I have one of the Ebay pirate versions of TS and Mini VCI. I've been trying to get this to work for weeks! (Actually, on-and-off for months) I've carefully followed the fantastic instructions on Priuschat HERE . I've uninstalled, then re-installed the driver and the software about a dozen times. Figured it must be a faulty cable. So I ordered another cable on Amazon. (BTW, the first cable is an X-Horse... the second cable is a Mongoose.) Same result with the second cable. I have the X-Horse firmware updater tool installed, so I can check that the cable is indeed recognised by and connected to the computer. When I launch TS, I check the setup, and can see that TS recognises and is connected to the cable. But when I try to connect to vehicle, I get the "Cannot connect to VIM" error. Any insight? As always, thanks in advance for any help!
No need to applogize -- this is good opportunity for me to follow up. Yes I did resolve it. Let me preface this by saying, I'm running Techstream on a Windows XP laptop. As I understand it, TS was originally developed for the XP OS. There are work-arounds to get it to run on a more modern system, but I have no experience with them. My system is an old laptop that I wiped clean, and did a fresh install of XP. I don't connect this computer to the internet -- it is exclusively used for Techstream. What ultimately solved my issue was updating the version of Java that was on the system. I was getting a prompt telling me to do so, but I foolishly ignored it thinking it wasn't critical. (I know... real smart!) Unfortuantely, the solution was not as simple as it would initially appear. First off, as I indicated earlier, this system is not connected to the internet in any way. So in order to get the Java update, I would need to download it on another system, save it to a flash drive, then copy to the Techstream laptop, and install. Not a huge deal, but an extra step. Next was the real problem: the version of Java I needed had not been supported by Oracle for almost 15 years -- and when you go to their site to download Java, they of course only make available the most recent version. After much digging and research, I discoved they make older versions available for download for "computer developers". I had to register with their site, and agree to their terms of service -- basically saying the product is outdated, they no longer support it, and I'm using it at my own risk. I downloaded the version of Java I needed, installed it on my Techstream laptop, and I'm happy to say the connection to the car worked flawlessly. The good news for you is that I still have those Java application files and I can make them available, but they're too large to attach to an email: 2 files... 63MB and 73MB. I'll try to post them to Google Drive, but I'm having some trouble with that right now. If I'm able to do it, I'll edit this post to provide links.
Awesome. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. I’m also using a Windows XP laptop I got off eBay. I, too, am also getting the java update noticafion — I recall one tutorial I followed said don’t worry about it, so that’s why I never tried updating.
OK, here are the files you need to update Java. To be honest, I don't remember why there are two. jdk-6u45-windows-x64.exe jdk-6u45-windows-i586.exe Let us know how you make out.
Although the follow up was delayed, it was well worth the wait. Thank you for sharing how you got things working!
Well, come to find out my XP laptop is only Windows 32bit, so I can't install one of those java updates. To be continued...
What's the error message you're getting? Edit: Here's the download page: Java Archive Downloads - Java SE 6 Mine is 32 bit too. Come to think of it, I believe the i586 version linked to above is the 32 bit version... and that's why there are 2.
I no longer get the Java error message when opening Techstream, but when I try to use generic OBDII Scanner or the check engine button, it fails to connect to VIM.
Thanks for the java update files, I'd been ignoring the update nag that showed every time TIS started up, thought that was how ya ran techstream, so, again, thanks! Went with defaults doing the update, after doing the update I looked at installed programs in the control panel and decided to uninstall the java development tools, which left 2 java-specific listings, one the actual update, and a java DB, which I left in there just in case. Works fine (bout the same as before as far as I can tell) on both the XP and the win7 laptop (both are 32 bit machines).