AVT-841?

[shiwnath]

Here's my story: Not too long ago I bought a DHP Powrtuner from someone with the AVT-838 hardware model. The laptop the DHP powrtuner came with had a crappy battery life and I couldn't use my newer laptop because I didn't have a keyspan adapter. Unfortunately I bought a power inverter not knowing that the OBD2 port and cigarette lighter are tied to the same source or something of the sort. I ended up frying my powrtuner after having it for less than a month.

After doing a lot of research I found out that http://www.avt-hq.com/ manufactures the AVT-841 boards that DHP used in their final years. Since this is the same hardware used for DHP, I'm hoping that someone would know if I could just buy one of these from this website and use it with the DHP software. My main concern would be that the hardware is not compatible because maybe DHP used a custom firmware to make this hardware run with their software. I have no idea if this could be true or not. Does anyone have any way to contact Charles Beyer, the former Programmer/Owner of DHP to find out this information?

[unchained01]

I would contact avt and see if they can repair the board first There is more than likely some kind of protection on the board before the logic chip (EPROM) I would contact them
And they are about 80 miles from me in Maryland
And if the board needs replaced by their pricelist its going to be 250 a new board depending on the revision

[unchained01]

HERE is their quote from their page:

Repair

We should be able to repair any unit we have manufactured and sold.

Original warranty is one year from date of shipment of the unit.
If the unit is in-warranty the repair is free (parts and labor) and shipping via UPS Ground (to domestic destinations) is included.
Overseas customers are liable for shipping of the unit both ways.

If the unit is out-of-warranty, the repair fee is US$ 125.00 per unit.
This includes parts; labor; testing; 6-month warranty; and shipping via UPS Ground (to domestic destinations).
You can send in a unit for repair.
Send it to our company address as listed on our contact page.
Please include a description of the problem you have with it.
Please include a name, address, and telephone number of who and where to ship it back to and contact if we have questions.
Order# Repair
Price: US$ 125.00 plus shipping.

[3400-95-Modified]

DHP I believe had something saved somewhere on the units and that's how they would unlock the software when hooked up to the laptop. At least that's what I'm guessing. I also know they configured them for 115k baud rate (on the 841's) which not many people do.

I've upgraded the firmware on my unit quite a few times (using AVT specific stuff so it's not special to DHP) talking with the AVT guys since I was trying to get another software suite to scan using it. I only got that software to work when I realized it was trying to connect at 56k baud... Once I knew that I was able to change the baud on the AVT unit and use the software.

I know there was another old DHP employee who was working on UVScan and he knew what was done to the AVT units before being sold... for the life of me I can't remember his name and the powrtuner forum is pretty much dead now so I can't even look it up.

[robertisaar]

if i had to guess, i'd say it's something as simple as some EEPROM in the processor of the AVT unit that gets "coded" to identify it as an acceptable cable. assuming the documentation exists from AVT to do this, it wouldn't be difficult at all, especially if you could pull information from an existing and legit cable.

[shiwnath]

$125 plus shipping isn't a bad repair price. I did contact their support department and was told that the AVT-452(USB interface) can be purchased from AVT and is also compatible as well.

I'm surprised that most people wait for a DHP Powrtuner to come along for sale on forums than just buy an AVT box for cheaper. I guess it isn't well known to most. DHP can still be a cost effective and viable alternative to HPT given that for $260 you get the interface and you can just download the DHP software on this forum. Granted that HPT has much more support and features, for almost half the price DHP still gets her done!

[3400-95-Modified]

$125 plus shipping isn't a bad repair price. I did contact their support department and was told that the AVT-452(USB interface) can be purchased from AVT and is also compatible as well.

I'm surprised that most people wait for a DHP Powrtuner to come along for sale on forums than just buy an AVT box for cheaper. I guess it isn't well known to most. DHP can still be a cost effective and viable alternative to HPT given that for $260 you get the interface and you can just download the DHP software on this forum. Granted that HPT has much more support and features, for almost half the price DHP still gets her done!

You missed the fact that you need to unlock the DHP software and we do not know if a straight up AVT direct purchased box will do that or not... $260 is a bit of money to test that... but if you wish to do so then buy it and install the software in a new spot to try and activate it and see what happens.

If it works the YES this is a great alternative... but I can only assume that DHP flashed some sort of licensing code to those devices to prevent people from doing this when his business was running... it would only make sense, but maybe not only did he open the last software up to all the devices he sold but quite possibly to any AVT unit... who knows.

HPTuners is also very limited in comparison to DHP since you can't use tiny tuners with HPTuners... Never mind the licensing costs with HPTuners.

[shiwnath]

The email from AVT support:

DHP did start using the AVT-841 and the standard released firmware.

I've sold a few AVT-852's (the USB interface) that people have used
with their DHP software.

So, that should give you a few options.

Prices for both the AVT-841 and AVT-852 are shown on the price list
page:
http://www.avt-hq.com/price.htm

According to the email people have used the AVT-852 with DHP but as you said, it's unknown if it'll be able to do the device registration that the DHP software requires. I wouldn't mind being the guinea for this if I didn't already have an interface that I could just send in for repairs.

[robertisaar]

i might know someone on the gearhead-efi forum with one laying around... i'll have to see if he can register it.

[3400-95-Modified]

The email from AVT support:


According to the email people have used the AVT-852 with DHP but as you said, it's unknown if it'll be able to do the device registration that the DHP software requires. I wouldn't mind being the guinea for this if I didn't already have an interface that I could just send in for repairs.

I'm guessing they already had registered software or they could also register a new install with the old unit and use the new 852's to eliminate the USB/serial crap, then again how often does one re-install their DHP software... I know I haven't for over a few years now. So that's the only limiting factor on NEW users, old users as long as that laptop keeps kicking then your good to go... LOL

[robertisaar]

okay, 1project2many on gearhead-efi may be able to solve this definitively since he has an AVT cable from one of the TunerCAT packages.

what all would need to be acquired now? just the powrtuner program? if a bad cable is detected, when would that issue present itself?

[shiwnath]

okay, 1project2many on gearhead-efi may be able to solve this definitively since he has an AVT cable from one of the TunerCAT packages.

what all would need to be acquired now? just the powrtuner program? if a bad cable is detected, when would that issue present itself?

The DHP Software can be found here:

http://60degreev6.com/content.php/207-DHP-Software

Once it's installed, all he will have to do is start the program and the interface registration will begin. If DHP is able to communicate with his interface then I would say that's a good sign. Thanks for helping us robertisaar!

[3400-95-Modified]

Yeah he just has to activate the software with it, otherwise every file he opens with DHP if he "cancels" the activation is just read only, and I don't think the flash option is available.

[ericjon262]

a buddy of mine does alot of software work, maybe he might be able to crack the DHP software?

[3400-95-Modified]

I'v been able to crack the DB and add a OSID so I could edit and flash a 2000 cutlass at one time... It's not that difficult, but regarding software activation I don't know what goes on there.