98 support status

[Blacky]

EFILive's 98 support is currently under development. We will post updates here if and when new developments or milestones occur.
Posting comments requesting updates will be ignored. As soon as we have something to share with the 98 owners, we will post it here.

The first update:
We have been stuck on a small but incredibly important problem for the past few weeks. We have finally managed to get the required equipment (hardware and software) to test/resolve the problem.
We should have a report on the status of the problem by this weekend. If the problem is solved this weekend then the 98 development can continue.
Unfortunately this problem, which we discovered about 6 weeks ago, was completely unexpected and has made a mockery of our predicted release dates. We are making up the lost time by pushing back other 99+ projects.

Regards
Paul

[Black LS1 T/A]

Now I lay me down and swoon,
I pray the Lord, 98's to tune.
If Paul and Ross should crack this nut,
I'll soon grind all my enemies to dust.

... Ah-men

8)

[J 98ta]

Thanks Paul.

[red12secz28]

Sorry for getting impatient. Its just we have expensive toys that are our cars, and we want to play with them. I appreciate the time and effort you guys have put in allready for 98's. I have tuned 3 99+ cars with my cable right now, and with your software it makes it so damn easy. It would be awesome not to have to use another competitors product that is not even close to what you guys will have for my 98 vette.

[Ninety8C5]

I've been trying to be very patient, but it's been about a week without an update on the 98 progress, good or bad.

:D :?: :cry:

[87gmc]

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies2/wavey.gif

[Blacky]

The problem I mentioned inthe first post has been resolved.

I've just returned from Australia (this morning at 1:30am) where Ross and I worked on and solved the problem.
I will be coding the fix into our test environment here, and Ross can then update the 99 bootloaders to work with the 98 PCMs.

Regards
Paul

[red12secz28]

Thanks guys. I knew you guys would come through.

[Black LS1 T/A]

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies/LS1Tech/gr_cheers.gif

[bobfo]

Is there any general ETA when it will be ready? Or an ETA when a Beta will be ready?

[roy]

That is good news

[Scoota]

Is there any general ETA when it will be ready? Or an ETA when a Beta will be ready?

Read the first post.
Paul has made it quite clear that these types of questions will be ignored.

This section is to keep you all updated with the progress, Not to be pestered.
So why bother.


Scotty.

[87gmc]

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies2/wavey.gif

[amg]

Now I lay me down and swoon,
I pray the Lord, 98's to tune.
If Paul and Ross should crack this nut,
I'll soon grind all my enemies to dust.

... Ah-men

:lol: :lol: Now that is funny!......

-Roland

[Blacky]

Now I lay me down and swoon,
I pray the Lord, 98's to tune.
If Paul and Ross should crack this nut,
I'll soon grind all my enemies to dust.

... Ah-men

:lol: :lol: Comic relief is good......

-Roland

What we originally thought was a nut, turned out to be a reinforced concrete bunker. But we have cracked it, now we're just digging a hole through the side to get at what we need inside.
Paul

[Black LS1 T/A]

Now I lay me down and swoon,
I pray the Lord, 98's to tune.
If Paul and Ross should crack this nut,
I'll soon grind all my enemies to dust.

... Ah-men

:lol: :lol: Comic relief is good......

-Roland

What we originally thought was a nut, turned out to be a reinforced concrete bunker. But we have cracked it, now we're just digging a hole through the side to get at what we need inside.
Paul

That elusive trickster shall NOT escape! :twisted:

[87gmc]

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies2/wavey.gif

[eboggs_jkvl]

Well, this is good information. I think my question on upgrading my tuning software is simply quietly "on hold" as I have the dreaded 98 monster.

You go guys!


Elmer

[GMPX]

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies2/wavey.gif

Cmon, you know how busy we have been with the latest release :roll:

[Black LS1 T/A]

Well, this is good information. I think my question on upgrading my tuning software is simply quietly "on hold" as I have the dreaded 98 monster.

You go guys!


Elmer

Hey, boggs! Whassup???!!!

[87gmc]

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies2/wavey.gif

Cmon, you know how busy we have been with the latest release :roll:

I know just wanted to drop in and say Hi,

The new release of the Custom O.S. has been keeping me busy with the 99 and 01 so havent thought much of messing with the 98

[red12secz28]

Just wondering why the post got pushed back?

[GMPX]

It appears the Forum had a meltdown and lost a bunch of posts :evil:

[Black02SS]

:( yea and it appears to have lost the ability to show new posts when they are made.

[TAQuickness]

again?!

I'm glad I got to see the missing post before they went MIA.

[Black LS1 T/A]

Just wondering why the post got pushed back?

Paul reported they finished the first version of a bootloader, and it was going through some extensive testing. 8) I think he said another week is the likely timeframe and we may see something. I don't know if he meant to post that part in the beta section or not.

Since I read it and posted "yaaaaaYYYYYYYYYYY", I was just cheerleading and can't quote it word for word. :lol:

[GMPX]

Right now the 1998 PCM reading is taking about 3minutes, it should be less, like under two, we can see the problem, we just need to sort a fix for it, then we should get something out so you can all at least read.

As far as the writing to the PCM goes, it is a little trickier in the 1998's due to the layout of the data in the Flash chip, we will need to make some 1998 specific changes to the software to deal with this, but right now we need to get V7.3 nailed down before that happens, trying to alter V7.3 to handle the 1998 PCM oddities might cause some bad things to happen.

But so far things have progressed a little smoother than expected which is good news.

Cheers,
Ross

[Black LS1 T/A]

Right now the 1998 PCM reading is taking about 3minutes, it should be less, like under two, we can see the problem, we just need to sort a fix for it, then we should get something out so you can all at least read....
Cheers,
Ross

Don't let a little three-minute read stop you from letting us test it out; It takes 14 minutes for LS1Edit to read my PCM. :mrgreen:

[GMPX]

I knew that was coming :)

I meant to say it takes 25minutes to read :wink: :wink:

Cheers,
Ross

[87gmc]

I knew that was coming :)

I meant to say it takes 25minutes to read :wink: :wink:

Cheers,
Ross

25mintues i can live with that LOL

Keep up the good work guys

[red12secz28]

Well you guys can give me a big birthday present this weekend. Hint Hint. Maybe 98 tuning.

[Black LS1 T/A]

I knew that was coming :)

I meant to say it takes 25minutes to read :wink: :wink:

Cheers,
Ross

Party pooper! :P :lol:

[MCG]

:?: :wink:

[BrianC98Z28]

Ok I was just thinking and this came to mind. Don't get me wrong in saying this cause my dad can use EFI on his 00 Ws just fine but on my 98 Z28 Im just SOL. LS1Edit and HPTuners can do 98s no problem. Why then can't yall see what they are using or whatnot to do a 98 and having no problem and go from there? Seems like yall would be able to. If they can do a 98 without any problems then why can yall when you could surely look and see what they did to be able to do a 98. Just my thoughts.

Brian

[Trippin]

Ok I was just thinking and this came to mind. Don't get me wrong in saying this cause my dad can use EFI on his 00 Ws just fine but on my 98 Z28 Im just SOL. LS1Edit and HPTuners can do 98s no problem. Why then can't yall see what they are using or whatnot to do a 98 and having no problem and go from there? Seems like yall would be able to. If they can do a 98 without any problems then why can yall when you could surely look and see what they did to be able to do a 98. Just my thoughts.

Brian

No peeking at other peoples work. That would be cheating. :lol:

[Black LS1 T/A]

Ok I was just thinking and this came to mind. Don't get me wrong in saying this cause my dad can use EFI on his 00 Ws just fine but on my 98 Z28 Im just SOL. LS1Edit and HPTuners can do 98s no problem. Why then can't yall see what they are using or whatnot to do a 98 and having no problem and go from there? Seems like yall would be able to. If they can do a 98 without any problems then why can yall when you could surely look and see what they did to be able to do a 98. Just my thoughts.

Brian

This question's been raised over and over. They are on it. :)

Wait a minute... I been waitin' 8)

[Blacky]

Ok I was just thinking and this came to mind. Don't get me wrong in saying this cause my dad can use EFI on his 00 Ws just fine but on my 98 Z28 Im just SOL. LS1Edit and HPTuners can do 98s no problem. Why then can't yall see what they are using or whatnot to do a 98 and having no problem and go from there? Seems like yall would be able to. If they can do a 98 without any problems then why can yall when you could surely look and see what they did to be able to do a 98. Just my thoughts.

Brian

Each tuning tool manufacturer (including GM's Tech2) probably use a different CPU and different hardware technology. Just for info, there are over 10,000 lines of C source code running the FlashScan interface - it is a complex device and its about to get an order of magnitude more complex with FlashScan version 2.

Copying someone elses reflashing method is not an option, what works for other companies does not work for FlashScan. Even if it were an option, we would not deliberately copy. We don't appreciate others copying our work, although imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - no?

Apart from the right/wrong debate, (and just as importantly) we need to completely understand all the nuances of the 98 PCM so that if there is some problem with customers' PCMs we *know* what to do. If we copied someone elses work, then we would probably not know how to fix certain problems.

When we release 98 support, you can be assured that FlashScan will work with the 98 PCMs as well as it does with the 99+ PCMs.

Regards
Paul

[Blacky]

And now for an update...

There is not much to report, except we are working on a timing issue that is causing every second frame to be dropped. That forces EFILive into a retry loop, which is doubling the time taken for the read/reflash process.

Yes, we could release the "slow" version, but we won't because we take pride in our product and we want to release a complete, functional version, not a half-working version.

As soon as the timing issue is resolved I will post an update in this thread.

Regards
Paul

[GMPX]

I'll just add to Paul's reply, currently we are really trying to nail down a CD cut version of v7.3. We have had reports of strange things occurring on some vehicles that need fixing ASAP that have only just started happening, sorry to say, but that has pulled us (me) away from the 1998 PCM for the last week.
Sorry folks. believe me I want this out just as much as you.

[Homeslice]

I must say... I am truely impressed at the turn around in communication. Thank you guys for keeping us in the loop. Bravo.

[BrianC98Z28]

I understand, Im just anxious for this to come out so I can use it on my own car and not have to take it to someone everytime I need to make an adjustment to it. Just a ballpark estimate, is there really any timeframe as to when it could possibly be out? A week, 2,3 weeks?

Brian

[Scoota]

I understand, Im just anxious for this to come out so I can use it on my own car and not have to take it to someone everytime I need to make an adjustment to it. Just a ballpark estimate, is there really any timeframe as to when it could possibly be out? A week, 2,3 weeks?

Brian

Posting comments requesting updates will be ignored.
Regards
Paul

Let Paul and Ross do their work without having to commit to a date.
So there’s probably no point even asking.


Cheers Scotty.

[Blacky]

We're all anxious, probably no-one more so than Ross and I.
We expect it to be ready for beta release in the next week or two, but we've been expecting it to be ready in a "few weeks" for the last 6 months.
So how much faith you put in our estimate is up to you. We have suprised even ourselves at how difficult a job it has turned out to be. Had we known at the start that it was going to prove so troublesome, we would never have started. But we made a commitment and we intend to keep it, albeit very late.

Regards
Paul

[kp]

We're all anxious, probably no-one more so than Ross and I.
We expect it to be ready for beta release in the next week or two, but we've been expecting it to be ready in a "few weeks" for the last 6 months.
So how much faith you put in our estimate is up to you. We have suprised even ourselves at how difficult a job it has turned out to be. Had we known at the start that it was going to prove so troublesome, we would never have started. But we made a commitment and we intend to keep it, albeit very late.

Regards
Paul

And its appreciated Paul, just waiting quietly :)

[GMPX]

Good news.
Full PCM reading is done to our satisfaction.
Reads times are under 2 mins which is what we were aiming for.
Next of course will be the write process, there is a few things we need to implement to get around some issues with the way the 1998's are!!.
But we are still aiming for write times in the 40 - 50 second mark.
Not sure when this will be done, but it's all I am working on right now.

Cheers,
Ross

[Black02SS]

I don't even own a 98 and am excited. Nice to see things are coming along. :)

[red12secz28]

Way to go guys. I'm very excited. Hope your done by this weekend.

[GMPX]

Way to go guys. I'm very excited. Hope your done by this weekend.

Ahh, but don't get too excited, this is just reading the PCM that is done, though, I've been working on the write to PCM bootloader all night and that is also coming along quite well.

Cheers,
Ross

[ToplessTexan]

But we are still aiming for write times in the 40 - 50 second mark.

It will be soooo nice to be on the other end of somebody else's over-achieving for once. :D

[GMPX]

Update, 1998 PCM flashing is 99% done.
I have a few minor issues to fix (but not now, it's midnight).
Reflash time is about 40 seconds from start to finish.
Expect about 45 seconds when released as we do more initial checks before the reflash starts that takes some time up.

Out of interest, how do those times compare to Edit and Tuners?.
I expect Tuners would be about the same?.

Cheers.
Ross

[MCG]

My LS1Edit flashes the 98 in about 120 seconds. The read is about 12 minutes.

[LSRacing]

Tunercat flashes and reads in about 2min. Sounds like you got the fastest read and flash, again. This is what i like about this software. You dont just make it work, you make it work right. Thanks for all your hard work and we will be anticipating the release of the 98 support.

[dlandsvZ28]

This is good news.

Flashing my 98 is approximately 2-3 minutes with LSEdit.

Last time I did a read, it was at least 20 minutes, however, I was not using the PCMCIA card as it won't work in my new Toshiba, so was using a serial to USB.

It's my understanding PCMCIA cards are faster with LSEDIT than just a serial to serial on some older laptops?????

Nevertheless, it's nice that with EFILive USB we can toss the serial, PCMCIA, and serial to USB hardware needed with LSEdit.

[kp]

Flashing with HPtuner takes ~30-40 seconds,~1.5 minutes to read. I will be so happy just not to have to carry and swap around the extra wart/cables at the track if it took 3 minutes to flash I'd be happy ;)

[red12secz28]

Thanks guys for working to get us 98 boys some tuning this weekend.

[Black LS1 T/A]

It takes about 14 minutes for LS1Edit to Read my PCM, and about 2 minutes to flash it.

[Black LS1 T/A]

Update, 1998 PCM flashing is 99% done.
I have a few minor issues to fix (but not now, it's midnight).
Reflash time is about 40 seconds from start to finish.
Expect about 45 seconds when released as we do more initial checks before the reflash starts that takes some time up.

Out of interest, how do those times compare to Edit and Tuners?.
I expect Tuners would be about the same?.

Cheers.
Ross

I LIKE reading updates like dis! :D

[BrianC98Z28]

Im gettin excited. Im SOOOOO ready for the 98 Support to come out. Will this be a free upgrade for people already with EFI live?

[Blacky]

Im gettin excited. Im SOOOOO ready for the 98 Support to come out. Will this be a free upgrade for people already with EFI live?

Yes.
Paul

[MCG]

Keeping it on the first page :lol:

[Ninety8C5]

When we get read and write capabilities for the 98's, will all the calibrations be available also or is that still down the road ?

[ToplessTexan]

Had a question regarding the cross-grade offer here that maybe didn't get seen:

http://www.efilive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=15566#15566

[Blacky]

When we get read and write capabilities for the 98's, will all the calibrations be available also or is that still down the road ?

Not all 99+ calibrations are available in the 98 PCMs. But we intend to have about 80-90% of what we are currently showing for the 99+ PCMs, to be available for the 98s. We expect those 98 calibration definitions will be ready for the beta release along with the read/write bootloaders.

Regards
Paul

[MCG]

Any idea yet on timeframe? Are we a week away or still a month +? I know it is hard to gauge, just wondering and trying to plan.

[Blacky]

Best case will be this weekend. :)
Worst case, next weekend. :(

Regards
Paul

[Black02SS]

8)

[Black LS1 T/A]

Best case will be this weekend. :)
Worst case, next weekend. :(

Regards
Paul

I can live with THAT worst case! :mrgreen:

[87gmc]

Best case will be this weekend. :)
Worst case, next weekend. :(

Regards
Paul

HEHE im glad i was sober when i read this now i have an excuse to buy more beer :lol:

[Blacky]

98 support is almost complete.
The read bootloader is installed and 100% functional.
The write bootloader is installed, but requires more testing.

See images...
Note: The write is only a simulated write until testing is complete.
Also, the write is 128K (compared with 96K for the 99+). So a write on a 98 PCM takes about 45 seconds instead of 30 seconds.

(And yes those timestamps in the screen shots are real - must get some sleep...)

Regards
Paul

[red12secz28]

I can do some testing on my vette for yah. :wink:

[GMPX]

(And yes those timestamps in the screen shots are real - must get some sleep...)

:shock: :shock:

[Scoota]

Best case will be this weekend. :)
Worst case, next weekend. :(

Regards
Paul

Stop it Paul, "Now you’re getting them all excited".

Cheers Scotty.

[Black LS1 T/A]

Best case will be this weekend. :)
Worst case, next weekend. :(

Regards
Paul

Stop it Paul, "Now you’re getting them all excited".

Cheers Scotty.

You dang SKIPPY he is! :D

Hey, Paul... I can live with 45 secs! :mrgreen:

[Turbo595t]

Hello,
Will 97 Corvettes be supported?
Or just 98's like Hptuners does?

Thanks,
Brian

[Black LS1 T/A]

Hello,
Will 97 Corvettes be supported?
Or just 98's like Hptuners does?

Thanks,
Brian

I guess they'll answer when they see your post, but I recall 97 Corvettes being included in the loop for testing. :)

[GMPX]

Hello,
Will 97 Corvettes be supported?
Or just 98's like Hptuners does?

Thanks,
Brian

Brain,

You might have to educate us, we have some files from '1997' Vettes (That's what the VIN shows) but they appear the same as the 1998, I had heard there was a small run of 1997's that used a different PCM again?.

Cheers,
Ross

[GMPX]

Just to keep you all up to date, the 1998 Beta testing is well underway.
Mixed results, some are having no drama's others are...we'll keep you posted.

Cheers,
Ross

[NviouSS]

i don't remeber if this was asked or posted earlier but will this be a free update? i ordered the scan/tune before i found out that the 98's weren't included.

[Dirk Diggler]

yes it will be a free update. Not only will it be free but you will be able to tune as many 98's as your heart desires without using a license

[87gmc]

yes it will be a free update. Not only will it be free but you will be able to tune as many 98's as your heart desires without using a license

:lol:

[GMPX]

Yeah, we have the smarts to license the 1998's per VIN but we decided earlier on that the 1998's would be unlimited because we probably would not be able to support them to the same level as the 1999+ PCM.....things change, 1998 tuners will have over 500 tables & parameters to chose from now (probably more than any other package), but we will keep true to our original deal.

Shouldn't be too far off now, the last Beta98 update is looking like a winner.

Cheers,
Ross

[jnorris]

Yeah, we have the smarts to license the 1998's per VIN but we decided earlier on that the 1998's would be unlimited because we probably would not be able to support them to the same level as the 1999+ PCM.....things change, 1998 tuners will have over 500 tables & parameters to chose from now (probably more than any other package), but we will keep true to our original deal.

Shouldn't be too far off now, the last Beta98 update is looking like a winner.

Cheers,
Ross

Any news on the 98 support?

[jsbird98]

Will the 98s get 2/3 bar support as well? I might have missed it reading through this post but i'm hoping for it :oops: ...got some boost to tune for :D

[Black02SS]

BETA results seem to be going really well now. I would say its just a matter of time.

[Blacky]

Will the 98s get 2/3 bar support as well? I might have missed it reading through this post but i'm hoping for it :oops: ...got some boost to tune for :D

Right now we are not planning on it, but we have definitely not ruled it out.
Paul

[Black LS1 T/A]

It would be nice... I have a supercharged 422 that pegs my stock MAF by 4800 RPMs! :shock:

[NviouSS]

any new developments yet?

[GMPX]

We came across another 1998 calibration that we needed to add support for, we are hoping this weekend the Beta testers will have the final before release version to play with.

Cheers,
Ross

[grump768]

How is the 98 support looking guys? my baby is in the garage just beggin for some lovin...

[GMPX]

Beta testers got another update last night that added support for the column lock recall O.S. Shouldn't be far off now.

Cheers,
Ross

[Homeslice]

What's the current 98 status?

OBE I noticed we're on the support list finally. :shock:

[Dirk Diggler]

Released download the latest version

[corvettebob1]

Released download the latest version

So how does one get a copy of EFILive to support a 98 Vette?
I need to be able to scan and tune with a laptop.

[Dirk Diggler]

https://store.efilive.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=1
That should square you away.

[98Formula]

i have had my 98 formula for 2 years now, and i have only done small performance mods and now i am looking to do a lil more with the tuning please if you guys at efilive have any information about the status of this program it would be greatly appreciated.

[Dirk Diggler]

It been released and functional for sometime now

[WicketMike]

so far only problem im having on my 98's is that i can only scan 6 channels. Paul said there should be an update by the 1st of the year.

im a hopin :-)

[98Formula]

so far only problem im having on my 98's is that i can only scan 6 channels. Paul said there should be an update by the 1st of the year.

im a hopin :-)
im not really technicaly sound when it comes to electronics and things. but my buddy has the capabilities to program my car, we are thinking about doing it thursday or friday, should i wait till all the channels are accessed before we tune my car

[WicketMike]

im not really technicaly sound when it comes to electronics and things. but my buddy has the capabilities to program my car, we are thinking about doing it thursday or friday, should i wait till all the channels are accessed before we tune my car

Paul (blacky) said i could get away with these 6 channels to tune with

sae.tp 1 channel
gm.afr 2
sae.rpm 2
sae.map 1
and then also the calc.ben_xn, ext.adn and calc.afr.xn those are for your wideband. they are 0 channels

[eboggs_jkvl]

I becoming a tuning monster. 34 seconds to throw a new tune on to the PCM. Sure beats the ls1edit crap.

Working great on download and upload. My 98 LS6 is a very happy camper now.


Elmer

[WicketMike]

I becoming a tuning monster. 34 seconds to throw a new tune on to the PCM. Sure beats the ls1edit crap.

Working great on download and upload. My 98 LS6 is a very happy camper now.


Elmer

hey elmer,

are you using the 98' pcm still and are you running w/o the MAF?

I just bought a turbo, not installed yet, any pointers on tuning for it?

[eboggs_jkvl]

98 PCM and I have the MAF in the system. Sitting at 7 PSI right now waiting for my wallet to fatten up so I can replace the turbo cartridges and get an electronic boost controller. Then I slip the boost up to 13+ until the 93 octane gas I use can't handle it any higher. At 13 we hit 550 or so. I figure a good high 500 is still easily reachable with the 93 octane.

[dlandsvZ28]

so far only problem im having on my 98's is that i can only scan 6 channels. Paul said there should be an update by the 1st of the year.

im a hopin :-)

I had not tried to successfully scan with the new software (FLASHScan) for the 98's. I had trouble doing a read (full explanation) is in another thread, so Paul sent me new cables and module. Still wasn't able to make a read from one usb port of a total of 4. However, that's not an issue if I can successfully flash and read from the other ports successfully.

So didn't try to flash yet (am still using LSEdit to flash). However when I tried to scan with the new cables I got an error (I recall it was something like subaccount12$.)

Is that because I was trying to scan over 6 PIDS? Or is the error related to something else?

I was able to scan with EFIlive 6 using old cable and I can read the logs with Flashscan7.

BTW...I uninstalled everything from before and reinstalled from the new CD Paul sent with the cables.

[WicketMike]

I had not tried to successfully scan with the new software (FLASHScan) for the 98's. I had trouble doing a read (full explanation) is in another thread, so Paul sent me new cables and module. Still wasn't able to make a read from one usb port of a total of 4. However, that's not an issue if I can successfully flash and read from the other ports successfully.

So didn't try to flash yet (am still using LSEdit to flash). However when I tried to scan with the new cables I got an error (I recall it was something like subaccount12$.)

Is that because I was trying to scan over 6 PIDS? Or is the error related to something else?

I was able to scan with EFIlive 6 using old cable and I can read the logs with Flashscan7.

BTW...I uninstalled everything from before and reinstalled from the new CD Paul sent with the cables.

I think it does have to do with trying to read over 6 channel pids.

I get the same error when i go over it