Vida not connecting to ECM

[shezzav70]

Hi & a happy new year to all,
I have a long standing performance issue with my car which I'm finally getting round to looking at (again).
In another thread, I was advised to get the live data from VIDA to help diagnose my issue so I bought a used VIDA laptop with mongoose from ebay (the seller has 100% feedback & only sells vida laptops) but for some reason it won't connect to the ECM.
I've tried rebooting the laptop & it is connecting fine with the other modules but can't communicate with the ECM for some reason.
I've attached some pictures of how it appears when connected to the car
Any ideas what to do please?
I'm a total newbie to VIDA
Many thanks

The car is a 2005 p2 2.4 petrol v70 manual

[Simmy]

click on vehicle communications cilck on ecm when it apears in the box below double click on the ecm this should open the info try watching some vida instuction vid s on you tube farpoint farms is a good one and a guide to vida by matthew leavsley ps dont for get to use the advanced tab.

[b1mcp]

It’s a strange problem, but one that I have also.

I have 2 Dice Units and 2 Vida Laptops. So, 2 completely independent systems. If I use either of them on our 2001 V70 T5 then I get exactly what you have seen. All modules connect OK, except the ECM.

Both systems work perfectly on our XC60 and also my daughters XC60. I’ve also used them both on other V70 and S60 cars with no issue.

I have a few other generic OBD interfaces, and they all connect to the ECM on the 2001 V70 without any fuss, first time. I don’t know what the problem is, but there is some issue between Dice/Vida and the specific car.

I know that doesn’t help you solve your issue. I’m just suggesting that I think the fault is likely with the car rather than your VIDA set-up. That’s the conclusion I’ve come to with ours.

Maybe try and find a neighbour with a Volvo and connect to that to prove your system set-up?

[shezzav70]

Thanks for your replies guys.

I contacted the vendor last night who recommended this procedure which worked:

Reboot the laptop again
Go to software tab, then advanced, then click send reset.

This worked for me so hope it does for anyone else having this issue

Hopefully this might work for you b1mcp? Let me know if it does

[Simmy]

thanks Brendon . that's interesting info . vida can be confusing even when its working ..unless you have been on the volvo vida courses its almost impossible to know if its working correctly. but any vida even with problems is a useful tool for all its other functions

[b1mcp]

"Reboot the laptop again
Go to software tab, then advanced, then click send reset.

This worked for me so hope it does for anyone else having this issue

Hopefully this might work for you b1mcp? Let me know if it does"


Thanks for that, I will definitely give it a try. When I first came across the issue I spent a couple of days trying to fix - even re-installing windows and Vida - to no avail. If this works I'll be very happy!

[shezzav70]

Not sure if this also helps but I found that after loading vida, in the vehicle profile tab, I clicked "read vehicle", then I just had to change the partner group to "EUR/INT excluding Arabia & China" then the diagnostic tab became available. I didn't have to add in any other details as the gearbox selection happened for me automatically & the other drop down menus didn't need to be filled out. For some reason when I clicked "read vehicle" the partner group was defaulting to "INT Arabia & China" which was wrong as I'm in England so just make sure these are filled out correctly for you. Good luck!

P.s I had the laptop booted & vida icon in tray was green before I connected the car. Then connected the car & turned on the ignition to key position 2

[Simmy]

if you log in with the number 4 this will take you in at the right user group with no need to select.

[b1mcp]

"Reboot the laptop again
Go to software tab, then advanced, then click send reset.

This worked for me so hope it does for anyone else having this issue

Hopefully this might work for you b1mcp? Let me know if it does"


Unfortunately the fix didn't work for my issue.

I'm sure there is some kind of wiring fault on my car (poss CAN wiring somewhere). I do get an ECM-912A fault when I read the ECM with other readers, but the car runs faultlessly, so it's not a big enough issue for me to go chasing it.

It's been like this for a couple of years and I have other tools that can access the ECM for codes and Live Data so I'll just live with it unless it gets worse.

But thanks for the info anyway.