Another "cable not found" thread.....

[MSCLCAR]

I connected HPT to my 2000 WS6, downloaded the tune, been playing with it, ran the dashboard thingie, it all works fine. Then I go connect it to my frinds 2000 SS (we bought this together) and all I get is cable not found.

I searched & see other threads like this, and all anyone says is check the fuse. Well, the cig lighter works, so what else can it be? Is there a minimum battery level required for it to connect? My friends car has been sitting a while. I didn't have a volt meter with me, but the gauge looked down around the 11V range.

Any other ideas would be appreciated!

Mark

[rattle]

you need to test power and ground to dlc as well as serial data line

connector is numbered

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

1 is empty

2 has purple wire in it, this is serial data line, voltage will read around 3.5 volts but if you use lab scope will be 0 and 7 volts

4 is ground--you need this

16 is power--you need this also

so test your power and ground, might be ground problem

[JimMueller]

I encounterd something odd this evening.

I was logging while driving and it seemed to be dropping the connection every few minutes, or even when in certain gears/rpm's.

I eventually pulled over at a gas station and for the life of me I couldn't get it to reconnect.

- I re-seated all serial connectors
- I re-seated the ALDL connector multiple times
- My laptop was plugged into a power inverter, and the inverter indicated no problems, and the laptop indicated AC power
- I checked the PCM BAT & PCM IGN fuses - both OK
- Neither Scanner nor Flash would connect nor see a battery voltage
- Reviewed the help file and set the COM1 settings to 115K/8/N/1/Off, and set the FIFO settings per recommendation.

I get home and I hookup the LS1-Edit cable and the Autotap cable. Using the respective software, neither would detect the PCM.

When I connect an external modem to my laptop serial port, it responds to the AT commands I send to it like everything is normal.

If I use a null modem cable between two PC's, I can send data from the laptop to the desktop with Xmodem OK, but Zmodem gives me a 'disk error' on my desktop machine or cancels the transfer immediately.

I guess I'll run some disk diagnostics...but short of that I'm not sure where the problem lies. I'll try another laptop tomorrow. ???

[JimMueller]

Chkdsk didn't find/fix anything. I shorted pins 2 & 3 together on my laptop com1 port and hyperterm echos characters.

[Keith@HPTuners]

So either the PCM is not talking to scan tools, or your com port will not communicate with the interfaces..

hmmm...

[JimMueller]

I've got a local tuner with a Tech2. Maybe I can swing by his shop tomorrow to see if it will talk to the ALDL port. Would that be a good litmus test to eliminate that port from the equation?

[Keith@HPTuners]

Yes. Yes it would.

[JimMueller]

Well, it's working again. What changed between last night and now?

1. Before work, still could not connect to VCM with HPT. I did not retry the other cables this morning, but the others did not work last night.

2. About 7 hours later, we put a Tech2 on it and found no problem.

3. Loaded HPT on another laptop and it connects fine in both the scanner & flash.

4. Immediately closed both flash & scanner. Connected cable to original laptop.

5. Works fine again.

WTF? ???

[rattle]

most likely one of the pins in the aldl has lost tension or been backed out, this happens from time to time when the connector is used far more than ever designed for. Most connectors one gm vehicles are designed for 10 insertion cycles before the terminal contacts start to get weak/worn.

take a drill bit or some other device that measures .035 inch, slide it into each pin terminal, should be light to moderate drag on gauge. I bet your terminals dont have enough tension to hold the drill bit in against gravity.

[MSCLCAR]

Well, I took my Predator & plugged it into the SS & it turned on so we have power. But I got a No Data error. So I need to troubleshoot the data pin. My question now is without an O-scope what's the bes tway to proceed? My Fluke meter read this data as some level of DC, yes? And the data should be there with the key on, true?

[MSCLCAR]

I forgot to post the end result on this. I followed everyone's advice, verified the 12V & gnd, and then measured the data signal with my Fluke meter. It read about .3V......nowhere near the 3V I was told it should be. And the 12V read 11.8.

So we thought we'd make sure the PCM was still alive & tried starting the car. After she fired up (new cam, intake, tb & headers so it took a minute) I plugged the laptop back in & tried connecting & running the dashboard. To my surprise it worked! I was able to monitor stuff, and then downloaded the tune after we shut her down. ;D

What this means I am not sure, except that you need to keep trying different angles if it doesn't work the first time. I'm thinking the 11.8 batt voltage wasn't enough. But it could have been something with the PCM data too (the car was sitting for 3 months without running).