Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

Ok, it's a pretty big issue, one that I haven't read about quite like this.

Equipment:
Car: 1989 Cavalier
ECM: 1227730
Mask: A1

Computer/related:
Laptop: Lenovo R61i 1Gb ram, 1.7Ghz, XP, lots of space left on HDD
ALDL cable: Moates ALDL Extreme (also an aldlcables.com USB cable was tried)

If can open Tuner Pro RT, plug in the ALDL Extreme, and without the cable being connected to the vehicle, I can "test for valid cable" and verify fine, absolutly fine, as much as I want to. But as soon as I try to "connect ALDL", I get a long delay of "connecting" and then "connection failed". After this, if I try to "verify cable" again, I get a failed or not working error message. The proper com is still shown in device manager, and can only test for cable and get a verified and working message after disconnecting the USB cable from the laptop and reconnecting, then I can once again verify as much as I want.
I received the BSD (Blue Screen of Death), when this happened, once, this is a laptop that is only about 3 weeks old, and have NOT once seen a BSD from this machine previous or since (this was last night).
I have connected to a 7747 a few times without issue, using this same computer equipment, so I know the equipment works.
The Tech1 will connect and show data without issue.
The car owner's laptop also seems to have issues connecting to the car to datalog, though he was able to connect a couple times. He is using an aldlcables.com USB OBD1 cable. He has said that as soon as he would plug in the ALDL cable, his laptop would freeze. He was running ME at the time and has since installed XP, but has not had time to try to connect to the car since.

So what are your ideas?

JP86SS

iTrader: (1)

I'll gander a guess that you could have a power draw on the serial/usb port that is not returning to your source but the vehicle source or some sort of grounding problem. Not sure if I'm stating that correctly but some laptops have grounding issues when using external ports to other devices. Have had serial ports burn up when connecting to industrial equipment that is not configured/wired correctly. The laptop would usually lock up when I had power problems. Voltage over 5 volts will cause problems at ports.
Something to think about.

neagan

iTrader: (7)

Six Shooter; did you by chance ever figure out what the problem was??? Nitro-Nicky

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

Haven't had a chance to sort out the problem in the car yet.

I did however notice a very similar issue when I was setting up my test bench, and forgot to connect the ground to the ALDL port/cable.

???

iTrader: (5)

I have an ecm that kinda acts like that. I found that if I push on the main board at a certain spot. data flows fine. if not, it works random as hell. before I found it I was sure it was the old laptop since the cable would test ok, till it failed to connect then it stopped testing ok. new laptop didn't help, so I started messing with the ecm and found it.