Inexpensive Opensource Flashing(Read is 100% working)
#1
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Thread Starter
Inexpensive Opensource Flashing(Read is 100% working)
The most current release of the Pcm Hammer can always be found at the link below
PCM Hammer - Current Release
Tools working:
AVT - 852
J2343 - Any real J tool will work but OEM tools are much faster then knockoff versions(assuming the knockoff works in the first place)
ALLPRO - The USB version is the only one we know will work. You may be able to get the Allpro Dev board version to work but its not guaranteed. The BT Allpro WILL NOT WORK.
ObdLink SX - The SX is the only officially supported device but the Lx and Mx have been tested and work as well. You will need to check your firmware if you have trouble, older firmware on these are NOT compatible.
While the Pcm Hammer is technically compatible with a genuine Elm327 the chances of finding one that is real is very unlikely. It doesn't matter how good you "think" your device is, if its not in the list above it's not going to work.
Speed:
AVT - 1
GM MDI - 2
Vx Nano - 3
Allpro - 4
Obdlink - 5(This is a LOT slower then the Allpro)
PCM Hammer Read Capabilities:
Read P01 - Working with all tools
Read P59 - Working with all tools
PCM Hammer Write Capabilities:
Flash P01 Calibration - Working with all tools
Flash P59 Calibration - Under development
Flash P01 Operating System - Under Development
Flash P59 Operating System - Under Development
The PCM Hammer is not a tuning tool, it is used for reading and writing data to the PCM.
For tuning or making alterations to your vehicles .bin file the recommended program at this time is Tuner Pro. It's a free program that is very capable and has been around for years.
Tuner Pro Download Page
You will also needs what's called an XDF file that matches the Operating system of your pcm. An XDF is a definition file that tells Tuner Pro what everything in your .bin is and is what allows you to make changes. XDF files are not universal and can not be used with Operating System numbers they are not designed for. If your OS number is 123B and you found an XDF that was for 123A and you try to use it your going to end up with a corrupted bin file when your done. The XDF MUST match the OS your using it on.
Lets talk about OS coverage, while there are a number of XDF's that have already been developed we are a LONG ways from having complete coverage for the P01 or P59. Xdf's take many hours to create, they require mapping out the value for every parameter the XDF will be able to alter for given OS one item at a time. It is a very time consuming process to say the least. Because of the amount of time it takes to create a single XDF the most common OS's were the first to be created. As time progresses coverage will expand but it's unlikely that every OS will have an XDF created for it.
So what can you do in Tuner Pro once you have the correct XDF? Well that depends on how complete the XDF really is, since each item has to be mapped out by hand and multiple people are working on creating XDF's no two will be identical in terms of what they offer. We have worked the people creating these pushed for the use of a common template/parameter list to keep them all as close as possible in terms of how they look and are laid out but there are going to be some variations between them.
We are currently working on sorting out the best method/place to distribute the Xdfs currently avaible, once we have something figured out this post will be updated with a link to them. In the meantime you can find a number of XDF's on Gearhead-EFI.com and on Pcmhacking.net
Rather then continue my Elm/Android thread I'm starting a new one since this is neither Android or Elm Related.
About 6 months ago I started working on an LS pcm Read/flash solution and made some great progress with it. But I knew when I started working on it......that I didn't feel I would have the ability to finish it, I was playing with things I had no knowledge of but did it anyways. I was praying my work would inspire someone to take what I had done and run it it but that never really happened.
As it turned out things took a much different direction after posting my Android/Elm work on this forum, I was contacted by a number of people that were interested in the project but also were lacking the needed knowledge in several key areas to do this on their own. So I took it upon my self to coordinate a group effort but rather then a bunch of people all trying to work on the same thing; each person worked on what they were good at and didn't have to worry about any thing else or how it would all come together in the end. The last couple of weeks have has literally been kicking my *** reading though thousands of lines of hex coding working with every one getting things to actually come together and praying that this was actually going to work since it had never been done.
I'm here to report that at 4:58pm EST I have confirmed that this is working AND is reading 4K blocks sizes(the largest size possible on these pcms). Myself and Thaniel have both been able to read bins out of a couple of different types of pcm's using a VERY basic hardware setup with nothing special involved. All the work is done within the programs rather then expensive hardware interface. There's about 35 cents worth of components and an Arduino Mega clone that are being used to do this and is by far the cheapest interface ever designed for something like this. Now this is NEVER going to replace commercial quality tools but it serves two purposes. It will provide a VERY inexpensive method for experienced users; it has also helped us sorted out exactly what is needed to do this from a software perspective and exactly what the minimum hardware requirements needed would be. The flip side of this we now know how to do this with any type of commercial interface and how to tell a given piece of hardware will work. No more guessing games or obscure bits of information scattered across the internet.
The data, software and hardware is being sorted and will be made public on GitHub as it becomes stable and in a usable state while we continue refining the whole process. Opensource flashing is almost here, it's just taken finding the right people that could bring the needed skillset's to the project to make all of this happen.
Thaniel - The Arduino Mastermind behind the heart of all this. Your work here is unparalleled, you've turned what many would consider a toy into a force to be reckoned with.
Garret - Your work on the VPW side of all this has been pure genius. It still blows my mind that you've made this work with out any type of commercial hardware interface..... WELL DONE ! ! ! ! ! !
NSFW - I know some of the software requests I given you seemed a bit "Out There" at the time but with out them none of this would have been possible. I can't wait to see what you've got in store for the rest of the project.
Antus - I know I didn't do any of the thing you told me to....and that you were never really interested in this project but with out your help this would have died months ago.
Tazzi - I'm going to call you my inspiration..... that kept me believing this was possible..... even when I questioned my self asking if an Opensource was really worth so much of a headache at times
.
Dimented24x7 - The work you left behind for others has been a tremendous help though out all of this and continues to help as we move forward and start working on writing a flash as our next step.
EagleMark (R I P) - Your vision is coming true. Open source LS flashing is just about a reality. It's an honor to have found your work and been able to pick up where you left off....I will do my best to see that this is finally finished.
Lost....... but not forgotten your dream will live on for years to come.
Pcmhacking.net - #1 source on the Web for anything thing related to hacking apart a GM/Holden Pcm.
Gearhead-EFI.com - This site may hold the largest collections of data related to pcm flashing that I have ever come across.
Ls1tech.com - Best place to find Gearheads on the Net
I would like to ask that you give these guys a round of applause......
Out of respect for the privacy of those that have contributed I would ask that any questions you have be directed to me unless they specifically state otherwise. They don't need to be bombarded with a million questions.
PCM Hammer - Current Release
Tools working:
AVT - 852
J2343 - Any real J tool will work but OEM tools are much faster then knockoff versions(assuming the knockoff works in the first place)
ALLPRO - The USB version is the only one we know will work. You may be able to get the Allpro Dev board version to work but its not guaranteed. The BT Allpro WILL NOT WORK.
ObdLink SX - The SX is the only officially supported device but the Lx and Mx have been tested and work as well. You will need to check your firmware if you have trouble, older firmware on these are NOT compatible.
While the Pcm Hammer is technically compatible with a genuine Elm327 the chances of finding one that is real is very unlikely. It doesn't matter how good you "think" your device is, if its not in the list above it's not going to work.
Speed:
AVT - 1
GM MDI - 2
Vx Nano - 3
Allpro - 4
Obdlink - 5(This is a LOT slower then the Allpro)
PCM Hammer Read Capabilities:
Read P01 - Working with all tools
Read P59 - Working with all tools
PCM Hammer Write Capabilities:
Flash P01 Calibration - Working with all tools
Flash P59 Calibration - Under development
Flash P01 Operating System - Under Development
Flash P59 Operating System - Under Development
The PCM Hammer is not a tuning tool, it is used for reading and writing data to the PCM.
For tuning or making alterations to your vehicles .bin file the recommended program at this time is Tuner Pro. It's a free program that is very capable and has been around for years.
Tuner Pro Download Page
You will also needs what's called an XDF file that matches the Operating system of your pcm. An XDF is a definition file that tells Tuner Pro what everything in your .bin is and is what allows you to make changes. XDF files are not universal and can not be used with Operating System numbers they are not designed for. If your OS number is 123B and you found an XDF that was for 123A and you try to use it your going to end up with a corrupted bin file when your done. The XDF MUST match the OS your using it on.
Lets talk about OS coverage, while there are a number of XDF's that have already been developed we are a LONG ways from having complete coverage for the P01 or P59. Xdf's take many hours to create, they require mapping out the value for every parameter the XDF will be able to alter for given OS one item at a time. It is a very time consuming process to say the least. Because of the amount of time it takes to create a single XDF the most common OS's were the first to be created. As time progresses coverage will expand but it's unlikely that every OS will have an XDF created for it.
So what can you do in Tuner Pro once you have the correct XDF? Well that depends on how complete the XDF really is, since each item has to be mapped out by hand and multiple people are working on creating XDF's no two will be identical in terms of what they offer. We have worked the people creating these pushed for the use of a common template/parameter list to keep them all as close as possible in terms of how they look and are laid out but there are going to be some variations between them.
We are currently working on sorting out the best method/place to distribute the Xdfs currently avaible, once we have something figured out this post will be updated with a link to them. In the meantime you can find a number of XDF's on Gearhead-EFI.com and on Pcmhacking.net
************************************************** *** Original Post Below********************************************* ********
Rather then continue my Elm/Android thread I'm starting a new one since this is neither Android or Elm Related.
About 6 months ago I started working on an LS pcm Read/flash solution and made some great progress with it. But I knew when I started working on it......that I didn't feel I would have the ability to finish it, I was playing with things I had no knowledge of but did it anyways. I was praying my work would inspire someone to take what I had done and run it it but that never really happened.
As it turned out things took a much different direction after posting my Android/Elm work on this forum, I was contacted by a number of people that were interested in the project but also were lacking the needed knowledge in several key areas to do this on their own. So I took it upon my self to coordinate a group effort but rather then a bunch of people all trying to work on the same thing; each person worked on what they were good at and didn't have to worry about any thing else or how it would all come together in the end. The last couple of weeks have has literally been kicking my *** reading though thousands of lines of hex coding working with every one getting things to actually come together and praying that this was actually going to work since it had never been done.
I'm here to report that at 4:58pm EST I have confirmed that this is working AND is reading 4K blocks sizes(the largest size possible on these pcms). Myself and Thaniel have both been able to read bins out of a couple of different types of pcm's using a VERY basic hardware setup with nothing special involved. All the work is done within the programs rather then expensive hardware interface. There's about 35 cents worth of components and an Arduino Mega clone that are being used to do this and is by far the cheapest interface ever designed for something like this. Now this is NEVER going to replace commercial quality tools but it serves two purposes. It will provide a VERY inexpensive method for experienced users; it has also helped us sorted out exactly what is needed to do this from a software perspective and exactly what the minimum hardware requirements needed would be. The flip side of this we now know how to do this with any type of commercial interface and how to tell a given piece of hardware will work. No more guessing games or obscure bits of information scattered across the internet.
The data, software and hardware is being sorted and will be made public on GitHub as it becomes stable and in a usable state while we continue refining the whole process. Opensource flashing is almost here, it's just taken finding the right people that could bring the needed skillset's to the project to make all of this happen.
Thaniel - The Arduino Mastermind behind the heart of all this. Your work here is unparalleled, you've turned what many would consider a toy into a force to be reckoned with.
Garret - Your work on the VPW side of all this has been pure genius. It still blows my mind that you've made this work with out any type of commercial hardware interface..... WELL DONE ! ! ! ! ! !
NSFW - I know some of the software requests I given you seemed a bit "Out There" at the time but with out them none of this would have been possible. I can't wait to see what you've got in store for the rest of the project.
Antus - I know I didn't do any of the thing you told me to....and that you were never really interested in this project but with out your help this would have died months ago.
Tazzi - I'm going to call you my inspiration..... that kept me believing this was possible..... even when I questioned my self asking if an Opensource was really worth so much of a headache at times
.
Dimented24x7 - The work you left behind for others has been a tremendous help though out all of this and continues to help as we move forward and start working on writing a flash as our next step.
EagleMark (R I P) - Your vision is coming true. Open source LS flashing is just about a reality. It's an honor to have found your work and been able to pick up where you left off....I will do my best to see that this is finally finished.
Lost....... but not forgotten your dream will live on for years to come.
Pcmhacking.net - #1 source on the Web for anything thing related to hacking apart a GM/Holden Pcm.
Gearhead-EFI.com - This site may hold the largest collections of data related to pcm flashing that I have ever come across.
Ls1tech.com - Best place to find Gearheads on the Net
I would like to ask that you give these guys a round of applause......
Out of respect for the privacy of those that have contributed I would ask that any questions you have be directed to me unless they specifically state otherwise. They don't need to be bombarded with a million questions.
Last edited by PeteS160; 01-31-2019 at 03:11 PM.
The following 5 users liked this post by PeteS160:
esantos (08-21-2019), kilosgarage (05-20-2021), n0t2l8 (12-25-2021), NSFW (12-14-2021), pavehawk (04-17-2020)
#4
TECH Senior Member
Love reading this stuff. Not sure I understand all of it, but it all sounds so encouraging to grass-roots gearheads (AND budding computer nerds....)
Last edited by G Atsma; 02-20-2018 at 10:35 AM.
#5
Teching In
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this is amazing!! i cant wait to try it out. i have a couple of 1mb pcms and a bench flash harness i made. i also have hp tuners and a extra arduino mega. its been over a year but i was playing with tuner pro in the 3d data viewer with a 2005 truck bin file and using the same file in hp tuners to view the 3d table size's and shape and track down the tables in the bin with tuner pro. i have a lot of that info wrote down somewhere if it would help anyone to create a xdf. i was going to try to learn how to create xdfs but never made it that far. i stopped messing with it because no one got there free flash tool off the ground for 1mb pcm's and i started playing with speeduino,a arduino mega based efi controller that i have running on my 5.3 in a mustang. sounds like i need to dust off my stock computer stuff when this comes out. if i can help let me know.
#6
Staging Lane
Was it one of you guys who cracked hptuners a few months back? There was a guy that works in the oil fields somewhere that released 2.24 and said he had 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 coming but then dissapeared, hasn't been online in months .
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#9
This is NOT about cracking HPTuners or any other product.
This is about creating a new set of tools to read and write GM PCMs. We're replacing each link in the chain with an open-source equivalent - the hardware, the code that runs on the PCM, and the app that controls them. We'll use existing apps (open source or at least $0) for tuning. And we'll probably also have to write something to do data logging.
As a Subaru owner I enjoyed inexpensive reflashing tools - and the community that grew around them - for years. Having just bought a Corvette about a month ago, I was a little sad to see nothing like this, but PeteS160 and the people he's been working with are getting pretty close. The biggest piece they're missing is open-source code to run on the PCM and handle reading and writing. I write software for a living and I did a fair amount of reverse engineering for the Subaru stuff, so I think I can fill in that missing piece. We'll see.
This is about creating a new set of tools to read and write GM PCMs. We're replacing each link in the chain with an open-source equivalent - the hardware, the code that runs on the PCM, and the app that controls them. We'll use existing apps (open source or at least $0) for tuning. And we'll probably also have to write something to do data logging.
As a Subaru owner I enjoyed inexpensive reflashing tools - and the community that grew around them - for years. Having just bought a Corvette about a month ago, I was a little sad to see nothing like this, but PeteS160 and the people he's been working with are getting pretty close. The biggest piece they're missing is open-source code to run on the PCM and handle reading and writing. I write software for a living and I did a fair amount of reverse engineering for the Subaru stuff, so I think I can fill in that missing piece. We'll see.
#11
9 Second Club
This is NOT about cracking HPTuners or any other product.
This is about creating a new set of tools to read and write GM PCMs. We're replacing each link in the chain with an open-source equivalent - the hardware, the code that runs on the PCM, and the app that controls them. We'll use existing apps (open source or at least $0) for tuning. And we'll probably also have to write something to do data logging.
As a Subaru owner I enjoyed inexpensive reflashing tools - and the community that grew around them - for years. Having just bought a Corvette about a month ago, I was a little sad to see nothing like this, but PeteS160 and the people he's been working with are getting pretty close. The biggest piece they're missing is open-source code to run on the PCM and handle reading and writing. I write software for a living and I did a fair amount of reverse engineering for the Subaru stuff, so I think I can fill in that missing piece. We'll see.
This is about creating a new set of tools to read and write GM PCMs. We're replacing each link in the chain with an open-source equivalent - the hardware, the code that runs on the PCM, and the app that controls them. We'll use existing apps (open source or at least $0) for tuning. And we'll probably also have to write something to do data logging.
As a Subaru owner I enjoyed inexpensive reflashing tools - and the community that grew around them - for years. Having just bought a Corvette about a month ago, I was a little sad to see nothing like this, but PeteS160 and the people he's been working with are getting pretty close. The biggest piece they're missing is open-source code to run on the PCM and handle reading and writing. I write software for a living and I did a fair amount of reverse engineering for the Subaru stuff, so I think I can fill in that missing piece. We'll see.
Is it a hardware thing, software within the ecu, security ? other ?
#12
That was a surprise to me as well, I actually expected to find more options like that for GM... I think it's mostly just a matter of chance.
Subaru owners got really lucky that there was a Subaru owner (Colby, who now runs Tactrix) who wanted reflashing tools and had the skills, motivation, and time to pull it off. Plus a guy who had the skills, motivation, and time to reverse engineer a ton of ROM images (he went by merchgod at RomRaider.com). Those are rare skills, and it also takes a ton of hard work and a little bit of luck to pull it all off. But the stars we're aligned and it all came together.
Plus there was this one document floating around... It described the Subaru monitoring protocol, and that plus the logging code sort of turned into a road map for a lot of functionality in the ECU. I still wonder where that document came from.
Meanwhile for GM, similar people got 90 percent of the way to a solution, but got stuck on one thing or another. But I think those obstacles are being overcome now. There is still hard work to do, but I'm optimistic.
Subaru owners got really lucky that there was a Subaru owner (Colby, who now runs Tactrix) who wanted reflashing tools and had the skills, motivation, and time to pull it off. Plus a guy who had the skills, motivation, and time to reverse engineer a ton of ROM images (he went by merchgod at RomRaider.com). Those are rare skills, and it also takes a ton of hard work and a little bit of luck to pull it all off. But the stars we're aligned and it all came together.
Plus there was this one document floating around... It described the Subaru monitoring protocol, and that plus the logging code sort of turned into a road map for a lot of functionality in the ECU. I still wonder where that document came from.
Meanwhile for GM, similar people got 90 percent of the way to a solution, but got stuck on one thing or another. But I think those obstacles are being overcome now. There is still hard work to do, but I'm optimistic.
Last edited by NSFW; 02-22-2018 at 02:25 PM.
#13
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
This is a project that was far more demanding then one person should have ever tried to take on alone and that's likely why others have failed.
#14
Restricted User
Availability of options. With the wide range of aftermarket ECUs, and methods to tune the factory ECU early on in the game, nobody put forth the effort to completely crack open the stock ECU on their own time. EFI Live and HPTuners jumped the gun so quick it just became easier for everyone to use those until they became the standard.
#15
TECH Veteran
iTrader: (1)
Think of the customer base. The ones you mentioned marketed to young people who would be more likely to be into computer coding at a time when they were also likely to be broke. This also coincided with certain movies that popularized tuning. Look at the opposite end of the spectrum and see what high dollar vehicles marketed at older people have for tuning options. GM is sort of middle ground in this respect.
#16
9 Second Club
Availability of options. With the wide range of aftermarket ECUs, and methods to tune the factory ECU early on in the game, nobody put forth the effort to completely crack open the stock ECU on their own time. EFI Live and HPTuners jumped the gun so quick it just became easier for everyone to use those until they became the standard.
With the Jap stuff, Subaru or otherwise....I know I've been fitting aftermarket stuff since around 2002 or so. And there have been options for them before that.
Back then the only OEM tuning options for them were the likes of EcuTek, although even for the pre 2001 cars OEM tuning options are limited. The ecu's must just be harder to reflash.
Post 2001 the hardware must have made it easier in many respects, plus that's also when the car came in big numbers to the US market.
#18
FormerVendor
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Transmission Controllers
Hi All, I spoke to Pete about the Transmission Controllers used with the newer PCM.
I found a cost of $85.00 "e-bay delco" after Pete's guidance. (new Delco)
I would like to add Pete's work, Pete's group, could solve transmission control also ?
Am I on the correct track ?
Lance
I found a cost of $85.00 "e-bay delco" after Pete's guidance. (new Delco)
I would like to add Pete's work, Pete's group, could solve transmission control also ?
Am I on the correct track ?
Lance
#19
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
What would help things.... tell your friends, share what we're doing, spread the good word.The more interest and "hype" there is surrounding all of this the less likely it is to fail.
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#20
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Hi All, I spoke to Pete about the Transmission Controllers used with the newer PCM.
I found a cost of $85.00 "e-bay delco" after Pete's guidance. (new Delco)
I would like to add Pete's work, Pete's group, could solve transmission control also ?
Am I on the correct track ?
Lance
I found a cost of $85.00 "e-bay delco" after Pete's guidance. (new Delco)
I would like to add Pete's work, Pete's group, could solve transmission control also ?
Am I on the correct track ?
Lance
Your looking for this one https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...0-working.html