[NTLUG:Discuss] new to list, have a question

[clayramsey1@comcast.net]

many many thanks.  If I ever run your mini off the road, please accept my sincerest apologies in advance!  ;-)
> Clay Ramsey wrote:
> > Anyone know the switches to use when un-tarring the tarball for the
> > diag. software?  I'm a bit of a newbie, so it's less than intuitive (for
> > now ;)).  The documentation only says to unpack the tarball.  
> 
> There's probably a point-n-click way to do this - but I'm a command line
> kind of guy.
> 
> First, make a directory to dump stuff into, cd into that place.
> 
> If the tarball is named with '.tar.gz' or '.tgz' extensions then it needs
> to be uncompressed as well as unpacked - so use:
> 
>      tar xzvf whatever.tar.gz
> 
>   x == eXtract files.
>   z == uncompress a gzipped tarfile
>   v == verbose (you don't need this)
>   f == unpack from a File (as opposed to the default tape drive or some such 
> nonsense!)
> 
> If the tarball is named with just '.tar' then it's not compressed - so omit the 
> 'z'.
> 
> If it ends with something else - then it probably needs to be uncompressed 
> BEFORE it's
> untarred (as a separate command) - but that's not likely to be the case with 
> something like this.
> 
> 99 times out of a hundred, your next command will be:
> 
>     ./configure
> 
> ...then:
> 
>     make install
> 
> (which you may need root privilage to do).
> 
> > My truck is a Chebbie 1500, so it's nothing exotic.  I just want to be
> > able to hear what the sensors are telling computer.  And of course, take
> > corrective / preventive action!
> 
> Freediag can tell you the codes (presuming you can either build or buy
> the special serial port cable + electronics).  You can also buy cables
> (and free software) for various PDA's - which may be more convenient than
> having a laptop balanced on the passenger seat while you drive!
> 
> Finding out what the codes *mean* is a different matter.  As I said, there
> are some standard ones that California State law mandates so that emissions
> control officers can do emissions diagnostics no matter what kind of car it
> is.   The rest tend to be kept semi-secret by the manufacturers in order that
> they can encourage you to use their licensed dealerships rather than a 
> shade-tree
> mechanic.   However, for most kinds of car, many of them have been figured out
> or 'leaked' so you can often figure them out by surfing car enthusiast sites.
> 
> My MINI uses a Siemens ECU - and searching for other cars that have Siemens
> ECU's showed up some codes I couldn't find by searching MINI web sites - so
> you can see that you may need to be quite devious to figure out what you
> need to know.
> 
> If that's all you want, there are also some hand-held diagnostic units
> that just plug directly into the OBD-II port and do nothing but read out
> diagnostics and let you reset error codes.  I've seen these under
> $100 - tp put that in context: Some of the serial port adaptors for
> laptops can run to $75.   If you can build an adaptor yourself (it
> comprises some sort of voltage regulator and level shifter) it'll be
> cheaper - but you still need the OBD-II connector which is something
> unlike anything I've ever seen on something other than a car.
> 
> BTW: One **VERY** important thing is that you NEED to use something
> battery operated.   A laptop or PDA is fine - but don't do it with
> the laptop's battery charger plugged into the wall outlet - and never
> use a regular PC.
> 
> ---------------------------- Steve Baker -------------------------
> HomeEmail: <sjbaker1 at airmail.net>    WorkEmail: <sjbaker at link.com>
> HomePage : http://www.sjbaker.org
> Projects : http://plib.sf.net    http://tuxaqfh.sf.net
>             http://tuxkart.sf.net http://prettypoly.sf.net
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> 
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