59M or 5AM ECU

[♣ McKraut ♣]

Aha!  This may be part of the problem.  If you turn on the ignition but don't start the engine the ECU goes to sleep after a short while and there's no way to connect.  

Do this:
-turn on ignition key
-turn on engine kill switch
-start engine and let it run a few seconds
-kill engine with the kill switch, NOT THE KEY!
-leave the key ON

Then try to connect.  Once you start the engine the ECU won't go to sleep even if the engine stops running.  You may still have compatibility problems but I hope this helps.

Scott

cool...maybe that was my problem then.  i will give that a try hopefully today after work pending how my leg is feeling.  my clutch tried to eat me yesterday   

[♣ McKraut ♣]

Aha!  This may be part of the problem.  If you turn on the ignition but don't start the engine the ECU goes to sleep after a short while and there's no way to connect.  

Do this:
-turn on ignition key
-turn on engine kill switch
-start engine and let it run a few seconds
-kill engine with the kill switch, NOT THE KEY!
-leave the key ON

Then try to connect.  Once you start the engine the ECU won't go to sleep even if the engine stops running.  You may still have compatibility problems but I hope this helps.

Scott

tried this method out on saturday several times... no change.  still unresponsive with the ECU at best.  though at one point i was again able to actually get the TPS menu to do it's countdown and tell me to turn off the ignition for 13 secs and back on, and it displayed the "PASS" message.  hoping at least the TPS is reset then.  but i am not able to get just about anything else to be not "greyed-out"... fuel trim slider adjusters, (real-time) gauges, etc, is all unavailable.  and most of the time the vdst would just complain about not being able to communicate with the ecu.  at one point vdst was even identifying it as a 15M ecu... i hit the motorcycle icon and it then went back to calling it a 5AM (though again, i thought i have a 59M?)

[♣ McKraut ♣]

just talked to a very helpful guy at technoresearch, and he looked up a couple specs for me.  he said that the addresses for TPS and fuel trim were the same for the 5AM and 5.9M, so a vdst for the 5AM should have no problem doing at least those tasks, and i'm imagining all the others would work fine also, though i didn't have him look up further specs as this is all that i was really interested in.

on the off chance that this was a voltage issue, which i don't think it is (i'm thinking it's more operator error/ecu falling asleep), would hooking up the battery tender while the vdst is connected help at all?

[♣ McKraut ♣]

bobby from desmo porche just emailed me back; he says that i do indeed have a 5AM ecu. (2005 S4R)

so...the mystery continues as to why i am having issues getting the software to talk to the ecu, since the cable i'm using is for 5AM.

[Bill in OKC]

I had problems with a Micron laptop.  I used a different laptop and the problems stopped.  It was a buffer overflow issue.  Technoresearch updates their software pretty often, have you downloaded the latest version?

[♣ McKraut ♣]

yup.  latest version of drivers for serial-to-usb adapter as well as software from VDST site (as of a couple weeks back) for a vista laptop.  don't currently have access to an XP laptop.

[errazor]

IF you have access to a "old" computer with a serial port you could try to connect it directly , ditching the serial to USB addapter, as it could be a factor. Or a bad earth connection could give a lot of strange issues, as mention earlier. The earth bolt on the ECU should be tightened to 10 NM and the engine to 12 NM according to my workshop manual.

[♣ McKraut ♣]

i actually just cleaned the engine ground connection very thoroughly about two weeks ago and reattached with a small amount of dielectric grease.  the ground connection on the ecu side looks normal and clean, and both are attached tightly.

and i don't think i know anyone with a PC that old... though i do know one other person locally with a 5AM vdst, so i may see if i can bug him this weekend to see if i can try with his and see what happens.

[♣ McKraut ♣]

just a quick update...after updating driver settings for the keyspan adapter (found on the FAQ section on the technoresearch website), the VDST software is communicating fairly easily now.  it's a tiny bit slow, but more than acceptable.  i was able to adjust the trim setting, and run through the TPS reset process, however, when viewing the realtime gauges, i'm seeing the speedo and ambient air temp sensor as being basically "dead"...and reading max values.  i talked to bobby at desmo porche and he said that there is indeed a difference between the 5AM and 59M (mine is the 59M) ecu:

The 59M and the 5AM refers to the size of catch on the ECU.  On some of the 04/05 bikes we have two versions of the race ecu's.  I don't recall 100% which one you got, but if your ECU says 59M then that's it.

so, it appears i would need to try out a VDST for the 59M to really verify everything... he simply said that the 5AM "wouldn't work".  which i think probably just means that i wouldn't have access to 100% of things in the ecu maybe... for instance, the speedo and air temp sensor?:

[scott_araujo]

If the things you care about seem to be reading right and the bike seems to be running right I wouldn't worry about the other stuff.  It's a nice tool to have but if I had a free one that could set the trim and TPS I'd save the $200 unless you need something else.  I think if your temp sensor was dead the bike would be throwing an error code and the 'little engine' light would be on.

Scott

[Bill in OKC]

I *think* the biggest difference between the 59m and the 5am is that the 5am is used to control an idle stepper motor.   Other things like memory locations can be hit and miss.  Idle trim and resetting the TPS are the biggest reason I bought mine, the other stuff is nice but doesn't get used much.