General: How to - perform a "direct install" of vida software

[Agro]

For this direct install you must have a PC running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, and with Internet Explorer 9 (or higher) installed.

For any other system go here and follow the instructions for installation on a virtual machine (VM) - https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...27#post2673227

My machine is an old Dell Optiplex i5 with 4GB RAM and 500GB HDD running Win7 PRO and IE9. The more resources your machine has the faster the software will run.

RECOMMENDED - disable your internet security to ensure it doesn't interfere with the download.


1. Create a folder on your desktop and call it Vida.

2. Go to: [url] https://volvodiag.com/dashboard/[url] and register to access the software (IT IS FREE)

3. Go to: [url]https://volvodiag.com/direct-install/http://and download the "VIDA 2014D ...www.7-zip.org/ and download and install 7zip (IT IS ALSO FREE)

5. Open 7zip and navigate to the "VIDA 2014D Direct Install" in your Vida folder

6. Extract the "VIDA 2014D Direct Install" file to the same Vida folder

7. You will be prompted to enter a password, enter the text "volvodiag.com"

8. Once extracted open the Vida folder and click the folders:
INSTALL / DVD / VIDA_DVDHEADER / MAIN - SETUP.EXE

9. Right Click on SETUP.EXE and select run as administrator

10. Once the program has finished its installation process go to [url]https://volvodiag.com/patches/[url].

11. Download and install VIDA Patch Windows 7 (x64)

12. Restart your machine and note the Vida Icon in the Taskbar. It will have a little flag that changes from red to yellow, to green. If you hover your cursor over it, it will change from stopped to starting to running.

13. Once it is running start Vida and IE9 will open on the Vida main screen.

14. Login by typing "1" in the login text box and it should open.


Now if you find this useful then please show your appreciation by donating a small amount towards the person who developed this for free for the Volvo Community here - https://volvodiag.com/donate/

[Agro]

For the benefit of others, I ordered this Dice unit from Aliexpress. I works fine.

Eventually the link will properly stop working; if so the vendor is called obd2home and is located here. You may be able to search through their store for one.

[Rich1e2001]

Good post, I've just been through this ordeal myself on my 2013 XC70 D5 (MY2014) and wanted to note down some findings / alternative steps I took since I didn't have a Windows 7 configured laptop ready, incase this helps others:

Purchased DICE unit from this seller :https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5105...archweb201603_

Unit arrived in a few days when shipped to UK from Czech Republic

Hardware comes with a VIDA 2014D disk in the box which I manage to get running on an old laptop (Dell 630 series) by first installing windows 7 on it:

Download Windows 7 image which can be found here: https://the-eye.eu/public/MSDN/Windows%207/

Pick an image that matches your product key (i.e. home / professional / ultimate) AND contains SP1 (service pack 1), you need this to install IE 11. The 32-bit version of Windows 7 works with VIDA 2014D and has lower system requirments which might be helpful for those using an older laptop.

Mount the Windows 7 .iso file onto a USB pen drive using this software to create a boot drive: https://rufus.ie/. At start up, hit the boot option (F12 on my machine) and launch install from USB drive. Follow the install instructions.

Fresh install doesn't contain file extractor, you should grab 7.zip from here: https://www.7-zip.org/

Install all windows updates listed here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/tro...ates-for-ie-11

Install IE 11 from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/down....aspx?id=40907

Copy the VIDA 2014D disk contents to the desktop and follow steps 8 & 9 in original post

The patch on the 2014D disk has an out of date license file so don't use this, alternative license can be found here: https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/fo...8b4406ac9ca52d

Download and run this before using VIDA for the first time. Restart laptop and lauch VIDA. Login is 'admin'. Drivers for the DICE unit will install when you have the device connected to the laptop usb port AND a power source (i.e. the OBDII port of the car).

I have a slight issue with my device dropping communications sporadically while pulling error codes from the car. Not sure what is causing this but will looking into it and provide an update if I solve it.

[Agro]

You did well to get it working from the disk supplied. I personally would rather go straight to the source for the most up to date and trustworthy Vida software and patches here https://volvodiag.com.

I think all of what's on these disks and other websites are copied from here.

There are also sellers on Ebay which claim to sell VIDA software with instructions/assistance. All they do is give you a link to Swedespeed and leave you to work it all out for yourself. I fell for one of these scabs and let him know how I felt once I saw it was just a scam to make money from something developed to be free for the Volvo community.

[Rich1e2001]

It's a good point, I think I will try installing from https://volvodiag.com and see if that fixes my intermittent connection issue. Will report back shortly...

Have you had any success updating the DICE firmware via VIDA? I read a post somewhere about 'bricking' these units when updating the firmware so a bit hesitant to try at the moment.

[Agro]

Originally Posted by Rich1e2001

It's a good point, I think I will try installing from https://volvodiag.com and see if that fixes my intermittent connection issue. Will report back shortly...

Have you had any success updating the DICE firmware via VIDA? I read a post somewhere about 'bricking' these units when updating the firmware so a bit hesitant to try at the moment.

I've read that if you try to reinstall Vida it's a good idea to completely remove everything previously installed. Don't know how computer literate you are so excuse me if I'm telling you something you already know, but you can go into control panel and sort programs by date - that way you will see everything that was installed on the day and you can remove it all.

Didn't know there was any DICE firmware update. Haven't done anything other than hook mine up and it just worked.

Could it be possible that you have a dodgy USB port? Try attaching to another if available.

[Rich1e2001]

Thanks thats a good tip. I just flashed the Window 7 OS onto it yesterday so hopefully easy enough to uninstall the various packages of VIDA from it.

I had the connection drop out issues occur on two different laptops so I presume it's a software / firmware thing hence being slightly interested in updating the DICE firmware. Will give https://volvodiag.com a go first anyway then try the firmware if I'm having no success.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by Agro

For the benefit of others, I ordered this Dice unit from Aliexpress. I works fine.
the vendor is called obd2home

For balance, I've had 30 Dice from them and returned at least 6 so their failure rate is the same as every other AliExpress and eBay seller given the limited number of Dice makers in existence.

The reason the failure rate is so high is because they never test them on a Volvo or a laptop or indeed anything before sending out. They come factory sealed from the production line which in turn has the business model that the end user is quality control.

If there is a problem, you get one email reply a day in broken English while they delay you for a week before finally allowing the return of the dead Dice for a refund, minus postage costs so you're out of pocket.

Some of the Dice faults are very subtle so unless you know exactly what you're looking for, you may never find the fault until you need to do a more in depth interrogation of the car's modules. A Dice reading your car details is not guaranteed working Dice.

Are you saying that obd2home have now changed and you're guaranteeing fellow members that they will receive a working Dice from them?

Or are you saying that you bought one Dice and it was OK but others may still receive a plastic paperweight?

Also, how can you recommend them when you still needed to get reliable software elsewhere?

[Rich1e2001]

I agree these market place sellers can't necessarily be relied on but I think its worth noting the successes/failures in any case. The vendor I used offers to ship from several locations so seems a reasonable chance these are not all identical devices depending which port they dispatch from.

In your experience, what sort of faults do you see on these? My issue is intermittent communications drop out, like the device just stops talking to the car for no apparent reason. Only way to re-connect is to unplug form OBDII and start over. I'm not sure if this is a hardware or software fault but I've replicated it on two laptops so it's likely not the laptop hardware.

Lastly, have you ever seen one of these devices damage or corrupt the electronics? At the back of my mind I'm aware I'm plugging untested/non-OEM approved stuff into the car which is obviously not ideal but the benefits seem to outweigh the drawback looking across the various discussions.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by Rich1e2001

The vendor I used offers to ship from several locations so seems a reasonable chance these are not all identical devices depending which port they dispatch from.

They're all made in China and when you compare packaging, barcodes and return addresses across many "different" sellers, you soon see that the source is very limited.

Where they dispatch from to the end user is most likely for financial/tax/logistics reasons.

If they sell at a fixed price but dispatch globally, it wouldn't make sense to keep stock in one location unless the one location is China but then you have slow turnaround from purchase to delivery.

Russia is a big market but non-EU so keeping a proportion there for local postage costs is preferable to sending all of the stock to the EU then posting again back out of the EU and on AliExpress, you will often see the price you pay depends on where it's dispatched from.
I send globally but the majority are UK so my UK price is fixed regardless of what I've had to pay but my price varies for other regions depending on postage costs at the point of sale.

Originally Posted by Rich1e2001

In your experience, what sort of faults do you see on these?

Ranging from completely dead (obvious) to appearing to work fine initially but not communicating reliably to every available module (not obvious at all without a certain level of experience).
Easily 10+ unique faults hence why I test using a known working system on a known working car to eliminate alternative causes before I send them out to buyers.
I also provide known working software for Windows 7 users and virtual machines for W10 and Mac users.

Every Dice I've seen for the past 4 years runs Firmware 5.6.2 as no later Firmware is available and I'd strongly advise against messing with the Firmware.
Bricking is surprisingly easy.
I now mostly sell the VCX tool as it has ongoing Firmware support but sell the odd Dice as that's the one to have for some folk.
They both work the same with Vida though.

Originally Posted by Rich1e2001

Lastly, have you ever seen one of these devices damage or corrupt the electronics?

I've tested 200+ on my own car to weed out the units with the above range of faults and have had no ill effects on my car.