My cable aint workin' anyone know why?

[Chunks]

Hi,

I bought a Vag-Com cable for my Mk4 golf GTI. Well, actually I tell a lie, I got the ebay version.

The problem I'm getting is with the connection between the car and my laptop. The cable install perfectly on my laptop and plugs into the car port perfectly but..... When i plug it into my car the program acts as if theres nothing on the other end of the cable and tells me there's nothing there despite the fact that the lights come on on the car plug end.

Did anyone get this problem when they started up?

Thanks in advance

[guyg]

Sorry for asking the obvious, but did you switch the ignition before starting the program?

[Chunks]

Sorry for asking the obvious, but did you switch the ignition before starting the program?

yes, i've tried it from all angles

car on prior to plugging the cable in and then starting the program

cable in, program on, ignition on

ignition on program on, cable in

and so on...

still no joy though :confused:

[onzarob]

Right this needs a little think about, the issue you have is this. when you plug in the usb cable it installs a serial port driver, basically the USB cable is a serial converter.

What will often happen is the driver will grab the next available com port, which i find is usually com 5 or more.

the freeware Vag-com uses com ports 1 to 4 only.

You need to go into device manager on your PC and find the associated device, go into properties and change the port to com4.

Once thats done. go in to vagcom set the com port to 4 and test.

Should be ok.

note: remember which USB port you used as if you plug it into a differnet one it will get configured to a new com port.

Hopefully thats clear.

Rob:D

[Chunks]

Ah right, that would make a bit of sense I suppose. I'll try that tonight then.

Thanks Rob

[onzarob]

No problem, let us know how you get on.

Rob:D

[Chunks]

No problem, let us know how you get on.

Rob:D

Hi Rob,

I checked through my device manager as to which COM port it was using and it was already set to COM4. So I didn't have to change anything. There's still no change in my situation. Any other ideas why it mightn't be working?

Thanks

[onzarob]

You may of dome this but before we go any further.

Plug in cable...check device manager that it is Com4

plug into to car, switch ignition on.

go in to settings in vag-com set com4.

Click test....


hopefully all good.

let me know

Rob:D

[guyg]

It might be worth checking that there aren't any other applications or services running that might be grabbing com4 before VAG-Com has a chance to access the port.

Some phone/palm/PDA programs like Hotsync/ActiveSync can tie up com ports as can Bluetooth software and drivers - the only com port I had free on my laptop was com2, but this will vary.

It might be worth switching the driver and VAG-Com to a different port if you have another free [between 1-4].

Cheers

Guy

[onzarob]

You can see if the other com ports are insue as it will say next toeach of the com port if that is the case.

Rob:D

[guyg]

You can see if the other com ports are insue as it will say next toeach of the com port if that is the case.
Rob:D

Sorry, I wasn't very clear - I meant that the virtual port [correctly mapped] may have subsequently be hijacked by another application before VAG-Com has a chance to access the newly provisioned port.

The 'in use' dialogue refers to the mapping between a system device [e.g. USB VAG-Com lead] to a virtual com port. The available com ports here are those that have not already been mapped to a physical device, not an application.

Also, as Onzarob says, you need to use the same USB port each time and then check that it has enumerated to the same port you're going to use in VAG-Com.

I suppose it might be worth checking none of the pins on the lead are bent or pushed in...

Cheers

Guy