fredaroony
Registered user
You have a way I can contact you offline? On FB? I found a few people with the same name
ISTA and K-DCAN cable
- Thread starter fredaroony
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You have a way I can contact you offline? On FB? I found a few people with the same name
Can't really offer any help, but can add that you're not alone on this. I have the exact same issue you are describing admittedly different bike (F800GS). I have the same COM setup too.
All looks good and appears to work but ISTA+ doesn't manage to read the info from the bike. I think it may well be my cable/the USB->serial driver. I will share here if I manage to get anywhere with mine...
All looks good and appears to work but ISTA+ doesn't manage to read the info from the bike. I think it may well be my cable/the USB->serial driver. I will share here if I manage to get anywhere with mine...
fredaroony
Registered user
That's why I gave up and bought a ICOM A2 unit. The clones are quite cheap and mine has been working fine.
That has crossed my mind a few times
It is more of a challenge for me. I already had the OBD->USB cable I used for an old car, and bought the 10-pin ICOM-D cable on a whim. I think both cost about £20 -25 all in. I don't intend to offer as a service / make money off this, just mess about... so ICOM is probably still a bit of an overkill.Yesterday I reached out to the most knowledgeable man on BMW+electronics I know (Also and Aussie
) so I may come up with something yet...fredaroony
Registered user
That has crossed my mind a few times
Yesterday I reached out to the most knowledgeable man on BMW+electronics I know (Also and Aussie
My first goal was just diagnostics but after I bought the ICOM I've able to do some quite cool things with it
I gave up on the K-DCAN cable after being told it was impossible but I tried every setting possible, including reversing the RX/TX in the adapter itself and latency. All the common things I found others have tried. I could not find a single person who has successfully connected one to a water cooled boxer until Ken's post. Unfortunately, most of the information is based on cars.The ICOM A2 box only cost me $260 AUD so was a bargain for what I'm getting from it. It's more than paid for itself already so very happy.
Fair enough. My bike is an older beast altogether and I am still holding on to some hope. There are reports on the 'net that it should be possible. I am thinking that the implementation of the old FT232RL that is a "hit and miss" part with these cables. I wish I had more electronics-related knowledge to actually work out if signals are coming through from the bike at all... I did read somewhere [1] that RS232 cable is a much better bet (hence me doubting my USB->serial cable)...
[1] in Italian, but Google translate does a resonable job HERE
This one is a good one too [ http://www.belinassu.it/396108582 ]
[1] in Italian, but Google translate does a resonable job HERE
This one is a good one too [ http://www.belinassu.it/396108582 ]
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That's about £150. Does seem like a bargain indeed... particularly if you intend to use it to its potential
fredaroony
Registered user
Ahh I am sure it works with the f800xx . PM me your email address and I'll send you a document someone sent me before. He happens to own a F800 and starting to think he is the person you were talking about. First name start with W?
That is the very dude indeed! Really nice guy too, helped me out in the past with an obscure electrics problem with my old F650GS. Seems to have forgotten more about BMW electronics than most people ever knew.
Really nice guy too, helped me out in the past with an obscure electrics problem with my old F650GS. Seems to have forgotten more about BMW electronics than most people ever knew. ianm00
Registered user
My first goal was just diagnostics but after I bought the ICOM I've able to do some quite cool things with it
The ICOM A2 box only cost me $260 AUD so was a bargain for what I'm getting from it. It's more than paid for itself already so very happy.
Im following this thread with interest. What sort of "cool" things can you do with this setup? I have recently purchased the motoscan ap and have been using the tool for diagnostic and servicing functions. Interested in what sort of things that can be done with this ICOM unit.
fredaroony
Registered user
I'd rather not say on an open forum but lets just say it allows you to add free things you would otherwise pay for... Lot more complicated than diagnostics though although it can be used just for diagnostics too
The ICOM unit is just a gateway module that allows the connection from the bike to your computer. It's actually a multiplexer to convert the signals so the computer can understand them. The ISTA (BMW dealer software) is where all it all happens. You can a lot of settings i.e. indicator timeout, PSI to bar, miles to klms etc etc. It craps all over the Motoscan app by a HUGE margin but you would hope so being dealer software.
E-sys is used for the naughty things but you can also really stuff up your bike if you don't know what you're doing. This is BMW software too though and allows direct access to the files inside the ECU
Ken Oath
Registered user
You can PM on bimmerfest where I have previously responded to your posts.
Don't have Facecreep
fredaroony
Registered user
Ok will do
Ken Oath
Registered user
From this post it seems you are connected if the software returns data eg. VIN, I-Level, Engine type etc.
V3.56 is probably circa 2015 - is it ISTA-P or ISTA-D?
As the bike is BN2000 it matters which version you are trying to connect with. Also are you trying to progamme, code or diagnostic?
zygi
Registered user
Hi Ken,
No, I am not connected. When trying to connect ISTA returns "vehicle not recognized, please check connection... etc..."
ISTA will return basic information about vehicle even without being physically connected to it, by simply calculating last seven characters of VIN you manually type in (at least it does in my case).
Regards my connection problem I've found that some versions of ISTA-D aren't full versions or were possibly modified by owners to suit their requirements by simply deleting unnecessary files. On another forum found guy who's been using ICOM A2 instead K+DCAN but still couldn't connect to few bikes until changing ISTA for different version. He's version was also ISTA-D 3.56.
I've concluded that it'll be best if I download different version first and reinstall it to try before smash my laptop on the wall....
Do you know which version would be best to try with K+DCAN for diagnostics?
Regards.
zygi
Registered user
Hello fredaroony,
This 4.10.21 it's Ista-D or P? Are you using it with K+DCAN or ICOM?
fredaroony
Registered user
ISTA-D 4.10.21 and ISTA-P 3.64 but ISTA-P won't work on my bike, it came up with a message saying you must use ISTA-D. All programming is now done via ISTA-D, not sure when they changed over but ISTA-P won't finish connecting to the bike
If you read the thread, I was not able to get the K-DCAN cable to work
Ken Oath
Registered user
For a K25 ISTA-P is required for programming.
If you intend to do diagnostic interrogation then ISTA+ can be used.
Programming - requires ICOM and ISTA-P
Diagnostic - requires K-DCAN and ISTA+
Coding - requires ICOM and E-Sys
ISTA+ V4.10.xx is suitable for diagnostic. It can be a standalone version mounted externally or it can be fully installed.
Well, I managed to get my setup to talk to the bike. I am still not sure how, so I haven't got much to feed back. It started working when I got another laptop built with Win7 and changed the COM port to COM1. No idea why that'd work and Win10 + COM9 as the docs suggest (or any other com port, for that matter) would not. I'l update the thread again if I do figure out anything that can be useful. All I can say for now id that ISTA 4.10 does connect to the bike via 10-pin ICOM and K-Line USB-OBD cable.
* I appreciate that this is for an F800GS and this is not the relevant section of the forum, but it is the only ISTA thread going at the moment and some of it may be useful to others.
* I appreciate that this is for an F800GS and this is not the relevant section of the forum, but it is the only ISTA thread going at the moment and some of it may be useful to others.
fredaroony
Registered user
Well, I managed to get my setup to talk to the bike. I am still not sure how, so I haven't got much to feed back. It started working when I got another laptop built with Win7 and changed the COM port to COM1. No idea why that'd work and Win10 + COM9 as the docs suggest (or any other com port, for that matter) would not. I'l update the thread again if I do figure out anything that can be useful. All I can say for now id that ISTA 4.10 does connect to the bike via 10-pin ICOM and K-Line USB-OBD cable.
* I appreciate that this is for an F800GS and this is not the relevant section of the forum, but it is the only ISTA thread going at the moment and some of it may be useful to others.
COM9 in the document was just an example, you need to look in device manager on your computer to see what COM port has been assigned. You are welcome to PM me if you need help with ISTA
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