VCDS Coding / Adaptions For Dummies Please?

[numskull]

So, I'm now the proud (but somewhat naïve!) owner of a genuine VCDS cable and I'm eager to start making some adaptions on our 2011 MKII Superb.

 

But....

 

....before I start messing around, I'd like to see if anyone can point me to a site/s that give step-by-step instructions to undertake the changes/adaptions.

 

The question is, to avoid majorly screwing-up (!) how exactly do I recode the car?

 

In http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/229766-vcds-adaptations-how-do-i/ this thread, Gizmo does a great job in helping to do a number of upgrades/changes. For instance, the first one, to enable the large MPH display on the maxidot.

 

I get everything upto this point....

 

Finally under Bit 4 select "70 Country: Australia (AUS)"

 

So - lost me... where / what is Bit 4? What do you do to access this and how do you save it!?

 

A bit further down the thread, there are a couple of other mods I'd love to enable, but what do these mean?

 

Easy entry
/moves the driver seat backwards after removing the ignition key, and move it forwards when you stick it inside the ignition/
Channel 36
Adaptation on Channel 60

Columbus hidden menu

/you enter it with the setup button hold for 30 sec/
37 - Navi
10- Adaptation
Channel 50
new input - 1

 

In other areas, bits AND bytes are both mentioned! For instance, I really want to enable Hill Hold on my car; I have done a full scan on the car and know I have the correct type of BE ABS module, which is great.

 

Looking at the VCDS Hill Hold adaption thread on the myturbodiesel site, I get everything to this point...

 

Go to the right, to byte 16 and you should see this screen. Click Hill Hold control active/installed to activate it. Unclick it to deactivate it. Close the window and the new code will automatically be placed in the long coding helper. Click Do it! to save. Exit the module.

 

 

When it says "Go to the right, to byte 16 and you should see this screen", what does this mean? Do you place your curser over Byte 16? Do you use the tab key? Should you click on it?

 

To confuse matters even more, I've seen vids on YT that show this can be accessed / changed through "Adaptions" too? Sheesh!

 

Naturally, I understand once you've mastered the basics, then it should become clearer, but a "dummies" guide would certainly get some beer tokens from me (and I would think a number of grateful "others" too!

[Gizmo]

Whats your location? I’m sure there is someone that can hold your hand and show you how to make adaptation and long code changes.

 

Bit 4 is to the left of the red highlighted part above, click on the drop down menu and change it from 40 (GB) to 70 (Australia), once you have made all the changes you want to under a Byte then click the tab, and then the red X (close the window), this will put you on the long coding page where you will see the new code underneath  the old (current) one, click ‘DO IT” and a window will pop up telling you the changes have been saved, this sounds more difficult than it is.

 

Easy entry, this slides the drivers seat all the way to the back when the key is removed from the ignition when the ignition is turned back on the seat will go back to the memory position.

 

For hill hold, tick the box, hit the tab button and close the page (as before)

 

BEFORE YOU CHANGE ANYTHING SCAN THE CAR AND SAVE A COPY OF THE SCAN!!

[numskull]

Whats your location? I’m sure there is someone that can hold your hand and show you how to make adaptation and long code changes.

 

Bit 4 is to the left of the red highlighted part above, click on the drop down menu and change it from 40 (GB) to 70 (Australia), once you have made all the changes you want to under a Byte then click the tab, and then the red X (close the window), this will put you on the long coding page where you will see the new code underneath  the old (current) one, click ‘DO IT” and a window will pop up telling you the changes have been saved, this sounds more difficult than it is.

 

Easy entry, this slides the drivers seat all the way to the back when the key is removed from the ignition when the ignition is turned back on the seat will go back to the memory position.

 

For hill hold, tick the box, hit the tab button and close the page (as before)

 

BEFORE YOU CHANGE ANYTHING SCAN THE CAR AND SAVE A COPY OF THE SCAN!!

Hi Gizmo,

Thanks very much for the reply. I'm in Surbiton, Surrey.

I see this as a bit like messing with the registry in windows, a bit of a dark art if you like, that can wreck the function of the car if you get it wrong! What I want to do is to eventually be competent and thereby confident enough to help others with the changes they'd like on their cars.

So the "Byte" is each of the two digit codes, within the long code itself? Do each of these represent a specific action/service and are those altered via the "Bit"?

As I said previously Gizmo (I hear a sharp intake of breath!) what I don't get is when it says "Go to the right, to byte 16 and you should see this screen", what does this mean? To go to the right, do you place your curser over Byte 16? Do you use the tab key? Should you click on it? And then there is Adaptions, channels and values!?

I guess the best way to learn it to have a play with the car, but don't save any changes, by not hitting "Do it!" and pressing esc, esc?

Any further help appreciated.

Cheers.... Rob

[langers2k]

It's probably worth having a quick read about binary, bits, bytes and hexadecimal numbering to get you started. It's how computers store numbers and will definitely help understand what the long code is actually about.

 

In a nut shell:

 

Computers use base2 rather than base10 numbers (as we do), so it's 0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111 etc rather than 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

 

Each 0 or 1 is a single bit, the smallest piece of information that can be stored and they count from right to left.

- For example, 1101

-- bit 0 = 1

-- bit 1 = 0

-- bit 2 = 1

-- bit 3 = 1

 

These are grouped in to bytes, which are 8 bits long, so 0000000 is a single byte.

 

As you can imagine, big number stored in binary are very confusing for humans to read, so instead we represent them in hexadecimal (base16) instead. This is a way to represent 0-15 with a single character, so it's 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F.

 

This means each byte is now just two characters, such as FF or 10. Be warned, the second one isn't actually 10, it's 16 in base10 or 00010000 in base2.

 

There are plenty of more informative guides you can find online which will go into much more detail. 

 

As for VCDS, normally each function you are trying to enable or disable is controlled by a single bit of information. You will need to first open the correct module in the car, then find the correct bit, and it'll tell you which bit you're currently on), then you can use the check boxes to turn a bit on or off.

 

To select a byte, I'm pretty sure it's just clicking on the one you want - it's section three on the screen shot with the boxes containing green hexadecimal numbers. It will then tell you on the left which you're looking at.

 

There are exceptions when you'll need to enable/disable multiple bits, probably across various bytes and possibly even in different modules!

 

There is also a manual from rosstech that should help you work around the VCDS interface, it can be downloaded from http://www.ross-tech.com/vcds/download/current.php for free.

[James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale]

When I first started using vcds long coding helper was non existent. As time has gone on the system has evolved and come a long way.

The simple rules I've always kept in mind if you're not sure are:

ALWAYS do a full scan and save it before you make any changes

always scan each module before and after for faults

always change 1 byte of info at a time

never fudged anything and even resolved issues caused by others with archived coding off my laptop

[numskull]

Thanks to all, interesting info and good advise.. I'm going to start with what appear to be simple revisions this weekend and I'll report back...

[malcster]

keep all log files of vehicle scans as previously posted 

cant stress that enough 

[numskull]

keep all log files of vehicle scans as previously posted 

cant stress that enough 

 

Yeah, thanks Malcster. Still haven't bitten the bullet and tried it, but I'm gunna!

[numskull]

Thanks everyone for your help and encouragement.

 

Ok, so I decided to take the plunge make three adaption’s to the car; Hill-Hold Control, add the “hidden” menu to the Columbus and change the “Comfort Turn Signal” from the standard 3 blinks to 5.

 

I chose Hill-Hold as the first one I’d try as this seemed to be the easiest, as all that needed to be changed was to add a “tick” to Bit 0.

So I did a full auto scan of the car before I started and saved it. I also took the precaution of saving the factory settings on each of the modules before I changed them!

 

Well, as I feared, I soooo managed to royally f**k that lot up and now nothi….

 

 

 

 

Nah I’m joshing!

 

I’m pleased to report (and not a little surprised and relieved too I can tell you!) that I was able to make the three mods without any issues. Doing the first one was a bit of a breath-holding moment, but once I’d done that I moved onto the Columbus, which after recoding needed a reboot to work, and then did the “Comfort Blinking” change.

 

Oh boy, Hill hold is great! I wondered why this wasn’t enabled from the factory; I can only guess that this is because during the build, some builds were fitted with ABS units from the parts bin that could be enabled, whilst others were not, so it’s just easier to disable it on those ABS units where it could be enabled. Although it would be a little odd why you’d have a “mixed bag” of parts in that way, if this isn’t the reason, I’m at a bit of a loss what any other reason would be…?

 

Hang-on…. hang-on a minute… Oh my gawd, it’s not illegal in the UK, is it?

 

The Columbus installation menu threw-up something that I initially thought was an odd; under the “HDD Status”, the tempStatus is shown as “degraded”! Thankfully, doing a search on this great site and reading up a contribution to tread from Rustynuts, though it doesn’t sound good, that status is normal…phew!

 

The “Comfort Blinking” increase to 5 “blinks” is also really useful, as personally I’ve found that 3 “blinks” is just a “blink” or two short when joining traffic or lane changing.

 

So XDS, Easy Entry (I have a wrecked back), emergency “Blinking” stop lights, coming home via fog lights (save the xenons!) are next on the list.

 

Thanks again to everyone for your help and encouragement.

 

Cheers... Rob