VCM scanner freezing

[Pitbull]

The Asus Vivobooks with the intel stuff works really well. I just set one up for a buddy of mine and damned if I don't want one now! I love my zbook 17, but it's a tank and sucks to lug around. I really thought nothing would compare really since it's such a high hrsepower machine, but this little Asus unit has impressed the shit out of me. And they're cheap on market place.

That being said, I did clone it with aversion of windows 10 pro I use on everything. You want to talk about making me want to kick a puppy, windows home editions and the constant updates will do just that.... I jacked this version from IT at work, it never updates and doesn't try to do a bunch of shit for you.

[Pitbull]

fuck OneDrive ; )

Yes with no lube infront of his momma.....

[Viking Motorworks]

Yeah, even refurb on Amazon. Ebay is loaded with them too(from reputable sellers)

I'm torn between a Thinkpad T470 or a Dell Latitude 7490. The Dells have a faster i7-8650u processor, the Lenovos have a i5-6300u but are generally thought to be much more durable -but for a $100-150 shop laptop I don't know how much I care.

Quick update: It seems my trusty old HP Envy has a USB issue, and USB 3.0 ports are not working at USB 3.0 speeds. Updated drivers, still no joy.
I've got a nice used Thinkpad T470 on the way. i5-7300u, 16gb RAM, 512GB SSD, etc. $100 on ebay.

Thanks everyone for the feedback and help. I should have it Thursday, I'll check in once I've set it up and make a new log run.

[Viking Motorworks]

Quick update: It seems my trusty old HP Envy has a USB issue, and USB 3.0 ports are not working at USB 3.0 speeds. Updated drivers, still no joy.
I've got a nice used Thinkpad T470 on the way. i5-7300u, 16gb RAM, 512GB SSD, etc. $100 on ebay.

Thanks everyone for the feedback and help. I should have it Thursday, I'll check in once I've set it up and make a new log run.

Well, if anyone cares I got my new(to me) $100 Thinkpad T470 off ebay w/16GB RAM and it rocks. Just made a 20min log including several full throttle pulls. It's way easier to transfer in/out of cars and use in them, and now I can finally finish this sucker up!

[schiavonske1013]

Well, if anyone cares I got my new(to me) $100 Thinkpad T470 off ebay w/16GB RAM and it rocks. Just made a 20min log including several full throttle pulls. It's way easier to transfer in/out of cars and use in them, and now I can finally finish this sucker up!

I hate to bump an old thread, but the alternative is creating yet another new thread for an issue that seems to have been talked about before. How did you go about finding out you had an issue with your USB ports? I’m using and MPVI 1 standard from 2015, and a windows 10 pro Lenovo t460s, i7-6600u, 20gb ram, new SSD. I need to find another vehicle to test, and a different laptop, but everyone I know has a Mac. I’ve tried multiple usb cables, every single port on my laptop, cleaned them, bent the little holder pins in, etc.

My scanner has never frozen completely to the point of having to be forced closed using task manager. I could be sitting there collecting data on idle air trims, and I’ll look over and either a few, or all of my pids have frozen, and a couple seconds later they come back again, most of the time. It can happen once, several times, or on rare occasions never. Every so often some pids won’t come back, and I’ll find out after that I made a 30 minute log that 5 minutes in both banks STFT or my MAP sensor reading froze, or something else froze and stayed at whatever reading it had at the time stamp it was at when it froze. It sucks because I get a fairly short window to get data logs, so if an entire log becomes useless, I have to wait sometimes weeks to try and get another one.

[Viking Motorworks]

I didn't know for sure, I was guessing -and the laptop I was using was old and a PITA to lug around, so it was due to be upgraded anyway.

That said, I'm starting to have the same issues again with the much more capable laptop...freezing mid-log(sometimes at idle now) and now occasionally it will connect and half the PIDs are missing or greyed out. Disconnect/reconnect doesn't fix it, neither does rebooting my laptop or VCM Scanner. I did just read somewhere that rebooting the laptop with the USB still connected might fix that, we'll see the next time it happens.

I'm also going to trim down the # of PIDs and running maths/hystograms and see if the freezing stops again.

[schiavonske1013]

This is effectively what mine does, random points in the log, sometimes one or two, sometimes all PIDs just stop logging, then a few seconds later start again. I don’t remember it happening on my old p59 truck, who knows it’s been years, but this current p59 has done it since I got it running. I did try using the same mpvi, laptop, cables, etc in my Duramax and after 2+ hours worth of logs over various days I did not catch any freezes. Damn LBZ spits out data much faster too, I’m jealous lol. But plugged it back into my p59, first time starting a log half the pids froze within 20 seconds.

Not sure if coincidence, or something in my truck. But I can move my laptop cables and mpvi all around and it doesn’t ever stop logging, I can’t replicate it at all, totally random. The funny thing is it knows the mpvi is still connected as it never stops the log, or acts as if it got disconnnected. It’s solely the actual data that stops flowing. Wondering if I have an issue on the truck’s data line, or my pcm.

ETA: I’ve tried new usb cables, cleaning the ports on the laptop, going to the default channels, cutting down to less than 10 channels, getting rid of every math and graph and chart as well.

[Viking Motorworks]

Still freezing, sometimes at idle, and sometimes loses some or all the PIDs when connecting. Sometimes I can just click disco/reconnect and it'll work fine, sometimes rebooting VCM Scanner does the trick, sometimes I have to unplug my MPVI3 and cable, reboot my laptop.

I just opened a support ticket.

Here are some logs:
No PIDs.hpl Some PIDs mising.hpl idle and timing 15 cold start froze.hpl idle and timing 17 hot froze.hpl



1982 Corvette restomod
2003 LM7 5.3L from Silverado w/P59 ECM, standalone harness
SD&MAF tuned
Summit Pro-LS 8720R1 cam (218/227, .600, 112LSA)
706 heads w/PAC 1218 springs
.040 head gaskets (yields ~9.7:1 compression)
TBSS intake w/ custom CAI down to inner nose
92mm Chinesium TB, IAC passages ported out
42lb LS3 Injectors(IFRs not accurate, but close)
Stock truck exh manifolds
2.5" SS duals, x-pipe, flowmaster 50s
4L60E
3.73:1 rear end ratio

[schiavonske1013]

Have you noticed any issues with writing a tune file? I know about the issue with aftermarket radios, but mine just has a normal, stock non Bose radio that’s not even plugged in. I’ve never once had a legitimate failure to write a tune, but I’ve noticed if at the start of the day, if the first thing I do is write a tune, without starting the scanner, it writes quickly. However, if I’ve done some logging and pull into a parking lot to review it, edit my tune, and write a new file, it also takes between 5-15 seconds to “access” the computer, then it writes quickly with no issue. I shut down the scanner completely when writing as well.

[Viking Motorworks]

Yeah, once in a while it'll take a few seconds to access. I'll have to get in the habit of shutting Scanner down first, and see if it happens again. It would be great if Scanner and Editor could be integrated into one program, to minimize access/priority conflicts. And don't get me wrong, I really like the software package, but like anything else there is always room for improvement -and I'm well aware that any issues I'm having may be my own noob fault.

[schiavonske1013]

Yeah I’m going to start testing along the data line, and try the snap on scanner, and a different laptop and see what happens. Would rather not spend on an mpvi3 if my 1 works fine.

[schiavonske1013]

FYI, it did seemingly end up being a module causing an issue on the data bus. Scoped the data bus as a whole and the voltage seemed too low and the waveform was off. Unplugged the comb at the splice pack and pulled the fuse for each module except pcm and bcm. All modules completely dropped to 0v on the data line, except the pin for the abs/ebcm which shares a pin with the transfer case control module. Mine was awd swapped and was a manual transfer case so it only went to the ebcm. Even with the fuse pulled it was still putting an almost imperceptible amount of voltage to its data line wire. Pulled the harness directly out of the abs pump and ebcm and it disappeared. Seems as though there was something shorted in the module or pump, and it was allowing voltage from something to jump to the data line. After this and putting fuses and the comb back in the waveform looks normal, so far it has no stopped logging at random nor have I had any issue writing a tune. Time will tell, as there were days where it never gave me an issue, only to come back in force the next time, but fingers crossed.

[chevota]

If the car is causing an issue, I can't help, but all issues I've had were the USB plug at the laptop or the USB cable itself. Any break in the connection to the dongle and it's game over. I have to close/restart the Scanner to get it working again.
In the past three years I've replaced the USB cable many times because they just don't last, but I am hard on them. When they go they never seem to give me any warning, and they tend to wait until I floor it. I assume the movement does it but it's weird how it waits until a critical moment I want to catch data for. One glitch like that and I swap the cable, but as a test you can bend the cable around to see if it the Scanner stops. The problem is bending is what breaks them, so...

I also have a piece of thick paper, like business card thick, in the USB port to wedge the plug tighter to prevent movement or pulling out. The paper covers the bottom and sides so it makes the fit very tight. As a bonus it pushes the contacts tighter together, so don't shim the top or you lose that bennie.
I leave that wedged in cable there because it's a bit of a battle to get the plug in the port. I leave the dongle attached too, it's simply where it lives.
I also buy heavier USB cables that last longer. The brand I have now is in the link, and it's been in there for over six months which is a record for me. Between the paper and cable I haven't had a glitch since.
https://amazon.com/dp/B0DCNCLSXZ

I also use an OBD extension cable to bring the dongle to the pass side near the laptop, so my USB cable is only 12". Reason #1 for the extension is my leg would hit the dongle, guaranteed. Not sure if the pix below is the exact cable I have, but looks like it. https://amazon.com/dp/B07GQSDNK6
On my car it sits almost flush under the dash so no chance of touching it with my leg or foot, which I imagine would be an issue for many? It never works its way out and has been there for three years.

As for the laptop OS itself causing problems, I've eliminated those issues long before I got HP. First off, no updates! I do not care what anyone says, updates are the quickest way to cause problems. Second, delete Defender, OneDrive, Cortana and a variety of other pointless programs/apps that suck up memory and cpu. Disable all the pointless services too. Of course all bundled software has to go, especially any antivirus, but ideally you want to start with a clean copy of Windows that doesn't have that crap.
The laptop will be faster overall, but also not hang or glitch like they tend to do with all that crap in there. Stripping all that stuff out of the OS is not exactly simple, but it's worth it imo. Especially if you're having issues.
AN example is the op's first post saying he has 6g ram and 2.2g free. I have 8g and >7g free. And no page file.
I don't think it would be an issue to run a platter drive, but I use an SSD. Not only is SSD much faster, but lower power draw to extend batt life.
Fyi, imho

OBD Ext.jpg