Bingo, people spends many thousands of dollars modifying their cars and then complain that it takes $400 to tune there car? Tuning the car is arguably the most important item out of the whole modification process.

 

It's absolutely important! And the problem I have with the $400 price tag is two-fold:

1. The software is only for this one year, so unlike something like HPTuners that costs about the same but is useful for anything, it's only really a one-trick pony.
2. The software's communication protocol is inferior to equivalent open-source software for the same PCM but earlier years (94-95). DST is based on TunerCat's WinFlash protocols, which "brute force" communication errors rather than using a recovery state. As such, WinFlash and JET DST have been known to brick PCMs, whereas aforementioned open-source software does not (and cannot).

So as I said, JET DST is the only option right now, and if you want to go at it right now, then pony up the $400 and feel free. But soon(tm) there'll be a far superior and $400 cheaper option available.

 

And what is the motivation to write software for a one trick pony on a 25 year old platform with so few people who will be buying it when there is an incumbent, but perhaps not as good as it can be? Perhaps, that someone could be you and you give it away for the sake of the car?

I would NOT hold my breath waiting for the "soon".

 

Considering the 94-95 software was written and completed just this year from start to finish, and considering the same developer has the OBDII PCM on his test bench as we speak, I'd put more faith in it than you since you haven't bothered to follow any of its development and I have. While it's only useful for the 96 Corvette, it's also useful for the 96-97 Camaro and any other OBDII LTx engines. And what do you mean 'buying' it? Did you miss the part where it's free open source software?

Trust me, if I knew how to do this, I absolutely would release it the same way. But I don't, and so I'm thankful that fellow hackers with more experience in this particular aspect are willing to give back to the community as much as I am.

 

When it works well over a period of time, let's talk about it. I've seen too many promises get tossed out or worse yet, roll out and create more issues than they solve to cry while I am still in the woods.

 

Totally fair. But I can point out that we can already prove the success of this system versus the JET/TunerCat version, because we have serial data logs. When communications issues (such as a noisy bus) arise on the JET/TunerCat system, it spams packets like crazy hoping that it'll get lucky and eventually the checksum will match. Usually it does, even with a noisy bus, but if it doesn't, it will just stop mid-flash and brick your PCM. If this happens you need to flash directly to the chip on the board, which is possible, but far more technically involved than just plugging into the ALDL port.

The Flashhack solution to this is to instead flash a tiny recovery ROM first--so that even if your flash process fails partway, or the computer dies, or some idiot trips over the cable, etc etc...it won't matter because there's already a program on the PCM that knows how to flash the EEPROM from ALDL. So you just reconnect and do it again. So whereas any communication failure with JET/TunerCat will result in a bricked PCM, the only communication failure that can brick a PCM with Flashhack is the time between the end of the erase command and the completion of the recovery ROM install (a few seconds).

And that's just the reliability part. JET and TunerCat also require flashing the entire address space every single time you make a change. Flashhack reads the ROM you intend to flash, compares it to the one already on the car, and only flashes the part that changed, reducing the flash time significantly.

So...yeah. Again, I'm glad JET and TunerCat were around back in the day, and right now JET is still the only option for the '96 Corvette. But I will be very happy once Flashhack's OBD2 support is up and running, since it's superior in every single way.

 

There is PLENTY wrong with the Jet DST software. It has no ability to back out when it encounters a problem. I fried so many memory chips with it I soldered in sockets, bought a burner, chips, sourced the factory bin files and burned my own.

Very thankful I did this because Im about to tune the trans schedule for a 3.73 gear change which is going to require many changes. I even bought a 2nd pcm and socketed it just in case. Im not going to let that POS ruin my day again. Nothing like sending a change and seeing that lost com message or whatever it is.

Not sure how you can make that statement unless you either dont own a DST or used it a few times and got lucky. I have a dedicated windows XP desktop for the purpose, didnt help. Its garbage but its all thats available.

Only advise I can give on it is have a battery charger that is pumping over 4 amps.. And make damn sure if you have auto hvac its off.

$400 for a pcm destroyer.

 

I don't really think the owners put any more effort into modernizing the software since it was a one year wonder and demand wasn't there. Demand is even less today so I can't say I blame them one bit. My thought is that it was part of the package when they bought the company so there it was. Might as well milk it for what you can get out of it since you paid for it already. I would guess that if the C4 had ended at 95, it probably would be better instead of having the 96 as the "bastard child". I suspect the professional tuners were already ready for the "brick effect" and could handle it so it wasn't an issue had it happened. Regardless, it is pretty much a dead end platform and many of the tuners don't want any part of it. If I had an LS motor, I couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting 3 tuners. With the L98, or even LT, they would prefer not to deal with me or outright don't want to do it. Not that I blame them one bit. It's a business so there it is. As to how superior Flashack is, the theory is good. Lets see how it does when there are enough instances to tell. Right now, we don't have 20 years of testing to know it's flaws.

 

Yes, but it didn't take 20 years to figure out the flaws in JET/TunerCat. It took me less than a month. :P And again, we've got the serial data logs to prove why one is superior to the other. The LT1/LT4 PCM isn't a black box--it's well-documented serial data communication. Flashhack is objectively better. If you've got a 94-95, feel free to test it out!

To the OP, unfortunately as mentioned '96 support isn't there yet, but it's a work in progress. Soon!(tm)

 

I don't know how to test something without a large enough sample size. As far as trying it out, probably not. The time I would have to invest to do trial and error learning for a one off situation isn't worth it unless I am doing enough modifications on a regular basis. My L98 is done being modified. If I get another Corvette, it definitely won't be anything less than a C6 and I would be able to find a dyno facility that welcomes me instead of trying to get rid of me.

 

Then you aren't applicable to the situation since flashhack only works for the 94-95 LT1 (and soon to be 96-97 LT1/LT4). :P

It also works for the V6 of the era and the L99, but neither of those were used in Corvettes, so not really relevant.

 

An L99 car wouldn't be out of the question. Haven't done much research into that platform but it is newer and under the right circumstance, I don't see why not. If my C4 engine blew up in spring, I'd be on the prowl for something in late summer to early fall.

 

I hope to be ready to start actually programing by end of Feb. I'll be doing many flash writes at that time. If you need someone to test Id be up for it since I have socketted flash or whatever that memory chip is called. Since I have this all figured out I wouldnt be willing to buy unless your product was superior in a way that suited what Im doing but I doubt it will..OR does your sw just use a standard build it yourself OBD2 cable like I think tunercat does? the actual jet software is quite good. Its the hardware that's the issue. On the other hand, I just read an article on moving to the obd1.. I may just do that if I blow too many up (its still an hr work to break the clamshell in half). Seems rather simple and that opens me up to tunercat. Im a perfectionist so its hard for me to back date my car. I need psychological help.

As far as Aklim's comments. Id agree to a point.. but Jet is making a bad name for itself selling the DSTfor $400. They should offer it for cost of the hardware and use it as a marketing tool knowing its very likely the owner of a 96 has at least a 20% chance if upgrading one day soon. When I had a problem with my hardware they even zinged me $250 for an exchange up to the "new" usb version. Think I'll be buying from them if I ever get a c6? Doubtful. Think I will tell anyone jet is good stuff? Doubtful. My guess is they made a big order for the DST, and when its gone, its gone and then the value of my DST just went up to fund a c6.. lil joke.

Stupid on their part.

Even all this being said... least we not forget, the c4 is a tremendous value for the current very low price tag. After climbing under mine recently Im reminded why. I have two complaints.. ride quality and climbing in and out.. the ride quality is likely going to get better once I swap bushings to superpro and climbing in and out is gonna keep getting worse for my old bones.(probably even better once I replace the seat foam). but I do get a smile on my face when I go 3/4 throttle on up and once the 3.73 is in Im going to p00p myself with joy. I just hope I can keep it out of the ditch due to the low ratio steering.

And if I keep taking care of my c4, by the time I cant climb out and I have to call 911 to assist I can sell it to some kid who will immediately molest it and put $ right back into my retirement account. Its win win. You cant do that with anything much newer. Besides the c5 is just an ugly car so its disqualified so Id have to go c6 or up. I liked Racer X he was cool saving Speed all the time but his ride was butt ugly.

 

Mello out, I have tuned many 1996 cars and never had a problem with the JET software. I have also tuned many 1994 and 1995 cars with tunercat and on those cars I have run into problems, but never a 1996 or 1997.

That being said, I would be interested in looking at Flashhack, never heard about it until now. I have always used tunercat for the 1994/1995 cars. Looking at the Flashhack website peeks my interest, if it does not brick an ECM that would be great.

 

Again, I'm not sure where the concept of 'buy' is coming from. The software is free open source software. I do recommend tossing some donations to Steveo, the creator, but you can feel free to do that after you realize how awesome the software is, not before. The software is currently aimed at using the OBDX Pro as its hardware interface. I've got one laying around but at present no '96 Corvette to test it on, so if it gets to that point, I'd be more than happy to send you my hardware to test with. As for converting to '95, yep, it's not all that difficult to do. A few repinned cables, change the knock sensors back to the resistor type, and there ya go. You only really lose the fancy DTCs (and catalytic converter efficiency monitoring), but if you live in a free state that doesn't care, then go for it!

Definitely give it a go! The very first write you do will be slow if you're doing a write as your first operation. But if you read first, the program saves a copy of the BIN to itself so that when you go to write, it'll check the write against the saved BIN and speed up the write as best it can by skipping unchanged content. It does this using the VIN and a few check bytes, so you don't have to worry about it trying to compare against another car (in case you feel like using it to flash more than one car, like I do).

 

This one?
OBDX Pro VT - OBD2 VPW Diagnostics and Tuning - OBDX Pro

 

That's the one! I have a slightly older version that was a little cheaper due to being USB-only as opposed to having bluetooth like this one does, but they're pretty much the same thing. Looks like they aren't selling the USB-only version anymore.