You can download the source code and build it yourself or there's a. I uploaded all the source code to GitHub: I only just got this working yesterday so I haven't tried writing the EEPROM back yet but that should be pretty straightforward to get working. Finally with some pointers from Mike, I was able to partially disassemble the cluster ROM in order to find how the challenge/response works and am now able to dump the entire cluster EEPROM to a file for editing.
VCDS ALTERNATIVE HOW TO
The commercial tools all know how to do that but it's not documented anywhere that I could find. That required performing a successful challenge/response with the cluster. The big thing missing was the ability to read/write the cluster EEPROM. Eventually I got it to the point where it could read/write bytes in the CCM EEPROM like VDS-PRO and retrieve the Safe code from a VW Premium V radio like Mike's tool. I was then able to write a program that could wake up a module and send simple commands over the K-Line. I bought a Saleae logic analyzer and was able to use it to spy on the K-Line while using various cluster tools and VDS-PRO in order to figure out which KW1281 commands were being used to read/write the EEPROM, reboot the cluster, etc. I was able to find a good bit of info about VW's proprietary KW1281 K-Line protocol here and learned some more by reading Mike's code.
VCDS ALTERNATIVE SOFTWARE
So that got me thinking that maybe I could do something similar in software that runs on a PC and a generic cable. The only downside is that his software runs on a custom circuit board and that's a barrier to most people. He's made all the info available for free. Mike has done the amazing job of reverse engineering 8 (so far) VW/Seat/Skoda radios and has found various hidden commands and discovered ways to retrieve the Safe code from most of them via the K-Line and some open-source hardware/software that he created. I've had lots of trouble getting it to run at all on newer computers.įast forward to a couple of months ago: I bumped into Mike Naberezny's GitHub page: I've also always wanted to use VDS-PRO to enable the "Roll windows up/down with key fob" CCM feature and other options, but it only runs on DOS and hasn't been maintained in many years. If I set the odometer to 0, they can adjust it to the correct value with VCDS, but no VagTacho, no SKC, no start.
VCDS ALTERNATIVE INSTALL
If I sell a cluster to someone, they need to know their SKC in order to install it. And it's not only me that needs these tools. (I eventually did by a real copy of VAGdashCOM after having lots of trouble with flaky eBay VagTacho cables).
You can find cheap pirated copies of many of these, but some still require special cables and you never know what malware might be lurking on the plain white mini-CDs that the software comes on. The problem is that legitimate copies of these tools cost hundreds of dollars and require special dedicated cables. Since I have a part-time "business" (really more like a hobby at this point) involving fixing up MKIV instrument clusters and reselling them, VagTacho or similar (VAG Commander, VAGdashCOM, VAG EEPROM Programmer, etc.) is a necessity. However there are things that VCDS doesn't do, such as pulling the SKC from an instrument cluster, changing the odometer of a used cluster, reading/writing bytes in the CCM, retrieving a used radio's Safe code, etc. So I've been a happy VCDS user since buying my Golf in 2003 (it had 65000 miles on it so it conveniently needed an immediate timing belt replacement, hence needing VCDS - though it was named VAG-COM way back then).
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