GT350 FORScan Tweaks

[mrbillwot]

It's complicated and it's simple, all at the same time. The numbers and letters are hexadecimal shorthand for binary strings - rows of ones and zeroes. If I recall correctly, there's only one single 1 that has to become a zero to turn off sound enhancement. That's the simple part. The complicated part is that every one and zero in the entire expression does something, so there's no simple "just put this entire ten-character string in and it'll work" instruction.

What you need to do is to look at 727-01-01 and see what the 6th letter/digit is when you start. If it's an "A" then change it to an "8". Binary "A" is 1100 and binary "8" is 1000, so you can see that the second "1" has become a zero. If it's anything other than "A", then you need to figure out the binary version of the starting point and change the second "bit" to a 0 and figure out what that binary version maps to in hexadecimal (0 - F) notation. That's the letter that'll change the sound without changing anything else.

Easy, right?

I don't think he's having trouble changing the bit values - just asking a reasonable question of why the address & data change year to year. I design embedded systems for a living - its a valid point but in the end we engineers don't change things like register addresses that we don't have to. Only the developers would know. Ideally there would be an abstraction layer that keeps these things the same year to year of not model to model but that doesn't seem to be the case. I have the factory detailed service manuals for my 89 Fox LX including a thick one for the EEC-IV computer.....I wonder if there is an equiv. for my 19 350.

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[JAJ]

I don't think he's having trouble changing the bit values - just asking a reasonable question of why the address & data change year to year. I design embedded systems for a living - its a valid point but in the end we engineers don't change things like register addresses that we don't have to. Only the developers would know. Ideally there would be an abstraction layer that keeps these things the same year to year of not model to model but that doesn't seem to be the case. I have the factory detailed service manuals for my 89 Fox LX including a thick one for the EEC-IV computer.....I wonder if there is an equiv. for my 19 350.

I've built embedded systems a couple of times over my career, and I agree completely. Don't mess with stuff that works. The latest versions of Forscan have an abstraction layer that works pretty well, but the early versions were all programmed in hex, and most of the folks doing the exploration on how it worked (including me) didn't think in terms of binary switches - Forscan presented them with hex values so they assumed that the hex values were in control, rather than looking at the role of each individual bit inside each hex value. With the exception of a few hex values that actually represent numbers (like the VIN or tire diameter), each hex value represents four single-bit switches and it's normal for adjacent switches to control functions that are unrelated to each other.

If you look at the 2016 "recommended changes" it's almost the same as the 2017 change. The 2016 change has the four bits in the 6th location go from 0000 to 1010 to turn on the sound. That's almost the same as the 2017 change going from 1000 to 1010. The leading 1 in 1010 does something else, and the internet documentation I have on the ACM says it tells the ACM whether the car has front tweeters (0 for not present, 1 for installed). If the car doesn't actually have front tweeters, then changing that bit to 1 won't affect anything, or if it does, it'll be a loss of highs in the rest of the speakers.

As for the rest of the hex signature, well, that's probably just a leftover from the early days of Forscan tuning. Back in the early days, a lot of the advice was to copy a whole 10-character signature from a car that did what you wanted and install it in a car that didn't. Results were highly variable, let's just say.

 

[mrbillwot]

I've built embedded systems a couple of times over my career, and I agree completely. Don't mess with stuff that works. The latest versions of Forscan have an abstraction layer that works pretty well, but the early versions were all programmed in hex, and most of the folks doing the exploration on how it worked (including me) didn't think in terms of binary switches - Forscan presented them with hex values so they assumed that the hex values were in control, rather than looking at the role of each individual bit inside each hex value. With the exception of a few hex values that actually represent numbers (like the VIN or tire diameter), each hex value represents four single-bit switches and it's normal for adjacent switches to control functions that are unrelated to each other.

If you look at the 2016 "recommended changes" it's almost the same as the 2017 change. The 2016 change has the four bits in the 6th location go from 0000 to 1010 to turn on the sound. That's almost the same as the 2017 change going from 1000 to 1010. The leading 1 in 1010 does something else, and the internet documentation I have on the ACM says it tells the ACM whether the car has front tweeters (0 for not present, 1 for installed). If the car doesn't actually have front tweeters, then changing that bit to 1 won't affect anything, or if it does, it'll be a loss of highs in the rest of the speakers.

As for the rest of the hex signature, well, that's probably just a leftover from the early days of Forscan tuning. Back in the early days, a lot of the advice was to copy a whole 10-character signature from a car that did what you wanted and install it in a car that didn't. Results were highly variable, let's just say.

It would be great if all of this was captured...better yet if it was from an inside source. Best I've found thus far is this

 

[Tank]

Why are the digit locations and values that need to be modified different between the 2016 and 2017?

They eliminated the 15/16 Tech Pack and rejiggered the available model line for 2017.

@Zombo did a good job summing these changes up - it’s near the top on the Basics sticky.

 

[Lurker_350]

They eliminated the 15/16 Tech Pack and rejiggered the available model line for 2017.

@Zombo did a good job summing these changes up - it’s near the top on the Basics sticky.

Thanks @Tank - I get that. I guess it was more of a philosophical question. If 2016 and 2017 (and later) have ANC/ESE, seems like the same actions would enable/disable it. But I'm viewing the issue from a "What I would do if I were designing/building" perspective and no knowledge of the constraints in place. I would have wanted to just add the trans/diff cooling items and not messed with existing items/code. But I have no experience in what JAJ and mrbillwot termed "embedded systems"

I'll let it lie. I think only the FP engineers could answer the question. On a side note, if anyone wants to convert Hexadecimal to Bin, you can use "Calculator" on a windows PC. Just put it in programmer mode. Learned that yesterday.

 

[JAJ]

Thanks @Tank - I get that. I guess it was more of a philosophical question. If 2016 and 2017 (and later) have ANC/ESE, seems like the same actions would enable/disable it. But I'm viewing the issue from a "What I would do if I were designing/building" perspective and no knowledge of the constraints in place. I would have wanted to just add the trans/diff cooling items and not messed with existing items/code. But I have no experience in what JAJ and mrbillwot termed "embedded systems"

I'll let it lie. I think only the FP engineers could answer the question. On a side note, if anyone wants to convert Hexadecimal to Bin, you can use "Calculator" on a windows PC. Just put it in programmer mode. Learned that yesterday.

How about just hooking up Forscan to your car, reading out 727-01-01 and posting it here. We'll look at it and tell you whether we think you can turn the sound off or not. Howzat?

 

[Spart]

@Spart - I am comparing a 2016 tech engine sound enhancement disable to what you stated might work best for a 2017.

For a 2016 Tech, the spreadsheet lists:

727-01-01 1801 C000 0009: Disable
727-01-01 1801 3A08 008B: Enable

Simple answer: whoever maintains (or doesn't maintain) that spreadsheet does not use best practices when conveying as-built mods.

The last thing you want to do with as-built is blindly change a whole line of several characters, because it's often single-character changes that you need to do.

Additionally, sometimes you even need to use your existing character to calculate the new value, since one hexadecimal character (0123456789ABCDE or F) often represents four binary bits (0 or 1) that each change something different and unrelated.

Working from your original factory as-built follow my instructions and you'll be set. 2016 and 2017 are the same. Ignore what the spreadsheet says.

 

[mrbillwot]

since one hexadecimal character (0123456789ABCDE or F) often represents four binary bits .

Not just often - always represents 4 bits ; )
(but I knew what you meant - it could be a bitfield that changes 4 potentially unrelated things not just one variable that ranges 0 to 15 or combines to make bigger units 0-255 etc)
This stuff would be more fun if they just gave us the datasheet!

 

[fodell]

J'utilise les modules OBDLink LX pour mes voitures depuis quelques années maintenant. Je ne savais pas qu'on pouvait faire des trucs sympas avec les versions MX.














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[Epiphany]

Qu’est-ce que ?

 

[Caballus]

J'utilise les modules OBDLink LX pour mes voitures depuis quelques années maintenant. Je ne savais pas qu'on pouvait faire des trucs sympas avec les versions MX.

Oui, on peut.

 

[scd603]

Depends on what you mean by "augment."

The I4 cars literally play a different engine note through the speakers. That's not what's happening in the GT350.

In the GT350, they're cancelling out "unwanted" engine harmonics. Obviously you and I would agree that they're wrong, but it is what it is.

ETA: and to be clear, none of this is active in the 15-17 GT.

They pipe engine sounds into the Mach-E. People love (good) engine sounds.

 

[scd603]

This thread is now 68 pages. I saw the question asked about starting car with open exhaust valves or a given driving mode like sport. Did not read all 68, but read many and did not see that. Anyone?

 

[raiderjatt02]

This thread is now 68 pages. I saw the question asked about starting car with open exhaust valves or a given driving mode like sport. Did not read all 68, but read many and did not see that. Anyone?

To my knowledge, nobody has found a way to do either of those with FORScan yet.

 

[scd603]

To my knowledge, nobody has found a way to do either of those with FORScan yet.

And FWIW, I had my stereo/electronics guy try to do it with a relay and it didn't work out.

It is like new cars that turn off your car at a stop and you need to hit the button to override and leave the engine running. WHY control me, give me FREEDOM!!!

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