Automatic OBD can't link up with LapTimer

Discussion related to external OBD and other sensors
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donutespresso
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Automatic OBD can't link up with LapTimer

Post by donutespresso »

Hi, recently I got the 2nd gen Automatic adapter. I tried to get LapTimer to recognize it, but I couldn't link it up properly as LT reported inconsistencies in the adapter. I tried to follow the debugging instructions (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1500), but I noticed one thing with the Automatic adapter. It seems to do authorization through their website before other apps can access the adapter. I was able to get LT to connect to the adapter, but when I open up the GPS/OBD Buddy app, it tries to do the same authorization as it did for LT, but then seems to fail to do so. As a result, OBD Buddy can see the Automatic adapter, which is listed as available, but is unable to connect to it.

Here's a shot of the PIDs before I enabled auto prune:
All PIDs
All PIDs
IMG_1786.jpg (146.75 KiB) Viewed 7428 times
Here is a list after I turned on auto prune:
auto pruned PIDs
auto pruned PIDs
IMG_1788.jpg (115.95 KiB) Viewed 7428 times
The car is a 2003 US spec Mitsubishi Evo VIII. I previously had tried a GoPoint BT1, which worked without a hitch. Any ideas as far as next steps to try? Any help would be appreciated!
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Harry
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Re: Automatic OBD can't link up with LapTimer

Post by Harry »

Hi,

Please make sure you have the latest Automatic firmware installed. 1.0.96 is probably outdated?

I have no experience if the Automatic adapter behaves well when connecting to two 3rd party apps at a time. Both LapTimer and Buddy close external connections when sent to background, other apps may not. The only app allowed to access the Automatic in parallel is the Automatic app itself.

You are right that access by a third party app needs to be authorized when used the first time. Once authorized, the LapTimer memorized the credentials for the next connection and will not raise the authorization dialog again.

In case LapTimer shows AT commands only in Sensor Information, this is a strong indicator authorization didn't work. So once you have updated the firmware, restart LapTimer and try again.

Harry
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donutespresso
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Re: Automatic OBD can't link up with LapTimer

Post by donutespresso »

Thanks for the quick reply. I will give it a shot tomorrow and see if I can make some progress. I think it may be possible Automatic or LapTimer may be confused, as well. When I open Buddy, it goes to authorize the app, but instead of bouncing me back to Buddy, it opens up LapTimer. Is it possible Buddy never "received" the authorization, maybe? I may try connecting Buddy using a different phone to see if it helps.
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Harry
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Re: Automatic OBD can't link up with LapTimer

Post by Harry »

:-) You are a smart guy! You are correct. All of my apps use the same url scheme for Automatic authorization currently. Seems I need to change that. Not sure Buddy can authorize LapTimer, but you probably better remove Buddy temporarily to get it working with Laptimer.

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Re: Automatic OBD can't link up with LapTimer

Post by Harry »

P.S. Your assumption you posted on https://community.automatic.com/automat ... -lap-timer is actually wrong. Both myself and Automatic ran extensive tests on the integration. Although the Automatic integration is by far more complex due to the authorization, it is not a problem with QA. Adapter / car compatibility is a wide field with lots of different implementations by make/model/year of car, and both electric issues and wireless interference on top. So sometimes you need to find problem after release to the field. You can't test all cars.

The issue with Buddy / LapTimer is very special as it appears only with both apps installed - which makes no sense except for debugging.
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donutespresso
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Re: Automatic OBD can't link up with LapTimer

Post by donutespresso »

OK, so I think I got it connected finally, and with auto exclude PIDs turned on here's what I get:
sensor information screen
sensor information screen
IMG_1832.jpg (143.46 KiB) Viewed 7387 times
Since I'm unable to use OBD Buddy app due to app authorization issue, what would you suggest next steps be? Do I just go through each of the returned PIDs and try adding them to the exclude list? Is the format just one long string, e.g., 01000104010C ?
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donutespresso
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Re: Automatic OBD can't link up with LapTimer

Post by donutespresso »

Haha! Sorry if that post seemed incendiary, it was posted after an hour of futzing with the Buddy/LapTimer/Automatic, all the while the adapter kept connecting/disconnecting itself for no apparent reason. It was just a lot more frustrating than I expected it to be. :( I realize this is a difficult problem, and am trying to work my way through it with everyone's help!

FYI, I tried using just Buddy app from a separate phone, and I think because the auth scheme used goes to LapTimer, Buddy can't be authorized properly.

EDIT: sorry if I wasn't super clear earlier, all of these screen shots are from LapTimer, Buddy can't connect with the adapter at all.
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Re: Automatic OBD can't link up with LapTimer

Post by donutespresso »

Played with it some more tonight, I notice PID01-20 is showing up twice in the list, so I excluded 0100 and boom, suddenly it connected! In the sensor list, I actually got a frequency reading:

Automatic @ 70Hz

However, I was missing RPM inputs in the Realtime view, which leads me to believe something else is amiss. I'll do some more testing by excluding the other PIDs and see what the results are.
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Re: Automatic OBD can't link up with LapTimer

Post by Harry »

PID01-20 appears twice because both available mode 1 and mode 9 PIDs are checked for availability. You should not exclude these as the parser depends on this information to run efficiently.

Exclude PIDs should actually not have an influence on Automatic interaction. It retrieves data largely independent of LapTimer and returns data from a cache. So even if there is a problem with a PID requested, it should be able to return NO DATA without a relevant time penalty. Set LapTimer to ignore NO DATA (it is the default in OBD Tweaks / Expert Settings). Although you can add excludes by concatenating 4 hex digits each, I'd recommend to debug this with no PID excluded. At least for my test device, I have never excluded PIDs.

Have you checked for the most recent Automatic firmware?

Harry
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Re: Automatic OBD can't link up with LapTimer

Post by carramrod »

Right now the 2nd gen Automatic doesn't read all the Mode 1 PIDs. There is supposed to be an update in the next week or two to enable all those PIDs. That's why we're not getting coolant temp specifically ;)
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