Autocal calibration file storage capacity

[jrh]

I am trying to load an Autocal with two engine calibrations and two transmission calibrations. The is for an E38/T43 vehicle application so each CTD file is roughly 2 MB. I can only load 3 files.

Is that the limit or does a method exist to actually have up to 5 calibration files on the device at once?

[av08]

I am trying to load an Autocal with two engine calibrations and two transmission calibrations. The is for an E38/T43 vehicle application so each CTD file is roughly 2 MB. I can only load 3 files.

Is that the limit or does a method exist to actually have up to 5 calibration files on the device at once?

That's it,,,you cant do anything about it

[jrh]

That is what I was afraid of. I hope they add more memory capacity or come up with a more compact storage format.

That's it,,,you cant do anything about it

[Blacky]

That is what I was afraid of. I hope they add more memory capacity or come up with a more compact storage format.

I am working on that. The compact file format that will contain just the calibration section which will only be about 300-400KB.
You'd get about 10 cal-only tune files onto AutoCal.
The only limitation is you won't be able to do a full flash with those cal-only files.

Regards
Paul

[av08]

I am working on that. The compact file format that will contain just the calibration section which will only be about 300-400KB.
You'd get about 10 cal-only tune files onto AutoCal.
The only limitation is you won't be able to do a full flash with those cal-only files.

Regards
Paul

what does full flash mean? in autocal there is prog 1 and full1 what is the difference?

[Blacky]

A calibration-only flash only reprograms the calibration data.
A full-flash reprograms the calibration data and the operating system program code.

On some controllers the full-flash even erases and rewrites the boot loader code in the controller. That means if a full flash fails on those controllers after the boot loader code has been erased but before it has been re-programmed back into the controller, then the controller has no way of communicating with the outside world and is dead. The only way to recover a controller in that condition is to remove (de-solder) the flash memory chip from the controller's circuit board and reprogram it using a chip programmer, then resolder it back again.

Because a full-flash can potentially kill a controller, you should always use cal-only flash unless there is a real need to change/update the operating system. For example when installing an EFILive custom operating system.

Regards
Paul

[L31Sleeper]

Hey Paul, I am NOT getting on your case, but would it have been a big deal to make these
devices (v2 and autocal) with more memory ?

-Justin

[Blacky]

Hey Paul, I am NOT getting on your case, but would it have been a big deal to make these
devices (v2 and autocal) with more memory ?

-Justin

Yes it would have been, (hindsight is wonderful) but at the time FS V2 was designed, 4MB was all we could fit on the boards (since upgraded to 8MB) and it was never an issue because it had the capability for an SD card.
When we designed AutoCal it had to function using the same firmware and 90% of the same parts as FlashScan, so it too was limited to 8MB. The 8MB was considered large enough at the time because we anticipated much smaller *.ctd files.

Regards
Paul

[av08]

A calibration-only flash only reprograms the calibration data.
A full-flash reprograms the calibration data and the operating system program code.

On some controllers the full-flash even erases and rewrites the boot loader code in the controller. That means if a full flash fails on those controllers after the boot loader code has been erased but before it has been re-programmed back into the controller, then the controller has no way of communicating with the outside world and is dead. The only way to recover a controller in that condition is to remove (de-solder) the flash memory chip from the controller's circuit board and reprogram it using a chip programmer, then resolder it back again.

Because a full-flash can potentially kill a controller, you should always use cal-only flash unless there is a real need to change/update the operating system. For example when installing an EFILive custom operating system.

Regards
Paul

Great! info, is this documented anywhere?

Also, if it is that risky to use Full programming, why not hide it? why even include it in the basic menu?, you could do something like making a separate menu for it and block using it without entering some kind of a code like serial number, for example...this way you highlight it as something not recommended for normal flashing!!.

WOW...this is dangerous Paul. THANKS!!

[Blacky]

Great!

If it is that risky to use Full programming, why not hide it? why even include it in the basic menu?, you could do something like making a separate menu for it and block using it without entering some kind of a code like serial number, for example...this way you highlight it as something not recommended for normal flashing!!.

WOW...this is dangerous Paul. THANKS!!

The tuner providing the tunes to the customer can set a flag in the *.ctd file that prevents full-flashing. So its really up to the tuner to "protect" their customers if they think the customer needs protecting.

Regards
Paul