rayhall Posted April 29, 2011 Report Share Posted April 29, 2011 Software/Firmware version 4.8.0 has now been released. This is a list of the changes http://www.vi-pec.com/page_files/FirmwareChanges.html The big changes are CAN bus support for OEM and after market dash, and the software tables and menus. A huge amount of work has gone into the new menu and table look. There are all sorts of fluff like snail trails. The software is now 99% keyboard driven which is something tuners have wanted for a long time. Mouse is too slow... Any ECU with serial number over 10000 will support the CAN bus. Older serial numbers will need to be modified to support the CAN. In most cases this can be done by your local dealer. If not the ECU will have to be sent back. Ray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |804| Posted April 29, 2011 Report Share Posted April 29, 2011 Ray Ive tried downloading the new software/firmware 3 times now and ever time i go to run it I get "The setup files are corrupted, please obtain a new copy of the program" Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dave-Kriedeman Posted April 29, 2011 Report Share Posted April 29, 2011 What operating system are you using. I have downloaded it with both Windows 7 and XP without any issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |804| Posted April 29, 2011 Report Share Posted April 29, 2011 Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit also tried on my other 2 laptops win 7 pro 32 bit and xp pro 32 bit and same issue :? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gts_215i Posted April 29, 2011 Report Share Posted April 29, 2011 Works fine for me Windows 7 - Professional (64bit) & XP Mode I uninstalled the previous version of Vi-PEC VTS including drivers and removed the original folder, before installing though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |804| Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 I just tried downloading from a mates house on his computer Win 7 pro and same issue :evil: Is some one willing to email me a zipped working copy please [email protected] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |591| Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 i just installed it on XP no issues here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |804| Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Just went to work and downloaded to my work computer, still get the same What is going on :oops: Maybe a server problem my end? Can some email me a copy please [email protected] --------------------------- Error --------------------------- The setup files are corrupted. Please obtain a new copy of the program. --------------------------- OK --------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |202| Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Downloaded and Installed without issue on Vista Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayhall Posted April 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Can some email me a copy please. Software is 15MB and too big for me to email. What exactly are you doing with the download file. Give me a list of the steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |804| Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Hi Ray I go to firmware download Click link and it downloads Right click on downloaded file Run as admin It then about 2 seconds later gives me the error Ive also tried saving as then double click to run same error This has happened on 3 different operating systems, 5 different computers, 3 different servers The file i get downloaded on all machines is only 10MB Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |804| Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Bingo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Just downloaded it now and got a 15MB programme Installed fine Must have been a NZ server issue or maybe Aus Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |850| Posted May 1, 2011 Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 Hi Ray, Thanks for the new software... Is it still possible to use the previous skin? I liked it far better. If you don't mind I also have some questions on the logger : - Is it possible to increase the resolution? For example, in one of my logs, between two "steps" I see engine rpm going from 2792 (section time 22:22.128) to 3305 (section time 22:22.585) -> the curves have a better resolution than before, but the cursor hasn't. - Is it possible to have more than only 8 colours for the displayed parameters? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayhall Posted May 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 The "skin" cannot be changed. You can change the colours. I must admit you are the first to not like it. A lot of effort was put into making the software easier to use with a keyboard, this is why the settings have a different format. The PC logger rate depends on the quality of the communications over the USB cable. The more ignition and other noise the more gaps you will get in the logs. If you want a fast constant rate, then use the ECU memory logger. I will see if more colours can be added. Ray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayhall Posted May 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 You can add more colors to the logger parameters. Go to color theme and add as many parameter colors as you want. Ray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |850| Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Thanks Ray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gts_215i Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 In the old layout, the tuning page data area background was Active Caption or similar colour & the Logger was still gray or atleast able to be a different colour ! Are you stuck with one theme for all pages in the one layout ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |850| Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 I have been playing with the new software for about 3 hours now and it just doesn't do it for me. I find the overall layout repulsive. It doesn't offer the same at-a-glance visiblity than with the previous software and the same ergonomics. I don't understand the need to ease the use of the keyboard when all laptops these days have a touch pad. Pro tuners may prefer this, but as a hobbyist I think it damages ergonomics. This is all subjective of course, no offense intended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayhall Posted May 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 When tuning a key board is much faster. Rather then having to find the mouse pointer on the screen, then move it to where you want to make a change then clicking, you just hit one key. It is not as if using the mouse has been removed. It still works. Also adding keyboard support has very little to do with the new look. The reason the settings menus and tables were changed is due to legal requirements. In the past...part of the software was written by a sub contractor. So there are no legal claims as to who owns the code, it was rewritten. Is it the look or the functionality that is the problem ? On the keyboard thing...Below is a comment from a experienced Vipec and other make ECU tuner. It is comments like this that we find good, as the software has been criticized for a long time for being too slow to use. I have been playing with the new software offline during the Easter weekend and somehow I do not seem to need to use the mouse at all! Great! Snake trail, switchable color gradients, logged value cross hairs... very nice! Navigating thru the different selections is now very fluent - feels very natural and intuitive. One small detail still bothers me: Pressing 'B' marks active cells in all tables, which is good feature. Unfortunatey I cannot get only these red cells turn back to neutral, as pressing F9 turns also all the other markers off. Could it be possible to select which markers to reset, or to add a command resetting the B-marker only? (Like the Y and Z-markers do). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayhall Posted May 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 I don't understand the need to ease the use of the keyboard when all laptops these days have a touch pad. Here is my experence as to why keyboard is needed. Try using a scratch pad while tuning a boat. You are siting in the observer set which faces backwards. The boat is doing 100 to 130 mph. You have one hand holding the AFR meter and the other the laptop. You are being bounced around in the seat and you are not holding on. There is nothing but terror in your mind and you have to make changes to the tune. All you have spare is a finger to hit keys. As I said many times to Ashley the software programmer, you do not tune engines siting behind a desk with a big screen and external mouse. I am very happy now that the software can be used to tune under real conditions. Ray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashesman Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 In the old layout, the tuning page data area background was Active Caption or similar colour & the Logger was still gray or atleast able to be a different colour ! Are you stuck with one theme for all pages in the one layout ? The color theme applies to all layouts opened in VTS. All views now share a common color theme. In previous versions settings panels were not themed at all due to time constraints on the release date and instead used windows colors. This bothered people who do a lot of outdoor work (boats and race track). They like to use a black theme as they find it easier to read in sunlight. Also, the old settings panels were drawn by Windows. They are now drawn by VTS so can be customised to suit VTS requirements. I have been playing with the new software for about 3 hours now and it just doesn't do it for me. I find the overall layout repulsive. It doesn't offer the same at-a-glance visiblity than with the previous software and the same ergonomics. I don't understand the need to ease the use of the keyboard when all laptops these days have a touch pad. Pro tuners may prefer this, but as a hobbyist I think it damages ergonomics. As ViPEC is designed for professional tuners, it is their requests that drive the development of the software. Complete keyboard control is always demaned. The latest changes were targeted at making the software faster to use for people who rely on it to earn their living. Sorry that the new design does not appeal to you. Without saying "make it the way it used to be", do you have any suggestions on how we could improve it? One small detail still bothers me: Pressing 'B' marks active cells in all tables, which is good feature. Unfortunatey I cannot get only these red cells turn back to neutral, as pressing F9 turns also all the other markers off. Could it be possible to select which markers to reset, or to add a command resetting the B-marker only? (Like the Y and Z-markers do). This has been fixed in version 4.8.0.994. You can now toggle any colored marker or clear the markers from a single cell or table. Regards Ashley Duncan ViPEC Engineer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |850| Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Yes, as I said in my previous message I fully understand a Pro Tuner will prefer to use the keyboard only. However, when I'm alone in my car with the laptop in the passenger seat I find it less of a hassle to point the mouse pointer to the area needing adjustment than trying to find the right key on the keyboard. Using the mouse pointer may take more time than pressing the right key right away but at least in the heat of the moment it prevents me from pressing a wrong key that may result in significant detune. I can only imagine how even more difficult it may be to click the right key at the right time be when being thrown around at 130mph in a race boat. I already hear you saying driving on the road should not be a way to tune an engine (safety, etc) but this is just how it goes in the real world for people who have limited dyno access. As for the new presentation, here is a couple of observations. 1/ when opening up a Table in V4.8 from the ECU Parameters section, the Table appears in the current Page but it contains a vertical tree that needs to be expanded down to get to display the actual Table. With V4.1 the Table would appear right away after clicking on its icon in the ECU Parameters section. 2/ the value fields of the Boost PID Settings Table were split as two columns with V4.7, now with V4.8 there are all displayed vertically as one column. While one column may be easier to navigate up & down with directional arrows on the keyboard, it requires redimensioning vertically the Table in order to see at a glance all parameters from this Table, and the Table just requires more overall Page area, which is an annoyance when using on a Page many Tables/Displays at the same time such as Boost PID Settings, Boost Target, Wastegate %DC 1, a Digital Display (eg TPS) and two Vertical Bars (eg Knock & MGP). Also, when the Boost PID Settings Table is not sized tall enough to display all parameters, a scroll bar appears to the right of the Table, meaning further clicking before reaching the relevant value. These two examples suggest to me that relevant datas may not be accessible as quickly as before, as when a user choses to have a Table displayed on a Page, it makes sense to me that he/she will want to see all parameters a the same time without further having to move a scroll bar up & down to reach all parameters displayed on the Page. I would rate the addition of intermediates steps to data access such as those described above as a slight step back. I hope these two examples illustrate correctly what I am trying to say. In any case, thank you very much for this forum, it's truly appreciated already to be able to be in touch with you to discuss the software and get updates for free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayhall Posted May 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 I can only imagine how even more difficult it may be to click the right key at the right time be when being thrown around at 130mph in a race boat. It is many many times easier then trying to use a scratch pad. There are very few keys that you need to learn to see just how fast and easy a keyboard is. You should take the time to learn a few. Keys can save you much scratching and clicking. As far as finding keys to press on the keyboard I have keys marked with labels so I do not have to look for them. I only have to glance in the direction of the keyboard to know where the key I need is located. I may post a picture of my laptop to show what I mean. Some very useful keys...which do not take much to learn Esc makes the settings menu slide out and closes it. F2 saves the map to your hard drive F3 makes the software go on and off line F4 locks the changes in the ECU (the most used key) F key makes the fuel table visible at any time and puts the cursor on the current cell. I key makes the ignition table visible at any time and puts the cursor on the current cell. R key opens the runtime window. Page Up increases a value Page Down decreases a value [ or ] key cycles though the pages. F8 starts and stops the logger. Arrow keys move you around tables or settings. There are a lot more, and some of them give you helpful tuning aids you just cannot get with a mouse. Ray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest |543| Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 THANK YOU!!!!!! I love the new software, this is almost everything I could have ever wanted in a update...... The logging is the best thing that has been fixed The extra keyboard shortcuts are great also..THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS ALREADY AWESOME ECU EVEN BETTER!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIS Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 I successfully upgraded V88 firmware to 4.8 very quick, when I did on subaru plug in ecu version 4.4.3 to 4.8, the program stopped at "searching ECU..." The com port of Vipec program in my laptop is com 3. Tried many times, changed usb port always comes up with same result. I upgraded V88 off the car connected just to battery poles, while Subaru ecu I did on the car. Anyone can help? Thanks Hening Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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