I fucked it up. I did it on my car fine and a buddy came over and I fubar'd him. I was in a rush and I forgot to compare the numbers when I was showing him how to do it. So we ended up flashing his car with the "mode23" but with the wrong starting numbers. Anyway, it cut off without finishing the flash and now we can't even pull down his current image or flash him back to his original one. It just says, interface closed and errors out. I tried checking to make sure it wasn't stuck in the programming state but nothing is showing under the ECU drop down menu. I also tried from my laptop to make sure it was car related and not PC/software related. It's definitely something I did to the car. Yes I am taking full responsibility for this.

BTW, his car still runs, and we have turned it off and back on and it's still going. We just can't read/write with ECUFlash anymore.

How do I fix him without buying him a new X!

might want to post this on evom. alot more users.

might want to post this on evom. alot more users.

It's posted there too... :)

Is there a ROM loaded when you look under the ECU drop down menu? Unless a ROM is loaded the menu options will not be available...

What do you mean by:

flashing his car with the "mode23" but with the wrong starting numbers

Is there a ROM loaded when you look under the ECU drop down menu? Unless a ROM is loaded the menu options will not be available...

What do you mean by:

The Read is enabled.. When we load a ROM image the others are enabled but none of them work...

What I mean is we didn't stop when the numbers didn't match..

his starting numbers were

23
1
6501 (I think, he's not here so I can't check)

They should have been
05
05
42

Since they weren't we should have stopped and asked for the right information since it didn't match but I didn't remember to stop until after I had attempted to flash his car with mode23.

What is his ROM number? Is it a 2010?

What is his ROM number? Is it a 2010?

This is a 2008 MR and it's 0019 which inherits from 0015.

Like I said I did this on my car, been fine for months. Works great. It was just this time I skimmed the instructions to remind myself of the process and forgot the key part of checking the numbers before hand.

Since he can drive his car, we can turn it off and back on and it's still drivable I'm not too worried yet that he's fubar'd to the point of having to reset his ECU... but I'm still feeling horrible.

We can't even get him back to the backup of the image we took before doing this, because it won't read or write to his ECU at all anymore.

Please post the solution if someone here doesn't get it.

what is the message or behaviour when you try to rewrite to his ECU with the backup image?

Please post the solution if someone here doesn't get it.


You know I will! :)

what is the message or behaviour when you try to rewrite to his ECU with the backup image?

The behaviour is the same regardless of reading or writing. It gives the interface closed message a couple times and it throws up an alert box that says there was an error and to check the logs. The problem is I don't know where the logs are and he's not here anymore.

I can shoot him messages to see if he can find them if they are to be found. If he doesn't reply to the message I can give him a call tomorrow.

I didn't realize the car still ran. Disregard the person I said to talk to, but it might come in handy one day.

Have you tried uploading a new rom off gunzo or someone elses link, modding it, enabling 23, and writing to ecu without reading first? If not, after making sure his battery is ok, do that and see what happens.

Also, does evoscan work, or has ecu locked out all ability to read it with the tactrix?

EvoScan works and logs fine. We've tried other ROM images from someone he knows, with no dice. I have a battery charger so I'll talk to him about giving that a try. That may very well be it, his car has an after market stereo system, and that might be putting a strain on his battery.

Ok, time for troubleshooting.

Do the following, in order, and let me know where you can't do things.

1- Plug in, turn on car
2- Read the ROM
3- Try to reflash back to stock
4- In the menu bar, find "Exit Programming State"
5- Read The ROM
6- Try to reflash back to stock


If at any of those points the reflash works, you're set and don't need to do anything else (other than putting a good ROM with proper Mode23 back on). If none of that works, PM me or post here.

Ok, time for troubleshooting.

Do the following, in order, and let me know where you can't do things.

1- Plug in, turn on car
2- Read the ROM
3- Try to reflash back to stock
4- In the menu bar, find "Exit Programming State"
5- Read The ROM
6- Try to reflash back to stock


If at any of those points the reflash works, you're set and don't need to do anything else (other than putting a good ROM with proper Mode23 back on). If none of that works, PM me or post here.

No luck. When I try to "Exit Programming State" it gives me interface closed. In other words the same message.

[12:47:35.831] J2534 API Version: 04.04
[12:47:35.831] J2534 DLL Version: 0.50.2598 Jun 26 2009 15:02:29
[12:47:35.831] Device Firmware Version: 1.07.2597
[12:47:38.464] -- loading kernel --
[12:47:38.464] -- connecting to kernel --
[12:47:38.464] kernel get version
[12:47:39.274] interface close
[12:47:39.287] interface close

When the car is in the "ON" position (not cranked), are the fans on? Not the heater fans, the ones you may have heard when you're flashing a car?

When the car is in the "ON" position (not cranked), are the fans on? Not the heater fans, the ones you may have heard when you're flashing a car?

It's my car that has the problem, and they (the fans) start to come on when attempting to read the ECU but them it stops and the error message comes up saying that it cannot read it.
still no luck :(

so today we tried pulling the neg terminal off of the battery and unpluging the two cables going to the ECU then putting them back on still with no luck!

We are open to ANY suggestions at this point so please fire away!

Hey man I sent an email to Tephra and Bryan@GST. Waiting for them to respond, but yes we are very open to ideas here.

I talked to Todd for over an hour and we ran through a bunch of things but still nothing worked!
he said that he has seen this before and the problem just corrected itself so he told me to drive around for a while and then give it a try so im gonna do this and see what the results are.

I talked to Todd for over an hour and we ran through a bunch of things but still nothing worked!
he said that he has seen this before and the problem just corrected itself so he told me to drive around for a while and then give it a try so im gonna do this and see what the results are.

the mode23 output was overwritten wrongly ??

Do you hear any relays clicking ?

If you can drive your car .. its not in programming mode ;) so none of what Xprimt is telling you will work .. his instructions are for cars that cannot even start :D

you probably don't have the necessary tools to flash it back to stock ..
Get bryan or HB to do a bench flash ..

^ True, the steps I mentioned are usually helpful for people who can't get the car started. I was just hoping they would also work for this instance.

I don't actually know what is going on in this case, it's lost connection with flashing tools, but the ECU itself is obviously working well with the car.

Other than a bench flash, can you think of any other methods that will re-enable communication?

^ True, the steps I mentioned are usually helpful for people who can't get the car started. I was just hoping they would also work for this instance.

I don't actually know what is going on in this case, it's lost connection with flashing tools, but the ECU itself is obviously working well with the car.

Other than a bench flash, can you think of any other methods that will re-enable communication?

nah .. he wrote onto a part of the code that the ECU use .. not sure where he wrote it to .. but imagine the program reaches that point and hangs up .. he's lucky its even running

the mode23 output was overwritten wrongly ??

Do you hear any relays clicking ?

If you can drive your car .. its not in programming mode ;) so none of what Xprimt is telling you will work .. his instructions are for cars that cannot even start :D

you probably don't have the necessary tools to flash it back to stock ..
Get bryan or HB to do a bench flash ..



yeah the first time when we tried to enable mode 23 we heard the relays clicking away but now nothing happens!
If you try to read or write with the cable ONLY plugged into the computer and not the OBDII port it gives me the exact same results as if I had the OBDII end plugged in too almost like its not even attempting to talk to the ECU!

what does a bench flash consist of and how can I go about doing this?

what does a bench flash consist of and how can I go about doing this?

Good luck with that. No one making money off of doing that will give you the info for free.

Good luck with that. No one making money off of doing that will give you the info for free.

thats what I thought
I know it has something to do with applying power to the ECU and shorting some pins together but without any reference I know nothing!

Go to Bryan or HB.. they might do it for you real cheap!

Its not worth doing a backyard jobbie on this, just get it back to the way it was then try again with Saiba

I talked to Todd for over an hour and we ran through a bunch of things but still nothing worked!
he said that he has seen this before and the problem just corrected itself so he told me to drive around for a while and then give it a try so im gonna do this and see what the results are.


So I drove over 100 miles between sat and sun and tried to read and write to the ECU still with no luck!
I am running out of options here and hopefully someone can give me some ideas of some more things that I can try.
I think that if I don't get things worked out by wed or thurs I am going to take it to the dealer and see if they can reflash it back to stock for me (hopefully they have hardware/software that can overwrite this lockout)

Are you absolutely sure your tactrix cable & adapter is/are functional? Can you read codes using an OBD2/CAN tester? Look to make sure none of the OBD port pins has backed out of the connector under the dash..

Are you absolutely sure your tactrix cable & adapter is/are functional? Can you read codes using an OBD2/CAN tester? Look to make sure none of the OBD port pins has backed out of the connector under the dash..

We tested it on my car. We know it's his ECU. :(

We tested it on my car. We know it's his ECU. :(

You have to send it in to get fixed.

Are you absolutely sure your tactrix cable & adapter is/are functional? Can you read codes using an OBD2/CAN tester? Look to make sure none of the OBD port pins has backed out of the connector under the dash..

good call on this one!
I have a generic OBDII reader so I will throw some codes (its easy to do this now cuz of my tune) and see if I can read and clear them with this tool!

still no luck!
I can clear out codes fine with my generic OBDII sensor!

NEED HELP BADLY!!!!

Dealership.

Dealership.


Voided warranty.... 100%

He needs to send it to Tactrix for 100th time...

Are you absolutely sure your tactrix cable & adapter is/are functional? Can you read codes using an OBD2/CAN tester? Look to make sure none of the OBD port pins has backed out of the connector under the dash..

good call on this one!
I have a generic OBDII reader so I will throw some codes (its easy to do this now cuz of my tune) and see if I can read and clear them with this tool!

That's the reason I asked him if evoscan still works in evoX ecu selection a few days ago.

Clipse3gt, I thought you were able to bench ecu's?

That's the reason I asked him if evoscan still works in evoX ecu selection a few days ago.

Clipse3gt, I thought you were able to bench ecu's?

I can't bench it when the car works... tactrix has a another way to do it to unlock it when that happens. I know he can because I know someone that this exact same thing happened to and Colby unlocked it.

I can't bench it when the car works... tactrix has a another way to do it to unlock it when that happens. I know he can because I know someone that this exact same thing happened to and Colby unlocked it.

Oh, ok.

Voided warranty.... 100%

He needs to send it to Tactrix for 100th time...

do a bench flash .. its easy :p

Err .. disclaimer .. don't burn the ECU in the process :D

going to see if I can get a hold of tactrix today and send the unit to them.

@ boostin, yes evoscan still works, which is another reason why this problem has my damn head throbbing!

do a bench flash .. its easy :p

Err .. disclaimer .. don't burn the ECU in the process :D
could you link me how to do this or provide an explanation on how to do it?
couldn't find anything via search.
thanks in advance

if it were that easy everyone that got locked out would be doing this and those companies unlocking ECU's would loose money

... out would be doing this and those companies unlocking ECU's would loose money I seriously doubt that "those companies" get any significant amount of their business income from ECU unlocking services.

do a bench flash .. its easy :p

Err .. disclaimer .. don't burn the ECU in the process :D

Trust me a bench flash does not work when the car works...and you can't write to ECU.

A bench flash will only work if the ECU is still in programming state i.e. car does not start and fans are running.

Tactrix has a different way of benching it that bumps it out of locked state.

I seriously doubt that "those companies" get any significant amount of their business income from ECU unlocking services.

Try telling that to the people who make money doing this; it doesn't work.

Trust me a bench flash does not work when the car works...and you can't write to ECU.

A bench flash will only work if the ECU is still in programming state i.e. car does not start and fans are running.

Tactrix has a different way of benching it that bumps it out of locked state.

TRUST ME .. you can ..

You just need to jump a few cables :D

The instructions are on the website for tactrix .. though you have to figure out from there how to do bench unit..

You don't need a bricked ecu to do it ..

The instructions are on the website for tactrix .. though you have to figure out from there how to do bench unit....

Ummm, direct link?

Ummm, direct link?

oh man .. he removed it ..

used to be under downloads section of the main page .. I can't find t now ..

oh man .. he removed it ..

used to be under downloads section of the main page .. I can't find t now ..

Trust me I know how to bench it and the way you are thinking will not unlock it.

Trust me I know how to bench it and the way you are thinking will not unlock it.
Then how do you bench it?

It may not work in this specific case but the benching process is not common knowledge (to the best of my google skills) and would be useful in the event someone else bricks their ecu.

Then how do you bench it?

It may not work in this specific case but the benching process is not common knowledge (to the best of my google skills) and would be useful in the event someone else bricks their ecu.

Sorry can't divulge that information. It's not my information to share.

took a little while but i did find a recovery method: http://www.openecu.org/index.php?title=EvoXRecovery

took a little while but i did find a recovery method: http://www.openecu.org/index.php?title=EvoXRecovery

Except now you need to know what pins to connect to where. ;)

Except now you need to know what pins to connect to where. ;)
looks like your just using pins 8 & 12

looks like your just using pins 8 & 12

Definitely not... a lot more involved than that. Especially if the ECU is out of the car.

:computermad:

What's provided in that link sounds like it'll work.

What's provided in that link sounds like it'll work.

There are several post online of it being successful. A lot of electronics manufacturers typically provide a way to 'bootstrap' flash devices because errors can and do happen during the manufacturing/operational life of the product. The lazy ones however sometimes resort to socketing the flash.

The lazy ones however sometimes resort to socketing the flash. Tose might also be the smart ones! Especially in vehicles where modding is common and usually results in increased warranty costs.

Tose might also be the smart ones! Especially in vehicles where modding is common and usually results in increased warranty costs.

True. Back when I used to do Hardware Test in the factory we even had some that did direct solder on with no recovery capability. That was the suck when some tech decided to yank the power on a flash write cycle on a 128 pin BGA uC with onboard flash.

It is almost as bad as some of the brainiac's using the wireless OBD II to do flash updates.

It is almost as bad as some of the brainiac's using the wireless OBD II to do flash updates.

wat.




I had forgot about this recovery mode, it's probably worth a shot! Just jump the pins together and try to reflash. If it doesn't work, put EcuFlash into "recovery mode" and try again.

If that doesn't work, either be satisfied with the ROM you currently have on it, or bench the ECU.

Trust me a bench flash does not work when the car works...and you can't write to ECU.

A bench flash will only work if the ECU is still in programming state i.e. car does not start and fans are running.

Tactrix has a different way of benching it that bumps it out of locked state.

Sigh .. I'm not here to argue .. so .. whatever you say ..

you can put it to program mode with the ECU out of the car too

can he just get a stock gsr ecu.