Downloading from ECU, why not?

Yobaman · Post by **Yobaman** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 5:52 pm

I'm new to Hondata and I was wondering why it's called a "last resort" to download calibration from ECU to the laptop? Why is it not recommended?

The car has Toda racing exhaust manifold, skunk2 catback and AEM Cold-air intake.

I purchased a civic type-r a few days ago and the owner has no copies of the calibration that is currently in the car so I need to extract it to get a backup. I tried it today but I got some errors at the end of the download process. It said something like "error adress value xxxxxxx in kmanager.exe adress xxxxxxx" and I cannot open the calibration. After 3 attempts I managed to take a look at the parameters but that's it.

It also was warning about that it was an old version. This guy probably did the calibration 1-2 years ago. What to do? Do I need to get an older version of Kmanager to be able to download the calibration? The computer has Windows XP.

Post by **Spunkster** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:27 pm

More than likely security has been set on the ecu and you will nto be able to read the calibration out. You will have to clear security (online, tools, clear security) then upload a new calibration from File, New.

Yobaman · Post by **Yobaman** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:44 am

I do not wish to upload a new calibration to the ECU. I want to extract the existing calibration as there is no backup copy of the one in the ECU. If I upload a new one to the ECU the current calibration will be lost.

Do I still need to clear security? What does "clear security" do exactly?

fonz600 · Post by **fonz600** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:40 am

What Spunskter was saying is the existing map may have security set on it. That means that you may not be able to download the map as the tuner has put a lock on it.

Only way to put a new map on is to clear security and upload a new map.

To answer your original post, it has been known for a map to be corrupt when downloadg from an ECU so you have to be careful when using it again.

Yobaman · Post by **Yobaman** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:11 pm

Does this mean that if I clear security I could download the calibration or is it not possible?

Does clear security wipe the ECU clean or what does it do?
Do I need to clear everytime before I upload a new calibration?

Could It work to download the calibration with an older version of kmanager? The calibration in the car has v 1.2.x.x, could that be the problem I am having? I can check the tables when I try to download, despite of the error messages but I cannot see anything on parameters so it's like the calibration is half-downloaded.

Yobaman · Post by **Yobaman** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 2:09 pm

Bump.. Need help here guys :)

Post by **Spunkster** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 2:50 pm

Clearing security erases the ecu. If you cannot download the calibration using the current version of software then you will need to clear security and then go to file new and create a new calibration.

Yobaman · Post by **Yobaman** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:27 am

Ok but I dont want to erase it, I want to download the calibration from the ECU. Is this not possible?

If it might work with an older version of kmanager why can't I just get an old version? I have searched but failed in finding anything. Surely the guys at hondata should have all the versions? Could you send me v 1.2?

Post by **Hondata** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 9:09 am

If security is set there is no way to access the calibration. An older version will not help, and may cause further problems.

Yobaman · Post by **Yobaman** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 3:22 pm

What do you mean by "cause further problems"?

Post by **Hondata** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 9:16 am

Backdating software means that the older software has to cope with newer software data and memory locations, which can make it behave unpredictably.

Yobaman · Post by **Yobaman** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 1:41 pm

Ok, but the "data", the calibration, is an older version. As old as the kmanager. This should not cause any problems?

Post by **Hondata** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:35 am

No offense, but you're asking the same question over and over in the hope of getting the answer you want to hear.

We do not recommend that you download from the ECU if you can possibly avoid it, and in many cases, the calibration will not be able to be read successfully anyhow.