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I have a Galaxy S5 running android 5. So I am trying to connect and cannot. I have both Torque(free) & DashCommand are able to connect to my PLX Kiwi 2 BT and work fine. I quit torque properly, restarted my phone and PLX several times, unpaired, re-paired, and have generally wasted the entire afternoon trying to get this to work.
When you are on the main Setup screen, what does it say when you tap on the OBD icon? If it indicates that Torque (or others) may be using the connection, then evidently it sees something still running... The practical reality is that this is not able to be a complete detection of anything that might conflict, but it should at least be able to see if Torque's service is active. In my experience, it seems that Torque's service may automatically start when the phone is restarted, and that can hog the OBD connection.
If nothing else is using the connection, then all you should need to do is go to the "Setup" -> "More Options" screen, select Bluetooth OBD, then tap "Change OBD Device" and select the PLX. If the car's engine is running, it should normally connect after a number of seconds, and you'll see the "OBD" icon on the main setup screen go from flashing to solid yellow and then to green.
Otherwise, we'd really need more information on what's happening here, and also what year/make/model of car... Tapping the OBD "Info" button on the "More Options" screen can give some useful information about how far the connection attempt is getting. If it says "No info available", then it typically means you just need to wait a bit for its current connection attempt to either succeed or fail, and then try tapping that button again to see the result.
Ok, Car is a 1999 Dodge Viper ACR
From the main menu OBD Status sensing, I can often get the PLX to turn solid red(indicates connected) and maybe a blink or two from Link light on KIWI 2 then nothing.
From more options menu I can choose PLXKIWIBT from menu,
then Configure OBD data opens and
Not connected - PLX blinks RED
Searching- PLX goes solid red(indicates Connected)
Connection - PLX link Light blinks a couple times.
Back to searhing - PLX solid red.
I tried on my 2006 Dodge Magnum RT worked great. So it seems like a Viper issue.
Can i get some help why this won't connect to my viper but does work with other cars and the hardware will connect to the viper using other software?
Sounds like it's getting close but there's something throwing off the connection sequence with the Viper, so we just need that detailed connection attempt info I mentioned earlier...
After it shows a yellow icon or "Connecting" status, and then goes back to red/orange or "Searching" (or another earlier status), go to the "More Options" screen and tap on that "Info" button. If it says "No info available", then just give it a little time for the connection attempt to finish, and then try again. That button will cause one or two messages to pop up, and both would be useful for me to see, so that I can determine where the issue is occurring in the sequence... If you're able to post screenshots showing both of those, that should do the trick. Otherwise, at a minimum, I'd need to know what the last few pieces of text it says before the word "FAIL".
Thanks for posting the screenshots... This is indicating that the OBD-II interface device (ie the PLX Kiwi) is having some problem, and/or taking extra time, when attempting to establish its connection with this vehicle's PCM.
Assuming that the engine was on for this, and other apps have been able to communicate with this same vehicle, then I would suspect that it just takes an unusually long time and is running into a timeout before getting the connection established. I haven't actually seen that happen to this extent, but it's a plausible theory with some of these older PCM's.
The upcoming version 2.9.4 app update will attempt a workaround for that case by detecting this type of connection failure and then trying a softer reset for its next attempt, so hopefully the second connection attempt would then succeed. I'm aiming to have that released on Android later this week, just pending the completion of another improvement that's currently being worked on...
Engine was on and other apps do work fine with car.
Thanks for the answer looking forward to the update. Thanks:D
Tried the new update and well....
Attachment 50768Attachment 50769
After failing in TrackAddict I tried another program.
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Thanks for the update. The clues here would seem to indicate that this PCM is not responding to a standard request for its list of supported SAE PIDs, which the app relies on because it's expected that this should always succeed (and we need to know which PIDs to show in the list). If appearances are correct and that really is the problem, then a basic workaround should be possible. In either case, I'll be spending some time running simulations on a PLX Kiwi to try to get to the bottom of this...
Good news... An update is coming in version 2.9.5 that includes several changes intended to help situations like this. I'm just doing some final testing now, and then users should see it on the Google Play Store later tonight or tomorrow...
It will have much more robust OBD connection logic that should do a better job of overcoming strange connection problems, as well as some Bluetooth reliability improvements, and a collection of other bug fixes and improvements.
Great News. I'll be heading for Virginia International Raceway soon. I'd love to use your product to record the footage.
I get more activity blinks to my PLX but still no connection.Attachment 50955Attachment 50956
The PLX seems to be dropping the Bluetooth connection on us before it even gets to the bulk of the new logic. So, another update is coming soon to help it resume after that happens (might have to wait 30 seconds or so for another connection attempt), and add an option to exclude the PLX'es "auto protocol" mode entirely (that's where this was failing)...
Do you think or might you know if an obdlink mx might work? I bought the plx for its add on sensor capability.
The OBDLink MX uses a different OBD chip, so it's plausible that its automatic protocol detection could work differently or better, but can't say for sure without having that specific PCM in front of me.
Upon further research, I did find that there have been similar issues reported with the ELM327 OBD chip that the PLX uses, when combined with certain PCM's that use the ISO9141 protocol (many imports and pre-2000 Dodge vehicles do). Fortunately, we are able to take more control over that part of the connection process, and are now attempting a more in-depth workaround by effectively bypassing the chip's logic and using our own.
So, we may still be able to get the PLX to work for this vehicle, although we don't have support for the PLX iMFD sensors at this time, just the OBD-II side. TrackAddict 2.9.6 is now in the process of being released on Google Play... It's much better able to resume where it left off if the Bluetooth connection is closed, so that might take a few connection attempts, but it should get further along for you if you let it try a few times. And to speed things up in this case, this update also gives you the option to bypass the OBD interface's automatic protocol mode entirely, which was the heart of this problem. That option can be accessed from the OBD "Info" button.
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We have a connection. Thanks so much for the support!Attachment 51077
Awesome! I'm glad that did the trick. Thanks for the update.
Just thought that I would dig up this old post because I'm now having a similar issue. I am trying to connect OBD to my 1999 Dodge Viper ACR and it seems to timeout without connecting. I have tried using my MPVI2 & OBDlink MX+ and the same. OBD light in TrackAddict; Blinks Red - Blinks Yellow - Blinks Red.
I have successfully used both adapters on other cars in TrackAddict and have used both interfaces to connect to the viper in other software.
Is there a setting I need to try? Last time it took a software change to make it work.