My laptop crashed with my stock tune in it. I want to go to HP tuners and was told I have to put original tune back in with LS2 edit then Install HP Tuners.Any info or ideas would be welcome. Thanx Tom

 

Here is a post & links fom 06quicksilverZ06, I hope this answers your question.

I can most certainly assure you that you will not be able to read or license an ECM with HP Tuners which has been tuned with LS2 edit, unless that ECM is returned to virgin condition. Not just reflashed with the stock tune, mind you.....RETURNED TO VIRGIN CONDITION with the stock tune. Unless there have been some very, very recent changes in LS2 Edit.

I know all to well from personal experience and the reports of experiences of others that LS2 edit will render an ECM virtually impenetrable once it has been used. No one will be able to get it back to stock except the original tuner or Carputing themselves. Indeed, the dealer won't even be able to reflash it back to stock with a tech 2.

Perhaps it is unique to the LS2 cars, but LS2 edit will render an ECM unreadable and hence unflashable by HP Tuners, unless that ECM is returned to stock virgin condition.

You may want to check the HP Tuners forum for further information with regard to this.http://www.hptuners.com/forum/showth...light=ls2+edit
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1561552221
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...+e dit+locked

 

You dont need a "virgin" tune. All you need to do is find a tuner with ls2edit to unlock the tune. LS2edit by default locks the tune however it can be unlocked by any tuner with ls2edit.

Then you can start writing to that tune with hptuners or any other software for that matter.

 

I don't believe thats the case. But even if so, that sounds like a difficult enough task. Especially if one is not in your area. From what I have seen, your ECM has to be returned to stock condition with your stock tune in it, and that stock tune iteself has to be unlocked.

After my ECM had been tuned with LS2 edit, I requested that my stock tune be replaced so that I could tune the car using HP Tuners. I had my ECM returned to me with my stock tune in it, but my stock tune was locked. So I had an ECM with my original stock tune in it, but the ECM was locked. Which meant that I could not tune it with HP Tuners. I wound up sending the ECM to Carputing to have it unlocked/virgined.

Keep in mind my own example where my LS2 edit tune was "unlocked" and could not be written to using HP Tuners.

Some readings on LS2 Edit and HP Tuners

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Post 6

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Thread 14

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Thread 17

I gathered some of this information, and other information, from all over the internet after my ECM had been programmed using LS2 Edit and having difficulty getting the ECM returned to stock condition so that other tuning software could be used to tune it.

 

In my case it worked just fine. Took my car to an ls2edit tuner and he unlocked my tune and i went ahead and wrote over that tune with my efilive.

My car no longer has a "factory" tune. It was lost a long time ago from the previous tuner.

 

Was unaware that EFI Live was available for our cars. How long has it been out?

Also, this is from off of the LS2 Edit/ Carputing page under http://carputing.com/ "2005-08 LS2-edit"

"...REQUIREMENTS:

LS2-edit runs on Windows 98 (Second Edition), Windows NT, Windows XP, and Windows Vista operating systems. Minimum hardware requirements are a 400 MHz Pentium or AMD processor with at least 128MB RAM. You will also need one available USB port on the PC. This is used for the vehicle interface module we provide.

One word of caution: if you want to add additional E/TCM's for LS2's at a later date, you will need to return the Cable Interface Module to us for updating.



LS2-EDIT NOTES:

The E/TCM-locked version of LS2-edit can license between 1 and 4 ECM's. After 4 licenses, you will need to purchase an additional LS2-edit package.

A word of warning: Please only program your E/TCM using an LS2 file that was read from your specific E/TCM. Do not try to program your E/TCM with an LS1 file from a different E/TCM. To minimize programming time, we do not completely reprogram the E/TCM, only the data segments. If you use a different LS2 file, the data in the LS2 file may not match the code already stored in the E/TCM. If you attempt this, you may end up with a E/TCM that is non-operational..."

 

I had my car tuned by MTI in houston using LS2 Edit. I asked the tuner if the computer could be flashed back to stock through a chevy dealer and he assured me that it could be done with no problems.

 

He is wrong.

 

According to MTI who unlocked my ls2edit tune, a software upgrade was just pushed through recently. Perhaps thats the reason why it worked for my car and why it might work for everyone else now. I was the first person they tried unlocking the tune for....keep in mind this was around 2 weeks ago.

EFILive is currently only available for the 05 C6's with the E40 PCM.

 

jeremey formatto at fast froms unlocked mine and used hp tuners to tune it.......i have hp tuners no and it works just fine. just putting the stock tune in though will not do it it is locked but the lsxedit

 

That was the case with mine. Even when the stock tune was put back into it, it was by default, put in locked. So I had a locked ECM even though that tune was stock. When I say "locked" I mean inaccessable to any other software aside from LS2 Edit. HP Tuners would not read or license it, even though it had the stock program in it.

I was told that when an ECM is tuned with LS2 Edit, it go This in by default and is inaccessable to other softeare, and the person programming the ECM has to check a box to de select this "option". So any tune put into the ECM, including the stock tune, using LS2 Edit, went in in such a way as to make the ECM unreadable and unwritable using any other software unless that box was checked.

There was a post by Jim Hall awhile back, describing the proper procedure for reinstalling a stock tune into an ECM tuned using LS2 Edit in such a way as that it could be read and written to using other software.

If there have been changes made to it in the last few weeks, then that is great to hear. This "feature" in my opinion has held the program back and to this day, I have seen where some tuners won't use it because of this and other reasons.

Unless something has changed significantly in LS2 Edit, a dealer with a Tech 2 won't be able to do a thing with an ECM tuned and "locked" with LS2 edit. Once again, check the posts by LAPD. Here
where they were dealing with an ECM which was said to not be locked.

As I understood it, when the ECM is tuned with LS2 Edit, the ECM is locked to any other software and by default. But the tune itself is not said to be locked. It is readable and writable for someone else who has LS2 Edit, or I have read in some cases, with a Tech 2, if the tuner did not lock his proprietary tune.

If the tuner went to the trouble of locking his proprietary tune, then of course it won't be readible by HP Tuners or anything else, nor will anyone else with LS2 Edit be able to read it either.

So what happened to me and a few others was, the ECM was tuned using LS2 Edit. The tuners says "its not locked, I don't lock my tunes." OK. However it is indeed "locked" to competing software like HP Tuners. At this point you cannot read it or write to it with HP Tuners.

However at this point, the tune is said to be not locked. Because it can still be read and written to by someone else with LS2 Edit and a Tech 2 supposedly. ...... But bear in mind that there have been folks with the Tech 2 who still could not read or write to an ECM in this condition, see the posts by LAPD.

Some apparently do not consider an LS2 Edit tune to be "locked" unless the person who tuned it deliberately went to the trouble to lock the tune to other LS2 Edit owners too. Which I have heard is possible if he wishes to protect his tune from the prying eyes of competing tuners also using LS2 Edit.
If he took this step, then only the cable which locked it can unlock it.

Now thats the way it was explained to me, when I had my problem, and thats consistent with what I have seen time and again with regard to LS2 Edit.

In a nutshell, if I tune my car, or have it tuned, with LS2 Edit then by default it automatically makes the ECM inaccessible to anything else, unless I take a step, or my tuner takes the step, while programming the ECM to allow for it to be read by competing software. At this point though it is , not said to be locked, because someone else with LS2 Edit can read and write to it.

If my tuner did not take this step, then I will have to either go back to him, or find someone with LS2 edit, and then take the necessary steps to make my ECM accessible to competing software as it was when it was new.

If any of the above is inaccurate, or outdated, and it is possible that some of it may be, as I am not an expert using that program, then hopefully someone more familiar with the program will chime in.

The bottom line with mine was that I wound up sending it to Carputing and they returned it to factory condition whereby it of course could be tuned with HP Tuners.

 

That is correct, there is no longer a lock function on LS2 Edit. This was one of the changes with version 2.0. The newest version is also supposed to unlock all older versions.

Since you already own LS2 Edit why would you want to get HP Tuners? All that you need is some data logging software.

 

Thank goodness. That and the lack of a built in scanning and logging utility was hurting that program. It is good to hear that it no longer locks down the ECM like it did in the past.

 

If You Change Gear Ratios On An A6 Car From Stock To 3;15 You Must Change To The Hp Tune. It's The Only Tune That Suports The 3;15 Gear Change. I Know ... I Had To Purchase A New Ecm. The Tuner That Originally Tuned With Ls2 Edit Could'nt Even Remove It, Even Though He Tried. I Will Never Again Be Held Hostage By A Tuner Or A Company That Purposely Locks Up The Computer ... They Must Have Very Low Self Esteem And Must Not Have Any Faith In Their Ability To Compete In A Free Market. I Paid For The Tune ... It's Mine Not Theirs.

 

Its a terrible feeling and one which is difficult to describe unless you actually go through it.

Puts you in a position where even people who are sympathetic to your situation and are willing to help you are powerless to do so.

This is the big reason why my interest in the Killer Bee and tune for the Z06, despite the obvious gains and good testimonials, won't go any further than it has. If it did not involve LS2 Edit, I'd probably be on it. The fact that LS2 Edit is involved eliminates it as a possible option for me. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

I would find a new tuner. It sounds like he had no idea how to unlock the ECM using the older version of LS2 Edit. IMHO it was a good option for those of us that have our own version of the software. It allowed you to lock it preventing the dealer from flashing over your tune. All of this is now moot since it is no longer available in a locked version.

You would be surprised how many tuners have stolen tunes and now sell them as their own. So I can see why some tuners would want to lock their work.

LS2 Edit also now supports the A6 TCM so HP is not the only option.

I am not knocking HP Tuners but I don't think it is fair to put down LS2 Edit due to ignorance.

 

Actually its not moot if there are still older versions of LS2 Edit software out there still being used to tune these cars with.

If your tuner is using it, then best make sure that he is using the latest version of it.

Agreed. But what was happening with the initial versions of the software was that even if the tuner elected to leave his tune "unlocked" it was still for all intents and purposes still "locked" to anyone using anything else but LS2 Edit.

While I don't have an automatic, thats good to know. That said, I know of my own experiences with LS2 Edit and they were less than pleasant. The only "ignorance" I had at the time my car was tuned with it was not knowing what I do now. There are also too many other less than optimal experiences described with it on this forum and elsewhere. These folks aren't dreaming and making this stuff up. They are in many instances relaying their own experiences. By and away more unfavorable experiences reported with it than among users with HP Tuners.

This is not to say that there are no satisfied LS2 Edit customers for there are many. But too many complaints about it and my own experiences deter me from it.

I don't intend to go through that again.

I am not knocking LS2 Edit, use what you wish. If you have gotten good results with it, then great. However I will never have another vehicle of mine tuned with it. Under any circumstances.