Laptop - how to secure it while road tuning?

[JP]

I've found the ATEN serial->usb converters to be the only ones that are half-reliable. I still prefer a hardware serial port though, I typically use the hardware port for ECU connection on ECU's that require serial and the ATEN for a secondary wideband input.

[MWP]

I use Prolific based converters (el-cheapo ebay things).
Ive had no problem with them on a few ECUs ive tried, which includes using more than one at the same time for ECU and Wideband.

I think most people who have problems with serial->usb converters have issues due to COM port number assignment, and do not know how to set them to a different number.

[fixeruperer]

usb adapters are shit, for microtech, haltech, dynatek and some other ecu's i have to play around to get them to work,
windows vista doesnt help either.
i have a few that i try, usually one works with a bit of love.

[jesiotrot]

passenger

+1 for this, when road tuning my car, I sit in the passenger seat with a laptop and get a friend to do the driving. I've run a red light before while tuning by myself.

usb adapters are shit, for microtech, haltech, dynatek and some other ecu's i have to play around to get them to work,
windows vista doesnt help either.
i have a few that i try, usually one works with a bit of love.

I had to try about 10 different USB-serial drivers before I found one that would actually work with Vista, and even then, it was unstable and constantly disconnected. Annoyed the hell out of me!

[wilbo666]

This is what I did fro my JZA80! Probably not quite what you were thinking...

It's a little Asus EEEPC 701SD with the screen and keyboard remote mounted

Also has a touch screen, powered USB hub, USB-RS232s, bluetooth, and spare USBs coming up into the center console

Laptop is mounted under the centerconsole (not shown in its mounting spot in the pic).









Cheers
Wilbo

[MWP]

Tell me how you extended that LVDS cable!!

[fixeruperer]

thats pretty cool wilbo.

[wilbo666]

Tell me how you extended that LVDS cable!!

With a fair bit of effort to be honest!

20 cores in that cable!

I modified / hacked the plug ends so that I could directly solder Kynar wire to the existing connectors.

It was quite difficult as the pin spacing is very tight...



Cheers
Wilbo

[MWP]

Well done! I had a go at it, but wasnt successful

I first started by cutting the original wires and stripping them back, but that was far too fragile to make reliable.
So i then removed the plugs from the motherboard and lcd pcb, then hot glued IDC (ribbon cable) plugs to the pcbs, and linking up them up with the pcb pads with enamelled wire. 1/2 the screen worked.
I then used a multimeter to check connections. Bad idea. It toasted the LVDS IC on the motherboard

Ill have to use the RGB monitor out and buy a cheap 7" display off ebay.

[Talasas]

I use Prolific based converters (el-cheapo ebay things).
Ive had no problem with them on a few ECUs ive tried, which includes using more than one at the same time for ECU and Wideband.

I think most people who have problems with serial->usb converters have issues due to COM port number assignment, and do not know how to set them to a different number.

I can confirm in a lot of instances this is not the reason. I'm going through this problem now as I have no RS232 ports on my laptop either. The adaptor I bought simply had what I can read as the wrong pinouts for what the emanage uses. In fact, the problem is because the emanage pins are non-standard layout.

I'm looking at whether a RS232 to Ethernet adaptor might work as the drivers are more flexible for these.

[wilbo666]

I can confirm in a lot of instances this is not the reason. I'm going through this problem now as I have no RS232 ports on my laptop either. The adaptor I bought simply had what I can read as the wrong pinouts for what the emanage uses. In fact, the problem is because the emanage pins are non-standard layout.

I'm looking at whether a RS232 to Ethernet adaptor might work as the drivers are more flexible for these.

Off topic, but... if you are talking about an emanage blue then while they might use a USB connector, they are actually TTL serial data!!! I.e. 0-5V serial data. (RS232 is -3V to -15 for a 1 and +3V to +15V for a 0)...

You need USB -> RS232 -> TTL... I can send you a schematic on how to make one if you want...

Cheers
Wilbo

[Casey-G]

^^^ smartarse


I love that setup man makes me happy in the pant region... wouldn't mind having a go at something like that myself... to lesser extremes no doubt

[Talasas]

Yes, being able to remotely mount the screen opens up a world of possibility.

Wilbo, you have PM.

[thu187]

That's sexy Wilbo!

[OnAll-FOUR]

I love it

Exactly what I want to do What did you do for the power supply?