I am trying to get this Ross Tech vag com thing to work with my laptop as a code scanner. I am using it with a 2000 New Beetle. It says I have to test it before I can use it, and when I try to test it, all I get is an error message "interface not found". Or, it locks up with the "hourglass" forever. Can someone tell me what I need to do to get things up & running? Thanks very much for any assistance.
Is this a real ross-tech.com adapter or a clone? What kind of adapter do you have? USB or Serial port and Hex-Com or ??? Which version software are you running?
Some of the laptops may not like the USB version and may require some tweaking. I also think that some anti-virus programs may have to be turned off.
Does it light up when you plug it into the vehicle's diagnostic port and turn on the ignition?
First the adapter has to be seen by your laptop (I guess the test) and then the adapter has to see the vehicle.
I think it's a real one, but I'm not sure... got it from ebay
It's the USB version.
Windows XP, and Ross Tech version 409.1
Hmm.
I tried that, also turned off the firewall, but no luck.
Yes, it does
It seems the laptop isn't seeing it. Help!
You get Ross Tech adapters from Ross Tech. Anywhere else is a crap shot. Ross Tech sells software rights to the purchaser of their old style dongle. The rights can be transferred but you have to look at their policy to see if it makes economic sense. Their new version lets you take the dongle whereever you want and it will work if you have their software loaded. Another way of saying that is their old dongles required registration via a phone call or email. New dongles do not.
I have seen some usb devices not work well ever. Other times I right click on My Computer and choose Manage. I find Device Manager. I delete every usb thing lists in the usb section. I right click at the top of Device Manger and choose scan for hardware changes or new devices. Sometimes that freshens up usb stuff. Other times usb devices are hopeless.
Try the above trick while the usb cable is lit up by the diagnostic port on your car. Maybe try starting the car if your car will run.
You may try another laptop just in case your laptop is weird.
Holy cow $250 vs. $9. But my genu>> Is this a real ross-tech.com adapter or a clone?
Well you have 30 days from purchase to return it and get your $7.99 back and NO it is NOT a real ross-tech.com adapter. It is a clone!
from ross-tech.com you might need to try version 311 a.. Release 409 must be used with a modern interface.
a.. It does not work at all with obsolete interfaces based on opto-isolators (including our own ISO-COM which we discontinued more than 2 years ago).
b.. Most 3rd party interfaces also use opto-isolators and are therefore incompatible with version 409 of VAG-COM -- use version 311 instead. If in doubt, contact your hardware supplier.
Try to see if your desktop can see it.
I have two real ross-tech.com serial adapters (ISO-COM and HEX-COM) and they both work very well. I will one day buy & play with a clone adapter and it might be USB too. ;-) I guess according to Jim Behning and others, USB can be buggy!
I curse usb at my day job. It almost always works but when it does not it is nothng but frustration. I work on computers and networks. But that might just be a lack of patience. That said when I updated my Rosstech dongle from the old serial interface I upgraded to the wambo jambo usb Hex Can. I figured I would take my chances. Of course I have some faith in the vendor and their supprt so it is not blind faith.
"Jim Behning" wrote
I truly like the products AND support from ross-tech.com.
I might eventually trade in my first interface, the ISO-COM, for one of the very newest. So far I have not needed the very newest adapters. I like that I can extend the ISO-COM interface quite a distance with a CAT-5 cable from my desktop computer, located in my garage. ;-) I figured that I could extend the USB cable to the cloned tool just about the same way and still use the same activated version of the software on this desktop. I save the HEX-COM serial interface to be used with the laptop on test drives. My desktop is always on but my laptop is stored elsewhere.
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