Ok, so i purchased the obd1 cable w/ the obd2 connector to work with my 95 lt1 camaro. I'm trying to run the datamaster or free scan to see how my cars running since the 396 build up. I'm using a toshiba laptop that i about 1 year old and it doesnt have a serial port, so i went out and bought a serial to usb port adapter. Well anyways yesterday after putzing around for about an hour i cannot get it to read anything. If i test com, it says something about aldl cable working, no pcm readout/ or no pcm found.. check connection. What could i be doing wrong here?

 

I have a Toshiba about the same age Satellite Pro. I tried every usb to serial adapter i could find. 4 dfferent brands including belkin, nothing worked. Compusa got pissed on the 4th return. I ended up buying a PCMCIA to serial adapter worked perfect. Socket is the brand name. I bought it off an online reseller. www.socketcom.com (not a type) of course list price was quite a bit higher than i paid. I even found a couple on e-bay but none were buy it now, and i wanted to program NOW.

 

http://search.ebay.com/pcmcia-serial...sortpropertyZ1

 

is there any other way, or possibly a cheaper alternative to this? because it really sucks that i shelled out the 65 for the cable and then a 30 for an adapter and i still need something else, and its atleast say around 80 dollars.

 

I went down the same path and ended up spending $50 on gas back and forth to Compusa and bought the adapter anyway. Like i said hit e-bay should be able to buy a used one for $30 or so.

 

I personally justified the cost by the reason that using something kinda half a**ed was putting my ECM at risk every time i tried. One USB adapter would work in freescan once in awhile. Never tried to program with it. Was scared. By doing some reading the USB serial thing is risky at best. Check http://www.akmcables.com/ Andrew has a little writeup about usb adapters. I tried the one he listed and it did no work with my Toshiba. I played the better safe than sorry. Maybe trashing my car computer and having to wait days or spend extra money to get it fixed.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...489665067&rd=1
Good luck! Those are made by Socket