I think you may need to send them an email about the FLSHPROG update, if your having problems still. I dont remember when this "revision B" came out, I think they dish it out if you report a problem and they look at your VIN or production date, I dont recall as I have a 94 and had no problems.

The Windows FLSHPROG was the same, you had to ask (at least awhile back) because it was Beta, I prefer DOS so I'm fine with what I have. I just update the def file every once in awhile, whenever they come out with something.

 

Dr. Mudge, are you talking about the $EEb definition file vs. the $EE? If so, Tuner sent me both versions just in case I needed one or the other. Didn't have anything to do with Flash versions though. I was just wondering.

Ken R. 95Z

 

Close, but supposedly there was a seperate flash program as well, unless I was missinformed. Feel free to ask them if this is the case though, I could be wrong.

I have a 94 (not sure what month, never bothered to check) and worked fine with the regular old stuff I got from Tunercat.

 

what version of CATS do you have? should say at the top heading.

about the DOS thing...
just make your computer boot in DOS. get the flshread. and flshprog. programs on a floppy and open them up thru DOS. what windows are you using?

 

You can use F8 on bootup, you dont need a boot disk. Just select MS DOS PROMPT from here, usually Option #6.

 

Alright guys, I think I may have figured out the trick to stopping those annoying messages, and it's not a bigger battery!!! I recently posted a question about ABS software when I realized the ABS system uses the same communications port as the PCM. When I was searching the board for an answer to that question I found a post that discussed the same problem as this one does. A guy mentioned sometimes he had to take out his ABS relay to get the laptop to read... and sure as sh*t it worked!

I disconnected 3 relays--both fan relays and the ABS relay. The first time it worked like a charm, so I tried it again and it failed less than 50% through, I figure from low battery voltage again, because I dind't let the car run inbetween tries. So I started the car up and let it run for two minutes at the most, tried to read the PCM again and it worked fine. I now feel confident to write to the PCM guys!!! hehe I'm gonna pee my pants... Just don't try to read the PCM before you write to it, it makes sense to do it to make sure everything is working ok but it seems it takes too much power from the battery leaving you with none for the writing process (a bad thing!) I hope to hear some replies to this, maybe you can try it too roguedriver, and let us know how you make out with it (if your car even has ABS...maybe there's something else throwing you off.)

 

If you parked the car with a full charge, kept lights off and pulled the relays before reading the PCM, it should definately have enough juice to be run more than twice. So with that in mind, if it only passed "the test" once, I'd still be a little nervous.

When you feel confident in it though, make sure you have that battery fully charged before you decide to write to it, and before you take the plunge I'd recommend doing a read beforehand just to reassure yourself that the cable is firmly in place and everything is A-OK one last time, and of course yank the relays again for your batteries sake.

Good luck!

 

Well, after parking the car overnight I let it run for a minute without driving it and then proceeded to start the tests (which it failed on the second try.) But I'm gonna read it some more times before I'm fully confident.

 

I'll let you guys know what I come up with as soon as I get my PCM back, which should be next week. I do have ABS. Think thats standard on all Camaros and Firebirds. I'll try reading it right off the bat with the fan relays removed. That will mean the car sat for 2 weeks without running, and i'll see if it errors. If it does, i'll remove the ABS relay and see if it errors. If it does, i'll hook up jumpers to my truck and see if it errors. If it does, then I won't know what the hell to do. We'll see. Later.

Ken R 95Z

 

As soon as you get the PCM back I'd start the car up and probably drive it around for a bit... let the alternator charge up the battery and just to make sure there's no problems. Then I'd park it and try reading it again, if you just attempt to read it after the car sat for 2 weeks I wouldn't expect it to finish reading .

 

Blackcamaro, thats exactly what I hope to prove by not driving it before attempting to read. If it doesn't read after several attempts after sitting and does right away after hooking jumpers to another battery, then i'll know if it's a battery issue. I already know my battery is a little on the weak side although it does read 12.5 volts without any load on it. Not sure how far it's dropping once you put a load on it. But we'll find out. I'll definitly let you know what happens. Later.

Ken R 95Z

 

I got ya now buddy . If it works with the jumper cables on then maybe you should try driving the car, to see if you can ever get the PCM to read from the car's battery alone.

 

Been REAL busy down here with everything go on lately, so I have not been on the board lately. But I just read this post, and it got me thinking. I program my car and my friends car. WE BOTH DO NOT HAVE ABS. I never had a problem reading or writing, and I never could figure out Why. Don't get me wrong, I am Glad that I don't have any problem!!!! But I always read posts about people that have problems. I never could figure out why other people have problems and I don't. Anyway here is what I do, to Read/Write.

First- My car does not have ABS(Got Rid OF It A Long Time Ago)

Second- I make sure that my car's battery is fully charged.

Third (And Most Inportant)- I make sure that there is NOTHING running on my computer. No screen savers, No pictures in the backgroud, No anything except the Tuner Windows Flash Utility. I am also using Windows 2000 (I think this is the most stable operating system to use, just my opion)

Forth- When I start to read or write to the pcm, I make sure the Computer is pluged into the wall, the cable is screwed into the back of the computer and no one is near the car. I have the car doors closed, windows open and the cable ran through the car window. The car, cable and the computer DO NOT GET BUMPED OR DISTURBED while it is getting programed. This is the most important part!!! That is why I think some people loss communication.

I would also take out the fan relays (and will start to do that in the future)
But I think a lot of people also have problems with the laptops!! I make sure mine is clean!!!!

Just a thought on why I don't have any problems(Knock on Wood) You all probably heard this all before anyway, but I posted it anyway, just incase there are new board members that only saw bits and pieces of how to be carefull when reading and writeing.

Hope you guys get to the bottom of your problems, Good Luck!

 

I'm running Windows 98 on my laptop (which was fully charged and sitting still in the passenger seat, was not moved or even vibrated during the process.) I had it booted to DOS mode, which I think is even better for flashread and program than Windows 2000 is... there's virtually no processes running in the background. I think with the ABS relay and both fan relays removed that I got it working right. I'm about to even pull the car into the garage and hook it up to the desktop in there and try it with another computer. This way I won't have to be sitting in the car, like the last post said the window will be down with a cable coming out of it. I think I already have the problem solved, just that when I last took out the ABS relay the battery wasn't fully charged enough after having the slow drain of the alarm from overnight, that it couldn't support two reads in a row. After it ran for a minute it was able to complete another full read, though. I think my problems are solved but I'm just gonna make sure

 

If at all worried about the battery, charge it before programming, dont use jumpers during.

True DOS mode is definately better than a DOS PROMPT in Win2k, HOWEVER you can use DOS mode in 2k also, its not DOS its NTVDM, but you can still reach it by using F8 or else use a 98 bootdisk, as long as the drive isn't NTFS then it gets more complex.

DOS is not a multitasking OS, so nothing can interupt it but powersaving on the laptop, or a cable being jingled around and getting noise on the line.