What do I need? How do I edit? |
There are a number of components involved in editing binary data with TunerPro. The major pieces are explained here.
1) Obtaining the binary data you wish to edit
2) The binary data itself (a BIN file, etc)
3) The definition file that deciphers what each byte in the bin means in the "real
world"
5) The editing software (TunerPro) that can load the binary file and and interact
with it.
6) Uploading the newly edited bin to the vehicle
TunerPro can edit binary information from a wide range of makes and model vehicles, and from a wide range of years. How the binary information is stored in the vehicle plays a role in how the binary information is extracted from the computer.
Older vehicles tend to have EPROMs or EEPROMs, which can be read with a special piece of hardware called an EPROM or EEPROM programmer (or "burner"). The PROM burner is a hardware device that is used to read the information off of a chip. Most PROM burners interface with a computer, and once the chip is read, the file that contains the information from the chip can be saved via computer to file (the bin file). Once the bin is edited, the PROM burner must be utilized for burning the new, or modified bin file back onto the chip. TunerPro can directly interface with the BURN1 (Flash & Burn) from Moates.net.
Starting around the mid-90's (depending on make and model), many vehicle computers utilized flash memory to store the calibration and code. This flash memory is typically read using a special set of instructions passed to the computer through the diagnostic port. Just how this is done typically varies by the manufacturer of the vehicle's computer.
Once extracted, the information is typically stored on the PC as a single binary file. The filename extension for that file is typically .bin, but it can really be any extension. It is this file that TunerPro manipulates.
The bin file is the partial or complete image of the calibration information, the code that the computer executes, or both. The bin file contains raw binary data imaged from the vehicle's memory itself, and each byte or set of bytes in the file corresponds to a particular function that the car's ECM needs to operate. The bin contains the information the vehicle's computer (which goes by various names: ECM, BCM, ECU, PCM, DME, etc), needs to make sense/use of the data it receives from the various sensors in and around the engine.
The definition, or template, file is a file that tells the editing software how to interpret each byte in the bin file. TunerPro's native definition format is "XDF" (although it can also import .ECU files). The definition basically says, in plain English, "the byte at location X in the bin file should be multiplied/divided/offset by W, Y, Z to come up with a real world number." For example, in a made-up bin, lets say the byte at the 215th offset (or said a different way, the 215th byte) in the bin file is 9. The ECM that this bin is meant for might use this byte for determining the temperature at which to turn on the engine's cooling fan. Well, 9 by itself isn't a very useful number, so the engineers who designed the computer needed to come up with some numbers with which to do math on it to turn it into a real world number. Lets say they did this:
The value held in the 215th byte should be multiplied by 1.35 and then 40 should be subtracted from it. The final number will be in degrees farenheit.
Everything in bold italics is the information needed to decipher what the 215th byte means in "real world" terms to the computer (and to you and I). The definition file, then, would have an entry for this. TunerPro uses this entry to take the binary information and present it to you, the user, in a useful, understandable representation.
One thing to note is that not all tuning software uses definition files. Some software has the definitions built in. Typically such software is for a more limited range of vehicles, where maintaining such definition information is easier. If you're familiar with other software, the concept of a definition file may be new to you.
The software you choose to edit the bin needs to have the capability of opening the bin file and the definition file and interact with them both to present to you the information contained in the bin in such a way that you can edit it! Let TunerPro do this for you!
I should tell you that not everyone uses a definition file and editing software. Some people choose to simply hack the bin "by hand". Doing this requires that you get a hex editor (and there are many out there for free) and open the bin file. You are then presented with the raw hex in this bin file. A little knowledge of what each byte of hex does combined with a calculator (to do the math that the editing software would normally do for you) allows you to edit your bin. What a pain in the arse! =)
Making use of your newly edited binary
So you've just made your first edits to your car's calibration. Now you need to get those changes to your vehicle's computer. This step is essentially the reverse of the first step. Like the first step, how this is done depends on the vehicle, year, etc. In some cases you simply burn the binary file to a new chip (or to the same chip), place it in the vehicle's computer, and go test your changes.
TunerPro Help V1.2 Compiled 7/30/09 12:31