Thread: Nanocom for PC ignoramus - help please

Hello wizards,
I need help, tried in the tech chatter thread but it's probably lost there. I am a PC ignoramus but only because I have used MAC since the early '90s.

For my 2006 Def TD5 I bought a Nanocom Evo last may hoping to sightly improve my ECU map with the help of Jose. I got stuck realizing it does not talk with my MAC. And seemingly does not even accept off the shelf SD cards to download the ECU map. So for the past year I've used it as instrument cluster. That is neat, although a lot of money for a very basic function.

So now I am trying again. BBS say 'To use this application couldn’t be simpler' Actually it is not simple at all - I can't even find the 'SD card app'!

All I want to do is get copy the map from the ECU to the (new and unused) SD card and email that to Jose.

Can someone chime in and tell me what to do? I have a friend with a PC (I assume a Microsoft OS is a 'PC' ?) but no idea what to ask. Surely that can't be too complex?

Thanks!

Technically you shouldn't NEED a PC to operate the basics on a nanocom.
All you need is the ability to see files and transfer them if required.

As for the SD card, as they say, off the shelf will work, but the shelf needs to have a few specific types of SD cards.
What type did you get?
Some may not work.

eg. SDXC type of a large capacity may not work at all, otherwise it may work, but the capacity is wasted.
Nanocom uses ver small file sizes and 16Gb SDHC is gargantuan in terms of capacity for the nanocom. It uses a very simple operating system itself and all files are kilobytes.

MacoOS should have the ability to read fat32 file types by default.
If you have a digital camera that uses SD cards, you will be able to see the digital files that are saved on that card by the camera. They all use fat32 for the file format system.

nanocom uses it too. It can read FAT file format, but I reckon don't use that.. just use FAT32 for the formatting type.

I don't have the nanocom with me at the moment, and this is all from year ago memory.

You can also still view the saved files on the nanocom, say if you did logging. It's just saved in CSV format, so any spreadsheet or graphing software can show you the logged data.
Nanocom recommend to use a PC(Windows OS) as they have some software made specifically for this OS that shows this logged data.

Even in MacOS you should still have the ability to transfer a saved map file from your Mac to the SD card. The file types are not dependent on the operating system of the device used to transfer them.
A smart phone will also allow you to do this if you like. It's just file transferring, and any OS can do this.

Don't fret about the use of Windows .. remember this is only NEEDED for the nanocom software(not files!).

Caveat here! .. I've never done a map upload from nanocom to TD5(brothers is already mapped).
But it does say in the nanocom help files to use a formatting tool to format the card before trying to do a remap.

SD Formatter <-link!

the link is to a formatting tool for SD cards, called SD Formatter which Blackbox recommend to use on the card prior to a .map/tun file upload.
Obviously you want the MacOS version of this software, and hopefully your version of MacOS is listed as an option.

Nanoncom say that what happens when you do the map transfer is that you load the map file to the SD card, it transfers the map file to the nanocom itself, and then writes it to the ECU. They seem to have had issues uploading map files directly from sd cards to ECU.. going by the notes. Makes sense .. very easy to get corrupted data from and to cards directly.

Let us know how you get on, what SD card you bought, format it, did any of the info I relayed work .. etc.
Sorry can't be more specific, as I have very very limited experience with Macs and what to do with them.

and remember, you don't need a PC to see stuff from the nanocom. It's just that Blackbox makes software for use on a PC for us to do stuff .. more easily.
In your Mac system, if you want to view logged data(if you're interested in that stuff) .. you just need to find some software to be able to do this.
small tip: I use a program called Livegraph(Livegraph 2.0 Beta 01). it works well for another thing I used to graph data from. It takes a litle while to get used to it, but eventually it's easy to figure out. You need to set up some parameters yourself to get it 'readable' .. just takes some stuffing around. Blackbox's CSV viewer is just a "click and gawp" program for Windows that saves the stuiffing around bit.

Thanks Arthur for the suggestions!

Up to now I have failed. I did download the SD card formatter from the restricted Nanocom area, and even downloaded and installed VirtualMachine to run that app. But it did not work out. Then I found an old 1GB SD card in an old camera by chance and formatted it as ExFat on my MAC. Also did not work.

So for now I am stumped. My MAC disc formatting utility offers 'ExFat' and 'MS-Dos (Fat)' options for formatting cards - apart from the Mac formats of course. No Fat32.

Unfortunately no one I know has a personal PC, quite a few have a work PC but they are company configured to not allow any programs to be run outside what they are set up for. I guess that is reasonable from a business perspective considering all the cyber fraud going on. Just does not help me.

Not sure what to do next.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Get hold of a windows laptop or PC , plenty of cheap used ones around and probably find friends/workmates may have one gathering dust.

Then download and install the sd card formatting app from your nanocom login page, it will format card to suit the evo, no thinking required.

I use a Lexar 16 GB SDHC card and no issues.

Keep it simple don't fart around with the MAC just use a windows machine.

I did the above and also downloaded the viewer for the log files and logging and checking saved data saves you stufing around measuring things when you need to fault find.

For my 2006 Def TD5 I bought a Nanocom Evo last may hoping to sightly improve my ECU map with the help of Jose. I got stuck realizing it does not talk with my MAC.

Just remember that if you try to input a new map to your ECU and the volts drop you can "brick" your ECU.

I bought a 20amp 13.8 volt power supply from Jaycar to ensure that the voltage remained up and no bricking.
Regards PhilipA

Originally Posted by Parker

...
Up to now I have failed. I did download the SD card formatter from the restricted Nanocom area, and even downloaded and installed VirtualMachine to run that app. But it did not work out. Then I found an old 1GB SD card in an old camera by chance and formatted it as ExFat on my MAC. Also did not work.

So for now I am stumped. My MAC disc formatting utility offers 'ExFat' and 'MS-Dos (Fat)' options for formatting cards - apart from the Mac formats of course. No Fat32.

....

Not sure what to do next....

Weird!
From the google searches I've done, you should have the option to format to FAT32, as this is the most common formatting for almost all cameras. And I doubt Apple would break camera manufacturer standards and alienate all digital camera users.

Anyhow, FAT is acceptable for the nanocom SD card format. It has limits as to how large files can be, and how much space will be available to you on the card. On the 1GB card this isn't an issue.(you haven't revealed what card type is your main card yet either). Do remember that the nanocom may not read the most modern card types, or very large SD card types. It's only capable up to SDHC, not SDXC!! So if you preferred card is of the XC variety, this could be why it's not recognised.
Why the 1GB SD card isn't recognised is strange(if you tried FAT formatting).

ExFat will not work on the nanocom!! ... see the previous bit about SDXC SD card types not being recognised.

Format the 1GB card with FAT(if this is your only option) and try that.

Look at the link to SD Formatter in my first reply and try this on your Mac and see if it gives you the option for FAT32

Another point I can think of why you may not be seeing the card on the nanocom.
Are you inserting the SD Card into the nanocom whilst it's off? Nanocom is not a plug and play device, so it needs to be off to insert and remove a SD Card before the action is recognised.

Also a reminder: this info is just to help with getting the SD card recognised by the nanocom.. NOT!! for using it to flash the ECU(map file). For this you do need a Windows PC to format the SDCard properly so that the map flashing components are installed onto the SD Card too. But first we try to get the card working on the nanocom .. baby steps I guess.

Baby steps yes. A friendly person found a 2GB card, I gave him the program and he formatted it.

I tried three times. Nanocom reads the map but right at the end it says it can’t successfully save the file.

The app puts two folders on the card, I’ve chosen the BBS folder.

Once I’ve changed the file name that comes up, twice not.

Should I take a photo of the screen steps?

Note that the Nanocom is particular about the brand and type of SD card used in it.

Says so in the manual.
And especially so for when using .map files and trying to flash the ECU.

The use of a High Quality SD or SDHC card from known manufacturers has been noted from various forums especially
when storing MAP files for the TD5 with the intention of remapping the ECU. Issues have been highlighted on several
occasions now which have been down to the SD card not storing the information correctly.
In the Important Notes section of this guide it refers to ways of formatting the SD card when using it for mapping an
ECU. No liability claims can be made against either Blackbox Solutions or any other customer offering possible solutions
to issues with 3rd party equipment. All work is undertaken at the owners own risk.
This information from one of our beta testers may prove useful in the process:
1. Low level reformat of SD Card. Using HDD-LLF software (HDDGURU: HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool) to do
this. It leaves the card unpartitioned and is pretty slow.
2. Format SD Card with SD Formatter software ( SD Association Page not found )

So we know that Lexar 16Gb SD card you have .. doesn't work so well. What other brands/types of SD card have you tried.
I got the nanocom back from brother the other day, I'll double check what card I used in it, and let you know. I'm pretty sure it worked fine, in that I've saved the tune in the TD5 to a .map file onto the SD card and then onto my PC for future reference.
Just can't recall what SD card I have in it.

One last note: what firwmware is your nanocom running?