Many of our products have physical switches on them to change device behavior.  Unfortunately, we’ve noticed quite a few problems related to these switches.  Over time, sometimes switches fail to behave as you would expect them to.  We suspect this is due to oxidation on the contacts, dust or another slow-acting cause.

Affected Devices

These devices use the switches which are known to have issues:

• AutoProm / APU1
• Ostrich2
• ALDU1

Solution

Fortunately, the solution to switch glitching is really easy.  Sliding the switch back and forth vigorously 5-10 times has been successful in restoring normal operation.

Basic Connectivity

The ALDU1 uses a USB connection to talk to your PC.  It uses the same FTDI drivers that all of our other products use.  The first step in getting the AutoPROM working is to get your PC to recognize it.

1. Turn on the computer you want to use with the APU1 and plug the APU1 in to a free USB port.
2. Follow the instructions in the USB troubleshooting guide to ensure the device is recognized by Windows.
3. Although it is mentioned in the guide above, make sure the ALDU1 is using a COM port between 1 and 8!  This is CRITICAL for some older software.
4. The rest of the troubleshooting guides in this guide will assume that you have basic USB connectivity.

Using the ALDU for Logging with TunerPro

Before you will be able to log any data, you need to have the correct ADX definition file downloaded for your vehicle.  The best place to find these is the Definitions section of TunerPro’s website.

With that said, follow these instructions to get everything set up:

1. Make sure the ALDU1 is connected to your PC and has a COM port between 1 and 8.  It will be necessary for you to know which COM port the ALDU1 is using to configure it properly.  Consult the instructions above for ‘Basic Connectivity’ for more detailed instructions.
2. We’re going to walk through the TunerPro RT configuration steps to use this mode.  Your ALDU1 will NOT be recognized by TunerPro RT software like an Ostrich or APU1.  If you’re not using TunerPro, skip to step 8 below.
3. Next, make double check TunerPro’s configuration for logging.  Start by going to Tools…Preferences
   
4. Next, Tab over to the Data Acq. /Emulation tab. (red arrow)  Make sure that “Use Plug-in” is selected for Interface Type.  Make sure “TunerPro Data Acquisition I/O Interface” is selected under the component drop down box.
5. Then click the “Configure Plug-in Component” box (green arrow).
6. Make sure that “Standard Serial” is selected (green arrow) and the COM port of your APU1 is selected (blue arrow)
   
7. IF THE ALDU1 IS UNPLUGGED FROM THE VEHICLE, you should be able to click the “Test For Valid Interface Using Settings” button and get a successful result.  You will NOT get a positive test if the cable is plugged in to the vehicle.
8. If you are NOT using TunerPro RT, you should be able to start your software of choice and configure it to use the COM port of your ALDU1 (COM2 in this example)
9. If you have trouble connecting, check the switch on the ALDU1.  Older applications that use 160baud require the ”10k across A-B” setting.  Later TBI, LT1 and TPI applications use 8192 baud which requires the switch to be in the ”open between A-B” position.

WinALDL is software to datalog on GM vehicles that use the old 160 baud rate.  This includes but is not limited to vehicles using a 1227747 and 1227165 ECM.  Most older TBI GM computers will speak this protocol.  WinALDL does NOT speak to newer GM OBD1 vehicles that use 8192 baud communication.

WinALDL is available from http://winaldl.joby.se/

WinALDL was written several years ago.  It will work best on Windows XP or older operating systems, if available.  You may need to use a VM or Windows XP compatibility mode on newer Windows7 systems in order for it to run 100% properly.

WinALDL will work with both our ALDU1 and AutoProm.

Setup

There are a few setup tasks that need to be performed.

• Ensure that your ALDU1 or AutoProm is assigned a COM port between 1 and 4.  Make sure you choose a port that does not conflict with system resources.  (see USB guide)
• If you are using the AutoProm, ensure that it is set to pass-through *NOT* AutoProm mode. (see AutoProm troubleshooting guide)
• On most 160 baud applications, you will need to set the switch to 10k mode on your AutoProm or ALDU1
• Set the COM port selection in WinALDL to match what it set up to on the USB driver under the control panel.
• Set the baud rate to 4800 within the WinALDL program.
• Select the ECM type in WinALDL which matches your ECM.
• Make sure the ALDU1 is connected to the laptop prior to starting the software.
• Turn your key off, connect the ALDU1 to the car, and start the software.
• Turn the car on, it should connect.

Among other things, TunerPro RT brings a new definition format, the ADX.  This is an extended version of the previous file format, ADS.  The file formats are NOT compatible, but you can convert between them fairly simply.  Unfortunately, the automatic conversion utility in TunerPro isn’t perfect so this guide exists to help you achieve success.

Failure to set the body length correctly (which this guide will explain) can result in periodic timeouts or errors while logging.  Generally, you will be able to initially connect but there will be seemingly random errors in the data captured.  This seems to be much worse on faster PCs.

Procedure

1. Open TunerPro v5.x
2. Go to Acquisition … Import Definition … From ADS
3. Point TunerPro at the ADS file you wish to convert.
4. When prompted, choose a filename for the new ADX definition (this filename doesn’t really matter, just remember it)
5. Go to Acquisition … Load Definition and point it at the file you just saved.
6. Go to Acquisition … Edit Definition
7. In the editor window, click on the plus next to Commands and then click on Transmit Data Reply
8. Make sure the “Body Size (Dec)” item is 67.  In many cases, it will incorrectly get set to 66 by the automatic conversion tool.
9. Click ‘Save’ and you’re done!  If you ever load this definition in the future, it will be ready to go.

There are several groups of ECMs.

94-95 LT1,LT4,LTx: These can be tuned via TunerCATS ( link ) with the $EE definition and an ALDU1+CABL1 (94 – square ALDL style connector) or ALDU1+CABL2 (95 “D” shape OBD2 connector).  These are typically the 16188051 ECM.  APU1 also works for reflash on these vehicles.  No chip adapter needed.

94-95 TBI: Unlike all other TBI ECMs (which use a G2 chip adapter) these ECMs are memcal like their TPI cousins and work with the G1 memcal adapter.  Take the cover off the ECM and if you see a memcal, you probably have one of these.  The 16168625 is an example.

94-95 W-body LQ1: uses the regular MEMCAL found in 1227165/7727/7730 ECMs, you can use the G1 adapter in these units also.

94-95 3800: Primarily use the 16183247 and subsequently a different style memcal is used than earlier ECMs.   The 94-95 3800 powered regals use a similar ECM that is weatherproofed, the 16183428, but that ECM is specific to the 94-95 3800 Regals only. This family of PCMs have the little blue ‘box’ memcal that has the integrated knock sensing board.   A G4 chip adapter is required for these, it’s shorter than the G1.

93-95 3100 vehicles (except for the A-bodies, which use a non-weatherproof version of the 94-95 LQ1 PCM) are all flash units. Unfortunately we don’t currently have a solution for these.

(Thanks to Robert Saar for his help!)

Basics

When we talk about “OBD1” GM vehicles, we mean vehicles made from (approximately) 1986 to 1995.  These cars used several different types of engine controller – some have one injector for each cylinder (Tuned Port Injection, or TPI along with the LTx motors) while some have fewer injectors that are placed near the throttle body (Throttle Body Injection, or TBI) instead.  All the vehicles of this generation speak the ALDL protocol for logging/vehicle communication.

For purposes of this guide, “ECM” means Engine Control Module, Powertrain Control Module (PCM), Engine Computer Module (ECM) – terms will be used interchangeably to mean the same thing.

Hardware for OBD1 GM

Overview

94-95 model years are oddballs.  Many of these ECMs support being reflashed over the ALDL interface (e.g. LT1) using TunerCATS.  Some (like the 94-95 TBIs) use a G1 adapter.  Many Grand Prix from these years use the G4 adapter.  Diesels generally use the G5 adapter.

The process for tuning OBD1 GM products is pretty much the same for all 86-93 model years.  First, a “chip adapter” is used to convert whatever the ECM in question needs into a form that accepts a 28 pin EPROM.  Some chip adapters require soldering for installation (G2, G2X) but most do not (G1, G3, G4, G5).  The same EPROMs can be used for all of our OBD1 GM products (except the switching adapters…) which is usually the 27SF512 – C2.

After a chip adapter has been installed in an ECM, tuning can begin.  You can burn chips using a ROM burner such as the BURN1/2.  Alternatively, you can either use the Ostrich 2.0 emulator or the emulation facilities of the APU1 to make changes while the vehicle is running.

Logging from the computer is accomplished using either an ALDU1 or the logging facilities of an APU1.  For 86-94 vehicles, CABL1 is required to connect the logger and the vehicle.  For the 1995 model year, CABL2 is required due to the physically different connector.

Instead of buying the BURN2, Ostrich2 and ALDU1 separately, you can buy the APU1 unit that does the functions of all three pieces in one unit.

Hardware

G1 – “Memcal” style chip adapter (TPI, Syclone/Typhoon, 94-95 TBI, 92-93 LT1, etc.)

G2 – “TBI” 24 pin style chip adapter

G2 GN Style – Grand National Only.

G2X – Multiple program switching version of G2

G3 – Multiple program switching version of G1

G4 – Blue Memcal style chip adapter for some 94-95 vehicles

G5 – Diesel memcal style chip adapter

HDR1 – Header that allows reading memcals in a BURN1/2.  Used to read stock program on memcal ECMs.

BURN2 – Programs chips

Ostrich – USB Chip emulator, allows realtime changes while engine running

Socket Booster – required for use of Ostrich 2.0 in TBI applications.  Can be used instead of G2 adapter.

ALDU1– USB ALDL interface

CABL1– Used to connect an ALDU1 or APU1 and a pre-1995

CABL2 – Used to connect an ALDU1 or APU1 and a 1995 car

APU1 – Combines the functions of the BURN2 (programming chips), Ostrich 2.0 (real time chip emulation) and the ALDU1 in one unit

Applications

This table is abbreviated. If you don’t see your application here, please email us.

* Socket Booster (S_BOOSTER) required for Ostrich 2 emulation and TBI ECMs

If you have excel, you can also take a look at this spreadsheet for a list of what hardware you’ll need with various combinations.

Software

TunerPro RT ( link ) and TunerCATS ( link ) are the two most commonly used software packages for OBD1 GM.

FreeScan is a free datalogger that works with some GM vehicles. ( link )

There is an excellent cross-reference I found with google that lists common ECMs, which mask (software revision) they use and various other useful information.  ( link )

Holden Vehicles

TunerCat OBD1 tuner seems to have the best support for Holden vehicles at this time ( link ) although TunerPro has support for some ( link )

Hardware-wise, the majority of these vehicles use the G1 chip adapter.  Some of the newer vehicles use our newest G6 chip adapter.  We don’t know the Australian vehicles as well as those stateside so we recommend you check out http://www.delcohacking.net for more info on these vehicles.

With that out of the way, you’re looking at this page because your USB drivers are very broken.  You have devices in Device Manager with yellow exclamation marks that cannot load, cannot start or just plain don’t work.  This procedure will forcibly remove everything FTDI related and allow you to start over with a clean slate.

1. Step one: download FTCLEAN from FTDI’s website – link
2. Step two: unzip the file into a directory on your computer.
3. Step three: run FTCLEAN.EXE
4. Step four: click “Clean system” then click Yes to confirm
5. Step five: REINSTALL FTDI DRIVERS!!!  You should be starting from scratch.

Almost all Moates.net products have a USB interface to connect to a computer. (ALDU1, HULOG, Hondalog, BURN1/2, Ostrich 1/2, Roadrunner, Quarterhorse, Jaybird) Fortunately, all Moates.net products with a USB interface use the same USB support chip so they can all use the same drivers. This makes it easy for you – one driver install will take care of ALL Moates products! Check out USB Driver Installation for more on how to reinstall drivers.

The chip in our devices is made by a company called FTDI. This chip is VERY common and is used in everything from USB-serial and USB-parallel adapters sold in computer stores to other automotive electronics products. This is important because of the possibility of a driver conflict between drivers for your Moates.net devices and other devices that also use the FTDI chips. AEM FIC, Hondata S300 and K-Pro and the USB Instruments Stingray and Swordfish (among others) have a tendency to obliterate our drivers and cause driver conflicts. Be warned: the troubleshooting instructions later on this page may cause other devices that use the FTDI chips to stop working. Tip: If you start having driver conflicts, installing the latest drivers from FTDI will often be enough to resolve conflicts and make everything work again.

Making Sure Everything is Working and Configured

First step to making sure you don’t have a connection issue is to unplug all USB devices that are not absolutely necessary from your computer.

First, Right click on My Computer. (You might find this on the desktop, you might find this in your start menu. Desktop pictured)

Next, go to the Hardware tab and select “Device Manager.” (note: Windows XP is pictured, but the exact placement of device manager may vary slightly in Win98 and Vista)

Next, go to the “Ports” section of device manager and click the + sign next to it to open it, if it is not already open. You should see something like this:

Now plug in ONE of your Moates.net devices. We are going to plug them in one at a time to figure out which ports Windows is assigning to them. Assuming everything is working, you should see something like this in device manager:

The “USB Serial Port” device pictured is using COM10. Some software has issues with COM ports greater than 8, so the first thing we are going to do is change the port it uses to a port less than 8. Looking at device manager, you can see that Bluetooth Communications Port has used COM5 and a Communications Port has used COM1. We should not use either of these ports. We are going to change to COM3, which is unused. First step: right click on the “USB Serial Port” device and click “Properties.”

Next, click on the “Port Settings” tab at the top of the Window.

Next click the “Advanced” button.

On this screen, there are several things to change. First change the COM Port Number to COM3, the port we decided was open. If all of your ports say “in use” you can still select them, but it is recommended you find an unused port under 8. Second, set the Latency Timer to 1 msec. When you are done, click OK on this screen and the driver screen that follows until you are back at Device Manager.

These are the optimal settings for our devices (COM1 – COM8 and Latency = 1ms). If you had trouble, try again with these settings. Remember which port your device was using in device manager when it comes time to configure your tuning software.

Common Issues with USB Drivers and Connections

It is possible to disable devices in Windows. Sometimes this can happen accidentally. If a device is disabled, it has a red X across its icon, like the Bluetooth Communications Port in this picture.

To enable it, right click on the device and select “Enable.” Afterwards, the device should not have a red X across its icon.

Devices can also have issues loading or have device driver problems. When this happens, a yellow exclamation mark appears. Almost 100% of the time, this is a sign that you need to reinstall device drivers. If a simple reinstall does not fix the issue, there is a more heavyhanded method to reinstall drivers using FTCLEAN.

As a rule of thumb, the WHQL drivers which will be downloaded automatically will work fine.  However, it is recommended that you use the drivers from our site with Win98, WinXP and Vista.  Automatic drivers will generally work fine for Win7 but there are certain known good drivers.  We specifically recommend the latest drivers available from FTDI for machines running Windows 8, 8.1, Win10 or newer.

Specifically recommended driver versions:

• Windows 98/ME drivers can be downloaded by clicking here.
• Windows 2000/XP/Vista drivers can be downloaded by clicking here.
• There is a Vista Specific Guide that may be helpful to those running Vista.  Vista is also known to work well with the 2.08.x.x series of drivers in addition to the drivers listed above.
• Windows 7 is known to be stable with the 2.08.24 driver (available under “no longer supported drivers”) as well as the 2.12.x.x series (latest at time of writing) which are both available here.  In some cases, the 2.08 series works better than 2.12 series, your mileage may vary.  Use of drivers older than the 2.08 series is not recommended!
• 8 and 8.1 are known to be stable with the 2.08.24 driver (available under “no longer supported drivers”) as well as the 2.12.x.x series (latest at time of writing) which are both available here.  In some cases, the 2.08 series works better than 2.12 series, your mileage may vary.  Use of drivers older than the 2.08 series is not recommended!
• Windows 10 and newer machines are highly recommended to use the latest and greatest VCP drivers available directly from the USB chip’s manufacturer here. (at time of writing: 2.12.28.0)  In rare cases, the 2.08.24 driver (available under “no longer supported drivers”) can work better but this is NOT recommended.  Use of drivers older than the 2.08 series is known to cause issues!

If you have trouble, start with this troubleshooting guide.

If you have trouble, you may also want to look at FTDI’s Installation Guides for your OS.

OVERVIEW

The ALDU1 is a datalogger designed to work with OBD I GM vehicles.

The ALDU1 is compatible with the CABL1 and the CABL2, which are interface cables that connect to GM OBD I and OBD II vehicle respectively.

The ALDU1 can be purchased by itself, or as a combo with either the CABL1 or CABL2.

CABL1 is used for ~88-94 GM OBD1 vehicles with a rectangular ALDL connector like this:

CABL2 is used only on 95 (and some late-year 94) vehicles that still speak ALDL but have the D shaped “OBD2-style” connector like this:

It can be interfaced with many pieces of software, including TunerPro.

Pinouts and Wiring

In the event you need to build a custom cable, use the following pin outs for the RJ45 connector:

1=A(gnd)

2=B(diag)

3=E/M(data)

This is the 86-94 original ALDL connector:

On CABL1:

• pin A is connected to RJ45 pin 1
• pin B is connected to RJ45 pin 2
• pin E and pin M are connected to RJ45 pin 3
• pin G is connected to RJ45 pin 4
• other pins are not connected

This is the late model ALDL connector used in 1995:

On CABL2:

• Pins 4 and 5 are connected to RJ45 pin 1
• Pin 13 is connected to RJ45 pin 2
• Pin 9 is connected to RJ45 pin 3
• Pin 16 is connected to RJ45 pin 4
• Pin 2 is connected to RJ45 pin 5
• Pin 10 is connected to RJ45 pin 6
• Pin 14 is connected to RJ45 pin 7
• Pin 6 is connected to RJ45 pin 8

How to Buy

Take a look at the OBD1 GM section of our online store here

Test Procedure

The first step towards determining if your ALDU1 is working correctly is to look at the USB side.  Before you continue, you should have verified USB connectivity and you will need to know which COM port your cable is using.  Take a look at the USB troubleshooting guide if you have any questions or concerns here.

You will need to have TunerPro RT version 5.0 or later installed.

Test procedure:

1. Start TunerPro RT with your cable plugged into your computer but unplugged from the vehicle.
2. Load a valid XDF / ADS-ADX combination for your vehicle
3. Go to Tools … Preferences and select “Use Plug-in” for Interface type.  Then make sure “TunerPro Data Acquisition I/O Interface” is selected.  Next, select “Configure Plug-in Component”  Then make sure “Standard Serial” is selected and the COM port shown matches the COM port of your cable. 
4. Finally, click the “Test For Valid Interface Using Settings” to perform a test on the cable.

If your cable fails the above test, it will almost certainly need to come back to us for repair.  If it passes the above test, the hardware has passed a basic minimal test.