Resets only when Laptop plugged into Microsquirt.

[EWflyer]

I've been on a bit of a break from my fuel injection project during the holiday season, but now I'm getting ready to get back to work.

When I left off work earlier in December I had the bike up and running pretty well, everything functional just not tuned. My major problem is that I can't datalog because the Microsquirt suffers resets when I've got the laptop connected. I've tried three different laptops, so it isn't the laptop computer causing the problem (I think).

I'm posting this information to ask for your opinions on this problem, for your ideas on what fixes to try, or for suggested methods for investigating this problem further.

Could it be as simple as separating the serial cables from the rest of the pigtail, and/or somehow insulating those three wires from the rest of the wiring pigtail? If so what would I use to insulate the wires?

As I said, I'd be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction.

[24c]

I saw Bruce's reply to your other thread, and I have tried to search for somebody else who had the same issue with his serial cable, which I have seen but can't find.

Maybe if you can move the MicroSquirt further away to reduce the noise, or just wrap the cable in aluminium cooking foil etc to see if there is any improvement. If you have the laptop in a backpack it's probably far enough away, but if you are looking at it, say by mounting near the handlebars, don't forget there is a lot of electrical activity eg, coils etc which are usually mounted nearby and your cables would be passing through this bit.

[EWflyer]

Because the problem only occurs when I've got the laptop hooked up I'm going to proceed with the assumption that I can cure the issue by attacking things that directly affect the laptop's connection to the MicroSquirt. (by the way, I forgot to mention that I've tried two different serial adaptor also. I've pretty confident that my current serial adaptor is good)

I'm planning to embark on a step-by-step battle against noise and interference.

Step 1: It has been suggested to me a couple of times that the three wires of the serial plug should be isolated from the other wires in the pigtail. My wiring pigtail came pre-assembled from DIYautotune and they put a shrink-wrap over the last few inches of the wiring and the back end of the ampseal connector. Up til now I've left it in that configuration, but now I'm planning to cut this off and inspect the quality of the wiring connections to the ampseal, then I'm going to try to isolate the three wires of the serial plug. The serial "in" and "out" wires should be easy to isolate because they're at the edge of the ampseal, but the ground (Pin 19) is buried right in the middle of the ampseal connector. (Please tell me there's a better way to isolate a wire than aluminum cooking foil!)

If that clears up my reset problem I'll be thrilled, but if it doesn't I've got a couple of other ideas....

Step 2: Purchase and install an "isolation module" EMI/RFI filter on the 12volt power supply to the Microsquirt.

followed by.....

Step 3: Put a 24volt Zener Diode on my OPTOIN+ wire which I've got connected to the bike's negative coil trigger wire.

followed by....

Step 4: I'm going to have to assume I've got a problem in my wiring or the routing of my wiring. I'll be looking with a much more careful eye for routing, as in which wires are allowed to run alongside or even momentarily contact other wires. I'll have to take the time to re-evaluate every inch of wiring and every solder joint in the installation. I've got a neighbor who really knows electronics (assembly-line automation is his profession), and he's offered to bring his oscilloscope and have a look over the bike's electical system.

followed by....

Step 5: If all else fails I'll re-accomplishing all of the wiring . If I end up going this far I'm going to make it a complete do-over with a new ampseal wiring pigtail.

So there's my winter/springtime course of action. I'd certainly like it if I could find a quick, simple fix.

[gboezio]

I had huge spikes on my logs, but it was false, it would not affect the engine operation, maybe it's what 24C was looking for

[23tbucket]

I have exactly the same problem as EWflyer. Microsquirted CB750, fuel only, turbocharged, LC1. Bike starts and runs just fine, and not a single reset! I need to change some of the parameters for when the boost comes on strong at mid RPMs, but whenever I hook up the laptop to log or change things a bit...the dam random resets start!!!! I've tried different laptops, cables, etc, Moved wiring around etc. etc. This is real frustrating...I've checked this and other sites to see if anyone has found a solution without success.......seems as though quite a few are having this same issue.............HELP.....Pleeeeese.

[R100RT]

I've had a lap top mounted to a bracket over my fuel tank on my project - and probably ran it that way for over 2000km ( sure that's a pretty long tuning session, but its been a steep learning curve in many areas over a long period, lol). However, with the serial port availability on those lap tops and avoidance of the "Adaptors", I've had zero reset and noise issues. That is with the tuning cable running in temporary fashion adjacent to other high current circuits too.
I did have a challenge attempting to even connect a newer lap top with a Prolific serial port to serial plug type adaptor (plus the typical blue screen crashes, disconnects, etc.), and spent some time working through the fixes and cures that people have posted here - then gave up and put that aside for off season projects.
You might want to avoid condeming wiring and other aspects of the project that might be just fine, by locating/borrowing & connecting to an older computer with serial port to see if the resets and problems continue. If not, then the problem is probably with the adaptor and/or settings.

[24c]

My project is slightly different, in that I have a working EFI bike and I need to reverse engineer some info off the factory ECU, and apply it to the MicroSquirt, plus I have another parallel project with a later design engine in another identical bike.

The idea of lugging my laptop on a frame doesn't appeal to me, nor to the local police force, but I can understand the need. I am trying to avoid all these issues by datalogging rpm, TPS, MAP and Lambda using my Innovate stuff. I even got a WiFi adapter OT-2?, so I can put my iPhone in my GIVI waterproof SATNAV case and use it like a mini dash to analyse my AFRs at various speeds, and sample realtime info. I can then relate this to the TunerStudio stuff I have and feed it all back into the "pot".

I do know from visiting other forums that TunerStudio has had a few serial comms issues working with various platforms and poor USB/Serial drivers, but a lot of these are getting resolved with the latest software. I personally have had no issues datalogging or programming my stationary bike using a MacBook, Prolific USB/Serial adaptor, TunerStudio in OSX, with a cased MicroSquirt and noisy wasted spark coils.

I am not using the coils for a tach signal though, but I have noticed a little noise/oscillation on my AFR signal, and so I am going to try one of BBs mods to isolate noise and see if this improves things.