kw1281test: A Free VDS-Pro / VagTacho Alternative

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
You're welcome. Thanks for all you've done for TDIclub and your assistance personally to me with my own clusters.

Now I'm really glad I sent you out a 2003 cluster.

Random thought. Since the Beetle mostly uses Mk4-esque hardware until like 2010 or so, would clusters until then theoretically still be immo3/compatible with the cluster I sent you?
It looks like the 2004-2005 clusters might work in a 2002-2003 even though they have a different part number (ends in 951 vs 921 for 2003). The 2008-2010 cluster has a different part number ending in 801 and VW says it doesn't work in older models. And 2006-2007 is another part number that supposedly only fits 2006-2007.
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
Upside of Mac: Very secure.
Downside of Mac: Very secure.

But thanks for the digging in and figuring that stuff out, regardless.
Now it really is your lucky day. I got it working on the Mac, providing you have an FTDI-based KKL cable or serial adapter and you install the FTDI D2xx drivers and D2xxHelper:


Added support for macOS when using FTDI USB->Serial adapters. This requires installing the FTDI D2xx driver and D2xxHelper, which can be found here: https://ftdichip.com/drivers/d2xx-drivers/

When using the D2xx driver, instead of specifying the port, you specify the FTDI device's Serial Number, which can be found in System Information / Hardware / USB:

Code:
./kw1281test AG0JT9DF 10400 17 ReadIdent
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
Now that the FTDI driver work is finished, it should be pretty easy to build future releases for Linux, too, if anyone's interested. Just let me know.
 

lijetta18t

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 2, 2021
Location
LI NY
TDI
2019 GSW 4mo 6MT
Now it really is your lucky day. I got it working on the Mac, providing you have an FTDI-based KKL cable or serial adapter and you install the FTDI D2xx drivers and D2xxHelper:


Added support for macOS when using FTDI USB->Serial adapters. This requires installing the FTDI D2xx driver and D2xxHelper, which can be found here: https://ftdichip.com/drivers/d2xx-drivers/

When using the D2xx driver, instead of specifying the port, you specify the FTDI device's Serial Number, which can be found in System Information / Hardware / USB:

Code:
./kw1281test AG0JT9DF 10400 17 ReadIdent
Just to confirm, this only works with FTDI based cables and not the China CH341 based cables, correct?
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
Just to confirm, this only works with FTDI based cables and not the China CH341 based cables, correct?
Correct. There doesn't seem to be any English documentation for the CH340/341 drivers and it's not clear if the macOS driver supports custom baud rates and break duration.

As for FTDI, I bought one of these last week and it was pretty cheap and definitely works on the Mac: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07589ZF9X/
Not sure why the shorter cable costs twice as much as the longer cable, though.

Note that that particular cable is just a USB->Serial adapter so you'd still need a Serial->KKL cable. For a one-cable solution, you could use this (but I haven't personally tried it): https://www.obdinnovations.com/vag-kkl-k-line-obd2-usb-interface-cable-with-ftdi-ft232rl-chip/
 

Z@gor

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2021
Location
Italy
TDI
ex GTD 5
A big hello to everyone!

I confirm the validity of the "one-cable solution". I use a FTDI USB KKL cable with virtual COM port (I also use it with K + Can Commander sw) on Windows 7 64 bit, and it works perfectly with the sw kw1281test created by you.

Chapeau to your abilities!

If useful I can post the complete ccm dump of a Golf 2002 GTI TDI
 

lijetta18t

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 2, 2021
Location
LI NY
TDI
2019 GSW 4mo 6MT
If useful I can post the complete ccm dump of a Golf 2002 GTI TDI
I can certainly use this dump. I have been trying to build a database of stock coding of cars to reverse engineer that the bits do.

Dump these bits (as posted by @gmenounos ):
  • 4096 – 4607 (CCM)
  • 8192 – 8703 (Front left window motor)
  • 12288 – 12799 (Front right window motor)
  • 16384 – 16895 (Rear left window motor)
  • 20480 – 20991 (Rear right window motor)
Also, make sure you mention what the part number of your CCM is.
 

Z@gor

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2021
Location
Italy
TDI
ex GTD 5
Sure. The spare part code of the CCM is 1C0 959 799 B. Golf ARL my 2002 european model w/o alarm/monitoring

The five CCM dump and the log operations performed with kw1281test is included in the following rar file:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/xflyj68ly7ua065/backup_ccm_golf_4_GTI_TDI_Antonio.rar/file

In this dump the following have already been activated:
- electric windows by FOB (with sw motordiag)
- unlock horn
- lock horn
- unlock blink
- lock blink
 

lijetta18t

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 2, 2021
Location
LI NY
TDI
2019 GSW 4mo 6MT
Sure. The spare part code of the CCM is 1C0 959 799 B. Golf ARL my 2002 european model w/o alarm/monitoring

The five CCM dump and the log operations performed with kw1281test is included in the following rar file:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/xflyj68ly7ua065/backup_ccm_golf_4_GTI_TDI_Antonio.rar/file

In this dump the following have already been activated:
- electric windows by FOB (with sw motordiag)
- unlock horn
- lock horn
- unlock blink
- lock blink
Taking a quick look at the coding, was this a US market car or was the BCM swapped out at some point? If none of the above, can you go over what equipment you have on your Golf GTI? (Sunroof, door count, folding mirrors, etc)
 

Z@gor

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2021
Location
Italy
TDI
ex GTD 5
I'm not able to answer. What I know for sure is that this Golf was bought used here in Italy (by a friend of mine), and the previous owner was also Italian. However, I cannot rule out that the vehicle was imported. Unfortunately my Etka cannot identify its chassis number, so I cannot understand where it comes from, but I could ask my friends in vw if necessary ...

 
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lijetta18t

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 2, 2021
Location
LI NY
TDI
2019 GSW 4mo 6MT
Now, I cannot say if it was a US/CAN car as there are a bunch of bits enabled that only US/CAN cars usually have but these could be just equipment settings that are way more common on US/CAN cars than the RoW versions. Usually, a US/CAN market car will have a sticker in the drivers door jam that says "meets or exceeds federal safety standards" or something along these lines and a CAN car will have a maple leaf on it. If you don't see this, it is most likely from somewhere else.
 

Z@gor

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2021
Location
Italy
TDI
ex GTD 5
Tomorrow I try to ask my friends in vw quoting the chassis number, then I'll let you know. At this point, I'm curious too
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
When using the D2xx driver, instead of specifying the port, you specify the FTDI device's Serial Number, which can be found in System Information / Hardware / USB:
Turns out my USB-SERIAL cable is based on the PL2303 chip, so that doesn't work; but I did find an old VAG-TACHO (knock-off) cable that *does* have the FTDI chip; it given that it spews the following (from SysInfo) at me, I'd enter 00000004 as the Serial number?:
Code:
USB <-> ISO Interface:
  Product ID:    0xd099
  Vendor ID:    0x0403  (Future Technology Devices International Limited)
  Version:    0.00
  Serial Number:    00000004
  Speed:    Up to 12 Mb/sec
  Manufacturer:    FTDI
  Location ID:    0x14100000 / 9
  Current Available (mA):    500
  Current Required (mA):    90
  Extra Operating Current (mA):    0
 
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Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
Well, that didn't work:
Code:
Mike$ ./kw1281test 00000004 10400 17 ReadIdent
Unhandled exception. System.DllNotFoundException: Unable to load shared library 'libSystem.Native' or one of its dependencies. In order to help diagnose loading problems, consider setting the DYLD_PRINT_LIBRARIES environment variable: dlopen(liblibSystem.Native, 1): image not found
   at Interop.Sys.Dup(SafeFileHandle oldfd)
   at System.ConsolePal.<>c.<OpenStandardOutput>b__9_0()
   at Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles.SafeFileHandleHelper.Open(Func`1 fdFunc)
   at System.ConsolePal.OpenStandardOutput()
   at System.Console.OpenStandardOutput()
   at System.Console.<get_Out>g__EnsureInitialized|25_0()
   at System.Console.get_Out()
   at System.Console.WriteLine(String value)
   at BitFab.KW1281Test.Logger.WriteLine(String message)
   at BitFab.KW1281Test.Program.Main(String[] args)
Abort trap: 6
Makes me think (among other possibilities) that that "00000004" serial number ain't the serial number.
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
Well, that didn't work:
Code:
Mike$ ./kw1281test 00000004 10400 17 ReadIdent
Unhandled exception. System.DllNotFoundException: Unable to load shared library 'libSystem.Native' or one of its dependencies. In order to help diagnose loading problems, consider setting the DYLD_PRINT_LIBRARIES environment variable: dlopen(liblibSystem.Native, 1): image not found
Makes me think (among other possibilities) that that "00000004" serial number ain't the serial number.
I had assumed that the first 2 characters of the FTDI serial number were letters (supposed to be the manufacturer ID) so I've changed it to match 8 letters/numbers. New release here: https://github.com/gmenounos/kw1281test/releases/download/v0.47-beta/kw1281test_macOS.zip

Also, make sure you installed the D2xx drivers and D2xxHelper on your Mac. It will not work with the regular (VCP) FTDI driver on the Mac. You should not have to boot into recovery mode or anything like that, but the D2xx drivers will give you a warning that they're from an untrusted developer so you'll have to go into "Security & Privacy" and grant access.
 

pkhoury

That guy with the goats
Joined
Nov 30, 2010
Location
Medina, TX
TDI
2013 JSW, 2003 Jetta Ute, 2 x 2002 Golf, 2000 Golf
I had a very random question, @gmenounos . Since you credit 6502bench.com on github, are our instrument clusters based on a deriviative of the venerable 6502 CPU?
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
Also, make sure you installed the D2xx drivers and D2xxHelper on your Mac. It will not work with the regular (VCP) FTDI driver on the Mac. You should not have to boot into recovery mode or anything like that, but the D2xx drivers will give you a warning that they're from an untrusted developer so you'll have to go into "Security & Privacy" and grant access.
Given that SysInfo recognizes a "USB<-->ISO interface" is there a driver baked into macOS that I should be uninstalling?

I found a .pkg installer for the D2xx Helper and installed that, and followed these (very out-dated) instructions (below) for installing the D2xx drivers, but it doesn't seem to change anything. I also didn't get any kind of Security warning that I had to grant access to.
Is there a .pkg installer for the drivers themselves, or does it have to be done with those Terminal instructions?

 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
I had a very random question, @gmenounos . Since you credit 6502bench.com on github, are our instrument clusters based on a deriviative of the venerable 6502 CPU?
The VDO Immo3 (and Immo2 I think) clusters are based on a Micronas microcontroller, which uses the 16-bit 65C816 instruction set. Most of the instructions are actually 8-bit 6502 instructions. The data sheet is getting harder to find, but here's one link that still works:

Not sure about VDO non-Immo clusters ('99.5 models) as I don't have one anymore to take apart.
The Bosch/Motometer clusters most likely use something else. I have a couple but never bothered to take one apart to see what's inside.
The Beetle Magneti Marelli clusters use at least a couple Motorola 68HC12 variants.
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
Given that SysInfo recognizes a "USB<-->ISO interface" is there a driver baked into macOS that I should be uninstalling?

I found a .pkg installer for the D2xx Helper and installed that, and followed these (very out-dated) instructions (below) for installing the D2xx drivers, but it doesn't seem to change anything. I also didn't get any kind of Security warning that I had to grant access to.
Is there a .pkg installer for the drivers themselves, or does it have to be done with those Terminal instructions?
There's also video instructions:
You only need to get as far as installing the dylib into /usr/local/lib and creating the symbolic link.

However, I was just looking at the FTDI D2xx docs and it looks like your cable is using a nonstandard product ID (PID) of 0xD099 and by default the D2xx drivers only recognize a limited set of PIDs by default:

1612332092542.png
Looks like I need to whip up a new version that lets you override the VID/PID.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
Great - thanks for the digging and pointing out what the issue is.
Ordering up a new USB-Serial interface now. :)
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
Great - thanks for the digging and pointing out what the issue is.
Ordering up a new USB-Serial interface now. :)
I uploaded a new macOS version with the ability to override the VID and PID. It's in the same 0.47 release so you'll just need to re-download and unzip it. Instructions are on the release page:
 

caffeine

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2021
Location
B.C., Canada
TDI
03 Allroad w/04 BHW/02X conversion, 00 ALH Jetta
KW1281test wins again. While waiting for my FIS cluster to arrive from Europe, I decided to try to combine a Passat B5 MFA cluster with some Mk4 parts (gauge faces and cage) and managed to install it in my car. I didn't have an IMMO3 MFA 1J0 binary file to flash to it, but the Passat code seems to be mostly compatible except for the speedo calibration, which I had to manually set since the coding didn't have option to match the Mk4 coding. Only thing that isn't working is my glow plug indicator of course, since my cluster didn't come from a diesel car.
 

Mozambiquer

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Mar 21, 2015
Location
Versailles Missouri
TDI
2004 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2012 Audi Q7 V6 TDI, 1998 VW Jetta TDI. 1982 VW Rabbit pickup, 2001 VW Jetta TDI, 2005 VW Passat wagon TDI X3, 2001 VW golf TDI, 1980 VW rabbit pickup,
KW1281test wins again. While waiting for my FIS cluster to arrive from Europe, I decided to try to combine a Passat B5 MFA cluster with some Mk4 parts (gauge faces and cage) and managed to install it in my car. I didn't have an IMMO3 MFA 1J0 binary file to flash to it, but the Passat code seems to be mostly compatible except for the speedo calibration, which I had to manually set since the coding didn't have option to match the Mk4 coding. Only thing that isn't working is my glow plug indicator of course, since my cluster didn't come from a diesel car.
I wondered if that could be done... I like the readouts on the dash, which my golf doesn't have, but I guess it wouldn't really work for me, since I have immo2 unless I used an immo2 Passat cluster?
 

caffeine

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2021
Location
B.C., Canada
TDI
03 Allroad w/04 BHW/02X conversion, 00 ALH Jetta
I wondered if that could be done... I like the readouts on the dash, which my golf doesn't have, but I guess it wouldn't really work for me, since I have immo2 unless I used an immo2 Passat cluster?
My car is IMMO2 but I used an IMMO3 cluster. Everything works fine that way, but you cannot use an IMMO2 cluster in an IMMO3 car.
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
KW1281test wins again. While waiting for my FIS cluster to arrive from Europe, I decided to try to combine a Passat B5 MFA cluster with some Mk4 parts (gauge faces and cage) and managed to install it in my car. I didn't have an IMMO3 MFA 1J0 binary file to flash to it, but the Passat code seems to be mostly compatible except for the speedo calibration, which I had to manually set since the coding didn't have option to match the Mk4 coding. Only thing that isn't working is my glow plug indicator of course, since my cluster didn't come from a diesel car.
You can probably add the 2-3 components needed to make the glow plug light work as described here:
The W8 cluster is for a W8 Passat so I bet its very similar to the B5 MFA cluster.
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
Great - thanks for the digging and pointing out what the issue is.
Ordering up a new USB-Serial interface now. :)
See if the new version I posted will work with your VAG Tacho cable after setting the VID/PID environment variables. You might get lucky and not have to wait for your new cable.
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
See if the new version I posted will work with your VAG Tacho cable after setting the VID/PID environment variables. You might get lucky and not have to wait for your new cable.
Actually never mind. I poked around in the basement and found the exact VAG Tacho cable that you have (same VID, PID and serial) and it does not seem to work with the D2xx drivers. I'm 99% sure it's using a counterfeit FTDI chip as each chip is supposed to have a unique serial number. Hopefully won't be an issue after you order a different cable.
 
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