Hello all - I'm new to the this diagnostic lark and bought the above unit.

It seems to communicate well with my 2010 Octavia Scout using the generic OBD protocols, however when you switch to CANBUS I get 'communications errors' for most of the controllers.

From a bit of surfing, I'm told that updating the firmware on the Maxscan unit should help - I'm on v2.6 - and the unit comes with a USB connector to do this.

However, does anyone know what the current firmware should be and how do I access this. I've tried the manufacturers website and email with no success and also several resellers site - Gunsons no longer stocks.

Any advice other than bin it!?

Les.

A 2010 Octavia uses ASAM/UDS which is a new protocol on top of CAN. None of the handheld scanners on the market do support this yet and based on how this new protocol works it is unlikely for them to add this as a firmware update. Basically you need a description file for each and every control module out there, the size of the data itself is too much for most of those handheld devices to handle.

The V-checker V402 supports UDS, but the problem with these scanners is support for new modules. It's no good is you can't get a new description file for the module you trying to diagnose.

When you factor in long term support, VCDS becomes a very cost effective/future proof solution now that UDS is here.

Have you actually tested V-Checker on a UDS module/car or is that just from the description?! So far I haven't seen any hard indication that it does more on UDS than just read the ID but w/o a proper description file you can't even read DTCs let alone measuring values, adaptation, basic settings and output test.

Have you actually tested V-Checker on a UDS module/car or is that just from the description?! So far I haven't seen any hard indication that it does more on UDS than just read the ID but w/o a proper description file you can't even read DTCs let alone measuring values, adaptation, basic settings and output test.

I know someone who bought one for his 2011 Octavia. From what he said it worked and he could read DTCs, but he couldn't read two of the modules. IIRC, he bought it from eBay or Amazon for about £90. The seller couldn't offer any updates/support to solve the problem so at that point he sent it back.

Not all modules in the 2010/2011 are actually UDS, so I am not surprised of it working partially. I'll see if I can get hands on one for a real world comparison.

Thanks for your responses - that's really helpful. I think I keep the unit for reading generic fault codes but I don't expect to do anything more. Cheers, Les.