This is sort of a continuation of the Mongoose Driver Install Problem thread, but a new problem so new post.

I took the Sony Laptop with JLR-IDS v125 installed and JLR MongoosePro attached to the SV8; I had the Sony plugged into 120V and started the JLR-IDS and got up to the VIN entry and plugged the MongoosePro directly to the OBDII plug and turned on the ignition as instructed, but it could not “read” the VIN so I entered it manually and got to the main “Session Type Selection” page with four icons at the top and the five session types across the bottom. Selecting any session type popped a screen that said “Data Collection Error” with choices to “Try Again” or “Abort”. “Try again” comes back to that same screen and “Abort” goes back to the VIN entry screen with the VIN field blank again.

None of the upper icons do anything when clicked, but upon hovering the curser over them the messages are Gateway Device Status, VMM Status, Battery Status, and Activation Required. The far right one that has the message Activation Required and looks like a little broadcast tower also has an X in a square on the icon. The MongoosePro has a rapidly flashing green light when connected to the Sony’s USB port and XP Pro’s device manager sees it and says it is working properly.


At one point while I was capturing screen images, a message appeared at the top of the JLR-IDS screen in gray text that said “The MongoosePro JLR is Disconnected”, so I shut down the JLR-IDS, rebooted the Sony, and re-started the JLR-IDS and the message did not come back, but the VIN still could not be “read” and any session type selection gave the Data Collection Error screen.


Back in the house, I looked around the JLR-IDS menus and found under “Settings” and “System Information”, a list of “installed Devices” and on the list and under MongoosePro JLR clicked “Select Device” which popped a “Gateway Device Selection” screen and I ran “Device Configuration” (which took awhile), and then “Continue” to “check if the correct device is connected”, but it then said “Configuration Failed”, “The selected gateway device is either not connected or does not match the device that was selected from the systems page.”


So….Now I am wondering, do I have a bad Mongoose (?), an incomplete JLR-IDS installation (?), or must I do something else to “Activate” this v125?

When Device Configuration says “Please connect the MongosePro JlR now” does it mean to the computer or also to the OBDII in the car?

And is There a chance that all this requires USB2 rather than my Sony's legacy USB(1?)

 

Edit: Ignore !

 

You first should install the Mongoose driver before attaching the Mongoose. If you connect the Mongoose you should get a message from Windows that it's connected. SDD doesn't need to be running for this to happen. Only after this works start SDD and select the Mongoose as the interface.

Guus

 

Also try setting the laptop date to Aug 1 2012. Then apparently it won't try to connect to the internet to download updates.

You are now at the very point I am at before I gave up. I had it working and then for whatever reason it just gave up.

 

I had installed the JLR Mongoose drivers after installing SP2, the install would not run with just SP1, and it give me the "found new hardware" when I connected the Mongoose and said it was ready to use, but just the first time. After that first time when I connect it I don't get the "new hardware" message. Last evening I had left the Sony on with JLR-IDS (or is it SDD in v125?) at the "Device Configuration" screen, and when I went to turn it off there was a balloon note on the little Gateway icon in the XP tray at the bottom that said "the wrong device is connected" (or some such thing) and the laptop was locked up; no mouse, no curser movement with the pad, no CTRL-ALT-DEL, no nothing. I finally had to hold the power button down until it shut down. One odd thing was that the Mongoose was blinking more slowly at the time - maybe half second intervals - rather than the usual rapid blinking. I Haven't tried it yet today as this was a good leafing day and I was pretty much out of patience.

I've never quite gotten to the point of actually working yet, trosty. I think you said yours could read the VIN, but this one has not been able to and apparently has never communicated between car and software. Did any of the icons at the top of the screen work for you? Did the little tower have an X in a square and say "Activation Required"? (I added the note to the photo below because I couldn't cursor over and screen capture at the same time)


I'll try resetting the date to 8/1/12 and see if that helps. I do need a win today. Went to move our Minivan to clear the leaves from under it and it ran like crap - discovered that rats or ground squirrels in a weeks time had trashed the hood liner, built nests on the engine, and shreaded the wires to several sensors. Damn!

 

Each version of SDD requires a different firmware revision in the Mongoose. To make this firmware upgrade or downgrade to match your SDD version, go to Programs, JLR, SDD and then select VCM recovery tool. Do not run SDD, connect the Mongoose cable, and run first, Update Loaded Cable, then run Update PROM.

Reboot the PC, connecting the Mongoose before it boots, then launch SDD

 

I have used my Mongoose clone with every version of SDD from something like 125 up to 138 without having to update the firmware. They did add some Mongoose Pro drivers at one point and there seemed to be a succession of people who upgraded their standard Mongoose using those drivers seeing them break soon afterwards so I wouldn't be in a big hurry to reflash mine.

 

I can tell you from personal experience. If you are using v125, and then upgrade to v135 for example, it will upgrade the firmware automatically on first use, it will not however, downgrade. This can be confirmed in the Mongoose utility that shows firmware code version. So if the Mongoose was sold with v138 software for example, and you decide to load v125, you have to re-flash the Mongoose to the older version of firmware, or SDD does not recognize it, as seen in the pic above. That is the purpose of the VCM Recovery Tool.

 

No. A mongoose is not a VCM. Different interfaces.

The problem is often that people get the drivers/upgrades mixed up.

Once the vanilla original mongoose driver is installed,

DO NOT INSTALL UPDATES, THE TOOLBOX, OR ANYTHING ELSE FROM THE
DREW TECHNOLGIES SITE TO A CLONE INSTALLATION.

IT ***WILL*** BRICK THE DEVICE.

 

My Mongoose clone came with V139 on DVDs so perhaps it is set for v139 and won't work with any earlier version?

I looked for the VCM recovery tool among the v125 program files, but don't see anything I recognize as what you suggested. I have v130 files copied to the Sony but have not installed them until I tried v125; might v130 have the VCM recovery tool utility? I have read that v130 was the last version that will run complete without the topiX web site so I didn't want to install v139 on the Sony and I removed the wireless card so the Sony can not get to the internet.

I did install a later SDD version on my Toshiba Win7 64 bit laptop first (v139 or v142 perhaps - my brain is muddled about it by this time) and I think I uninstalled it and installed v130 but could not get it to authenticate (said the topiX site was not available). Looking at whatever is still installed on the Toshiba now I do see the VCM recovery tool, so if it is 130 then maybe I can install that on the Sony and try again. Or if there is a similar utility in v125 let me know. I thought perhaps that was what it was doing with the "Device Configuration", but maybe it can't go back from v139 firmware to v125?

If I do uninstall v125 and install v130 on the Sony, should I uninstall the current JLR 32 bit drivers and start over on the drivers too?

 

Do you mean the VCM recovery tool does not work on a Mongoose? Only on a VCM?

Boy, trying to get this thing to work is making my head spin.

 

Yup a VCM and a Mongoose are different devices. The process Box was describing is only relevent to the VCM.

 

The Mongoose is available in two versions Mongoose en MongoosePro. The cheap versions of both are copies from the original product supplied by Drew.

If you install the Mangoose use the supplied install and DON'T update it to Pro or it indeed will brick it. Not sure if the installer of the copy MongoosePro has an update function but just ignore it, if it works it works and you don't gain any functionality.

The Mongoose works with different versions of the SDD software and doesn't need upgrading.

The Mongoose installer is meant to make this USB-device available in Windows. You could even install it without SDD for that matter. Of course you can't do much with it then ;-)

After a correct installation of the Mongoose driver you should get a message Mongoose connected every time you connect the Mongoose and a messages it's disconnected when you disconnect it.

If you get a message it has to be installed again the driver is not correctly installed.

If this works you can start SDD and select the Mongoose in the interface setting.

Guus

 

Please don't confuse the driver, with the firmware loaded into the device. I can assure you, having purchased my Mongoose with v139 software, and going back to a prior version, that SDD cannot access the entry point in the firmware on the Mongoose, until using the VCM recovery tool which loaded the correct firmware for the version of SDD running. You're simply working with a device that has USB drivers to enable the device, and then the PROM which contains the firmware to interface that COM device with SDD. The Mongoose utility will clearly show the firmware versions of the VCI device, of which Mongoose is one. The difference between the regular and pro versions is the chipset inside the Mongoose itself.

 

Woosh, this is becoming exceedingly complicated now for something apparently so simple.

Looks like I have a few things to check out.

All this for a $40 rip off tool.... urghhh.

 

Thanks, David,

My Mongoose clone said it is a Pro and it came with V139 on disks, so I assume I need to run the VCM recovery tool to load firmware for an earlier version? I don't see the vcm recovery tool in the v125, nor do I see a Mongoose utility, so do I need to install v130 SDD in lieu of the v125 IDS/SDD? Can both be installed at the same time or does that mess up the default install folders? (I use defaults when I am not really sure of what I am doing) Can I read the firmware version from XP's device manager?

Sorry for all the questions, but I probably have some 60 hours in this mess so far and have just 26 days to get something positive out of it before XP Pro times out unless I can find a way to activate it. Lots of different ideas and experiences here and I reallly appreciate the help; The Chinese are so lacking in adequate instructions.

 

Just tried this on V125 and it worked and updated my mongoose.
Went back to the vehicle and still doesn't read VIN.

However, I noted that the date of this version is 2011 ( I have mine at Aug 2012 and it keeps asking for updates) and that my system still requires the activation required to be completed(icon in top right).

So I am going to do a complete reinstall using Aug 2011, run the VCM update thing again. Make sure there is absolutely no internet access and see where that gets me.

 

I will be waiting to hear how this goes, trosty. Where did you find the VCM Recovery Tool in v125?

 

I do not have a copy of v125. I know I had to go through this issue myself initially, when going backwards from v139, to v138 and lastly ending in v135, and speak from experience from my own frustrations. I do know there are numerous issues that can manifest themselves when using this type of hardware/software with no real licensing and still try to be able to work on your vehicle your own self.


I do know when I went to debug the software itself, there were numerous .dll's called by SDD that were absent from Ford's IDS software that SDD uses, and is not included in installers, and I'm not wanting to go down that road on this site, but suffice that it can get real complex quickly.


If you load v139 and the Mongoose operates correctly, and you wish to go backwards, you need to start from scratch, install the OS, install SDD, run the patch, install Mongoose drivers to enable the PC to talk via USB, Use VCM Recovery tool to flash the firmware and PROM, restart the box, let VCI Manager see the Mongoose, and then launch SDD. The VCM icon at the top should be green, and if not, it's not talking. If green, you may have to use "Read" on vehicles prior to 2005 or earlier to obtain the VIN.

 

I have worked in IT for 30 years so no confusion here.

I have a PC with a number of virtual PC's running under Oracle Virtual Box with versions of SDD from 129 to 138 and can happily switch backwards and forwards without having to update anything on my Mongoose.

I am aware that is not the case with the VCM but that is a different device so I am not sure why you have to, maybe the Chinese clones are different?