Yet Another Guino Help Thread

[i_am_socket]

OK, so 10 days later instead of that night, but I got the wire swapped over.

GPH comes up, everything worked pretty spot on, even the MPG looked pretty darn good (will need adjustment, but should be close).

And then it froze randomly. Unplug and replug. And then I got a bright blank screen. Unplug and replug. Only parts froze, then the whole thing. Unplug and replug. Random restarts followed by freezing.

Better'n nothin' but not quite doin' me much good.

I brought it in the house last night and went to re-load the software this morning. Made sure it was v.0011 or what-have-you, loaded the USB driver, opened up v0.74 MPGuino code, hit "send to board" and I got this error message:


Did I miss a step? Are there preferences and such I need to check?

I think I need to do some re-soldering since the RJ-11 jack was nearly pried off somehow, but would that mess with the USB connection?

[Intrigued]

Ouch.

There's a possibility that the RJ could cause problems, if two of the wires are touching. I'm guessing all of the communications ultimately come from the same place...

It's also possible that sending voltage where it wasn't wanted could have messed with the chip. Very possible, I would say from experience. I messed up a RAM stick once just by walking across the carpet before I picked it up. Lot higher voltage involved in that incident, but then I've seen an intermittant ground mess up a display on a GM car more than once...

[Nevyn]

i_am_socket, check and make sure you are on the correct COM port for your Guino. Most likely, it'll be 3, 4, or 5 - but not 1 or 2.

[i_am_socket]

Huzzah!

The IDE gave me the option of COM 1 or 7, and 7 did the trick. Tested it out on the ride to work this morning and it worked without fail, even on dumpy pot-hole covered roads!

One strange thing I've noticed about it: the speed is pretty spot on between ~20 & 40 MPH, but is 3ish MPH high at 55 and 7ish MPH high at 60.

[Nevyn]

Check your VSS pulse number - 4004 or 4000 may (or whatever it is for you) may not seem like a big change, but it may be just enough to throw it off a tiny bit.

[wagonman76]

I calibrate my guinos to be dead on with my odometer. And even at that, my factory speedometer reads a bit high. Carmakers probably do that so they cant be blamed for inaccurate speed readings that could get you a ticket.

[Intrigued]

Originally Posted by wagonman76

...my factory speedometer reads a bit high. Carmakers probably do that so they cant be blamed for inaccurate speed readings that could get you a ticket.

Nah, too many rules. All speedometers have to be accurate within a very small percentage, or the "gub'mint" won't let the carmaker sell the thing in the first place. I spent a lot of time at the GM dealership recalibrating speedos, and all but a couple of times the problem was from dealer-replaced or special-ordered tires that were a different size than the original build. (Are your tires EXACTLY the same size as OEM???) One customer made us go through the pain (and paperwork) of adjusting his odometer so that his car wouldn't go out of warranty too quickly!

Once in a great while I would see a speedo drive or driven gear that was wrong for the gearing - which reminds me of the new car I did the Pre-Delivery on that had a lump under the driver's floorboard carpet, which ended up being a second accelerator pedal! (best find ever was a Snap-On 1/4 inch ratchet and magnetic 10mm socket under a trunk carpet!)

[wagonman76]

Most of my tires are not exactly OEM size, but Im not talking about external speed. Im talking about the difference between the mpguino reported speed and the speedometer reported speed, when the mpguino odometer is calibrated to match the car odometer dead nuts to within 1/10 mile over a 300 mile tank.

[Intrigued]

Oh! Gotcha. That's not the first time - or the last - that I've misunderstood what a person was meaning. Some GM cars have separate motors running the speedometer and the odometer, so it is quite possible the speedo motor is getting a little voltage happy.

I have a small handfull of those around still, but by now I have no idea whatsover of what they fit, although I do remember that Cadillac owners were a lot more picky than any other GM owners...

[i_am_socket]

My speedometer appears to be 1-2 MPH "ambitious" based only off of the side-of-the-road speed signs (Speed Limit XX MPH, Your Speed XX MPH) so who know how accurate either one really is right now.

Dropping the VSS by 1 got it closer, so I'll give it another 2 later. Gotta finish the enclosure soon.