hi guys, i just tried to hook up my laptop to the car with no luck.
i have cables and usb converter, i plugged black, green and red wires to the ecm and when i start the winaldl program i get

unable to open serial port / COM1

does this mean my cables are not working? or am i doing something wrong here, please help.

thanks, dominik

Is it Winaldl that's telling you it can't open the COM port? Or is it a windows error?

What USB converter are you using?

What ALDL cable are you using?

Is your laptop running XP or something else?

JazzMan

wow that was fast

when i click on winaldl icon i get this

ok

cables and converter

i have a windows XP

thanks, dominik

quote Originally posted by dozol: hi guys, i just tried to hook up my laptop to the car with no luck. i have cables and usb converter, i plugged black, green and red wires to the ecm and when i start the winaldl program i get unable to open serial port / COM1 does this mean my cables are not working? or am i doing something wrong here, please help. thanks, dominik

This may be way too obvious, but did you install the driver to operate the USB-COM converter that you are using? The error message "unable to open serial port / COM1" has nothing to do with your ALDL cable. The error is between Windoze and the pseudo serial port in your USB-COM converter.

--Dave

yes i did install drivers

If you have a multi-meter you need to check one of the pins from the serial port. For an internally powered ALDL cable you need above a certain voltage on one of the leads. I posted info on it months ago when I was working on cables, I'll see what I can find.

-Rick

You aren't even to the aldl cable yet. You need to determine what serial port windows thinks the usb is on and set that in Winaldl.

Try this. Start HyperTerminal in Start / Programs / Accessories / Communications / HyperTerm.
If you don't see HyperTerm then it was not loaded when windows was installed but can be added.

For a name hit anthing does not matter.

Under connect using: see what com ports it list. Hopefully you will see a number there. If not your usb or software for it might or might not be working correctly.

If you see a port other than port 1 try setting Winaldl to that port number under the config tab...

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 06-06-2006).]

one other thought, when you loaded the driver for the usb adapter, did it assign it to com1? it is possible that is assigned it to com2,3,4 depending on your laptop. (ir adapters can be assigned a com port, internal modems are assigned a com port etc)
check in device mangler for the usb and the serial adapter section to be sure you are using the correct port number.

you guys are AWESOME

i did what Dodgerunner told me, on the connect list there was COM3
i started winaldl again and in configurations i switched to com3.
now i start the program and i get no errors. this is so cool.

does it mean that i can try it all again, put three cables where they belong and i can start the car???

sweet, + to all of you who responded !

thanks, dominik

Go for it.... Good luck...

Also one tip on winaldl.. unless you really want to get into the data don't bother with raw data in the raw tab or in data logging, it's a waste of time unless you really need it. Go for the converted (human data tab and sensors. )

Also if you get strange readings check what ecm you have set. For most v6's the one that ends with 170 works most of the time.

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 06-06-2006).]

ok I'm back.
now everything seems to work but i get no numbers
nothing..
i plugged three cables, usb, turned on the laptop and the engine.

nothing moved. nada.

maybe cables are not working?

how do i find out if they are???

thanks, dominik

quote Originally posted by dozol: ok I'm back. now everything seems to work but i get no numbers nothing.. i plugged three cables, usb, turned on the laptop and the engine. nothing moved. nada. maybe cables are not working? how do i find out if they are??? thanks, dominik

Does your ALDL cable have a switch or something to control the "pull" resistor that connects between ALDL Pins A & B ?
When I built my own cable, I included a switch to connect the 10K resistor to switch the ECM to ALDL mode. If the resistor is not connected between ALDL Pins A & B, some ECMs will not send any data, according to the winaldl.joby.se site. I can't recall if my setup got any data with the resistor disconnected, but there is definately a data stream if ALDL Pins A & B have a 10K resistor connected accross them.

--Dave

Also, what engine and year model Fiero do you have? WinALDL definitely won't work with the '87-88 L4 motors with DIS, and I've never actually tried to see if it'll work with the '84-86 TBI L4 cars.

And, the ALDL cable you're using, did you make it or buy it? It should have the 2N2222 transistor in it as well as some resistors, the overall circuit is really simple and is often times tucked into the RS-232 shell.

JazzMan

Has anyone gotten a USB to serial adapter to work? Depending on what technique Jonas used in WinALDL to read 160 buad, it might not work. One method will, the other probably won't.

TK

I built the cable over a year ago, with this:

http://couleefiero.tripod.com/ALDL.htm

I never got to test it since I don't have a laptop, and sent it to dozol on the condition he doesn't pay for it unless it works. So far no luck I see Might try opening up the white plastic connector and making sure the connector pin recievers didn't get pushed back in, and that I used the right resistors and transister.

------------------

1984 Fiero SE

i guess i will take it apart and see what is going on there.
are these resistors labled?
i will go through the web site RWDPLZ mentioned about.

it is good because i have a day off tomorrow so i won't stop untill i make it work

thanks, dominik

Make sure you have a 10k ohm resistor across terminals A & B at the ALDL connector. I noticed you have three wires to hook to the ALDL connector so I am assuming there is a resistor built into the d-sub hood for that but you could always check this with an ohm meter. You will not get any readings without it. PM me if I can help.

To add to what srat110 said, sometimes you need to coax the 10k resistor a little , a tiny screw driver did it for me...

ok i will take pics tomorrow, we will see what happens...

thanks, dominik

ok, if you have a voltmeter and a 5v dc power source, you can statically test the cable. You can also use a 9v battery, probably easier.

Connect a 5V power supply (or 9v battery ) to: GND(-) (your black wire or pin 5) and the + 5 or 9v to DTR(+) pin 4. The voltmeter connects the to - to ground and the plus to pin 2, it will show 5V.

Now connect an extra wire from the +5V(or 9v) to ALDL[E]-- your red wire--- The voltmeter will show 0V every time you touch pin ALDL[E].

if this works, the cable is correct and functioning properly.

for ref, looking into the face of the db9 connector the pins are:
___________
\ 5_4_3_2_1 /
.\_9_8_7_6_/

[This message has been edited by tjm4fun (edited 06-07-2006).]

great, thanks !

today i looked what was inside the white thingie and here what i saw...

circled thing was all loose and moved around.



unfortunately i have no soldering experience and have no soldering gun.
any suggestions?

Wow, who made that thing? I would either take it back to the seller and have them fix it. If they aren't available and you are a recent high school grad, you can see if your old school has an electronics lab that, you may be able to talk the instructor into fixing it, or letting one of his students fix it. (Staying in touch with the auto shop and electronics shop teachers can be quite handy!)

-Rick

I build ALDL cables. I set them up for external 12v power because not all com ports supply the same power. With the external 12VDC supply they work with all PC's (and laptops).


Rich

[This message has been edited by TA6SPD (edited 06-07-2006).]

Hi Rich, I've built and sold a number of these cables as well, but the one in the picture looks pretty aweful.

Using the standard layout from the WinALDL site the ALDL cable can opperate on 9-12v with out a problem. That why I specificly recommend the USB->Serial cable from BestBuy I posted above, that cable's drivers are set for 9v on pin 4.

-Rick

So the answer is yes then.

That's some really crappy workmanship.

I could fix it in a jiffy, but shipping would be a pain. If you have a jr. college or vocational school in your area I bet you could get one of their students to fix it for free right on the spot.

JazzMan

yea it doest look too good, i will order a new set.

thanks guys for help, this is cool when people respond to messages in couple minutes, it is almost like chat
i have never seen less than 35 members here even at 3 am.

domink

The guys that work in the back of radio shack--could fix you up ----alot of folks don`t know their back there doing bench work--they may charge a very small fee. I was originally going to make one , but Bob at www.aldlcable.com made me a heck of deal on a used laptop too. Strat110 was selling them .

hmm. i bought that same connector from best buy.. but im not getting any voltage on any pins. it should work with the cable plugged into the computer and the system manager recognizes it and says its on COM5. but i get no voltage when testing with a voltmeter