My
MINI VCI
cable arrived several days ago, as user manual suggestion MINI VCI is
supposed to work it with Windows XP, but to contrary the popular belief,
I get it working under Windows 64-bit and would like to share the
instructions, I hope it will save someone a headache of dealing with
dual boot and virtual machines with Windows XP.
Package: MINI VCI cable for TOYOTA TIS Techstream, I‘ve bought mine from
EOBD2 for around $30. The cable is about 4’ long, with a box and “MINI-VCI J2534 Standard OBDII Communication Interface” sticker.
The
cable comes with a mini CD with drivers and Toyota Techstream software;
it is advertised as “Newest V8.30.023”. The “newest” refers to the
version of bundled Techstream, rather than the cable firmware.
My Windows 64-bit Computer:
A laptop running 64-bit version of Windows 7/8. Mine is actually
Windows 8 x64, but for Windows 7 the configuration procedure should be
identical.
CD software and driver Copy or download
Copy
the software and driver in the CD, and paste it into my local disk C,
Note: you can paste into any one local disk as you like.
If you
find your CD is broken in the delivery, don’t worry, eobd2 has a
software download website, link here:
http://www.chinaautodiag.com/html/mini-vci-for-toyota-tis-techstream-free-download-223.html
Install MVCI Driver for TOYOTA
this
is the step which most people stumble upon as “MVCI Driver for
TOYOTA.msi” installer indeed does not work on Windows x64. The
workaround is to install it manually, as follows:
a. Open Command Prompt in Administrator Mode. Navigate to the c:\temp folder and run the following command line:
msiexec /a “C:\temp\MVCI Driver for TOYOTA.msi” /qb TARGETDIR=c:\temp\mvci
This will extract the content of the MSI file to the c:\temp\mvci folder:
b. Delete the “MVCI Driver for TOYOTA.msi” there and then copy the whole
content of c:\temp\mvci to “C:\Program Files (x86)\XHorse Electronics\MVCI Driver for TOYOTA TIS”
c. Plug the MINI VCI cable to the USB port.
d. Open the Device Manager and locate two failing devices in the
list. Both will appear with yellow icon (usually under “Other”),
indicating that Windows failed to install drivers for them. Now, right
click each failing device, select Install Driver, then “Browse my
Computer…” and point it for “C:\Program Files (x86)\XHorse
Electronics\MVCI Driver for TOYOTA TIS” (enable the “include subfolders”
flag). Click “Next” and wait until drivers are installed.
You
should now see two new devices: “Universal Serial Bus Controllers\USB
Serial Converter” and “Ports (COM & LPT)\USB Serial Port (COM5)”.
e. Run the FirmwareUpdateTool.exe from the “C:\Program Files
(x86)\XHorse Electronics\MVCI Driver for TOYOTA TIS”. Click “Device
Info”. You should see the “device connected” screen like this:
If you see this, it means your
MINI VCI cable is up and running under Windows x64 and can be used by other programs, such as Techstream.
IMPORTANT:
Some people have reported that updating firmware on this “cheap clone”
cable may render it dead. So, the Firmware Update Tool should not be
used for anything, but checking that the device is connected and working
properly.
2. Now install Techstream software using “Techstream
8.30.023.exe” and then update to 8.10 with
“Techstream_Update_V8.10.021.exe”. Do not launch it yet.
To activate it, copy the IT3System.ini you extracted before to “C:\Program Files (x86)\Toyota Diagnostics\Techstream\Env\”.
Alternatively,
you may copy two files from the C:\Program Files (x86)\XHorse
Electronics\MVCI Driver for TOYOTA TIS\ProgramFilesFolder\Toyota
Diagnostics\Techstream\Env” to “C:\Program Files (x86)\Toyota
Diagnostics\Techstream\Env\”, which seem to do the trick as well.
3. Registry Hack: for Techstream to recognize MINI-VCI under Windows x64, the Registry has to be modified as:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\PassThruSu pport.04.04]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\PassThruSu pport.04.04\XHorse - MVCI]
“Name”=”XHorse – MVCI”
“Vendor”=”XHorse ELECTRONICS Co.,Ltd.”
“ConfigApplication”=”C:\\Program Files (x86)\\XHorse Electronics\\MVCI Driver for TOYOTA TIS\\FirmwareUpdateTool.exe”
“FunctionLibrary”=”C:\\Program Files (x86)\\XHorse Electronics\\MVCI Driver for TOYOTA TIS\\MVCI32.dll”
“APIVersion”=”04.04?
“ProductVersion”=”1.1.0?
“ProtocolsSupported”=”J1850VPW:1, J1850PWM:1, CAN:1, ISO9141:1, ISO14230:1, ISO15765:1?
“J1850VPW”=dword:00000001
“J1850PWM”=dword:00000001
“ISO9141?=dword:00000001
“ISO14230?=dword:00000001
“CAN”=dword:00000001
“ISO15765?=dword:00000001
“SCI_A_ENGINE”=dword:00000000
“SCI_A_TRANS”=dword:00000000
“SCI_B_ENGINE”=dword:00000000
“SCI_B_TRANS”=dword:00000000
The attached “mvci-x64.zip” contains the *.REG file that has to be imported to the Registry (extract, right click, then Merge)
A
trick here is the “Wow6432Node” in key path, which is the location the
32-bit applications running on 64-bit OS get redirected to when
accessing Registry. The “PassThruSupport.04.04? seems to be the place
Techstream looks into for available VIMs (sub-keys appear in the “VIM
Select” menu in Techstream).
4. Run Techstream. Go to Setup | VIM Select menu and select the “
XHorse – MVCI”
5. Connect MVCI cable to your car’s OBDII interface, turn ignition
on, then click “Connect to Vehicle” in Techstream. Wait. Then wait again
(by the way, you’ll be doing that a lot with this cable ). If
everything works, you will be prompted to confirm car year/model after
which you’ll get to the diagnostic interface.
The built-in Techstream cable diagnostics shows:
So far, I tested the cable with 2013 4Runner, 2004 Sienna and 1997
Camry LE/4cyl, and it seems to work fine with all of them. Absence of
(L) line connection means no support for ECU re-flashing (which is not
something I’m comfortable doing myself anyway). Option
customization/clearing DTC is possible (already verified).
Overall, not bad for a $30 gadget, in my opinion.
