Thread: Nanocom unable to read identity from car

A new nanocom? It would still be worth while connecting the nanocom to your computer and checking that the firmware is up to date. That has been the cause of similar issues with mine in the past.

I've updated to the latest stable firmware and getting the same result. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Cheers,

Salty

Hiya SaltyNalty

I just happen to have noticed your post here, although of course support is best obtained via the dedicated Nanocom Technical support Forum or by filling in the contact us form on the nanocom web site to have our support staff directly assist you.

As the CAN BUS vehicle coverage on the Nanocom is covering many Types of vehicle models that are individually licenced, uses active Menu's and other intelligent processes, It has to read and decode the VIN from a number of different ECU's to validate the vehicle Model type.

We have of course attempted as best we can to make this flexible and allow a limited degree of variance.

To assist where there are problems, we have also thoughtfully provided a VIN tool you can find by selecting Nanocom> Applications>VIN TOOL
We have also provided a USER TEST in the same section where you can check both High and Low Speed CAN BUS's are working as they should.

When contating us it would be good to have the results of running both.

Another common problen is that sometimes CAN BUS vehicle ECU's, while working normally, are not responding diagnostically and need resetting.
This is done by a process commonly called a Hard Reset that involves disconnecting the vehicles power leads from the battery and shorting them together ( the vehicle leads not the battery terminals) for 10 seconds or so to drain any residual power from the ECU's before re connecting the vehicle to the Battery.

I hope this Helps

Regards Colin

Thanks for the reply Colin,

I have only just found the Nanocom forum and posted there for help.

The VIN tool comes up with NA in all slots, clearing the cache doesn't help.
It says it's communicating with both high and low speed CAN BUS's.

I'll give the car reset a go.

Cheers,

Salty.

I reset the car by disconnecting the battery and shorting the connections for a minute. I've still had no luck getting the Nanocom working.

Cheers,

Salty

Hiyas Salty

You are most welcome.

Many thanks for posting up and providing so much detail from the afore mentioned tests and having tried the hard reset.

At this point "clearing the Cache" would indeed not help.

I mentioned the intelligent processes that the Nanocom uses, one of which is that when it is first used on a vehicle it scans the vehicle, polling each possible ECU to figure what ECUS (optional) are actually fitted to it, IE vehicle configuration, EG if it has an Automatic gearbox ECU or not. This takes a bit of time so it will remember the specifiucations by VIN of any Vehicle it has already scanned and use that as a much quicker look up from then on. The Active Menu part I mentioned would by example mean that you would not see the Automatic gearbox in the menus if the nanocom did not detect one.

Of course we have provided the ability to reset and clear any learned Vehicle configuration should there have been a first learn scan problem or this be changed by the owner, IE retro fitting an ECU.

Clearly even from the little explanation I have provided here, we have implimented quite smart handling in the Nanocom, along with tests and functions to diagnose and cover all possibilities.

The results you have provided with pictures clearly show that both High and Low speed CAN Busses are working on your Nanocom.

But the VIN TOOL results you have pictured show that you cannot read even one VIN number from any ECU on the vehicle.

The VIN TOOL is not locked to any model, it just reads and displays the VIN reported by every possible ECU, regardless of optional fitment or if we use that in our checks or not. If it is a used ECU, regardless of model, this might give a different VIN and a Brand new ECU would also show something other than N/A before getting the VIN programmed.

The only way I know of to end up with a result of using the VIN TOOL that reads all as N/A is if you did not turn on the Ignition, which is certainly required for reading the Vehicle Identity, can you please confirm if you turned the Ignition on or not?

Thanks for the explanation. I've tried reading the VIN with ignition on, with ignition on and engine running and ignition off. All returned a NA result for the VIN scan.

Cheers,

Salty

Hiyas Salty

You and likely other readers interested here and reading this thread are most welcome for the somewhat detailed explaination of the Nanocoms "intelligent" process on CAN BUS based vehicles and the tools and options provided, and as an assist to try and help you figure what your problem is, likewise I also appreciate your quick response too.

However after your latest information that states that you did have the Ignition on which not having that is the only way I know how to get all N/A results, I am now at something of as loss for further thoughts and Ideas at this moment, which is ironic as at this point as even if you contacted our support staff they would also be likely asking me for ideas.

The problem I / We have is that as I mentioned before, the VIN TOOL is not tied to any Model, in fact it is not even tied to any Manufacturer that is part of the Ford Group either, so if you plugged this into a Ford Fiesta or a Volvo etc you would almost certainly get at least some VINS displayed rather than N/A.

N/A means an ECU did not respond at all to a request for its VIN, and far from being optional ECU's, we are talking about mandatory fitted ECU's like Engine Management, Body Control, Airbag, ABS, Instrument Pack, Park Brake, Air suspension and so on. There is no filtering of replies, so new ECU's, used ECU's, even if taken from a different model, of course as well as correct ECU's as fitted to the Vehicle when origionally manufactured would all be shown as something other than N/A.

Sadly, despite our very best efforts to support any customer and owner of our equipment with a problem, we can only go on what we are told has been tried and tested as per our requests and at some point, despite our wishes to avoid un required returns, even if we feel a customer quickly says Yea, Yea, Yea, tried all that and it is still not working, or a genuine and inexplicable case, the only option we have is to offer an RMA for the equipments return to be tested again, despite eveything being extensively tested before it is shipped and / or any suspicions we may have that there is nothing wrong with it.

Of couse occasionally in the past we have indeed found very occasional and strange problems with a Nanocom, but then we use that to learn and adjust and add to our testing process and of course in such cases cover ALL costs.

If you wish an RMA Salty, just ask my support staff directly using the contact us on the Nanocom Web site and they will oblige.

ATB