Dash Manager Vehicle Details Editor problem

[jhidley]

In Dash Manager, from the Details Editor window, I select the Vehicle tab, press New to make a new vehicle definition. When I'm done editing the sheet, I click OK. Then I open the Details Editor window again and select the Vehicle tab. The selected vehicle is now the old vehicle, not the new vehicle. I've tried pressing Select at this point, to select the vehicle again. I click OK, then when I go back into the Details Editor Vehicle window, it is set to the old vehicle. I can see the new vehicle file on the hard drive. When I select a new vehicle, the new parameters populate the fields correctly. After pressing OK, everything reverts back to the old vehicle settings.

Has anyone seen this before? I'm using the current version of Dash Manager 5.12N on Win XP Pro SP3.

[IDP]

It will be correct if connected to the device.

[jhidley]

Thanks.

[jhidley]

Unfortunately, connecting the PC to the ADL3 did not fix the problem. I am still unable to change the vehicle.

This is a major problem with the software since it keeps you from using a number of features. Since I can't change the vehicle type, I have to renter all of the vehicle parameters (tire sizes, gear ratios, weight, etc) several times a day as I move it from car to car.

[IDP]

Do you have the dash serial number correct in your vehicle file.

I use different vehicles regularly but when connected the dash manager always loads the correct vehicle file based on the dash serial number.

[jhidley]

Yes, all of the VH1 files have the correct dash serial number in them, which are of course all the same in this case.

[jhidley]

With the help of Chris from Motec USA, I think there is a temporary work around for this problem.

From Dash Manager, select Tools, Options and make sure that "Before sending a configuration file" is checked. When you go to upload a new configuration to the dash, a box will pop up that allows you to set which vehicle you are sending it to. You select the correct vehicle from the file box. Then proceed with the upload. This loads the dash with mostly the correct configuration. Now you have to the Calculation menu and recalculate any of the items (Gear detection, Fuel prediction, etc) in this menu that are a function of the data in the vehicle details file. Then upload the configuration to the dash again. You will not need to select the vehicle this time as it was correctly updated the first time. This is a real pain to do, but does work.

I understand that Motec's logic for this behavior is that when the PC is connected to the dash, it will correlate the dash serial number in the vehicle details file with the serial number detected by the software of the dash in the car, and then download the data automatically for the correct vehicle. This keeps someone who is blind from selecting the wrong car number in the menu when they go to download data. However with every automated function in software, there needs to be some way of turning this function off for customers that it has an undesired effect on.

Can anyone from Motec tell me what will happen if I simply remove the dash serial number from all of the vehicle detail files with a hex editor? Will that work to defeat this feature?

BTW, when you select Help from the Detail Editor window, it brings up help for Advanced Maths.

[OmarK]

Hi Jack,

You can remove all the dash serial numbers from all the vehicle details manually you don't need a hex editor. When you open a config and go to edit details, the vehicle details will be found automatically that match the dash serial number to the dash the config was last sent to... By removing the serial numbers the last vehicle details that was used will still be selected...

[jhidley]

Omar,

Thanks for the response.

If I delete all of the digits from the Dash, Device Serial Numbers field from within the Details Editor window and then click OK, when I open the Detail Editor window again, the Dash serial number is still in the Dash Serial Number field. There is no option to save the vehicle details.

The only real solution is to zero out the serial number digits in the D51 file from outside of Dash Manager, every time we change vehicles. The solution I outlined two posts above works technically, but you must be really careful. You have to remember to do everything in the correct order and if you forget to go to the Calculation menu, recalculate everything and then reupload to the logger, you will end up with junk data. Of course you will only realize this after you have returned from the track, and have spent hours trying to figure out why the logged data is inconsistent with itself. After ending up with two test days worth of junk data, I canned this technique.

The new version of Dash Manager (5.20J), has fixed the incorrect help file link. Thanks.

It would be so simple for Motec to just put an option box in the Tools, Option menu. Make the software install with the dash/ECU marriage to the vehicle function the default behavior.

[Holmz]

Very useful info - thanks!