OBD-2 interface does not work with USB serial adapter.

Hello,

I'm new here and hope that you might be able to help me.

I bought a laptop that, unfortunately, no longer has a serial port, so I had to buy a USB-to-serial adapter in order to be able to use my OBD interface. However, I can only connect to the engine control unit and the comfort control unit.

If I use the OBD interface without the USB serial adapter with another laptop, everything works perfectly, so the problem lies with the USB adapter.

It is as follows:

http://www.esn-computer.de/shop/media/USB_seriell_ad.JPG

Can anyone recommend a USB adapter that works with the OBD interface?

My car is a Passat 3b Variant, manufactured in 2000, with engine type ATJ 85kw PD.

'Have a look in the Passat 3B forum (an old forum!), I think there was someone there who offered these adapters.'

Otherwise, please use the search function here. There has already been a lot about this. A converter from Reichelt-Elektronik is supposedly working, but not under XP!

I have the adapter from the Passat forum, but unfortunately, it doesn't work 100%.

The adapter from reichelt, as far as I know, is not suitable for Windows XP.

Does anyone here have a USB to serial adapter that works?

exactly that about the reichelt adapter, that's what I wrote!

oh, the adapter from the forum doesn't work?! That's so annoying, because I had a really heated argument with this guy about it, and he accused me of not knowing anything!

I've tried it again with a third laptop, and it definitely doesn't work 100% of the time.

Has anyone else had experience with these USB to serial adapters?

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/faq_1.html#PC-Requirements

It is proposed to use a PCMCIA adapter card.

Diagnosis with USB -> http://shop.dieselschrauber.de

hi,

I had some free time recently due to the bad weather and decided to tinker around a bit. I found something quite interesting. These guys are actually building USB <-> RS232 converters. They use drivers to connect the device to the system as a virtual COM port. It's not exactly cheap, but I think it's worth a try!

search for 'FTDI'!

hello everyone,

I had the converter installed, which was designed to fit into the 9-pole SUB D-connector. And... it works with Windows XP! Even on my 1Z without much difficulty. While I can't directly control the ABS (Teves Mark 60), it's simply a matter of adjusting the parameters in the options. The installation is a piece of cake! The adapter appears as a virtual port in the system when it's present. When it's removed, the port is also uninstalled. The communication with my new Passat worked immediately with a standard installation of VAG-COM. My old 1Z also didn't have any of the usual problems!

Overall, one can say that the company 4n-galaxy makes a very pleasant and business-oriented impression. Ordered on Sunday evening, 21:30, with the assurance from the boss himself via email that the item would be shipped on Monday, and it arrived here, properly packaged, today!!! Pay attention! This is fun! However, the price is quite steep: 57.30 euros in total!

@rainer, ulf
Perhaps we should include this as a note in the adapter article as well. However, with the note that it can work, but doesn't have to!

Hi,

The Reichelt adapter (translucent turquoise case) works perfectly on a Toshiba Satellite 1130 under XP. However, only with the USB 1.1 driver. (Who would have thought - after all, the adapter can only support 1.1, and at least it reports itself as 1.1-compliant under Linux).
The XP-Driver comes from Prolific GmbH, and is compatible with ff. Vendor-ID (if I understand correctly):

[USB2SERDevices]
%OURPORTDEVICE%=SerialPort, VID_067B&PID_2303

Greetings,
Georg

The key question with USB-to-Serial adapters is always twofold:

1) Does this device support the necessary baud rates? There are many that do not support 'non-standard' baud rates that some taximeters require (e.g., 10.400 baud). If a device does not support the baud rate for a specific tax device, then the tax device simply will not work.

2) Latency. All USB<->Serial adapters have a significant amount of latency (typically 16 ms or more). This is not a problem for most serial applications, but it is not suitable for VAG diagnostic protocols. Whether or not it works ultimately depends on how much latency a specific tax device can handle.

Even with the best USB<->Serial adapters we have tried (which all support baud rates), there are control devices that cannot tolerate the latency. Therefore, we do not recommend such parts, but rather PCMICA cards or our own direct-USB interfaces.

However, this does not mean that you should not try such parts. If they function stably with the control devices in your car, then 'be happy'. If you're having trouble connecting, it's not necessarily a problem with all steering devices. The fault is more likely with the USB adapter than with the software.

-Uwe- VAG-COM Author

Please be patient, as my German, after more than 30 years in the USA, is a bit rusty.

@uwe@ross-tech

Warm welcome! The master himself! It's great that you've found us! You can certainly enlighten us a bit about the VAG diagnosis! And your German is very good after such a long time!

Okay, now let's talk about USB adapters: I've been looking for one for quite some time. PCMCIA wasn't an option because the cards were outrageously expensive, and the price-to-performance ratio was completely out of whack! So, I searched. And inevitably, you come across so many things that are just junk. I happened to stumble upon the above offer by chance. According to an additional document, it can support all these partially exotic baud rates! That's why I decided to give it a try. It worked perfectly on my 2001 Passat. My old Passat with the 1Z engine initially had terrible problems with the engine control unit and direct communication via RS232, but with a lot of patience... to convince that it works. but with the adapter, it was even possible to communicate perfectly with the basic settings of vag-com. the ABS STG (Teves mark 60) is now also working without problems. Of course, it may not work with a different adapter or a different notebook. but the attempt is already worth it!

I would be delighted to hear/read from you often!

joergs wrote:

@uwe@ross-tech Warm welcome! The champion himself! It's great that you've found us! You can certainly enlighten us a bit about the VAG diagnosis! And your German is very good after such a long time!

Hello Uwe,

I would like to join Jörg's welcome message.

But I have a question: What motivates you, after 30 years of abstaining from German, to specifically join this forum? Are we that unique...?