August 22nd 2008
This build of OBD 2007 Build 1.0.13.96 introduces our new Acceleration Test module.
This upgrade is available as a free upgrade to all registered users via the version
check menu option within OBD 2007.
Acceleration Test
The OBD 2007 Acceleration Test module allows you to perform an Acceleration test
as a result of some modification or to establish a base line for pending modifications.
The Acceleration test is not a “drag strip” type test because OBD 2007 makes no
attempt to calculate the reaction time of the driver. In fact the test does not
even start until the vehicle has reached the minimum speed as set by the user. The
test can easily be performed by the driver with a laptop secured on the passenger
seat, but it is obviously safer (for the laptop) to ask a passenger to assist. However,
no user interaction is required for the duration of the test.
Only two pids are required for the Acceleration Test, Pid 0x0C Engine RPM and Pid
0x0D Vehicle Speed. Both these pids are automatically selected when the Start button
on the Acceleration Test tab is clicked. All that is required to perform the acceleration
test is to first establish a normal connection with the vehicle from the Connection
tab by clicking the Connect button as if you were about to read pids.
Prior to clicking the Start button, enter a Start speed and a Finish speed. Ensure
that OBD 2007 is reading pids correctly by observing a positive RPM figure. When
you are ready to begin the Acceleration Test click the Start button and then begin
your acceleration run.
As soon as you start accelerating, Speed and RPM are displayed. When your Start
speed is exceeded, Elapsed Time and Distance Travelled will also be automatically
displayed and all four values will be continually updated until the Finish speed
is attained at which point OBD 2007 will automatically terminate the test.
OBD 2007 will play a sound to indicate that the test is complete and store the terminal
and maximum figures. Therefore there is no real need to observe the output while
you perform the acceleration test. At the completion of the test, the graph of vehicle’s
speed and engine rpm against time will be updated plus an additional value - the
Average Speed for the duration of the acceleration test.
For further details please see the new screenshot on the Screenshots page. The updated
OBD 2007 Program Guide contains the full details of the Acceleration Test.
Elm327 v1.3 chip Released
This build of OBD 2007 is our first since the official release of the Elm327 v1.3
chip. OBD 2007 has supported this new chip since build 1.0.13.93. We have not had
to make any further modifications to our OBDII code now that the new chip has been
officially released. All Elm chip serial tool vendors should now have the new chip
in stock.
July 28th 2008
This build of OBD 2007, Build 1.0.13.953 is a minor release which corrects a number
of items in the recently released playback mechanism. This upgrade is available
as a free upgrade to all registered users via the version check menu option within
OBD 2007.
The playback module now runs in its own thread, which makes OBD 2007 more responsive
to tab changes on the 3 tabs used to display the data by the playback module. Further
error checking has been introduced to ensure that the log you are trying to play
back does actually include sensor data.
July 15th 2008
This build of OBD 2007 Build 1.0.13.95 introduces our new playback mechanism. Any
OBD 2007 diagnostic file can now be replayed. This upgrade is available as a free
upgrade to all registered users via the version check menu option within OBD 2007.
From the Playback menu select a file to replay. On opening the file, a new toolbar
will appear, with play, pause and stop buttons. Five play back speeds are available
and a progress bar indicates the current position during the playback.
During playback you can view data, via three of the OBD 2007 tabs, Read Vehicles
Pids, Dashboard and Fuel Analysis.
We have also a re worked the Com Port Setup dialog window to take advantage of the
additional baud rates available to the OBDPro scan tool. Please see the new Appendix
C in the Program Guide for all the details.
We have also included a new night vision view for all the gauges in both the Dashboard
and Fuel Analysis tabs.
June 26th 2008
This build of OBD 2007 Build 1.0.13.93 introduces support for the Elm327 v1.3 chip.
The Elm327 v1.3 is due to go into public beta July 1st, with a release in August.
This build is primarily for those beta users. We will have a final release, if required,
when the v1.3 chip is shipped in August. This upgrade is available as a free upgrade
to all registered users via the version check menu option within OBD 2007.
Features of the Elm327 v1.3 chip
Speed
The Elm327 v1.3 chip provides many new exciting features. The one feature that is
likely to impress most is the increase in speed when OBD 2007 is operating in continuous
read mode. For CAN vehicles the increase in speed is extremely impressive – double
the speed of the old 1.2 chip. In fact, double the speed is quite a conservative
claim as we have seen speeds as high as 63 pids per sec when running with a high
speed serial port at 500k baud. However speeds of approximately 38-40 pids per sec
are quite normal for a USB scan tool or a serial tool using a USB serial cable adapter.
The speed increase for non CAN vehicles is not as significant.
Buffer Full Errors - no more
The other major feature which results in the elimination of buffer full errors is
the ability to control whether spaces are included in the output of the responses
from the OBD port. By turning off spaces, the internal buffer of the chip is effectively
increased, which eliminates the chance of a buffer full error. This means that scan
tools can now run at lower bauds without hitting the dreaded buffer full error.
This is very important as vehicle manufacturers are now starting to exploit the
CAN bus by increasing the amount of information coming from the bus.
June 8th 2008
This build of OBD 2007 Build 1.0.13.92 introduces support for the OBDPro scan tool
and fixes a minor bug we discovered while testing a 2008 Volvo XC90 D5. This upgrade
is available as a free upgrade to all registered users via the version check menu
option within OBD 2007.
OBDPro Scan Tool
OBDPro scantool supports all OBD II protocols like the ELM 327. It comes in two
versions, serial and USB and is very attractively priced. OBDPro is not based on
the Elm 327 chip, but does emulate all the necessary AT commands of the Elm 327
chip, and therefore works seamlessly with OBD 2007. For more information about OBDPro
please visit their website www.obdpros.com.
Volvo XC90 D5
While testing this vehicle we found a minor bug causing a runtime error with OBD
2007 on pids 0x24 through pids 0x2B, which are wide range Oxygen sensors that have
recently been introduced on modern diesel engines.
These pids are meant to return a response of 4 bytes as per SAE J1979 and ISO 15031-5.
However this particular Volvo only returns a 2 byte response. We have rectified
this anomaly by supplying the missing bytes with harmless values of zero. When Volvo
does correct the problem, our values will be automatically replaced by their values.
Please note this bug does not affect any petrol engines which do correctly return
a 4 byte response.
May 29th 2008
Our latest build of OBD 2007, Build 1.0.13.9 introduces our new Mapping module and
is available as a free upgrade to all registered users via the version check menu
option within OBD 2007.
OBD 2007 Mapping
OBD 2007’s Mapping module allows you to examine data from your vehicle in a three
dimensional format. The Mapping tab is the one module of OBD 2007 that does not
require a connection to your vehicle. You are not examining live data, but data
that was pre recorded in an earlier OBD 2007 connection session.
When you are viewing live data of the pids of your vehicle in a normal OBD 2007
connection session, you have the option to record the live data to an OBD 2007 log
file. At the completion of your logging session, you will find a text file in the
OBD 2007 program folder that is date and time stamped for that session – for example
OBDLog10052008 153422.txt.
This text file contains the output of all the Pid information that was collected
during your connection session. The text file, which is viewable with Window’s Notepad
consists of individual pid descriptions, pid values and a timestamp of when the
event occurred, one line of information per pid. As with earlier versions of OBD
2007, this data can be imported into an Excel spreadsheet and manipulated within
Excel. With our new OBD 2007 mapping module we now do that work for you and present
the data as a 3D map, plus a graphical representation of the individual pids, graphed
over the same period of time.
The mapping module window is made up of three components, a grid displaying the
actual pid values imported into the OBD 2007 database table, a mapping grid showing
the results of the data manipulation and three graphs of the individual pids that
were chosen to be mapped. The graphs all share the same X Axis (time) and therefore
each pid value can be compared at a particular point in time. The mapping grid shows
the average values of the pid that was selected to be mapped based on one other
user selectable pid and engine RPM. The mapping grid therefore displays a 3D view
of the data over the complete range of engine operating speeds for that particular
OBD 2007 connection session.
This is a particularly useful tool for studying trends – a couple of examples would
be fuel maps of Short Term and Long Term fuel trims or Ignition timing maps. The
data in the cells can be coloured based on user definable settings to indicate data,
in and out of the ideal range.
For a full description of the new OBD 2007 Mapping module, please see the new section
“Mapping” in the OBD 2007 Program Guide, available for viewing on our website and
included in the evaluation version of OBD 2007. Screenshots are also available on
the Screenshots page.
April 23rd 2008
Build 1.0.13.8 introduces a number of new features and is available as a free upgrade
to all registered users via the version check menu option within OBD 2007.
Com Port Auto Discovery Mechanism
With this release of OBD 2007 we have introduced a new feature to the Com Port Setup
window to make it easier to select the correct Com port for your scan tool. This
version of OBD 2007 adds a new Auto Discover button to the Com Port Setup window.
The Auto Discover button will automatically cycle through all the Com ports of your
computer looking for the Com port that your scan tool is connected to. This is a
useful feature if you have more than one way of connecting to your scan tool. You
may have a scan tool that is capable of connecting by both Bluetooth serial and
a USB serial adapter, such as the ElmScan5 Bluetooth. In each case the Com port
used would be different. The Auto Discovery process eliminates the need to remember
or lookup the correct Com port for each connection. Please be sure to check the
new Appendix B in the OBD 2007 Program guide for more details on Auto Discovery.
New Dashboard Gauges
This release also includes two new gauges for the Dashboard. Pid 0x0B Intake Manifold
Absolute Pressure and Pids 0x0A, 0x22 and 0x23 Fuel Rail Pressure.
Fuel Rail Pressure is predominately used by diesel engines. A vehicle can only support
one of the above pids, therefore this particular gauge does triple duty. The major
difference between the 3 separate fuel pressure pids is the scaling, the latter
pid reports very high pressures or wide range fuel rail pressure and is found on
many late model diesel vehicles. As diesel engines don’t support Ignition timing,
the Ignition timing gauge is dynamically replaced by the fuel pressure gauge if
OBD 2007 discovers support for any of those pids. For petrol engines the gauge will
still default to the Ignition Timing gauge.
Similarly the Intake Manifold Absolute Pressure gauge (MAP) will dynamically replace
the Mass Air Flow gauge (MAF) when a vehicle supports MAP, but not MAF. MAF takes
precedence as MAF is more commonly used in later model vehicles. After much customer
feedback we have also reduced the scaling of the MAF gauge to more reflect the typical
readings of most engines. Previously our MAF gauge read 0-300 gm/sec or 0-46 lbs/min.
We have now halved those figures. Please let us know if you consider that we may
have gone too far.
Fuel Status Anomaly
We recently had a user experience a runtime error which related to Pid 0x03 Fuel
Status. The OBDII specification stipulates that the vehicle’s ECU shall respond
with 2 bytes of information for both Fuel Status 1 and Fuel Status 2, even if Fuel
Status 2 is unused, as is the case with most 4 cylinder vehicles. This particular
vehicle, a 2000 Mazda Protégé only responded with 1 byte of information, thus causing
a runtime error. As is often the case with early model OBDII vehicles, the Mazda
was not strictly OBDII compliant. We have now rectified this problem, by providing
the missing information to prevent the runtime error.
April 2nd 2008
New Builds 1.0.13.7 for OBD 2007 for PC and 1.0.12.5 for OBD 2007 for Pocket PC.
This is a free upgrade to all registered users, available from the version check
menu option within OBD 2007 for PC.
These builds contains a bug fix for OBDII Service $06. Any OBDMids which related
to temperature could indicate a failed result, due to a miscalculation when dealing
with imperial units. These builds rectify that problem.
March 31st 2008
The GLM Software forum is now open. Please feel free to start and enter into discussions
relating to OBD 2007 and other OBDII topics. Please note that the forum is not a
substitute for technical support. Please address your technical support questions
directly to support@glmsoftware.com for the fastest answers.
March 16th 2008
New Build 1.0.13.61 for OBD 2007 for PC. This is a very minor release. We have added
a version check after the activation process has been completed to ensure that the
version being evaluated is the current version, as OBD 2007 for PC is now available
from sources, other than our website. If the version just activated is not the current
release, it will be automatically upgraded on the fly to the current release.
March 14th 2008
New Build 1.0.13.6 for OBD 2007 for PC. This is a free upgrade to all registered
users, available from the version check menu option within OBD 2007.
Bug fix for check for Elm327 v1.2 chip.
A user has kindly reported a bug that relates to an OBD 2007 function that checks
for the existence of the Elm327 v1.2 chip. The function was incorrectly indicating
that a 1.0a chip was a 1.2 chip. This resulted in the baud rate of the scan tool
being incorrectly set and as a consequence Pids could not be read.
Please note that this bug only affected users running a European version of Windows,
where the decimal number separator is a comma rather than a period.
If you have recently downloaded OBD 2007 to evaluate and you haven’t been able to
read pids and your Window’s Regional setting is set to a European country where
the decimal number separator is a comma then this bug would have prevented you from
fully evaluating OBD 2007.
If you would like to re evaluate OBD 2007, please contact us at support@glmsoftware.com
and we will arrange to send you a new activation key.
March 12th 2008
New Build 1.0.13.5 for OBD 2007 for PC. This is a free upgrade to all registered
users, available from the version check menu option within OBD 2007.
New Fuel Analysis tab
This version of OBD 2007 introduces a new Fuel Analysis tab. The tab consists of
a number of new gauges which analyse information relating to pids which deliver
information about the fuel system of a vehicle. The main gauge is an instantaneous
fuel consumption gauge. It is flanked by four linear gauges which indicate the dynamic
state of both the Short Term and Long Term Fuel Trims for each bank. The main analogue
fuel consumption gauge also contains an embedded digital average fuel consumption
gauge.
Above the main gauge are two sets of digital fuel gauges which measure instantaneous
fuel economy and fuel rate usage in the 3 common units of measurement as specified
by the OBDII specification – metric, imperial US and imperial UK.
In between the digital gauges are two LEDs that dynamically indicate the various
states of Pid 0x03 - Fuel Status. Below the Fuel Status LEDs is another linear gauge
which indicates the dynamic values of Air Fuel ratio, adjusted by Pid 0x44 - Commanded
Equivalence Ratio when supported by the vehicle. Please see our Screenshots page
and the OBD 2007 Program Guide for more details about how fuel consumption is calculated.
To make it easier to select pids for both the Dashboard and the Fuel Analysis tabs,
OBD 2007 has two new buttons on the Supported Pids tab that allow the automatic
selection of the pids required for the respective tabs. This ensures that only pids
necessary for the respective tabs are selected, making the gauges as responsive
as possible.
Dashboard tab
The original Dashboard tab supported an instantaneous fuel consumption gauge – this
gauge has now been removed and replaced by a new analogue gauge for Pid 0x0E - Ignition
Timing.
Higher baud rate support of Elm327 v1.2 chip
This build also contains a number of bug fixes that caused program run time errors
for serial port baud rate relating to attempts to change to higher baud rates when
the underlying serial port did not support the proposed higher rate. These problems
have been rectified in this build.
February 20th 2008
New Build 1.0.12.6 for OBD 2007 for PC. This is a free upgrade
to all registered users, available from the version check menu option within OBD
2007.
This build fixes 2 bugs in our previous build 1.0.12.3, released earlier this month.
Pid 0x23 - Fuel Rail Pressure Wide Range, commonly used by late model diesel engines
was causing a program crash if the user was using Imperial units. The upper limit
of the Y axis of the graph for Pid 0x23 was also using an incorrect value, which
resulted in a distorted graph.
The newly released ElmScan5 Bluetooth could present a run time error if the user
attempted to increase the baud rate value above 115,200 bps.
Both problems have been rectified with this latest build.
February 4th 2008
New Build 1.0.12.3 for OBD 2007 for PC. This is a free upgrade
to all registered users, available from the version check menu option within OBD
2007.
Elm327 v1.2 chip - Support for higher baud rates
This build now offers full support for the significantly improved RS232 serial interface
of the Elm327 1.2 chip.
The previous 1.1 chip only offered baud rates of up to 38,400 bps. The Elm327 1.2
chip now supports increased baud rate speeds from 57,600 bps up to 500 Kbps. By
increasing the baud rate the Elm327 chip is less likely to suffer from BUFFER FULL
errors, which can be quite common in vehicles operating with the CAN protocol.
To enable backward compatibility with the older chips we have redesigned the Com
Port Setup window to simplify the selection of baud rate. The old Baud Rate combo
box containing the two original settings is retained, but we have introduced an
additional High Speed Baud Rate combo box to support those users with Elm327 1.2
chipped scan tools. Please be sure to check the new Appendix A - Elm327 1.2 - Support
for higher baud rates in the OBD 2007 Program Guide, included in the download
of OBD 2007 for PC, for full details of this new feature. The OBD 2007 Program Guide
is also available for viewing on line via a link at the bottom of our Purchase page.
Adaptive timing
Another new feature of the Elm327 1.2 chip is known as Adaptive Timing. The new
Adaptive Timing feature of the Elm327 1.2 automatically monitors the time it takes
your vehicle to respond to queries, and continually adjusts the response timer to
suit the current conditions. OBD 2007 has always supported what we have termed the
Elm327 Timeout value. The difference now is that the Elm327 1.2 chip will automatically
attempt to increase the response speed of whatever value you have selected for the
Elm327 Timeout value. Note however it will never automatically raise the value higher
than you have set via the Elm327 Timeout value of OBD 2007.
The new 1.2 chip which is simple to replace is available from Elm Electronics for
$CDN 32 or alternatively from your scan tool manufacturer or distributor.
Support for ElmScan ISO USB scan tool
OBD 2007 now officially supports the single protocol scan tool ElmScan ISO USB.
The ISO scan tool is based on the Elm323 v2.0 chip but only supports the following
protocols ISO 9141-2 and ISO 14230-4.
December 16th 2007
New build 1.0.12.1 for OBD 2007 for PC. This minor point release
fixes a bug in the Window layout menu option. A number of the menu items were not
correctly responding to their selection.
December 11th 2007
New build 1.0.12.0 for OBD 2007 for Pocket PC. This build of the
pda version is just to bring the OBD code into line with the PC version.
December 7th 2007
New build 1.0.12.0 for OBD 2007 for PC. This a free upgrade to
all registered users available from the version check menu option within OBD 2007.
New Graphic Data tab
This build introduces a new Graphic Data tab to OBD 2007, which allows the option
of displaying pid data in graphic format. See the Screenshots menu for a preview.
While displaying Pid data continuously, you may now also toggle between the
Read Vehicle Pids tab, the Dashboard tab and the Graphic
Data tab. Before viewing the Graphic Data tab you need to select
the Pids you wish to read as per normal for the Read Vehicle Pids tab. When you
then select the Graphic Data tab you will have a new selection of Pids to choose
from based on the original list you selected. Pids are filtered from the original
list if they don’t lend themselves to a graphic display.
4 Graphs simultaneously
You have the option of selecting up to 4 graphs simultaneously. When the graphic
tab is first displayed, it displays 4 dummy graph areas. You first need to choose
which graph area - Top left, bottom left, top right or bottom right from the combo
on the left hand side of the tab. Pick a graph position and then select a Pid to
graph from the combo on the right hand side. You can then continue on, selecting
another position and another Pid to graph for up to 4 graphs.
Real time display
While viewing the data, after about 30 secs as the graph approaches the right hand
edge, the time Axis, or X axis starts scrolling. What is happening is that the old
data is discarded and you are now viewing the new data over time, as it is a real
time display depending on the speed of the protocol of the vehicle. Each graph has
a tooltip which will display the actual reading, when you hover the mouse over the
graphic line as it is drawn. Each graph adjusts its Y Axis scale properties etc.
depending on the pid being graphed.
As you are viewing the graphs, you can select a different Pid to graph – you don’t
have to stop and restart, just because you change Pids. The previous graph is then
replaced with the new graph.
Flexible viewing options
To maximise the graphs, either maximise the screen or choose one of standard screen
layout sizes from the Window layout menu to increase the size of the layout. You
also have the option of removing the Legends, the X axis and the Graph Titles to
further maximise the viewable graph area.
November 12th 2007
New build 1.0.11.0 for OBD 2007 for PC. This build contains a new
automatic version updater and a small number of bug fixes.
Version Updater and how it works
A registered user can now seamlessly upgrade their copy of OBD 2007 without visiting
this website to check whether there is a new version available. OBD 2007 has always
had a Version Check option available from the Help Menu | Version check. In the
past this option has only notified users whether there was a new version of OBD
2007 available. This new version of OBD 2007 now gives a registered user the option
of automatically downloading and installing the latest version of OBD 2007 for PC
on the fly.
After connecting with our server and establishing that a new version is available,
a registered user is given the option of downloading the latest version. If the
user answers yes to the prompt to proceed with the upgrade, the latest version is
downloaded in the background. OBD 2007 is then temporally removed from memory and
the new version replaces the old version. At the completion of the process OBD 2007
is automatically restarted with the new version.
New 29 bit CAN code
This version contains new code specifically for the 29 bit CAN protocol, which fixes
a number of bugs for this protocol that were present in our previous versions.
Large Font Problem
A couple of users reported problems with the Activation and Registration windows
being truncated in height, making it very difficult to activate OBD 2007. This was
only a problem on systems running with large fonts. The default font of Windows
is 96 DPI, large fonts are 120 DPI. Both these windows have now been reworked to
work correctly with either font size. Previous versions will still work correctly
if the system font is set to Normal font (96 DPI).
October 26th 2007
New build 1.0.10.1 for both OBD 2007 for PC and OBD 2007 for
Pocket PC. This minor point release addresses a problem which was only
applicable to vehicles using the CAN protocol. Trouble codes (DTCs) were being incorrectly
read if there were more than 2 DTCs set.
This build also addresses a problem relating to the presentation of the supported
pid list for ISO 14230-4 vehicles. Some late model vehicles e.g. BMW 5 series respond
transmission first then engine ecu. This resulted in the pid list being incorrectly
sorted.
October 15th 2007
New build 1.0.10.0 for both OBD 2007 for PC and OBD 2007 for
Pocket PC. This release addresses a major problem that prevented many
diesel engines from establishing a connection. If you had previously downloaded
OBD 2007 for a diesel engine, we would like to ask you to try again.
We have added even more increments to the Elm 327 Time Out Value, as some users
have reported that VX Holden Commodores would only connect at slower than normal
values. These new values allow more values for an optimimal connection. The default
value has been changed from 50 to 100ms.
Some additional settings have been made to the window layout option.
We have also released a new free utility product OBD 2007 PidReader
- see the Tips and Tricks section for more details.
August 18th 2007
New build 1.0.8.0 for both OBD 2007 for PC and OBD 2007 for
Pocket PC. This point release addresses a number of problems with the
1.0.7.0 release of last month.
A number of users reported that they were unable to connect, if their vehicle didn’t
support Freeze Frame pids. This problem has now been rectified.
We have also introduced a user definable OBD 2007 Reset timeout value, which allows
the adjustment of the previously hard coded OBD 2007 Reset timeout.
July 17th 2007
Release of OBD 2007 for Pocket PC, plus a new point release of
OBD 2007 for PC. See screenshots menu of both products for the
new features.
New pricing for both products and a new 7 day full feature evaluation system.
Both releases support the recently released ELM 327 1.2 chip.
May 17th 2007
Release of OBD 2007 for PC. See screenshots menu for all the features.