Can the iCarsoft MBII “normally” see the Comand system fault codes?

Botus

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John,
I am Feeling foolish, what year is your car? And what NTG version does it use?
I can try it on my sisters 2017 S Class, when I next See her.
.

HIGHLY unlikely to work on a car that new...

when a vehicle is still inside the original warranty period there is no need for a manu to release how their systems work to third party vendors. and no need for diagnostic boys to fret about their tool working on anything under 3 years old..... they have enough fun trying to get their software to behave on 4 to 6 years old cars that are all starting to play up

Support for recent stuff comes in from 2 to 4 years,

I had this exact issue with a mate's Nov 2015 Mondeo, took about 12 months of his ownership and 19 months after that model came out for mine to get an update to support it...my tool still won't look at a 2016 Insignia (same electronics as the last facelift built 2013) as for no good reason I understand support for 2013 cars isn't out yet !!! yet mine had a new release for all Vauxhall models in Nov 2017
 
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Submariner1

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Got a reply from iCarsoft Support
Despite screen by screen of how the MBII reacted.
This is all I got in the reply:-

“MB II only read and clear these systems fault codes.
Pls note that your car is
216.371 CL 500 / CL 550 USA / JAPAN
And make sure that you select 216.371 CL 500 / CL 550.”

Well I assume they are saying (with knowledge of my vin number) it is supposed to be able to read the faults on Comand and Clear them?
WTF is wrong with people today ... cant they simply say .. ‘ Yes it can read the codes on your car or no it cant!
Thats helpful to know its a 216.371! Surprisingly I knew that, and can read the Data Card. And that is what I selected.
No mention of what I could do to determine if this unit is faulty, or how to make it work.
No mention of why it throws the “communications error” screen at me, when I select the Backup camera (that works perfectly).

Basically just cant be arsed to look into it.

Makes one feel like just forcing a return, only way this kind of company ever learns ... when some FD sees £50,000 of RMA returns that year, that all turn out to be working. Just badly advised customers.
 

Botus

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No mention of why it throws the “communications error” screen at me, when I select the Backup camera (that works perfectly).


on my pre facelift car there was a software update to the gateway that confused the rear camera to the point it stopped working, until it too was flashed with a later version of software.

I believe the update to the gateway enhanced the car's capability to run / report faults. Then the rear view camera ended up working back to front with the unit attempting to fire up the camera when in drive and off in reverse, but other software to cancel when driving forward meant it never brought up the camera picture, and it also threw diagnostics faults for a wiring issues that wasn't there. All went back to normal when it was flashed with the correspondingly correct software update

to me, this sounds like your gadget doesn't have the ability to work out which version the car is running and thus operate its diagnostics correctly
 
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Submariner1

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on my pre facelift car there was a software update to the gateway that confused the rear camera to the point it stopped working, until it too was flashed with a later version of software.

I believe the update to the gateway enhanced the car's capability to run / report faults. Then the rear view camera ended up working back to front with the unit attempting to fire up the camera when in drive and off in reverse, but other software to cancel when driving forward meant it never brought up the camera picture, and it also threw diagnostics faults for a wiring issues that wasn't there. All went back to normal when it was flashed with the correspondingly correct software update

to me, this sounds like your gadget doesn't have the ability to work out which version the car is running and thus operate its diagnostics correctly

Your conclusion seems to make a lot of sense.
It doesnt seem to address a lot of the items listed under “infomation and Communictions” ... just what I need at the moment.
 
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Submariner1

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iCarsoft now suspect mine may not have the latest updates?
They asked for screen prints from about help.

Very strange when I commence diagnosis I see this screen, showing the initial version the first update I did and the recent update that I thought was the latest. Namely V 11.61
8B67FFA6-768B-45EC-8D5F-89683A53716E.jpeg

Oddly in the About Help routine it shows this
46A7C423-CECD-4B45-A572-84B318FFF007.jpeg

Hmmm no mention of V 11.61
I would be grateful if anyone could plug theirs into a USB port ( to power it ) and see what yours says ?

Maybe mine is not updating properly.

Does anyone know if these have a one or two hear warranty?, I cant see it on my resellers site or invoice.
 

John Laidlaw

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Mine is just newly bought and done via computer USB online update and 11.61 is definitely the latest unless something has happened in the last 3 days...
 
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Mine is just newly bought and done via computer USB online update and 11.61 is definitely the latest unless something has happened in the last 3 days...

Thanks John,
As per the above pics it seems to show V11.61 under diagnostics but lower versions in the about help.
I find it odd, that they dont show 11.61 in both places.

Does your screen in Help About look like mine? I.e. number lower than V 11.61, I didn't bother go out to the car to start it , I just plugged it into the PC USB port.
 

John Laidlaw

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Thanks John,
As per the above pics it seems to show V11.61 under diagnostics but lower versions in the about help.
I find it odd, that they dont show 11.61 in both places.

Does your screen in Help About look like mine? I.e. number lower than V 11.61, I didn't bother go out to the car to start it , I just plugged it into the PC USB port.
I’ll have a look later Peter, it’s in the garage at home, but like you I’ll fire it into the PC to let it boot up until I see....
 
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Submariner1

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I’ll have a look later Peter, it’s in the garage at home, but like you I’ll fire it into the PC to let it boot up until I see....
Thanks John
Much appreciated ... as I cant tell if this iCarsoft mob, are actually trying to solve my problem, or just throw back “stalling issues” to provide some kind of reply to the support email.

Be very grateful if you could take a pic of the Help About screen, because if yours says 11.61 everywhere, then thats probably the problem. And then I could ask them “how do I upgrade it to this! “ or replace the unit.
Still no reply from Diagnostic World .... :(
regards Peter
 

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457E5D7C-C99D-4622-B836-EB216A9472ED.jpeg Ok Peter as you can see on the tool information we both match except the boot version in mine seems to be one more up to date than yours (whatever difference that makes ive no idea!)- my diagnose page matches yours exactly so I didn’t bother taking a pic
 

LostKiwi

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It's not uncommon in the software world for update versions to bear little resemblance to the help, about.

The reason is software updates are numbered sequentially in some way but may update only one of several components. In your example there are 4 updateable areas so a software update may update 1 or multiple areas. For example it may update the diagnostic library but not the diagnostic program or vice versa or both. The manufacturer will keep a cross reference of what each update corresponds to.
 
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Submariner1

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View attachment 41559 Ok Peter as you can see on the tool information we both match except the boot version in mine seems to be one more up to date than yours (whatever difference that makes ive no idea!)- my diagnose page matches yours exactly so I didn’t bother taking a pic

Thanks so much John, extremely useful.
In case they come back saying the software has not updated properly. Your screen proves its basically running the same software in the 3 key areas. [Displays, Diagnostics and Library)

Ok as mine is slightly older, the original boot version is slightly older [as expected] but that should not effect how the programs run, once they have loaded.

So either
1. my unit is faulty (looks unlikely)
2. The software is incompatible with my car, which is probably down to my earlier NTG3 Comand version ( i think this is the most likely culprit)
3. The fault on my AMP - MOST ring is stopping the MBII reading the faults. (Seems unlikely to me, especially after slapping the tweeter pod hard instantly perfected the sound, and has run perfectly for 3 days now - so it might not even be an Amp issue.)
 
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Submariner1

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It's not uncommon in the software world for update versions to bear little resemblance to the help, about.

The reason is software updates are numbered sequentially in some way but may update only one of several components. In your example there are 4 updateable areas so a software update may update 1 or multiple areas. For example it may update the diagnostic library but not the diagnostic program or vice versa or both. The manufacturer will keep a cross reference of what each update corresponds to.

Good point
As the only difference is the boot version do you agree thats unlikely to effect how the programs run.
Of course its possible, as the different boot version may not load the program correctly or omits parts.

I think a lot of boot versions are contained on eprom, that cant be upgraded by a software update?
 
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Submariner1

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Not heard from iCarsoft support since Saturday morning ( their Friday? Timezones etc. )

So not unreasonable ref the weekend, Guess its down to them.

Still no response from the reseller Diagnostic World :(
 

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Good point
As the only difference is the boot version do you agree thats unlikely to effect how the programs run.
Of course its possible, as the different boot version may not load the program correctly or omits parts.

I think a lot of boot versions are contained on eprom, that cant be upgraded by a software update?
I think the boot version is very unlikely to affect it.
I'd be guessing what the boot code is stored on. If its a ROM then no it won't be updateable.
If its NVRAM then it will be updateable. It may be that there is no requirement to update the boot code at this time and the differences are manufacturing ones but I would just be guessing.
 
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Submariner1

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I think the boot version is very unlikely to affect it.
I'd be guessing what the boot code is stored on. If its a ROM then no it won't be updateable.
If its NVRAM then it will be updateable. It may be that there is no requirement to update the boot code at this time and the differences are manufacturing ones but I would just be guessing.

Totally agree with you.

I would like it resolved in warranty, in case its a faulty unit. Esoecially Because of the flaky, expensive HK Amps, I would like this element working when I upgrade the CL.
Not to mention it might be a little help in resolving my intermittant issue.
 
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Got a response from iCarsoft yesterday:-
“Nice day.
Thanks for your reply.

It seems that the software has bug on your car.
I have forward the details to our engineer.
They will try to solve it.”

Does he mean my car’s software has a bug.
Or the MBII’s software has a bug that stops it working with my car??

Saga continues!
Diagnostic World also got back to me and she is monitoring the resolution of this problem.

....... er ummmm
Improved service since sending them a copy of Johns sw version screen, i.e. its all out on a major MB forum ;)
 


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