Nanocom Evolution SD Card not reading

**peter5111** · 16th March 2011, 09:38 AM

G'day Neil,

I can't find a reference on the Nanocom website about SD card fickle-ness. My info was inferred from my communication with Mattia when I ordered one of the first few back in September.

At that time Mattia was offering an SD card with the Evo for 8 (?) dollars extra. I figured it was a small price to pay to assure compatibility. Looks like I was right.

I don't know BBS's approach, but hopefully after all these problems they will now source a known good card and make it available as a recommended option.

Pretty sure you need to have the SD card plugged in before powering up the Evo. Again, not sure if that is documented anywhere but the SD communication module does not appear to be very robust so no point in tempting fate.

Firmware revision checking is purely as a sanity check. It is entirely possible for a unit to slip through the cracks and make it into the wild with outdated firmware.

The number of folks here that are trying to help is evidence that once it is working, the Evo is a damn useful piece of kit that is worth the effort.

Apologies if my tone ever comes across as patronizing. When troubleshooting computer problems assumption is the mother of all screwups.

I can understand your frustration with having a non functioning unit. When I got mine it still had Rev 1.0 firmware which didn't actually let me interrogate or control any of the onboard computers. About all I could do is display the live instruments. Sitting on my hands for a fortnight waiting for firmware that actually worked drove me mental.

Keep bleating here, seriously. It is useful for other owners to know they are not alone with any issues they may be having. It also shows the Evo is not perfect but it does have an enthusiastic user base. Probably the most important point though is your feedback gives potential buyers a good indication of what BBS's customer support is really like. Be it good, bad or inconsistent.

Regards,
Pete

Originally Posted by brookvale

I was more than careful to read the installation and operating instructions (minimal!). The instructions say "insert card into slot then plug in cable to PC". I tried that and it failed.

Where in the instructions/website does it mention that the Evo will ONLY work with XYZ make/model of SD card?

Where in the instructions does it say "WARNING!" this unit has little memory and the software hasn't been coded to be robust"?

All my cards work in every SD reader/camera/PC/car stereo I have with no problems whatsoever. I was able to write a TXT file to card when the Evo was on the OBD port with engine running. After writing it, the Evo flicked into hyperspace and I had to fiddle/re-boot to get it back working again.
That TXT file shows on on my PC with a normal card reader but it cannot be read.

I was not offered a 'known' SD card for purchase with the Evo.

Does the SD card have to be plugged into the Evo before booting it up?
Instructions do not mention if this is a caveat.

>>What firmware revisions are you running, in particular the Kernel, FILEMAN and MAINEXEC<<
I have only just bought the darned thing... it should have the latest (best?) ones.

>>... but when you consider the Evo has been basically a hobby project of one man, it is astounding the Evo exists at all. Especially when you consider the build quality and the original price point. <<

Sorry, but this is not good enough. If the sales blurb said "WARNING! you are buying a machine which needs care when plugging in/using SD cards" I would know what I was buying.
There were no such warnings so we punters expect to be able to plug in SD cards without hassles. (and the 'Country' problems already reported...)

Sorry for the bleat here - it would be better placed with Nano.

I'll keep posting as and when Nano reply.

And thanks to all here who are offering support and guidance in the face of upset users.
Neil

**brookvale** · 16th March 2011, 11:21 AM

Ron at BBS got back to me and asked me to clarify the situation which I have now done but will have to wait 12 hours or more for a reply.
There was confusion as to how I was able to see an Evo TXT file on the SD card. I had managed this before taking the Evo to my PC. The TXT file however was unreadable or "directory corrupt".

Today I have tinkered with 4 SD cards with no joy at all. If any SD card is in the slot when I OBD connect to my truck, the Evo sits there dead.
Unplug SD card, unplug OBD, replug OBD and Evo wakes up normally.
Sticking the SD card while Evo running simply results in blank screen and dead Evo.

I have taken video of many of the tests and will try uploading them to U-Choob later today - I'll post the links here.
They are very unexciting but will serve as 'proof' I hope of all my texting here!

I can only imagine now that I'll have to post the brick back to BBS for them to ferret the problem out.

There's no sign of any hard reset button and without PC connectivity there is no means to reload any firm/soft/squishy ware...

Very annoyed but somehow resigned to waiting and spending many minutes typing out precisely what I did and what results I got.
The time zone difference makes it even worse for BBS support but them's the breaks.

Instruction/Operation manuals:
There's no dedicated Evo operation manual as to how to do stuff (I want to record a driving run collecting all engine data/faults for diagnosis later).
The Nano One has an ops manual - are the functions the same - albeit without the touch screen?

**peter5111** · 16th March 2011, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by brookvale

Instruction/Operation manuals:
There's no dedicated Evo operation manual as to how to do stuff (I want to record a driving run collecting all engine data/faults for diagnosis later).

I don't think the Evo has the option to capture a log of real time data. About the best I think can be achieved is the Max/Min tracking of the real time instruments which I think you will have to record manually

Pretty sure you need to interrogate individual computer modules to extract fault codes but these can then be saved to the SD card for future reference. (once you have a functioning SD slot

)

**brookvale** · 16th March 2011, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by peter5111

I don't think the Evo has the option to capture a log of real time data. About the best I think can be achieved is the Max/Min tracking of the real time instruments which I think you will have to record manually

Pretty sure you need to interrogate individual computer modules to extract fault codes but these can then be saved to the SD card for future reference. (once you have a functioning SD slot

)

So what is the "Diagnostic Files" section in the reference manual referring to?
Would I have to hit the [save] icon each time I want a snapshot?
I also found the "Graphic Viewer" download on the Nano site. Does that read the CSV files created by the "Diagnostic Files" system?.
Has anyone here worked out how to best use them?
(presuming they have a working SD card/USB system

)
Neil

**peter5111** · 17th March 2011, 07:27 AM

G'day Neil,

I am suffering from a touch of foot in mouth disease this morning.

You are right about the save icon producing a CSV. I tried to capture an hours worth of data on my drive home last night. Turns out you must press the save icon at the end to close out the file and force it to actually save. If you don't do this then you get a zero byte size file. Another gotcha, if you pull the card out with power applied then there is a very good chance you will stuff the card. Trust me.

The graphic viewer application is a supporting tool for the original Nanocom and is not designed for the Evo.

I will have another crack at the creating CSV's this morning and will let you know how it goes. I am curious to see if it only logs the data from the active screen or if it logs all variables.

We shall see.

Regards,
Pete

Originally Posted by brookvale

So what is the "Diagnostic Files" section in the reference manual referring to?
Would I have to hit the [save] icon each time I want a snapshot?
I also found the "Graphic Viewer" download on the Nano site. Does that read the CSV files created by the "Diagnostic Files" system?.
Has anyone here worked out how to best use them?
(presuming they have a working SD card/USB system

)
Neil

**peter5111** · 17th March 2011, 09:14 AM

Looks like the CSV file contains all the live instrument figures, sampled at 1Hz.

SD card was formatted as FAT16 in a Windows XP system.

The diagnostic file does need to be closed at the end of a capture session.

~40 minutes of data is under 300kB and 3000 lines

**brookvale** · 17th March 2011, 11:55 AM

Good to hear Pete.
Would be interested to have a copy of the CSV (if you don't mind) to see if there's a simple way to create Excel graphs or, use another graphical data graphy software gizmo to display the results in a nice format.
We might even come up with a useful tool for other AULROers

Is there any sign that the Evo captures fuel-used rates?

Information for all:
BBS have offered to repair my Evo - I am now waiting for an RMA form to be sent. If they consider the fault to be manufacturing/defect, they pay/re-imburse freight to/from. If it a user induced fault, damage etc then I pay all freight and an inspection/repair fee. Sounds reasonable to me.

Neil

**peter5111** · 17th March 2011, 02:27 PM

G'day Neil,

I have dropped a copy of the CSV here
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9735122/Nano_log.CSV

I didn't see a fuel flow or injector duty cycle that could be used for calculating fuel flow. Maybe we can massage something useful out of air mass flow and TPS ?

Great to hear BBS is working with you to find a solution.

Regards,
Pete

**Basil135** · 17th March 2011, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by Basil135

Despite the SD card originally working, the Nanocom will now not recognise it.

I will try formatting it on another pc, but am not holding my breath...

Damn, I don't need another paperweight....

Ok, back to square 2.

The when I plugged the card into a pc, it showed it was not formatted..

Re-formatted it, and now the Evo is happy to read it. Strange happenings.

**dusty disco** · 5th October 2012, 09:51 AM

Hi All

I have a query relating to this old thread. I have asked BBS too and will post their reply.

I have downloaded their latest firmware for my Evo and successfully read my Td5 .map file from the car. Using a 4GB SD card (which is formatted to the current FAT32 standard).

So it appears the Nanocom now works with the modern FAT32 format. But before I instal my new remap file I want to check that my moden SD card should work!

Does anyone have an answer please?

Cheers
Adrian

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