Cobb has been "At lunch" since early this morning. So i can't call them :rolleyes: . Anyway, i got the USB / Serial adapter, I FINALLY got my PC to locate the accessport :banana:

But now I want to update my 04 AP to the latest 05 firmware here:
http://www.accessecu.com/support/MY05_WRX_update.pdf

Everything I read says AP must be "unmarried". Fine, mine has never been married to my ECU (just got it from another board member), but it IS in an unmarried state. However, my PC can locate it but the Map Manager software tells me it "COULD NOT IDENTIFY AP". Which i am told is beacuse it is not "married". So what gives? If i plug the AP into my car and sync it up will it not be "married"? Thus making the update impossible.

I can get my AP to the "WAITING FOR PC" stage.
I can get my update sofware on the PC to "WAITING FOR ACCESSPORT ON COM1"
My mapmanager software tells me the AP is on COM3. I don't know if this is related to it's not being able to "IDENTIFY" the AP or not.

Part of the problem with the AP (for me) is with the fact that the knowledge is spread over so many different locations online. I have at least 4 COBB sanctioned pages bookmarked, and each has FAQS. I bounce from one to another trying to get an answer, sort the problem and then another pops up. A nice comprehensive re-write of the manual might be a step in the right direction.

had the same problem but the other way around....I was trying to go back to 04 from 05 update....Same error message on 3 different computers. I just became so frustrated with it i decided to send it to Cobb. Hopefully you can figure it out cause i couldn't.
FYI if you send to Cobb.....not only do you have to cover shipping to them but along with the shipping costs back to you. :(

yeah, i thought i had just made some progress: I realised that i had to press "yes" on the upgrade software prompt screen and power up the AP (while doing the UP/DOWN arrow thing) all at the same time! haha... it was like playing twister with my fingers. :D

Anyway, just as the software update window says "FOUND" it switched to "ERROR": Something about three tries blah blah blah. Well yeah I had THREE unsuccessful tries! Damn! I guess i'll just send it back to COBB. They are on an 8 hour lunch break right now... Call them and see.

do not use the auto detect with USB > Serial adapters. it will go to Com 3 regardless of what it actually is.

found the problem with the '04 Reprogram software, and i would bet that it's the same problem.

bottom of the page
http://www.wrxforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=11;t=001688;p=9

an email from trey (regarding the '04 reprogram problem)

"Attached is another version of the ReprogramAP utility. If it is able
to detect an AP, it will display the COM port it detected on. If its
detecting on the wrong port, you can run it from a DOS command line.
After the program name, put a space and the COM# (replace # with a COM
port number ie: COM4)

Let me know how things go.

Thanks,
Trey"



he since then updated the '04 Reprogram software on the download page

well I got the two love birds to "find" each other. Just when the upgrade prompt screen announced "FOUND" it flashed "ERROR". It seems that my several unsuccessful attempts tripped some sort of alarm. :rolleyes: So, it says "Three failed attempts: Contact Tech Support" or something like that.

Tech support were on a 10 hour lunch break last time I tried calling... I might give them a call today. Or just put this thing in the microwave and watch what happens. :D

For all the issues you're having, maybe it would be best to just send your AP to Cobb and have it reprogrammed there. I bet they'll even load the most current map versions on there as well....

Like I said in another post, I had no issues reprogramming my AP. I think half of your problem is the USB-to-serial adapter. Those have never worked perfectly, IMO. I guess I was lucky in that my desktop PC has a serial port so I was able to go direct.

Good luck with it...hope things work out....keep us posted.

For all the issues you're having, maybe it would be best to just send your AP to Cobb and have it reprogrammed there.

You're right i'm sure. I was just hoping to avoid it... being an instant gratification kind of guy :)

I'll ship it today and let you know how i make out.

try reducing your buffer's to the minimum value.