DIY Tuning Software for Cobalts
06-28-2012 | 08:29 PM
#51
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From: kansas
"How many of you would be interested in making a donation to the DIY Tune Project?"
Ok, so in hopes of keeping this project moving forward I am going to ask "How many of you would be interested in making a donation to the DIY Tune Project?" This project is meant to create a user friendly, open source tuning solutions for cobalt and ion owners alike. Right now this project has been running off of my personal funds and I will continue to donate to the project, however in order to keep the project moving forward we are going to need some assistance. Right now I already have purchased the ecu that was required in order to retrieve the flash memory module. The project is now in need of 2 pieces of hardware to get the information from the flash memory in the format of a .bin file. Once we have this file we can likely reverse engineer it and write a definition file for some readily available, free, open source software such as ecuflash and romraider. The goal of the project is to be able to plug into the vehicles obd2 port, use some software to open and edit the information in the ecu in the form of maps, and reflash the edited information back to the car, therefor allowing users to tune their own ecu's. The project hopes to accomplish this by utilizing a readily available openport obd2 cable. This allows to greatly cut down on the high cost of tuning your cars. If you are interested in donating to the project and showing your support for DIY Tuning then please ad your name (or screen name) to the list below and repost it. Once we have 10+ people on the list we will open a PayPal account in the name of the project that you will be able to donate to. If we are unable to gain the support we need the project will likely continue, however, the progress will slow down significantly and the decision to release this for free will be reconsidered.
"I would gladly donate to the DIY Tune Project to show my support and help in the development process." (Please add your name *or screen name* to the list below and repost.)
#1 – darksideauto
"I would gladly donate to the DIY Tune Project to show my support and help in the development process." (Please add your name *or screen name* to the list below and repost.)
#1 – darksideauto
07-09-2012 | 09:58 PM
#54
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From: kansas
No minimum donation is required. I just purchased a $1,500 program in order to dissasemble code once I get it off the chip in the form of a binary file and I have also had to purchase the test ecu. I am just looking for some support to keep the project moving forward.
07-11-2012 | 02:14 PM
#55
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From: Trenton, NJ
Im surprised the cobalt community hasn't dipped into this, like LS1 and honda guys. This was done years ago in the thirdgen camaro community, a lot of smart guys over there and its all GM.. but the ecms back then were dinosaurs once obdII came out things changed, a lot more proprietary stuff which is $$$. HPT keeps that stuff locked down rightfully so though. $$
AFAIK every time you flash the pcm with your file you send a request to the pcm which includes some sort of pin # if its right the pcm accepts and allows data to be written to the flash memory. There were guys trying to do this to late 90's vortex truck pcms. I think they wound up de-soldering the flash chip and trying to read it directly.
In the pcm theres the settings which you change with hp tuners but theres also the instruction set which use the values in those tables and run the engine. He needs a compile program to figure out how the cpu follows the instructions and "hack" it. It uses logic, for example if rpm is > 1500 throttle position < 3% and mph > 20 do DFCO.
You may have to get one to crack it open and see what model chips are in there. I think thats why no one has really done it. You can buy it and all that work is done already, but theres thousands? of lines of code in the pcm they created a roadmap so you can change things but how complete is it? There could be things they missed we don't know what gm engineers put in.
You may not need to make a GUI, guys have done this stuff open source.
heres some info. Its for older stuff though but the basics are there.
http://diy-efi.org/gmecm/
DynamicEFI
TunerPro and TunerPro RT - Professional Automobile Tuning Software
I have an older firebird I use that program to tune it and I flash a chip and switch them out when I change settings. For around $100 I bought a pcm, soldered a socket to it, got some flash memory, bought a chip burner and got the software for free.. I hope one day the newer cars will be like this. Sorry but over $500 for some software to change something thats already in our cars and we dont need chips since its in the pcm already is a little crazy to me.
sorry for the long tech post, I wanted to get people on the same page and help if I can.
AFAIK every time you flash the pcm with your file you send a request to the pcm which includes some sort of pin # if its right the pcm accepts and allows data to be written to the flash memory. There were guys trying to do this to late 90's vortex truck pcms. I think they wound up de-soldering the flash chip and trying to read it directly.
In the pcm theres the settings which you change with hp tuners but theres also the instruction set which use the values in those tables and run the engine. He needs a compile program to figure out how the cpu follows the instructions and "hack" it. It uses logic, for example if rpm is > 1500 throttle position < 3% and mph > 20 do DFCO.
You may have to get one to crack it open and see what model chips are in there. I think thats why no one has really done it. You can buy it and all that work is done already, but theres thousands? of lines of code in the pcm they created a roadmap so you can change things but how complete is it? There could be things they missed we don't know what gm engineers put in.
You may not need to make a GUI, guys have done this stuff open source.
heres some info. Its for older stuff though but the basics are there.
http://diy-efi.org/gmecm/
DynamicEFI
TunerPro and TunerPro RT - Professional Automobile Tuning Software
I have an older firebird I use that program to tune it and I flash a chip and switch them out when I change settings. For around $100 I bought a pcm, soldered a socket to it, got some flash memory, bought a chip burner and got the software for free.. I hope one day the newer cars will be like this. Sorry but over $500 for some software to change something thats already in our cars and we dont need chips since its in the pcm already is a little crazy to me.
sorry for the long tech post, I wanted to get people on the same page and help if I can.
No minimum donation is required. I just purchased a $1,500 program in order to dissasemble code once I get it off the chip in the form of a binary file and I have also had to purchase the test ecu. I am just looking for some support to keep the project moving forward.
Good luck.
-Bill
07-20-2012 | 10:34 PM
#58
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From: kansas
. But like I said, we will make it happen one way or another as long as its up to me.
07-29-2012 | 11:09 PM
#59
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From: fort bragg nc
i know where there is a stock redline ecu which should be same for all lsj cars he wants 80 for it im not buying it because im not tuning my car its a daily driver thats fast enough for me as it is
08-21-2012 | 06:21 AM
#61
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From: kansas
update: begun work or the user friendly gui and it is comming together well. Still looking for donations if anyone is interested. will keep you all posted. Sorry I haven't been around with the updates lately, life happends and this isnt exactly easy work. Very very time consuming. anyway, show some support by sub'ing or give us your ideas if you got any. 
Cheers to much success thus far. Any input on a catchy name for the project? I may use it as the header on the gui.
Cheers to much success thus far. Any input on a catchy name for the project? I may use it as the header on the gui.
08-21-2012 | 08:53 PM
#63
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From: Racine, WI
update: begun work or the user friendly gui and it is comming together well. Still looking for donations if anyone is interested. will keep you all posted. Sorry I haven't been around with the updates lately, life happends and this isnt exactly easy work. Very very time consuming. anyway, show some support by sub'ing or give us your ideas if you got any. Cheers to much success thus far. Any input on a catchy name for the project? I may use it as the header on the gui.
Cheers to much success thus far. Any input on a catchy name for the project? I may use it as the header on the gui.
08-23-2012 | 12:47 AM
#64
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From: kansas
08-23-2012 | 01:41 AM
#65
something that can run in *nix beside java =p
08-23-2012 | 02:22 PM
#66
Very cool. I would love to see an open source solution for the Cobalts. EVOs and STIs have it, so it's a good step forward in the right direction.
Python is a perfect language for it. I look forward to seeing the results.
Python is a perfect language for it. I look forward to seeing the results.
08-23-2012 | 09:42 PM
#67
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From: Racine, WI
08-24-2012 | 03:54 AM
#68
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From: kansas
I wouldn't mind seeing it in C++ but for simplicity sake and user friendliness I think python is a great language for it. It will work on all major os's including mac, windows, and linux. It is a very simples language in my opinion and opens the doors for many other to expand on it to make it better.
08-26-2012 | 07:40 PM
#69
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From: NY
sub'd- sure would be nice to have a low cost tuning solution! I am going to throw some bolt-ons on my '08 Cobalt and want to get the most out of them, but the tuning portion will cost AS MUCH AS the parts 
If I can spare a few bucks in the coming weeks I will throw some your way 
PayPal ok?
BadBoy
If I can spare a few bucks in the coming weeks I will throw some your way PayPal ok?BadBoy
09-08-2012 | 03:17 PM
#70
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From: kansas
sub'd- sure would be nice to have a low cost tuning solution! I am going to throw some bolt-ons on my '08 Cobalt and want to get the most out of them, but the tuning portion will cost AS MUCH AS the parts If I can spare a few bucks in the coming weeks I will throw some your way PayPal ok?
BadBoy
If I can spare a few bucks in the coming weeks I will throw some your way PayPal ok?BadBoy
12-19-2012 | 12:20 PM
#74
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From: Lake Geneva Wi
sub'd
12-29-2012 | 12:43 PM
#75
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From: kansas
Sadly their are no updates as of yet but it will support multiple platforms. Since the last time i was on here alot has happend that has kept me tied up beyond belief.Wrecked the lancer and had to fix it, with a few upgrades of course, built a new shop, took a new possition as electronic engineer and been working LONG hours...and of course the holidays alone have kept me pretty busy. Regardless, this project is not dead and hopefully with the new year right around the corner things will start to wrap up and slow down. Thanks for everyones support thus far and happy new year.