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txlogger - Data logging a Trionic 7 / 8 car in 2024

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3.6K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  roffe  
#1 · (Edited)
Shameless self promotion inc

txlogger is the new way to log Trionic 7 & 8 cars in 2024.
If you are running a open bin or EU0D / FXD2 you can also use it to live tune the car with values being changed in the ECU within milliseconds

It support a plethora of CANBUS adapters from professional to full DIY thanks to the CAN library I've written for it
CANUSB
CombiAdapter
Just4Trionic
YACA
Canable (with slcan firwmware )
OBDLink SX, EX
STN1170 & 2120 adapters
J2534 adapters such as Drewtech Mongoose GM2 / 3, Kvaser, OBDX Pro, SM2 PRO

I do not support ELM327, those cables should burn in hell :D

Q: Why is this better than the tuning suites?
A: txlogger uses a feature in the Trionic7/8 firmware where we can defined dynamic pids and fetch them as one big blob with multiple values instead of making individual request for each value. this enables us to fetch data up towards 100 times per second on Trionic 7 and 25 per second on Trionic 8 compared to the suite where you would get a shaky 6-10 points per second.

It's also enormously more stable than the suites logging.

Q: Requirements?
A: It requires Windows 10 and a modern pc with a decent graphics card as it uses OpenGL to draw the user interface.

Q: Does it support adapter XYZ?
A: Maybe, a lot of cables are STN based and presents themselves as a serial port. If none of the existing drivers are working donate a copy of the cable to me and I usually can add support in a day or three.

Q: What language is this written in?
A: Golang, a modern C-like language from Google

Q: Does it work on Windows XP/7?
A: No. Windows 10 required

Q: Does it support Trionic 5?
A: Not yet, and it will probably not be as fast as with Trionic 7 & 8 due to Trionic 5 not having the dynamic pid functionality. However Trionic 5 has a dedicated CAN interface and runs at a higher bitrate so it might be quiet decent once done.
 
#2 ·
f you are running a open bin or EU0D / FXD2 you can also use it to live tune the car with values being changed in the ECU within milliseconds
thanks for developing this program and posting your information here ! :)

i had recently been looking at the features it includes, but have limited understanding of the ECU features and what can be accessed

1) is OpenBIN a similar function as what can be provided by openSID, but OpenBIN is instead implemented by flashing a different bin to the ecu and the data is then read from the obd2 port ??

2) if for ex OpenSID is implemented, does this program now give us access to all engine sensors that are connected to the T7 system for ex manifold pressure ? (which can not be read by a standard obd2 reader ) , or does it specifically read the data from the ECU variables (for ex RPM and km/hr speed etc ) ?

3) is it possible to represent the data it accesses from the T7 system as a graph or dial on a separate display, eg the screen of an aftermarket head-unit or does it require a full windows tablet/laptop

4) if this program can read a significant amount of data from the T7 system, , in what way is it different from what sensors and data a tech2 can access ?
 
#3 · (Edited)
1) Open bin is a development binary that stores the map's in RAM instead of flash memory during operations. allowing you to change the values while the car is running without re-flashing it

2) OpenSID is just something to view arbitrary symbols in the ECU. So is this. It will let you read what you ask for. if the sensor has a symbol. then you can log it

3) requires Windows. I prefer Microsoft Surface Pro Windows pads so i don't have to lug around a full laptop. in the next version there will be a plotter
Image



4) the speed. tech 2 gives you a few points per second at max. txlogger gives you 25 fps logging giving you infinite more details of whats going on during transients.
and the freedom to choose what you want to log. if the symbol exists in the ecu, it can be logged :)
 
#4 ·
1.0.13 has been released and can be downloaded from txlogger The default presets has been updated. Be sure to load it once from the settings menu to make sure ActualIn.n_Engine, Out.X_AccPedal & In.v_Vehicle is logged properly on Trionic 7 In earlier versions there existed different presets depending on your CAN adapter. This has been fixed and the presets are now the same for all adapters. The default presets has been updated to reflect this change
  • Added WHATSNEW.md that will be displayed once the first time a new version is started.
  • A ton of code optimizations to make the Dashboard & logplayer use less cpu
  • Added ignition duty cycle (Idc) to Dashboard, loggable via Myrtilos.InjectorDutyCycle once EU0D v25 is released, display value is 0 - 100%
  • Fixed a bugg in the symbol list where "ghost" duplicates of symbols would be added when the same symbol was added to the list multiple times
  • Changed symbol name in symbol list to be a label instead of a textbox, also added a copy symbol name button on each row
  • Added additional symbols to Trionic 7 main menu
  • It's now possible to create your own presets selectable from the preset dropdown
  • Added a Log plotter in the log player so you can see line graphs of the recorded values
 
#5 · (Edited)
thanks for the further information !

2) OpenSID is just something to view arbitrary symbols in the ECU. So is this. It will let you read what you ask for. if the sensor has a symbol. then you can log it
will (or could ) this program also provide us with the data that is available from the saab PID diagnostic parameters ? eg provide it as a numerical number display or as a dial function in a similar (or much better ?) way that an obd-2 reader linked to an android/windows/mac display device can do currently with a program like torque ?

eg, obd-2 type reader devices plugged into the car OBD-2 port can access the available vehicle PID information ((eg, the data from the "On-board diagnostics Parameter IDs codes" that can be requested as data from a vehicle ).
  • if your program can access these PID's on a T7 saab , can it (or would it be able to in future) also list the saab specific PID's that generic obd-2 readers cant access
  • as far as i know we can currently only edit programs like Torque to add a generic sensor display (as a dial or numerical) and can then give it whatever name we like, but this added display is not able to access a vehicle model/brand PID it is not programmed to read/access (for ex saab 9-5 or 9-3 manifold pressure ). the reader software (like torgue for ex) is not tailored to understand/read/recognize saab sensor data specifically, so it still cant retrieve that data from all the other saab vehicle sensors (so it cant display it).
i have seen the OBDLink SX, EX brand/model obd-2 readers recommend by users that flash/reprogram their saab ECU's, but have i overlooked something and can these OBDLink SX, EX brand/model devices maybe already read all the saab specific PID's ? ( or can/could these better quality obd2 devices now access these saab specific codes when combined with your new program ? )
3) requires Windows. I prefer Microsoft Surface Pro Windows pads so i don't have to lug around a full laptop. in the next version there will be a plotter
good logic and choice :) i am looking at a similar tablet device for the same reasons (either to be used with a tech2 clone, or windows obd-2 reader etc..)
4) the speed. tech 2 gives you a few points per second at max. txlogger gives you 25 fps logging giving you infinite more details of whats going on during transients.
and the freedom to choose what you want to log. if the symbol exists in the ecu, it can be logged :)
the speed improvement is a great feature, but can/could we now read all the same sensors that a tech2 gives us access to in order to monitor and display them in real time. my technical knowledge on this is limited, but as far as i understand it:
  • all the saab onboard sensors (engine and others ) generate data that a Tech2 can read and has access to, and this information is significantly greater and more extensive then what PID codes can provide ? a tech2 can quiry and send interogation signals to each sensor to measure its health status, and read live data from it.
  • any fault detected by the saab electronic monitoring systems get stored onboard (in the ECU ? ) as an error code (which has a PID tag ?), and then an obd-2 reader can read (some or all ) of these stored generic and saab specific PID codes
if this is correct, reading and displaying saab specific PID's or the saab sensor data (on a tech2 or obd-2 reader) might be 2 very different systems (with some degree of overlap, for ex an obd2 reader can retrieve the error codes and display some real time sensor data like RPM, but not display all sensors the tech2 can access ?).

lastly: if somebody has installed a digital oil pressure and oil temperature sensor (currently displaying data on dedicated analogue display gauges added to the dash), could data from those sensors also be added and displayed on the screens used for your program on a windows tablet ? (and what type of additional electronic component/device would be needed for this integration, eg maybe the combiadaptor or an arduino type setup ?)
 
#6 · (Edited)
PID codes is just a shortcut to a symbol. There is more symbols than there is PID's. txlogger can actually read more information and faster than Tech2, But it requires the USER to know what they want to monitor. we only provide presets with the most common ones used when tuning your car. After that you'd have to specify your own symbols you want to log ( there is about 4000 of them in a Trionic 7 and around 7000 in Trionic 8 )

There is nothing to read DTC's from the car right now

i have seen the OBDLink SX, EX brand/model obd-2 readers recommend by users that flash/reprogram their saab ECU's, but have i overlooked something and can these OBDLink SX, EX brand/model devices maybe already read all the saab specific PID's ?
Yes this is correct. reading PID's is just a abstraction to expose a small subset of what's actually in there to adhere to the diagnostic standards for generic scantools. These CANBUS cables has always had the necessary capabilities to read all the values, they just lack the software to do it.

lastly: if somebody has installed a digital oil pressure and oil temperature sensor (currently displaying data on dedicated analogue display gauges added to the dash), could data from those sensors also be added and displayed on the screens used for your program on a windows tablet ? (and what type of additional electronic component/device would be needed for this integration, eg maybe the combiadaptor or an arduino type setup ?)
We have support for one such device currently which is the ECUMaster Lambda To Can
We'd have to build some sort of bridge adapter that either converts your signal to a CAN signal and put it on the PBUS, or build a USB device that plugs in to your PC and is used to collect the values. Maybe the device even has a serial/USB-port so we can read data from it directly.

CombiAdapter has 1 or 2 ADC inputs iirc, we could possibly utilize that to add a external sensors as i already have working support for communicating with it

I accept hardware donations if people wish to have support added for device XYZ in txlogger.

I've spent thousands of dollars out of my own pocket buying all the cables I've listed as supported to ensure they work as intended

Maptun in Sweden was kind enough to sponsor the Lambda To Can adapter with a WBL sensor.
Kvaser AB has generously sponsored me with a Kvaser Leaf Light V2 adapter that i've used together with old software from SAAB to reverse engineer a lot of things used in this project