Hi, newbie here...

A general forum and a place for initial or prospective users. See Manuals/Documentation
Click here to enter
Contact a Forum Administrator
If unsure where to post, post in this sub-forum.

Moderators: jsmcortina, muythaibxr

Post Reply
mowersman
MS/Extra Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:23 am
Location: Somerset, UK

Hi, newbie here...

Post by mowersman »

Hello all
I've been playing with engines and all things mechanical for far too long now, and have recently plucked up the courage to start having a play with megasquirt, having known about it for several years now.
My interest is classic Land Rovers, my daily drive is a 1965 short wheel base one with a diesel :o , but for some time now I've been planning on building a turbocharged, injected version of the 2.5 4 pot petrol, as they are based on the diesel and massively over engineered. I've got the engine its self built up, ready to fit the fuel system to, so I bit the bullet the other day and bought a V3 Microsquirt, pre owned, but unused.
This brings me to my first problem, I'm afraid.
I have got the Microsquirt on my desk, with the loom plugged it, grounds and +12Vdc connected up, from a well charged battery. 2.5mm jack to serial cable plugged in and the serial cable plugged into a FTDI based USB to serial converter.
Nothing. The drivers are installed and the computer recognizes the converter, but what ever I do, Tunerstudio will not detect the Microsquirt. I have gone through device manager and changed all the settings, no joy. I have gone through the MS2 setting up guide, manually putting in my firmware version into Tunerstudio, then going into communications - Settings - Test port, but getting failed each time.
I'll be honest, after this, I'm stumped. I'd like to think that whilst it will be a learning curve, I should be able to get my head round tuning it, but actually getting the Microsquirt unit to talk to the computer, I'm out of my depth. My next route is to try and borrow a computer with a proper serial port, but this may not happen for a few weeks and I'd rather like to start playing before then.
Do any of you good folks have any suggestions?
Thank you
Andrew
mowersman
MS/Extra Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:23 am
Location: Somerset, UK

Re: Hi, newbie here...

Post by mowersman »

Well, I actually got the opportunity to hook it up to a friend's laptop with a serial port yesterday night. Unfortunately, nothing. I may as well have not plugged it in...
Andrew
DaveEFI
Super MS/Extra'er
Posts: 4175
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2012 12:55 am
Location: SW London, UK

Re: Hi, newbie here...

Post by DaveEFI »

If it had been a MegaSquirt, I'd have offered to check/repair it for you. But I don't know the MicroSquirt. Perhaps James will - or know someone who can in the UK.
Rover SD1 3.5 EFI
MS2 V3
EDIS
Tech Edge O2
London UK.
Matt Cramer
Super MS/Extra'er
Posts: 17499
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:08 pm

Re: Hi, newbie here...

Post by Matt Cramer »

Check if it's got 5 volts on the VREF wire when powered up.
Matt Cramer -1966 Dodge Dart slant six running on MS3X
mowersman
MS/Extra Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:23 am
Location: Somerset, UK

Re: Hi, newbie here...

Post by mowersman »

Hi Dave, I nearly bought a MegasquirtII unit, but this Microsquirt came up at the right price, pre owned, but never used.

Matt
I am getting 4.92V between the Vref wire and the sensor ground.
Thanks
Andrew
LAV1000
Super MS/Extra'er
Posts: 1489
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:18 am
Location: Netherlands

Re: Hi, newbie here...

Post by LAV1000 »

On serial com. you need;
Computer/ USB interface RX> Device TX
Computer/ USB interface TX> Device RX

Check this:
http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/html/Meg ... p-3.4.html
Page 13 at the bottom and pages below.
grom_e30
Super MS/Extra'er
Posts: 4451
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:44 pm
Location: UK

Re: Hi, newbie here...

Post by grom_e30 »

have you tried using the port check from here http://www.msextra.com/downloads/
1990 bmw 320i daily driver with m20b25 ms3 sequential fuel, 380cc injectors, d585 coil near plug, home made cam sync, launch control, fan control, vss, homebrew egt logging what's next????
mowersman
MS/Extra Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:23 am
Location: Somerset, UK

Re: Hi, newbie here...

Post by mowersman »

LAV1000 wrote:On serial com. you need;
Computer/ USB interface RX> Device TX
Computer/ USB interface TX> Device RX

Check this:
http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/html/Meg ... p-3.4.html
Page 13 at the bottom and pages below.
LAV1000, You have got it!!!
I will admit, I'm a bit of a tight so and so, so I went to my local Maplins and bought a 2.5mm jack and a serial connector then made my own cable, rather than buying one. Swapped the wires round and it worked first time! I had naturally assumed that port TX went to the device TX and the same with RX!
Thank you all, you have put a much needed grin on my face!
Andrew
billr
Super MS/Extra'er
Posts: 6828
Joined: Sun May 15, 2011 11:41 am
Location: Walnut Creek, Calif. USA

Re: Hi, newbie here...

Post by billr »

Even if you had splurged for a manufactured cable, you may have got a "straight" cable instead of the required "cross-over" type. Now you know something new.
LAV1000
Super MS/Extra'er
Posts: 1489
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:18 am
Location: Netherlands

Re: Hi, newbie here...

Post by LAV1000 »

Glad to be helpfull !
Timpanogos Slim
MS/Extra Newbie
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2015 1:32 pm

Re: Hi, newbie here...

Post by Timpanogos Slim »

Additionally, there are some really artful fakes of ftdi's usb-to-serial device out there.

FTDI doesn't like that, so they released a driver update that disables the fake chips.

But you'll know when that happens because it will show up as an unknown / broken usb device with a vendor id of 0000

I'm dealing with that by just not having any FTDI devices anymore.
Post Reply