Insite 8.7 and newer incal problem?

[Rawze]

I got tired of the Insite bulls$it of 'file has expired' crap, and it deleting files on you years ago....

I have not used Insite to flash Incal(factory calibration) files for many years now.

Here is the process that I use when I need to flash a factory file into an ECM ...

== I ALWAYS make a full back up of the old program with the Calterm software, just for reference and if anything goes wrong, etc. so that the ecm can always be brought back to that point no matter what. I do this even if its the wrong program.. or a bad delete... does not matter. I ALWAYS ALWAYS make a full backup FIRST before making any changes to that ecm.

== Next ... Note the engine ser# and the vin#. Copy-paste them into a notepad text document temporarily or take pic of them.. something. You will need them at the very end.

== I use the Insite software to make a work order, and then a template. This backs up essentially only the vehicle-specific settings like odo history, trip info, cruise control buttons/ engine brake buttons, and other vehicle specific / dash network addresses. I.E.> An 'ecm template' in Insite backs up all the important stuffs for only the vehicle itself. These settings will NOT be contained in a newer/factory/incal file. if you don;t back them up separately, they will all get lost.

== I then de-compress the incal/new factory file with 7-zip (using the proper password) and then flash the new file in with the Calterm software. CT does not care how 'old', new, etc. the file is or anything else. It simply will flash any file you throw at it into the ecm without question. This way I can put in a file from most recent, or a file from 10 years ago if I want to. No mussy-fussy.
NOTE: I do NOT check those 2 little check-boxes to save-restore parameters, etc. ... because Calterm is horrible at this, and this can corrupt the file.

== After flashing the new file in with CT, I then switch back to Insite and restore the work order/template. This restores all of the vehicle specific settings, odo, trip history, button addresses, etc.

== What does NOT however get transferred when doing things this way is that the engine ser# and the vehicle vin# are not restored. Those 2 things, you have to type back in via Insite software by hand, or (copy-paste, if you had saved them in a note-pad text), once your all done .. and then and save changes.


NOTE: Factory calibrations (Incal fales) will run a special code the first time the ecm is run to clear out old memory, etc... so I run/idle the engine for 10+ minutes so that it can do this in the background uninterrupted, and do its initial data erase/collection etc. in the background. It gives time for everything in the programming to establish itself and settle. It takes up to about 8 minutes, so I give it 10.

== I then take a second ecm back-up of the now established, and fully completed new program using the CT software. This is so that I don't have to go thru the flashing process again if I ever want to restore this program in the future. I can also make copies of this new backup to edit, or do whatever I want to it later on.

- That is how I have done it for 10+ years now and have never had any issues.

here it is explained again in a slightly different way: https://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?...1#pid80171