Basic Starscan Navigation

[MagnumFreak]

I am going to cover some of the basic screens that are available on the starscan. When you first connect to the car the computer grabs some basic information from the pcm. Your VIN number, engine size and year are displayed at the top of the main screen (seen below) and at the top of most other displays.



At the top of the screen you will see that I have a 2005 LX I have the 5.7L engine and my vin is listed also. Towards the right of the screen you see a number 6.03. That is the current version of software the starscan is running. The four buttons right underneath that are status indicators for the starscan. The leftmost button is the battery strength for the starscan, next to that is a signal strength indication if you are using the wireless feature which I don't, next to that is a network connected indication in case you connect the unit to the dealer network, and the one to the right of that is an indication that the unit is connected to a car. There are 6 buttons in the middle of the screen (the screen is a touch screen). We just need to decide where we want to go. We will hit the ECU View button first here is the screen that you get (note: the list will vary depending on the vehicle it is attached to due to varying configurations):



Here you will see a list of all of the different modules attached to this car. The collumn next to the module list indicates whether the unit is currently active. The next column indicates whether there are any active or stored DTC (diagnostic trouble code) and the final column indicates which can bus it is communicating on. To select a particular module, all you need to do is touch the screen and in a moment a new view will appear:



At the top of the screen you can see I have selected the PCM. In the main screen area you will see the hardware version, software version, part number and country code. There are several other buttons to choose here. We will select the data display button:



This is just one screen showing a small portion of the data flowing through this module. On the left you can see a scroll bar which allows you to move through all of the data. If we hit the back button (top left of the screen) then select More options we will get this screen:


This gives us several other options of things we can do with this particular module. Which buttons are active depends on the module we are looking at. We will cover these functions in more detail in another post.

That is the basic starscan movement information.

[MAGNUM8R]

Prett neat stuff! Have you flashed your Mag to the latest update, and were there any noticeable changes in performance??
The Dealer will see mine soon for spark plug replacement due at 30K, I now have 33K. I am wondering if I should ask for he updated version, mine was built in June '04.

[redinorange]

Freak, this is an incredible project you have undertaken. I think you should place this in the Knowledge Base and add to it from there. I predict this will be a major mile stone of this forum...

[MagnumFreak]

It is in the knowledgebase Redinorange.


I have done one flash upgrade to the FCM. The software said that I didn't have any upgrades that were needed but the FCM software was a new version so I forced it to send it anyway. I have not done any flashes to the PCM to see if there were any performance changes.

That is probably what you will run into at the dealer magnum8r. They will check your vin and if the computer says there are no updates they will not flash them. I do know that the software showed about 10 new files when I searched by model year and engine size but showed none when I searched by vin.

[PaCharger]

glad you guys have gotten this far. Be interesting to see if any peformance enhancments can be made, or if it will more on the order of flashing DRL's and such.

Thanks for the info Magnum...i keep coming back to follow up on where you are with this....looks like signifcant progress.

[Displaced Hokie]

Freak,
I'd blur that VIN before someone at DCX decides to flag your warranty...

[done]

Freak,
I'd blur that VIN before someone at DCX decides to flag your warranty...

That is an urban legend.

[fnkychkn]

Freak,
I'd blur that VIN before someone at DCX decides to flag your warranty...

might not flag your warranty but someone with the right access could get your address and key codes.

[Rev.Hammer]

This is like being the primate staring up at the black monolith, knowing at your deepest core...that some fantastic is about to happen!!


Keep it going MagnumFreak!!

[MagnumFreak]

Freak,
I'd blur that VIN before someone at DCX decides to flag your warranty...

Not sure about voiding the warranty but Fnky may be right about someone getting my personal info. I am at work right now so I can't get to my photoshop but I will work on it in the morning. Hadn't really thought too much about the vin being in the display. Thanks to everyone for the headsup.

[glhs837]

But fnky, even with that, hed need a Starscan to teach the car the new key to the car.......... OH, CRAP!!!!!!! There IS a STARSCAN right there!!!!!!!!! I've spen two years teaching the world that you cant steal a SKIM equipped car without the tool to teach the key, or both factory keys.

Of course, I assume the Starscan still requires the vehicles PIN, right?

[fnkychkn]

But fnky, even with that, hed need a Starscan to teach the car the new key to the car.......... OH, CRAP!!!!!!! There IS a STARSCAN right there!!!!!!!!! I've spen two years teaching the world that you cant steal a SKIM equipped car without the tool to teach the key, or both factory keys.

Of course, I assume the Starscan still requires the vehicles PIN, right?

correct, mr bond. although, if this evil doer has access to key and skim codes, he most likely has access to a starscan.

[Todd RT]

Hey Magnumfreak, been meaning to ask you. (maybe I coulda started a new thread, but probably not needed).

I haven't been able to verify it, but apparently the Magnum with the premium audio has the same amp as in the 300c. Point is, another member found that there is a sub-output on the amp itself, but that it might need to be turned on or activated with a Starscan.

Any interesting audio controls in that thing?

[MagnumFreak]

Hey Magnumfreak, been meaning to ask you. (maybe I coulda started a new thread, but probably not needed).

I haven't been able to verify it, but apparently the Magnum with the premium audio has the same amp as in the 300c. Point is, another member found that there is a sub-output on the amp itself, but that it might need to be turned on or activated with a Starscan.

Any interesting audio controls in that thing?

I am stuck at work right now but I will give it a look tonight when I get home. I will post here my findings.

[glhs837]

correct, mr bond. although, if this evil doer has access to key and skim codes, he most likely has access to a starscan.

True, but then we'd hope that DCX could backtrack the PIN request to a delaer, who most likely would find out who took one home. Gotta love multilayered defenses.

Thats why I always recommend one of the first things folks do, if they suspect the cars been driven off ,is to contact both their closest dealer and DCX, or at least have the cops do it. I dont think a lot of police understand the intricacies of the system. They think its like the Ford, just becuase both are TI RFID systems.