RossyHusker

I missed that in the documentation! Mine also flashes blue after sequencing through start up functions. Your right, something funny is going on. Based on that documentation the unit should flash red since the E terminal slot is empty and the M terminal is what should be reading.

cousinit99

I just shot off another email to Timm mentioning this. We'll just have to see what he says..

RossyHusker

Sounds good. thx.

Cliff Harris

What I did was use the Device Manager to find out which serial port the Bluetooth adapter ended up on. I think it was COM5, don't remember. I set TP to connect on COM5 (TP does see it as an active port and lists it in the menu) but it never did connect to the RD unit.

I have some instructions from Red Devil River (on the CD that came with the unit) that say:

"1– Upon power up the LED will sequence through a multi color display. During this time the device is determining which ALDL protocols are being used. Once the sequence is done the LED will flash in a single color

Red – 8192 baud Pin M
Green – 160 baud Pin D
Blue – 160 baud Pin E"

My 1227165 ECM initially connects at 160 baud, so I see blue, sometimes flashing, sometimes solid blue. Timm told me he doesn't support this ECM, so I'm stuck at 160 baud. He doesn't do the magic to make it switch to 8192 baud.

RossyHusker

Thanks for your input Cliff. Since blue light indicates Pin E, do you know if your OBD1 plug on your car has a terminal in Pin E? Mine does not, I can see that terminal plug is empty so I don't understand how it can connect to my ECM on pin E at 160 baud? Unless it is connecting through another terminal and the blue light is just indicating it connecting through another terminal at 160 baud?

If your RD was connecting to the ECM at 160 baud were you able to make any changes in Tuner Pro or on your laptop so you can get data in Tuner Pro? Are you saying the RD just doesn't work on your ECM/car and you had to return it? Thanks again for your help.

Cliff Harris

My ALDL connector does not have a pin in location D. Serial data comes out on pin E, both 160 and 8192 baud.

I'm keeping my RD unit for now. I took it apart when I got it and it has an Arduino Mega in it plus Timm's custom Bluetooth PC board. Unfortunately he used a Classic Bluetooth module in SPP (Serial Port Profile) mode, which my iPhone does not support (thanks, Apple, for protecting us from Bad Guys). I can connect to it with my MacBook (which DOES support SPP mode). Apple has moved to BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) for iOS devices and pretty much abandoned Classic Bluetooth.

Timm told me he will get a 1227165 (someday) and look into adding it to the list of supported ECMs.

I could not connect to the RD unit with TunerPro. I was able to connect with a terminal program, but it basically spits out meaningless data because the baud rate is wrong (160 is not a standard PC baud rate -- most serial ICs use a crystal and divide the frequency to get various baud rates. If you can't divide and arrive at the baud rate you need then it doesn't work). Sébastien Giroux, who wrote ALDLDroid had to do some software magic to make 160 baud mode work.

RossyHusker

Thanks Cliff, lots of good information you shared that I didn't know. My data is feeding off pin M so I will see what Timm says about my situation.

Cliff Harris

You're all set.

He is a Fiero guy and told me that the way their ECMs are set up they put out data at 160 baud until you connect a 10K resistor across ALDL pins A & B. Then they output data at 8192 baud on pin M.

He told me that he looks for the 160 baud data, which tells him he's connected, switches in the 10K resistor and then transmits the data he sees on pin M.

RossyHusker

Cliff - I thought more about your comments and tried to connect again tonight. I intentionally put a jumper across A and B and left it there as I plugged in the RD BT unit so the car went into diagnostic mode with the key turned on. I thought that might force the RD unit to connect at 8192 baud on the M pin. The unit cycled through the colors and then started blinking blue and I could not connect to Tuner Pro RT. I thought that might do the trick but unfortunately it didn't.

cousinit99

A regular jumper lead probably won't work. Cliff's right, I didn't realize that. My Moates USB cable has a controller with a 10kOhm selector switch. That 10 kiliohms needs to be present.

What else did he say Cliff? I've written him three messages now and haven't yet gotten a single response yet. Can we just splice a 10K resistor in-line with either the A or B wire and call it good?

RossyHusker

I haven't either and left him a voicemail message today too. Sounds like this idea has potential. Glad you shared the info so far Cliff, thank you! I hate to assume, but I assume the unit should have the 10kOhm functionality built into it and it isn't working? If not I have no idea where to get a 10kOhm resistor to even test the idea. Hoping we get it all figured out because having it feed data live will be a huge benefit. Plus my Android tablet will be here this week and I can try ALDroid out.

Cliff Harris

I'm not familiar with how the later ECMs work. My 1227165 is quite a bit different and that's the only one I really know a lot about.

I sent Timm and email and he called me. We spoke for about an hour about various things. That was about 3 months ago, so I don't remember all the details.

Don't splice in a 10K resistor. Timm's unit does take care of that.

The only thing I can think of offhand that might cause a problem is the ALDL pin D vs. pin E thing. I have a vague recollection that some people have sent their units back to Timm to have them rewired. You might try moving the connector pin. You might want to ask him which pin he looks at for the 160 baud data. I can take my unit apart and find out, but it's late and I have other priorities right now. My car is apart (fixing a blown head gasket) and after two weeks of working on it every day I only have a couple of hours more work to get it running.

RossyHusker

Ok, thanks Cliff. Appreciate your help and good luck with getting your car back on the road.

RossyHusker

I got my Android tablet tonight with Bluetooth. I downloaded ALDLDroid and tried to connect to the RD BT unit. I connect to RD unit no problem but I get the message cannot connect to ECU. The light on the RD unit is blinking blue until I connect with RD BT and then goes green with gold flash. Essentially same issue with the tablet as the laptop withe Tuner Pro RT. No contact back from Timm at RD.

Cliff Harris

I took my RD unit apart and looked at the ALDL cable connections. He brings in the following pins: A, B, D, E, G, L and M.

I know he uses some of those pins (2, I think) for power (12 volts). My unit came with an extra ALDL pin and about 3 feet of wire. You're supposed to use it to get 12 volts to the ALDL connector to power the unit. I'm using a wall adapter for now so I haven't looked at this. I don't remember which pins are allocated to 12 volt power pins. I'm sure it's in the documentation.

I think pin G was one of the power pins. On my car that pin is connected to the fuel pump and does not have power on it.

cousinit99

I haven't received any response from Timm either, and since I'm away at school now, unfortunately there's not going to be a lot I can do with this until June comes around since the corvette isn't here with me.

Cliff, I hear what you're saying about pin D and E for 160-baud, but unless there's something I'm seriously overlooking, then I don't see how that could be the issue. Pin D has 12v+ switched hooked up to my ALDL connector, but obviously that's not a data connection. There's absolutely nothing where pin E would otherwise be, and according to Timm's documentation, the green with gold flashes explicitly indicates that it's receiving data on Pin E at 160-baud. I have a feeling that I'm going to be taking the cover off of mine too so I can see how it's wired inside. The only thing I can think of is that somehow there's a wire going to a pin that it's not supposed to. I mean, what else could it be?

MrWillys

I have one of Timm's cables still sitting on my shelf that won't connect to either Tunerpro, or Datamaster. Spent hours talking with him, and emailing to no avail. Buy the cable from Moates and it works. Worst part was recommending him to others to later get irate phone calls that his cables don't work. I'll never recommend anything this guy does, and I'd avoid him like the plauge.

RossyHusker

Unfortunately you just confirmed what my gut told me. I ordered a Moates cable last Saturday suspecting RD BT isn't ever going to work. I also suspect I won't ever see my money if I return it. I bet I will end up marking this up to a stupid tax. It would have been a great thing if it worked. Appreciate you sharing your experience so we know.

RossyHusker

I got a hold of Timm today and told him at this point I would like to just return the unit and get my money. I explained what was happening. He initially thought my laptop was not communicating on the correct com port, but after I pointed out the RD BT unit was blinking blue which would indicate E pin 160 baud he said it shouldn't be blinking blue since there is not an E pin in my connector. He said to send the unit back, it must not be working correctly and he would replace it. He seemed pretty confident the unit will work with my ECM and Tuner Pro RT, it is the same ECM and TP .adx file he does testing with. So I am going to send it back and give him a chance to make this work. Using Bluetooth to monitor on my Android tablet would be great if he can get it to work.

On another note I got my Moates cable and it took me a little bit to get it to connect, but within 45 minutes I was logging data.

cousinit99

How did you get a hold of him? Please share. He still hasn't written me back..