). If we have to
drive them, why not make it fun (and cheap)?
Why have a "nag" window in TunerPro
RT then? Well, there are a couple of reasons, all of which are
actually fairly weak, but its the only real solution I could come
up with to appease my reasoning:
1) TunerPro RT supports commercial hardware -
that is, other companies make money on the sales of their hardware
that may (or may not be) directly linked to my software. I'm interested
in giving things away to the DIY community, not to companies that
profit from it.
2) My wife gets pretty angry about the amount
of time I spend on my software and its' support. Seeing a little
bit of money come in (trust me, its a very little bit) as a result
of my efforts makes her (and me, frankly) feel a little bit better
about that.
3) Encouragement.
4) My car costs money to maintain (I'm not even
talking upgrades here). I figure I can get back some of those
expenses by giving users the opportunity to donate to a cause
that was designed around my/our cars. This is the
"selfish" reason. Hopefully its acceptable. =)
It
would be great if you could view values in their raw hex format.
Can you add this?
This functionality is there and be accessed in
one of two ways. First, you can right-click in the editor window
and select "View Hex", or you can open the preferences
(via the tools menu or by right-clicking in the workspace window)
and select "Raw Hex" in the General Tab.
3D graphing
seems to be slow and choppy. What can I do to make this better?
Older, slower machines may not be able to handle
3D graphing "comfortably". You can make things better
by disabling a couple of options. Open preferences and in the
general tab you'll see a couple of options for 3D graphs. One
of them is "Render to off-screen DC", the other is "Color
Data Points". The first is responsible for most of the slowdown
on older, slower machines. If you disable this you should notice
a large increase in drawing speed when viewing graphs at larger
resolutions, but at the cost of flickering. You can also disable
the colored height maps (the second option) for a bit of increased
performance.
Does TunerPro support
my ECM and code mask? Will you create a definition for me?
TunerPro supports a wide variety of makes, model, and year setups.
Support of a particular ECM and/or make, model, and year is limited only by
the availability of bin definitions for that particular setup.
There are a variety of sources for definitions on the Internet, and I have links to some sources in the links section of this site and on the bin definitions download page. I am not in the habit
of creating definitions. If the information is available for the
definition to be created, the end use can create the definition.
For more information on how to do this, read
this.
TunerPro Troubleshooting Questions
When I first started
TunerPro, I got an error message. Something about "IO.SYS".
When I start TunerPro the next time, everything works fine. What
did I do wrong?
This is a known issue. You should only ever see
this error message once. It is related to the parallel port driver
used to interface with the Prominator emulation hardware.
My preferences don't
look the way I left them. I just upgraded to the latest version
of TunerPro. What happened and what do I do about it?
New versions of the application generally have
different settings file formats, which means the old settings
file format isn't comaptible. In TunerPro 3.0 and above, this
should no longer be an issue, but if you have this problem delete
the settings file in the application's root directory.
Nothing appears
in the ALDL Data or ALDL Bits pages. Why not?
You need to have the latest Rich Edit module
installed (particularly for Win98/95 users). You can download
it here.
Unzip this file to your Windows *or* Windows System(32) directory.
Altenately, you can also simply unzip it in your TunerPro RT install
folder directory.
RT Related Questions
What is emulation
and what do I need to emulate with TunerPro?
Emulation in this case refers to the ability
of a host PC to "act" like the chip that the car's computer
uses to function. This is usually accomplished via a device hooked
up to the host PC. Emulation allows the car's computer to run
off of the host PC, meaning any changes that are made on the host
PC are automatically updated in the car's computer. This eliminates
the need to burn a new chip each time a change is made and tested.
To emulate with TunerPro, you need to purchase
a supported emulation device, such as XTronic's Romulator. Only
TunerPro RT supports emulation. Follow the directions in the help
file as well as those from the emulator manufacturer.
What is ALDL/OBDI
and what do I need to make use of it with TunerPro?
ALDL (Assembly Line Diagnostic Link) is a datastream
used by the cars management computer(s) and diagnostic equipment.
OBDI (or OBD1) stands for On-Board Diagnostics - One (there is
also OBDII). Both of these combine to create a method by which
a mechanic can acquire, change, and monitor information related
to a vehicle's operation. Typical ALDL data streams contain information
about the vehicle's speed, fuel delivery, spark operations, airflow,
and mixture. There are generally two "speeds" at which
OBDI vehicles communicate - 8192 baud (bits per second) and 160
baud.
TunerPro RT (currently) can communicate with
8192 baud OBDI data streams. In order to make use of TunerPro
RT's ALDL communication ability, you will need an OBDI ALDL cable
in either the 2 transistor or MAX232/233 IC configuration. These
can be obtained through a couple of sources. See the Links &
Resources section of this web site for information on where to
obtain these.
You will also need an ALDL datastream definition
file for your particular automobile. Included with TunerPro RT
is a definition for the 1227165 ECM (typically found in GM '86-89
V8 applications). Your car may require a different definition.
If you have your car's datastream information, you can create
your own definition using TunerPro.
Once you have your cable, operation is as simple
as connecting the cable to the vehicle following the cable manufacturer's
directions (some cables require external power, some don't) and
running the ALDL tool within TunerPro RT. Most automobile OBDI
connectors are found under the dash of the vehicle. If your vehicle
requires a 10k resistor to initiate 8192 diagnostic mode, be sure
this is connected.
I can't seem to
register on my Windows 95 or Windows 95 OSR2 machine. Why not?
Unfortunately the technology involved in the
registration process is not available in Windows 95 or OSR2 operating
systems. Though the software should run, these operating systems
are not directly supported.
I
have the ALDL sample rate set at X hz, but the actual sample rate
is much slower. Why is this?
Because the data display uses rich edit controls,
it takes a little extra processing power to display data quickly.
To display the data at full-speed, you'll need a faster computer.
Generally a Pentium 233 mhz or better should do fine.
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