PP2000 Dead?

[jonsowman]

Plugged PP2000 into my car last week and repeatedly just said "please plug PP2000 into the diag connector and turn on the ignition" (believe me, I had). Tried it on another car but still doesn't work, so pretty sure it's PP2000 rather than the vehicle.

Reinstalled XP and PP2000. Still nothing. Installed XP and PP2000 on another machine. Still dead.

So I think my interface hardware might have had it Anyone had anything similar? Upon searching the forum I've not found anything.

Would like to test my hardware on someone else's laptop and vice versa to confirm that it's dead before purchasing a new one.

Irritating!

[jasper5]

I had a similar thing with mine, my problem was the connection where the 2 round pin connectors join, unplugging, reconnecting and wiggling the connection sorted it.

Might not be your problem, but it did it once with me.

[rwb]

Same here. I was convinced it was dead, but the round connectors had come slightly apart

[jonsowman]

Unplugged, replugged and wiggled the round connectors, they feel like they're seating properly and the metal tab 'clicks' into place.

But still no go

[rwb]

Does the green light come on on the box?

Checked the other connections?

Are you using a different USB port?

[jonsowman]

Green light comes on and flickers for a second, then stays steady on.

Checked all the other connections, everything looks fine!

I always use the same USB port but I've also tried a different one. Nowt

[markw]

Jon, you've probably seen Tats' episode with his PP over in the other place......
When I was at his the other week, we narrowed the problem down to the hardware, not the pc or the software. He opened the main unit up, separated the two pcbs in there from their respective connectors, then reassembled and it cured his problem.
If you can't get someone else's car to plug into, it might be worth a try.

[jonsowman]

Cheers Mark,

Just given this a go actually. Reseated all the connectors and inspected the PCBs, all looks fine. Nothing obviously wrong in any case.

Still won't talk to the car though It's going to be weekend after next before I can try it on the estate, but since I've already tried it on there once, I see no reason as to why anything would've changed.

Hopefully can meet up with someone and test their hardware on my laptop to confirm that it's dead, but it's looking like it

[GingerMagic]

Do you want to borrow my PP2K and leads? If you like you can try your leads on my PP2K and vice-versa to see if it cures the problem?

[jonsowman]

Cheers GM, sending you a PM now.

[jonsowman]

Well, fixed. I thought I'd take the unit apart again and check continuity between the PCB connector and the OBD connector - all fine.

For those who haven't looked inside one of these, there are two PCBs connected by a 6x2 0.1" header. As I was reassembling and preparing to pop over to GM's, I noticed one of these headers had detached from the PCB (click for full size):


You can see the footprint the lead left in the solder, so it was clearly a dry joint and I'm surprised it ever worked at all to be quite honest. Terrible manufacturing, but what can one expect for £75 odd.

Resoldered all 12 connections on that header, and voila! All working again. Something to suspect if this ever happens to one of you

[Doggy]

Well spotted Jon!

I suspect this will turn into a fairly well-travelled path......

[jonsowman]

Yes, I can't be the only one who's got a unit with this fault, and it's bound to show itself sooner or later.

At least it'll be one of the first things to check next time someone has this issue

[Puggy2]

How about owners posting who they bought them from and what problems have been encountered

[Captain Jack]

Nice one - will be good to know!