lovato FAST help

[dunnah01]

I have a lovato FAST sequential system installed on my Freelander and need to tweek a couple of settings. I have obtained the system software and I also have a universal interface lead that fits. The problem is that I can't get my laptop to talk to the gas ECU, I just get a serial connection error. Just wondering if anybody knows if the ECU is somehow locked or if I need the official Lovato interface lead. I've tested the COM port on the laptop and that seems to work fine. Any ideas welcome!

[mak-uk]

Hi

Which COM port are you using? Try COM port 3?

Other than that, I cannot help but maybe someone else can

[dunnah01]

Thanks - I've tried a loopback test on the COM port (No. 5 or 6 on my PC) by bridging a null-modem cable and it seems to work fine - I got the port from the system devices menu. My laptop doesn't have an RS232 connector so I'm using a USB/RS232 converter which could be the problem although the loopback test suggest it's ok.

[mak-uk]

That couldl be the problem - I know that people who use BMW diagnostic softwar do often have problems with such convertors. I guess you can try it on a machine with a dedicated serial port just to put your mind at rest?

[dunnah01]

I'd heard that it could be a problem and was hoping I wouldn't have to revert back to a proper COM port. Problem is that none of the laptops I have access to have a proper RS232 port , there too old skool - looks like I'll have to drag the desktop near to the car - ah well here goes!

[Johnboy]

I use a laptop to tweak my LPG system, it works great, but recently my laptop received some microsoft windows XP updates, when I tried to connect to the gas ecu afterwards, it would not connect. After much hair pulling, com port swapping, usb socket swapping, I gave up. As a last resort, I restored my laptop to an earlier date ( a date when it worked ok with the gas ecu) and hay presto, it works. I dont know why the updates made a difference, but they did.
I have now disabled the automatic updates to avoid this problem reoccuring.
It may be a long shot, but a laptop with a fresh install of windows, with no updates, may work.
I use a USB to serial converter, it works ok, but the first converter I tried would not work, so my advise would be to buy a good quality USB converter rather than a cheap one.

[dunnah01]

I've tried three laptops - two have XP with all updates but I also tried an old Windows ME OS - still no joy unfortunately. I've become resigned to trying the desktop with a pukka COM port - I can also System Restore back to a while ago to try out your no-updates theory so thanks for the suggestion. It's going to be the weekend before I can try it.

[mdony]

Could somebody help me to tell where I could download Lovato easy fast software ?