UP to Date source for Mini VCI that works? (downloaded Techstream 12)

Most all the ones on Ebay that sell in the less than $40 range work... The hard part is doing the software install on a windows machine and making sure all the drivers are installed and your key gen works.

Also where in the US do you live? That might be a big help for you. As in if you lived near me in the Seattle area I could bring my laptop and Mini-VCI cable by and assist you in your effort.

 

Did you have any luck? Which vci did you buy?

 

This might help on the software end:

How-To: TechStream In 5 Minutes | IH8MUD Forum

 

You have probably already bought whatever VCI you decided upon. But, I thought I would relate a brief "Tale of Automotive Woe and Intrigue" (miss you Tom and Ray).
I did just what you proposed and bought one of the generic VCI ODB2 interface cables to use with Techstream via USB port on a Windoze PC. It worked fine and let me read codes and reset things. I did not realy think about WHY it was so cheap on Ebay. But I should have known that it was a knock off clone one someone's detailed work on a proper ODB to USB interface and driver.

Then, when it came time to bleed the brake system as part of an ABS actuator replacement it caused me world's of grief. I would get partway through the bleeding process and then get a port communication error. This meant starting the bleed process over after rebooting the PC. I went through an embarrassing amount of brake fluid. I thought maybe the 12V battery was weak so I put a charger on it to keep the 12V system up during the bleed process, same issue. I tried a larger 12V battery (from my forklift) wired in with jumpers after being fully charged on an intelligent charger to make sure it was full up before starting the bleeding process, same communications issues at random points of he bleeding process. I thought maybe the PC was overheating in the car cabin since it was a hot So Cal day so, I put a fan in the car aimed at the laptop underside (where the air intake is). You guessed it, same blinkin' issue. Then I called in a shaman who did an augury and blessing that involved killing a chicken and seeing which way the blood spurted as the dying chicken ran around, except that I made him use a rubber chicken on account of me being nominally vegetarian and some weird soy based ketchup in lieu of blood. Well, the fake chicken blood landed on the cheap Ebay purchased VCI cable/interface.

I finally broke down and went to Tactrix and bought their interface directly from them. IT WAS WORTH IT!!! I got the brakes bleed properly on the first try!
Drives installed without a hitch.
It's never given me a wit o trouble. I have used it on several Toyota vehicles other than my Prius with no problems. Freeze frame data is reliably captured. I have loaned it to friends to use on other non Toyota cars (Honda, GM, Dodge, etc) and it has always worked.
So, as Danny Elfman would say, "Listen to me Brothers and Sisters for I have sinned, and so I know." (wink wink)

Get a REAL Tactrix and NOT an knock off from Ebay or Amazon. Support the guys that are making real tools for you to use. Otherwise they won't be around to make the next generation of cool tools you just might need.

Tactrix Openport 2.0

Rant_mode == OFF;

Pinback

Post Scrible: The part about the shaman was added only for dramatic effect. No rubber chickens, free range or otherwise, were harmed in the repair of my Prius.
In truth I read a post about another start up brand (2Horse Electronics? my memory fails...) of open port ODB2 VCI port interface that worked great, but was run out of business by cheap knockoff hardware vendors who also pirated the drivers written by the original developer of the hardware. Then along came TacTrix and I see the same thing happening to them. I have written down and dirty interface code and built and debugged this kind of hardware. Doing it right is often tedious and time consuming. So support the folks who are actually doing the hard work rather than just cloning and pirating it. Don't make me set Ran_mode to ON again...