The following is to be read in relation to the PIWIS 2 setup using a virtual machine as described in this thread link.
PIWIS 2 setup as a virtual machine
I’ve always had issues getting the PIWIS interface to connect consistently to the virtual machine. In addition to the problems I already was having, Rob997 discovered and came up with the solution to the black menu issue that occurs after about a year.
I decided to do a bunch of poking around to see if I could nut out exactly what indications I needed to see when it was connecting correctly. I now seem to have a method that consistently ensures the interface connects to the VM so it will then interact with the PIWIS program. If you are having issues, below is some stuff to check that might help. If people have seen other issues and found a fix, please add below.
Connection Procedure
Connection method seems to be critical. Do it in the order below. I’ve put additional items in italics that aren’t essential but that give you indications along the way that it is connecting correctly.
- Start Virtualbox.
- Connect both leads to the interface.
- Connect interface to car. Should have flashing ‘power’ LED on the interface once it has been connected to the car.
- If you have a red ‘status’ LED, continue with the procedures below. If it is recognised by Virtualbox as described in the next step, once you start the virtual machine it should update the firmware on the interface when the VM boots, which should turn off the red status LED.
- Once the interface has been connected to car, wait a few moments and then connect the interface USB to your computer. Should get the ‘connecting device’ sound from host. Check the device is recognised by Virtualbox. Go to VirtualBox, Settings, USB. Click the small USB button on the right with the +, and check the Samtec device is listed. All the USB devices currently recognised by the host should be listed. To the left of this button the Samtec device should be listed to automatically mount when you start the VM as described in the linked thread above.
- Start VM. As the host boots, you should get a single flash of the ‘USB’ LED when you hear the ‘disconnecting device’ sound from the host.
- When VM has booted, go to Device Manager (Control Panel, System, Hardware) and check you can see ‘HSX Interface’ device under ‘LibUSB-Win32 devices’. Sometimes I’ve seen ‘unknown USB’ under LibUSB-Win32 devices and the PIWIS won’t connect to it correctly. If you are seeing this, right click on ‘unknown USB’ and then click ‘update driver’. It will then take you to the wizard. Allow it to automatically search for the driver and load it. Once this is done ‘HSX interface’ should replace ‘unknown USB’.
- Start PIWIS program. Check the validity of imprint isn’t blank. If not, use the imprint procedure below. If you don’t do this you will most likely have the blank menu problem the next time you open the program.
- You should see 8 options in the black menu on the left. If you only see 4 (diagnostics won’t be one of the 4 options), immediately complete the imprint procedure below. If you have no options on the black menu, you will need to completely reinstall the original PIWIS.ova file (as described in the linked thread above) to create a new virtual machine in Virtualbox and then imprint the device again.
- Turn on ignition and then start diagnostics. Should see a solid ‘USB’ LED when the diagnostics connects. If it doesn’t connect, sometimes due to it updating firmware on interface, close diagnostics and open again.
- When the connection is good, the green ‘power’ LED should be flashing and the green ‘USB’ LED should be on solidly.
Disconnection Procedure
I’ve seen issues when I haven’t disconnected the interface in the way described below. It seems to affect the firmware on the interface, which resulted in a red ‘status’ LED when you connect it to the car next time. The fix to this red status light is above in step 5.
- Shutdown diagnostics. The ‘USB’ LED should go out when you do this.
- Shutdown virtual machine. The ‘power’ LED should flash throughout this.
- Remove interface USB plug from computer.
- Disconnect interface plug from car.
Imprint procedure
1. Open PIWIS 2
2. Go to -- SETTINGS--> Tester Imprint
3. Go to "Licence" tab – The boxes should be greyed out and empty. If the imprint is valid, these boxes should be greyed but have the correct licence key visible. Go to "KEY" tab and click 'Create Key' (will generate a requirement code)
4. Enter any key and press save, keep repeating it until it says "too many faulty attempts"
5. go to "KEY" tab and click 'Create Key' (will generate a requirement code)
6. Exit PIWIS II with task manager. To exit PIWIS without shutting down the VM, right click on taskbar (at bottom), open task manager, then go to 'desktop' and end task.
7. Go to the folder "c:\user data" and locate the file "praegung.xml" (this is the 'praegung.xml' on the desktop) edit it with notepad and locate the part "demand key", delete the existing number and enter 4032546358 to replace the one in the file - save the file and close.
8. Start the piwis again, Go to -- SETTINGS--> Tester Imprint in the "KEY" tab you should see the key you have entered before.
9. go to "license" tab and enter the key below and click SAVE. This is the same key that is in the licence.txt file on the desktop that can be copy/pasted into the key.
s3nT IfSX sytP rDFo 1TRM Gw==
10. Now it should say "Tester was successfully imprinted" and validity should show 30 days. Close PIWIS with task manager.
11. Go to the folder (use the shortcut on the desktop) "c:\user data" and locate the file "praegung.xml" edit it with notepad and locate the part "validationstring" replace the 30 by unlimited OR enter "X" number of days (eg-9999)
Video below of how to stop the black menu problem. The batch file startup stopped working for some reason. Easy workaround shown.
