daaa nope

Well I imagine if you bricked a module by coding something wrong, it *shouldn't* be covered by warranty since you are the one that screwed it up. And messing around with coding is definitely a "do at your own risk" kind of thing - as some of the modules and coding procedures auto-code other related modules when going one way, but don't go the other way if you undo. I don't think any of the features described here do this - but in past experience dealing with a rebuilt 987.2-generation car (which was put together using modules from multiple donor cars), this happens a lot. Turn a feature "on" in the gateway and it might auto-update, say, the door modules. But turn that feature back "off" and it DOESN'T once again auto-update the door modules.. and suddenly you are left with coding errors on the door modules.

But back to warranty concerns... I'd say it would be tough for them to prove that you bricked something with improper coding. Given how a lot of dealer techs are just parts changers these days, I'd wager that if the car came in on a flatbed one morning with "randomly wouldn't start" - the first thing they'll do is pull codes. If they get indications of a failed module or a bunch of unexpected "coding errors", they will just assume "bad module" and order a new one. I don't know that they'd even bother digging into WHY or HOW the module may have failed.

If by "warez" version you mean "free"... I think at one point I'd found some obscure web forum that had hard drive images available. The hard part is, from what I understand, the hardware requirements. Both the interface dongle, and the laptop itself, with the HD image expecting it to be living inside specific model laptops.

Lucifer

x86 is x86, I can probably patch all the restrictions if I get my hands on a copy

718socal

There is always a risk with coding. You can mitigate the risk by taking proper steps for coding. Use a battery maintainer and always document what you will be coding. Here, we are enabling a lot of features already available in Europe or ROW. You can always revert to factory default by Auto coding your module. As far as the warranty, the dealer would need to find and prove what you coded caused the issue, to void your warranty. There are a lot of free version of PIWIS floating around which might be incomplete. I chose to pay for mine because I get support when I need it.

daaa nope

I never bothered to save any of the links or info since I wound up buying a Chinese version that has suited all my needs. To me it wasn't going to be worth the hassle or aggravation of getting it all sorted by assembling the components piecemeal. I remember finding it through a long Google rabbit hole (Google led to some site which linked to some other site). I do recall it was a more generic site where people were trying to hack multiple kinds of OBD type computers. PIWIS was a thread but it wasn't a forum dedicated to PIWIS. Guy was out of Russia somewhere.

Lucifer

What version of Piwis are you guys using? Is anyone using it through a VM? Dongle?

718socal

Version 40.900. Not using VM.

Lucifer

what dongle?

718socal

I got the VAS adapter from the person who installed PIWIS for me.

MB 911

Don't look for earlier version than 38.2. That was the last full development ( also called engineering) mode before Porsche started deleting, or later moving to online, programing options.

Lucifer

Will a 38.250 work with a '23 Spyder? Or do I need a newer version? Also - how can I make sure my Piwis setup has engineering mode without actually having the car yet? (I read something about simulation mode)

718socal

Not sure if 38.250 works on 23 Spyder or not. PIWIS 2 supports cars up to 2017. So for sure you would need PIWIS 3. You can run PIWIS 3 in Engineering Mode without being connected to a car.

Lucifer

Thanks.
Do I need a charger for simple programming like the Spyder roof? Anything else I need to do after changing the value?

MB 911

I doubt 38.2 will identify the '23 spyder but perhaps if you manually select it as a 2019 Boxster for programing just the top...

Lucifer

The Panamera forum wasn't of much help; maybe here, people have a deeper understanding of the process:

I am trying to get a better, deeper understanding of what a VCI is and all the different VCIs out there.

If I understand it correctly, the VCI is the part that connects to the car, but it isn't just a dumb connector; it has a board and some chips on it.
It makes sense as it connects to a USB and something has to convert the signals from the car to something an x86 driver can work with.
Otherwise, each car manufacturer would have to have its own driver, and it would be a mess.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but originally, there was only the OEM Porsche VCI, which is manufactured by ACTIA.
China is a huge market for Porsche, and someone there decided to make a clone of the original VCI to save some costs.
If I understand correctly, the OEM VCI, while being super expensive, actually works with all the different warezed Piwis versions floating around.
So the clone was for the purpose of saving money (as opposed to overcoming some restrictions in the OEM one, for i.e.).
Cloning a connector like this for someone with even a little experience in embedded reverse engineering is a simple thing to do, so I can see the appeal.
Still not sure about the part of VXDIAG in all of that. It seems they have a VCI of their own, and they also own VX Manager?

Now, because all the tutorials out there guide to replacing the driver and application of the VCI, I assume the originals had some limitations that were patched out (I will probably bindiff them as a weekend project to see what was changed).
Would appreciate it if someone has more specifics.

Is there a significant difference for the hobbyist between the OEM VCI and the Chinese clones? Is there any difference between the 100 different clones, or are they all the same?
I plan on ordering this as some other members in the 718forums reported it worked well for them.

If I got something wrong - please correct me. I am here to learn.

718socal

I have no clue about the VCI's. All I know is that they have some limitations and an expiration date for the license. Maybe we should start a new thread about how to install PIWIS 3 and focus on coding here.