RomRaider

Wow. That's pretty cool.

That is really awesome. I wonder how hard it would be to port to a PPC device I have laying around.

Its basically a serial port. You just tell it the address and the port to send its TX stream to, and request the RX stream. So any device that can do TCP/IP over Wi-Fi could potentially have software written for it to do this.

I had a bunch of thoughts, but had a crazy busy morning so I can't remember them all...

1) Opensource, closed source free, beerware, ?

2) I'd love to see logging with this. Have a start/stop button. Log to a file and be able to pop it over to an email (IIRC the api has something setup for this) and email it to yourself. Or in the case of the ipod save it as a file and download it to the computer later.

2b) Even better...log everything in a comma delimited/excel friendly format and include timestamps and x, y from the accelerometer.

3) I need to jailbreak my phone.

1/3. My touch is not jailbroken (sp? haha).. Its in some kind of developer mode or Xcode switched out the firmware. I have settings, web browser, and my app. It is possible with a jailbroken, and I think it is possible with a regular one, to access the serial port on the bottom. I've ordered the connector to fiddle with that, which I would feel comfortable to try reflashing from.

When I'm done I'll put it up for review and publishing by apple. Since I used LearningView and RomRaider to debug and guide me (but I did not use their code in any way), it'll be free.

But the hardware side, I don't know. Especially since the more I read the more I feel Wi-Fi isn't required. Once I get the connector I'll experiment more.

Wi-Fi Pros:
no wires, multidevice compatible, quick once its setup.
Wi-Fi Cons:
Don't trust to reflash, Security, limited by client device battery, slight time delay (20-37ms).

Direct cable Pros:
Possibly able to charge/power iPhone/touch, reflashing.
Direct cable Cons:
iPhone/touch only, setup time (plugging in), wired.


2. AFAIK getting to individual files on an iPhone/touch are near impossible without someone else's software. E-mail is a great idea, but has its size limitations I was thinking of an http post to get things into an LAMP environment so I can use a language (PHP) I know inside and out to do some neat things.

2b. The x,y accel data is a very interesting thought. That Dynolicous software is neat, even if some people cry about its inaccuracy (mostly due to them using the weights listed on the door frame placard for max gross wt instead of actually getting their car weighed or from not having the device secure enough for an accurate reading).

Back to the day job..

Before I go trying to draw 1A from it and pop something, anyone know if the +12v source on the ODB2 connector can handle it? Doesn't really draw 1A, but peak at turn on could be up to 1A.

I can't find dirt about it in the specs and I've grown tired of having more than just an ODB2 connector to plug in.


Edit: oh yeah, I felt really brave for some reason (or it could be I completely forgot I was over wifi on the laptop) and I performed a reflash... Nothing died and it worked fine..

That's pretty sweet. How did you bridge the gap between the OBD2 port and wi-fi?

Basically an off the shelf serial - wifi converter that was intended to allow OEM's to integrate wifi into their existing POS serial devices. Its a little module about 2"x2", it has two serial ports. Its 3.3V so its not exactly plug and play. I used a low quality antenna out of an old laptop so range isn't that good for me (about 15'-25'), but a well designed antenna and proper placement and I think the 300' range is possible.

The software to replicate the port on the PC is provided by the hardware manufacturer, the iPod I had to do just about everything myself.

After that I'm using a 4-channel 3.3V/5V buffer, then to the ECU. I get the impression from the documents I've read that RS232 levels are not required. Seems to work well with 5V signaling. But I can't seem to find a definitive answer when it comes to Subaru.. I just get "most asian manufacturers" or something similar.

I'll be tidying up this week now that I have a nice switch-mode regulator, a real ODB-2 connector (was just using individual pins manually inserted), and a case.. then snap some pics and videos.

Right now it looks very much like some kind of science project. Still will, until I get everything on a real board. Just about finished with that too. All fits nicely in a 2.5"x3.5"x1.5" PVC box.

Most of the hard work is in software though. I'm a hardware guy. I usually leave software for the more 'artistically inclined'.

I know you will be posting specs/pics/etc later but I've been curious about your front end. Is it just a webpage that is served up by the chip connected to the obd II port? OR is it some code/app you somehow loaded onto the ipod? If it is the second, how did you load it without jailbreaking it?

I've got my developer's ticket from apple (basically a keychain that lets you publish right to the ipod). I just open my project in Xcode, select 'device - iphone os 2.0' and click build and go. About a minute later I have the icon on my ipod. The only sucky thing is I can't do anything else but this app, safari, and settings. Its some kind of developer mode that took forever to setup. Its not even an ipod anymore, just a device to test and debug your app 'in the wild'.

gotcha. You going to try to publish the app to the appstore?

It looks like you can sidestep that demo mode bs by using a beta testing feature:

http://furbo.org/2008/08/06/beta-testing-on-iphone-20/

I've got to sign myself up for a license then and start helping you out .

Once I have the hardware a bit further along I'll publish it (you'll still need the hardware to do anything with the software). I'm trying to integrate more than just wi-fi to make it desirable over currently available hardware..

Made some ok progress over the week/weekend. There were a few bugs in the device's factory firmware that were really screwing with me (and my sanity). I have an on board secondary processor, when told to do so, sets up the device with a set of defaults so you can undo locking yourself out of the device if you make a mistake in the web setup (if you chose to use something other than the defaults).

Example when specifying a netmask from the direct config menus using the secondary processor: It works fine on 16 bit (default) but I wanted a 24 bit netmask (255.255.255.0) and it was saying I entered an 8 (255.0.0.0). If you entered 8 bit, it came out where I wanted 24 bit. So it appears they got the endianess wrong.

But all the current firmware issues are resolved.

Edit: Oh yeah, I'm using the one serial port for the SSM and the second serial port for capturing either a WBO2 or UTEC serial stream.

As a side note: Apple uses the modular bluemagic BT stack, from what I hear in the dev community is that Apple chose not to include anything but headset and related voice/cell modules.

So no BT serial for anyone using legit iPhone OS versions. (unless Apple adds it in the future or someone in the jailbreak community ports or has ported one in to the jailbroken realm).

iPhone Does Support:

Hands-Free Profile (HFP)
Headset Profile (HSP)

iPhone Does Not Support:

Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)
Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP)
Basic Imaging Profile (BIP)
Basic Printing Profile (BPP)
Cordless Telephony Profile (CTP)
Device ID Profile (DID)
Dial-up Networking Profile (DUN)
Fax Profile (FAX)
File Transfer Profile (FTP)
General Audio/Video Distribution Profile (GAVDP)
Generic Access Profile (GAP)
Generic Object Exchange Profile (GOEP)
Human Interface Device Profile (HID)
Intercom Profile (ICP)
Object Push Profile (OPP)
Personal Area Networking Profile (PAN)
Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP)
Serial Port Profile (SPP)
Service Discovery Application Profile (SDAP)
SIM Access Profile (SAP,SIM)
Synchronisation Profile (synch)
Video Distribution Profile (vdp)
Wireless Application Protocol Bearer (WAPB)


Knowing Apple, thats going to mean iPhone/Touch 3.0 or later... Or as I believe, way later to never...


The WiFi thing is turning into a beast, hardware wise. An ELM327 chip has been added to do code reading/resetting so I never have to swap any cables anymore, period. And it means that interfacing (at least basically) with many types of vehicles is now possible. But I'm thinking of a way to be able to switch or even multiplex data onto that second port so I can still add WBO2. I'm leaning toward switching between as its just simpler