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How to bluetooth your MS1 and read it on phone/tablet


lansalot

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Well, despite my strange errors about voltages and flashing, I still managed to get my MS1 working with msDroid on a Google Nexus 7 tablet. Perhaps a few people might fancy trying this, but it's the usual tale of compatibility and such, what do I buy, how do I configure it. So here's how I did it, if it helps. I looked around for a guide, couldn't find one.

Ingredients:

MS1, still sitting in spare room. So no revvy v8-engine noises in this thread. Make your own, or pop a video on in the background if it helps ;)

Spectacularly cheap bluetooth adapter from ebay.

Google Nexus 7 tablet (but any android phone or tablet should do)

msDroid

puTTY - for those of you that don't have hyperterminal. And for those of you that do. HT is rubbish, ditch it.

OK, first, make sure your MS1 is up and running properly. Then, check your BT adapter and make sure the DCE(F)/DTE switch is set in the DCE(F) position. This is so you can config it.

Plug the BT adapter into your PC for USB power, and cable it over RS232. Fire up puTTY, and configure it for the defaults for the BT device (my defaults were on the instructions enclosed with it, yours may differ. So check). Remember,you're changing this config to match what you want to connect to your MS at - so you'll be setting it to 9600-N-8-1 for MS1 and 115200-N-8-1 for MS2.

(puTTY screenshots below)

So, once you've connected via puTTY, and all things being equal, let's see what you've got your adapter settings set to, so type "STATUS=?" (without the quotation marks) and you should see something like this.

NOTE: If you're back in this screen and it's filling up with things like CONNECT: and DISCONNECT and you can't get anything done, it's because you've already paired your device over BT previously and it's trying to reconnect. Turn off bluetooth on your tablet/phone for a minute, until this is complete.

STATUS=?
Celsius : 33
VERSION : VER : 4.6.1
ADDRESS : 0018 DB 00F43B
ROLE : SLAVE MODE
FLOW : ENABLE
ECHO : DISABLE
PROMPT : ENABLE
DISCOVER : ENABLE
RECONNECT : DISABLE
AUTO : DISABLE
DIP : DISABLE
<<< : DISABLE
>>> : DISABLE
DETECT : DISABLE
SERIAL_PROTOCOL : 192000,N,1
NAME : Serial Adapter
PIN : 1234
DEVICE : 0000 00 000000
CONNECT : 0000 00 000000
OK
In my case, I need to be 9600-N-8-1 for MS1. So let's set the baud rate first.
Type "BAUD=9600" (again, ignore the quotation marks throughout)
Garbage on screen, great, you've lost connection - no surprise, you've just changed the baud rate. Restart puTTY and reconnect at 9600. Then, do "FLOW=disable". And reconnect if you lose connection again.
IMPORTANT: Echo must be off for msDroid to work. so "ECHO=N"
If you want to change the name to something more funky than "Serial adapter", then "NAME=BTMEGASQUIRT". Likewise if you want to change the PIN so not just anyone wandering past can pair your device up and start tuning your engine. "PIN=98765". Check the status again, and you should see something like this:
STATUS=?
Celsius : 33
VERSION : VER : 4.6.1
ADDRESS : 0018 DB 00F43B
ROLE : SLAVE MODE
FLOW : DISABLE
ECHO : DISABLE
PROMPT : ENABLE
DISCOVER : ENABLE
RECONNECT : DISABLE
AUTO : DISABLE
DIP : DISABLE
<<< : DISABLE
>>> : DISABLE
DETECT : DISABLE
SERIAL_PROTOCOL : 9600,N,1
NAME : BTMEGASQUIRT
PIN : 98765
DEVICE : 0000 00 000000
CONNECT : 0000 00 000000
OK

Unplug the BT adapter and remove the power. Flip the switch to the DTE position. Power it back up and plug it into your megasquirt. Fire up your phone/tablet and pair to the new device. Start msDroid, do Settings, Connect To ECU - and all things being well you'll have it connected. Start your engine, blip throttle. Marvel at modern technology.

And if all that has gone well, you'll end up with a decidedly more exciting video than this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azbEdYGvOK0

post-4925-0-64225600-1363811938_thumb.jpg

post-4925-0-12516500-1363811940_thumb.jpg

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Yeah - it was pointless really; just me blowing down the MAP hose and the dial twitching to prove connectivity. But hey, was still able to connect even with a fried MS1 - so something good came out of a depressing evening ;-)

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  • 6 months later...

Working om my Nige setup! Thanks.

Now looking for internal BT chip and a switch for choosing BT or COM. But happy sofar!

By all means give it a go BUT, one of the biggest issues I've had with MS installations is that it's not designed with any real concern for interference from outside sources. For example, lots of people who use coil drivers on board the MS have had issues but since I started putting the coil drivers in their own screened box in the engine compartment and using screened cables internally for the outputs, I've not had any issues. When using the MS with LSx engines where you bring the cam and crank signals directly into the ECU they are notoriously prone to interference problems unless you used screened cables internally and additional filtering components. The MS CPU seems very sensitive to stray radiation and although it will cope with most normal installations and normal electrical interference around it, using unscreened or high noise components near the CPU can give some very odd effects.

The reason I point this out is that you are proposing putting a relatively powerful radio transmitter inside the ECU box which, being metal and earthed, will screen the ECU from a lot of external interference. Putting the transmitter inside that box is asking for trouble IMV unless you can be certain of adequate screening around the unit and you use a completely external aerial.

I've had similar discussions in the past around my iOS MS app which has to use WiFi. The modules we use for that can easily be housed inside the ECU box but I've always advised against it.

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