[marco]

So after everything worked with the version 3 i decided to try Durametric version 5 on the cable. I found some people for which it worked and some for which it didn't. For me it didn't, in version 5 of Durametric there is something in that detects the Chinese cable and actually flashes the firmware of the cable with all 0. I actually found the code that does this in a dll delivered with Durametric, if i knew this before hand i could have disabled the flashing, but all in all i also needed to reset the service interval on a Panamera, which for sure is not possible with the China made cable. So i ordered the Pro kit from Durametric itself, it was actually not worth all the hassles..<img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" />



So if ever you want to use a cable from China, stick with the version 3 software.

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[tamathumper]

Are you saying the version 5 software somehow damaged or altered your cable so it will no longer work?

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[marco]

Yes, i don't know if it can do this with all china made cables, but with mine it did. There is a Micro.dll deliverd with version 5 which can be decompoled with DotPeek. This is the only dll which is not obfuscated. (Yes i am a programmer <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> ).



This dll contains a CounterFeitProduct function which can be called from the software. It will just do the same as a firmware update, but in stead of firmware it ovewrites the whole memory with zeros. Also the part on the chip that normally handles communication, so also not possible to flash it back through the cable. You have to remove the chip from the cable and use an eeprom programmer to initialize the chip again.



At least until now i was not able to write the firmware back to the cable, even initializing the communication to send the firmware does not work anymore. And maybe in some cables from china that disabled the whole firmware updating completely. Which would be the smart thing to do, so the software cannot update the firmware on the cable anymore. I did see some other people on other forums that did get version 5 to work with their cable.

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[tamathumper]

Interesting. Is there a way to tell if your cable is damaged?

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[marco]

I have added some logging to the Micro.dll file. It wil show the bytes sent to and received from the cable. Whatever is sent to my cable, it always returns 0, so that means the cable is damaged.

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[flash]

lol - seems like a whole lot of work. at my billing rate, i'm not sure i could build this and make it work without it costing me a whole lot more than the durametric, and it has less features even if you do get it to work. in post 21 it looks like you came to the same conclusion.

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[marco]

Same with me <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" />.. the time i spent on it i could have bought a few official sets <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> .. I also bought the Durametric pro version now, but just for fun it is nice to try and see how the chinese cable works and if i can get it back to work. I like fiddling around with these kind of things..

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[flash]

yeah - done quite a bit of that on this car. lots of "fiddling" with dubious results. fun for the most part, but i certainly could have been smarter on some stuff, and saved myself a lot of time, money, and grief.

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[marco]

In this case it was not a lot of money, just some time. The only way to restore the cable seems to be with an eeprom programmer. I would need to remove the chip, copy it from another cable and put it back it. A lot of work, i can just order another cable for $30 if i would really want another chinese cable..

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[flash]

lol - for me, time IS money. any hour i spend on something is an hour i can't bill and make money. i "budget" my vacation, based on how many hours it means i am away from work, and factor that into the cost, just like the hotels, air fares, etc.

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[jfrahm]

[quote name='marco' timestamp='1362413664' post='139487']

In this case it was not a lot of money, just some time. The only way to restore the cable seems to be with an eeprom programmer. I would need to remove the chip, copy it from another cable and put it back it. A lot of work, i can just order another cable for $30 if i would really want another chinese cable..

[/quote]



If you had the firmware you could use the dll from Durametric to push the original firmware back onto the Chinese cable, but I suppose it's not worth your time.



I ordered this rig BTW and will try it out when the bits arrive.

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[marco]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1362416829' post='139493']

lol - for me, time IS money. any hour i spend on something is an hour i can't bill and make money. i "budget" my vacation, based on how many hours it means i am away from work, and factor that into the cost, just like the hotels, air fares, etc.

[/quote]



I sometimes have to take my mind off work. Working on the Porsche and things like this is it ...Money is not everything <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> ..

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[marco]

[quote name='jfrahm' timestamp='1362417218' post='139495']



If you had the firmware you could use the dll from Durametric to push the original firmware back onto the Chinese cable, but I suppose it's not worth your time.



I ordered this rig BTW and will try it out when the bits arrive.

[/quote]



I tried this, but the cable is not responding on anything anymore. I guess the firmware is in a certain part of the memory, and the control for the xmodem protocol which is used for the firmware update is in another part. When it detects a chinese cable, it will overwrites all memory. I did not found out yet how to write bytes again into the memory. Alltough in the manuals of the chip (ATMEGA162) i found that as long as the boot software is still in the upper memory it should still work.



There are also fuse bits in the ATMEGA162 micro controller that is in the cable, the software can also use this to disable the complete chip. Then i need to take it out for sure.

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[flash]

lol - i never learned to relax. i am always working. i work on vacation. so does my wife. we love our work though, so it's not a problem. i only need a couple of hours of down time now and again. i don't sleep much either. never have. the brain is always going. i don't like sitting around and doing nothing. even my pass time activities are physical (though i've been neglecting those for too long now, and i'm way out of shape). we just aren't the type to sit at a pool, or lounge around.



so, for me, it's always cheaper to buy something than it is to reinvent the wheel. it's often less expensive for me to hire somebody to do something than it is for me to do it myself. but i get the part about enjoying the tinkering. heck, i have a 968 don't i?

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[marco]

Indeed, as long as we are enjoying ourselfs <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" />..

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[marco]

Today got the official cable and ran it with version 6 of Durametric. That works great on the 968, actual values with data logging, turn on/off injectors (for testing)... very nice.



Then attached it to my 996. And there i can do really a lot. Even testing the headlight adjustment, the fans, everything. very nice.

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