RoadRunner: EFI Live with RTACS

Notes from EFI Live’s Paul Blackmore regarding using the auto-tuning feature of EFI Live with Moates hardware:

Check both axis of the VE table in the tuning tool to make sure the MAP and RPM headings (the ones colored sky-blue) have link PIDs associated with them. The link PIDs are usually displayed as {Link: SAE.MAP} and {Link: SAE.RPM}.
Check that the units displayed for the MAP link pid are exactly the same as the units specified in the Scan Tool for that PID.

You can change the units of the VE table’s MAP axis using the menu option: Edit->Configure display units…

You can change the units of the MAP PID in the Scan Tool by displaying the [PIDS F8] tab page, right clicking on the SAE.MAP PID and selecting Imperial or Metric so that it matches the units in the VE table.

Make sure you start logging (red button) or monitoring (yellow button) in the Scan Tool. Otherwise real-time data will not be sent to the tuning tool’s VE table and RTACS will not work.
Make sure the cells you want RTACS to update are not “protected”. Protected cells are displayed with a white background.
Set the accuracy in the [RTACS] tab page of the VE table to 0. That will turn off EFILive’s auto protect feature when EFILive “thinks” the cells are accurate enough.
Make sure the Col, Row and BEN factor PID values are displayed and updating with the expected values in the [RTACS] tab page of the VE table.
Make sure the min and max RTACS limits in the [RTACS] tab page of the VE table are set far enough apart so that values can be modified.
Make sure the “RTACS is NOT active” changes to “RTACS is active” when you expect RTACS to be working.

Here’s more text from a recent email:

The most important part of the RR auto tune is to make sure the calculated BEN factor PID you are using is correctly calculating the error between the commanded v’s actual (i.e. wideband measured) AFR. The error is displayed as a numerical value that represents the percentage error between the two values.

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The BEN factor is calculated as (actual AFR) divided by (commanded AFR).

A value of 1.00 indicates that the commanded AFR matches the actual AFR

A value less than 1 indicates that the actual AFR is less than the commanded AFR by the fractional part of the value. i.e. if the value was 0.95, then the difference is 5%, if the value was 0.90 then the difference is 10%, if the value was 0.87 then the difference is 13% etc.

A value greater than 1 indicates that the actual AFR is greater than the commanded AFR by the fractional part of the value. i.e. if the value was 1.05, then the difference is 5%, if the value was 1.10 then the difference is 10%, if the value was 1.13 then the difference is 13% etc.

The RTACS software multiplies the existing VE value by a percentage of the BEN factor, the percentage is based on coarse/fine settings.

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When the border turns red that indicates that the logged data is currently being discarded because it did not pass the filter(s) that you have in place.

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You should also make sure the PCM is operating is open loop to prevent the PCM from fighting against you and adjusting the long/short term fuel trims while you are trying to tune. You can force open loop by increasing all values in B4205 (Closed Loop Temp Enable) to greater than the coolant temp will ever get. That will prevent the PCM from entering closed loop.

Hope this helps!

Roadrunner: Hard Resets

When you set up a Roadrunner in a vehicle, you will often need to force a ‘hard reset’ of the Roadrunner PCM. This is particularly true if you are using a custom OS or changing OS type.

For using EFI Live, perform the following:

Open up the software, and get the EFI Live Roadrunner Control Panel. Make sure the Roadrunner serial number is being displayed.
Upload the whole new Operating System and Calibration from the PC *.tun file to the Roadrunner device.
Select the “Execute from PCM Flash Memory (if equipped)” option (two chips with arrows in between). This will turn the Roadrunner emulation ‘off’ in order to blank out the PCM RAM when the memory read faults. The software should display ‘Flash’ as the mode of operation.
Re-select the button, this time selecting the ‘Emulation’ mode of operation.
Turn the key or power to the PCM off, wait 10 seconds, and turn it back on.
If you like, at this point you can open the EFI Live ScanTool software (make sure cable is connected and vehicle is on). You will probably want to scan for codes and DTCs, and clear them all as appropriate.
Start the vehicle briefly (1-2 seconds) and then shut power back off. This is primarily to reset the idle relearn, so it typically not an issue with the drive-by-wire configurations.
You should now be able to restart the PCM and vehicle, and things should work as expected if you are using a valid *.tun file.

This procedure will also help if you have suffered tune corruption.

If you have any questions, contact EFI Live or Moates technical support and they’ll be glad to help further.

Programming Chips Using Offsets

How to use offsets when programming chips:

If the chip you are programming is of a larger capacity than the binary file you are putting on it, you typically need to use an offset with respect to chip addressing. This option is shown in the TunerPro RT program under ‘Moates Prom I/O’. The Flash n Burn software has an almost identical set of screens. We will use TunerPro RT and Flash n Burn interchangeably for the rest of this document because they operate very almost exactly the same. To program a chip, proceed as follows:

1. Ensure that all programs on the PC are closed then connect the AutoProm or Flash & Burn unit. If using a serial version of the AutoProm, connect its power supply.

If using an AutoProm, make sure that it is disconnected from the car’s ECM.

2. Once the unit is connected, start up the TunerPro RT/Flash n Burn program. You should see at the bottom of the window a message like “Connected: AutoProm 2.5.A” or “Found BURN1 …” or something similar. If this is not shown, and you instead see “Hardware Not Found”, then your computer cannot talk to our hardware. If using an AutoProm, there is a switch on the back (black horizontal) of the unit which needs to be placed in the ‘toward the middle of the unit’ position. If it is in the ‘toward the outside’ position, then the chip burning and emulation functions will not work. If the switch is correct or you are using a BURN1/BURN2, the problem is probably drivers. Take a look at this guide for more information on how to resolve driver issues.
3. Assuming that your hardware has been detected, you are now ready to put a chip in the unit. Place the chip such that the chip notch or arrow is oriented in the same direction as the ZIF socket handle, which should be toward the cable connections. Also, make sure that the chip is positioned away from the ZIF handle, so that the empty holes in the socket are present at the handle end. The orientation and positioning of the chip in the socket is CRITICAL, so make sure that this is correct. See pictures on website for clarity.

4. If you are using TunerPro, look under the ‘Tools’ menu item and select the ‘Moates Prom I/O’ option. If you are using Flash n Burn, you should already be looking at this menu. In this menu you will need to do the following

in the correct order:

Select the type of chip you’ll be programming from the drop-down menu. This will likely be either the AT29C256 or the 27SF512.
Pick the ‘Load file to buffer’ option, and navigate to the file you want programmed on the chip. Select it, and it will be loaded to memory on the PC. Take note of the file size indicated in the message window. It will likely be one of four sizes: 4k, 16k, 32k, or 64k (kbytes).

In the top right part of the window you will see the offset values that need to be changed. The file size along with the chip size will determine what offsets you need to use. (Flash n Burn usually automatically selects sane offsets based on your chip type and file size.) When you change the offset values, you will notice that other values will change automatically.

It is critical that the correct values are filled in for all four boxes before programming the chip.

You may have to go back and re-enter values depending on the order you enter them. The following table summarizes what offsets you need to use depending on chip used and file size:

File Size	Chip	Buffer Start -> End	Chip Start -> End
4k (4096)	AT29C256	000000 -> 000FFF	007000 -> 007FFF
16k (16384)	AT29C256	000000 -> 003FFF	004000 -> 007FFF
32k (32768)	AT29C256	000000 -> 007FFF	000000 -> 007FFF
4k (4096)	27SF512	000000 -> 000FFF	00F000 -> 00FFFF
16k (16384)	27SF512	000000 -> 003FFF	00C000 -> 00FFFF
32k (32768)	27SF512	000000 -> 007FFF	008000 -> 00FFFF
56k (57344)	27SF512	000000 -> 00DFFF	002000 -> 00FFFF
64k (65536)	27SF512	000000 -> 00FFFF	000000 -> 00FFFF

As you can see, the buffer (or file content) will be placed at the ‘end’ of the chip.

Once you have selected the proper chip, the proper file to use for the program content and the proper offsets you are ready to program the chip. If using a 27SF512 chip, you must ‘Erase Chip’ first! This is not needed with the AT29C256. Go ahead and select the ‘Program Chip’ option. Follow this action with a ‘Verify’ command to make sure everything programmed correctly. You should get a ‘Success’ notice.

Using Switching Adapters

Using our switching adapters (G2X, G3, GX, TwoTimer) requires programming chips using offsets.

More will follow – Coming soon!

Discounts for Shops, Resellers, and Group Buys

Shops and Resellers:

If you are interested in purchasing Moates.Net products in bulk, or would like to be a reseller of our products, the following discount structure is available to you:

10% off for 10 – 19 pieces more of a given item
15% off for 20 – 49
20% off for 50 – 99 and
25% off for 100+ units

NOTE!
This discount can be applied retroactively as well for a 12 month rolling total. For instance, if you buy 5 units at regular price of $20 each and then later on purchase 6 more units in a 12 month period at $20 each, then a discount will be applied to the total so you’ll get a partial refund of 10% on all 11 units, or $22.

Furthermore, if you subsequently purchase 12 more units, you will be eligible for the 15% price break on all 23 units, giving you an additional $47 off. The total net discount on ALL same items purchased in a 12 month rolling period would effectively be 15%. We chose a 12 month rolling time period instead of a calendar year so you won’t lose your discount if you buy in December and then more in January.

This may seem confusing, and it does add to order processing complexity on our side. However, it is designed to lower the risk level for entry-level shops and resellers. You don’t need a big buy-in, since the retroactive discount structure takes care of you!

This discount structure is not valid for small incremental orders (one part here, one part there), and does not apply to individual drop shipments. Instead, it is limited to quantity orders of 3 or more pieces at a time going to the same destination. So if you buy 3 units and 8 units, then you get the 10% discount on all 11. If you then buy 1 separate unit separately, the 1 separate unit doesn’t get the discount and doesn’t count toward the total accumulation for bulk retroactive discount.The reason for this is that the 1 piece at a time approach still requires all of the administrative order processing burden on our side, and part of the reason for bulk discounts is that it is easier for us to ship quantities of units than shipping them individually.

Group buys:

Pre-arranged group buys are available. The same normal discount structure as described for bulk discounts applies based on the number of participants, but the minimum individual order quantity of 3 isn’t required.

Any purchase made on the website or over the phone under a group buy situation should be CLEARY INDICATED, preferably in the comments section of the order. That way we know what to do with it.

For example, one group buy coordinator will contact us ahead of time and initiate the group buy period (up to two weeks in duration). We will agree on the close-out date for the group purchase.

If the coordinator wants to have all of the units shipped to them and then distribute them to the individual purchasers, then it will be handled no differently than a standard bulk discount situation.

If the buyers decide to pay for the units individually at our webstore and have them shipped separately to each buyer, then that is also fine. In this case, full price will be charged initially. At the close of the group buy, a discount will be applied as a partial refund to each participant separately.

The total discount will depend on the total number of participants. So for 10-19 it’d be 10% and for 20-49 it’ll be 15%. We usually don’t know how many participants are involved until the close of the group buy period, so that’s why the partial refund / discount is delayed until that time.