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Tech2 Clone Unboxing (long)
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Posted by JerseySaab [Email] (#666) [Profile/Gallery] (more from JerseySaab) on Fri, 26 Apr 2019 16:24:51 Share Post by Email
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Today I received the Tech2 clone that I ordered from chinacardiags.com which was recommended here in my previous Tech2 thread. Pretty quick delivery from Hong Kong, about 9 days total from the order date. Delivery was via DHL. A little concerning was that the box looked like it took a bit of a hit on one side...



Fortunately there was some empty space inside where the box was hit.



Inside was the Tech2 itself, well-packed in bubble wrap, a bewildering array of cables and adapters, an AC adapter, labels, several DVDs, and a flash drive. (Dongle for one of the DVDs?) Overall impression is that of clunky 1990s tech hardware - but of course that's what it is.



First power-up of the Tech2 resulted in the screen and power light coming on so at least it's not DOA. A couple of curiosity-seekers observe the event...



It's alive! The Tech2 is running Saab software:



Unfortunately it's V148 which I cannot use for my Saab 9000s. V44 software is needed. I had purchased a 10MB linear flash card for this purpose and proceeded to attempt writing the V44 image to it using an old laptop and this method: http://tech2wiki.com/doku.php?id=wiki:writing_pcmcia_cards_using_tech2_card_writer



Trouble in paradise though! Although the Tech2 went into download mode and displays a moving pattern indicating reception of data, it has been sitting for a couple of hours now with the Card Writer software stuck in "clearing flash" mode.





So I'm not sure what the problem is. Supposedly a 32MB card is supposed to take about 15 minutes, but this is a smaller card and it's been going for hours with no apparent progress. There are no error messages, but obviously something is not right. The 10MB card does have a write protect switch but it is in the "off" position. I'll have to interrupt the process and try again.

If there is a problem with my "bargain" 10MB card I can always use the 32MB V44 image and over-write the card that came with the unit. I'd prefer to have both software versions available though for future use.

So that's where things sit at the moment. The Tech2 appears to be operational but I can't actually try it on my cars until I get the V44 software installed.

EDIT:

To see if the card was working at all I inserted it into the laptop PCMCIA slot. (Also I've read that the pure 12V flash cards were not made very long and the newer ones can be written with the lower voltages, so figured I'd give it a try.)

It turns out that although the card is labeled as 10MB, Memory Card Explorer identifies it as a 4MB card! So I'm returning it. I'll try flashing the 32MB card that came with the Tech2 with the appropriate V44 image and later get a second 32MB card for V148.

EDIT #2:

Writing the vendor-supplied 32MB card with the biggified V44 bin file via Card Writer program worked - the Tech2 is now running the Saab V44 software. Next hurdle is to see that it can talk to the Saab 9000s.





->Posting last edited on Sat, 27 Apr 2019 15:52:10.
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