SCT LiveLink Gen-II v.1.0 - How to Analyze Your Vehicle's Data

[JoeBoomz]

Hi guys, I've spent some time playing with LiveLink Gen-II v.1.0 and wanted to write a quick how-to on the Histogram feature of the software for analyzing your datalogs easily.



Gen-II Histograms are a very similar approach (almost identical) to what I have done with my tuning spreadsheets (I posted about it here). It is much easier to use than the spreadsheet, and has some extra features, however it does not allow you the same degree of control as my Tuner V3.xlsx when it comes to averaging data.

LiveLink Gen-II has an interesting history so far. I honestly don't know if SCT is currently supporting or even working on it. They have pulled it from their site but it still has an active download link if you know it. I posted this earlier:

I highly recommend using LiveLink 6.5, you can download it from http://sctflash.com/LiveLink.php

I did some digging and educated myself a bit more about LiveLink Gen2. This was the first time I've heard of it. Good luck finding it on their site today, they seem to have pulled it down.


Here is a download link for those who want to try it:
http://sctflash.com/software/LiveLink_GenII.exe

From other forum posts, I gather that Gen-II is quite unstable and incompatible with some cars and tuner firmware versions. I have personally experienced crashing when trying to save Histograms in the software. Perhaps SCT pulled it because v.1.0 isn't quite ready for the public?


Anyway, we have the file and it's a valuable tool nonetheless. I would highly recommend using LiveLink 6.5 to datalog your vehicle, and only use Gen-II to open and analyze the datalogs. You do not want to drive for half an hour trying to gather data, only to have the program crash on you when you try to save the datalog! I'm not using it to datalog until SCT has it on their site again and releases new updates for it.


On to the task at hand - let's embark on another of my epic long-winded and picture filled posts!

Or, if videos are your thing, I have YouTube'd this one (with some very calming YouTube-provided instrumental music in the background!):



Today we will calibrate our Load w/Failed MAF table in Advantage III using Gen-II:




When we start up Gen-II we get this screen:


We will open a datafile, and once it's open, we want to look at the histograms part of the menu and press ADD:


Here we can select a previously-created histogram (if exists), or add a new one:



In the next screen, notice there are two "tabs" on the left side of the screen, settings and histogram. We will be moving back and forth between these two:


And the settings window looks like this:



So first we configure ITEM, which is the data that resides in the cells of the graph. In our Load w/Failed MAF table, this is LOAD. Double click to set the item:



Then we do the same for ROWS (vertical, or Y axis) = THROTTLE POSITION and COLUMNS (horizontal, or X axis) = RPM:



...continued in Post 2...

[JoeBoomz]

...Continued from Post 1

Now that we have our ITEM and axis set up, let's take a look at our histogram:



OK, so the AXIS are right but the labels are totally wrong. 0.09 RPM, really? So let's go back and correct them.

Gen-II has an AUTO labeling function that's handy to use while you're analyzing data. You set the FIRST and STEP values:



...and the labels will be built out automatically for you:





Let's look again at our Advantage table:



The auto-labeling feature does not match our axis labels from Advantage III. Luckily, you can also manually specify your labels as such:


...and now the tables match:




Now's a great time to save our histogram. The save button is hiding at the bottom right corner of the settings screen:


Continued in Post 3...

[JoeBoomz]

...Continued from Post 2


Now let's use the histogram to look at our data!


The bottom portion of the histogram screen has playback controls that allow you to "play" through your datalog:



The right portion of the histogram screen has options that allow you select the values you want to see in the histogram:



VAL = value of ITEM at the current time in the datalog (ITEM = LOAD in our histogram).

As you play the datalog, the value will populate in the cell of the histogram at the corresponding axis values:

The playback feature is pretty cool; as the TP increases, the value shown moves up in the table. As the RPM increases, the value moves to the right in the table.

Here's that video again if you wanted to see the playback in action (starting at 3:40):



CNT = the number of lines of data that have corresponded to each of the cells in the histogram up to the current playback time of the datalog. This is very similar to what I do with DATCOUNT in Tuner V3.xlsx.

As you go further into playback of the datalog, the counts will increase and over time the cells will change colors because of the variances between the cells. You will be able to visually spot at which TP and RPM most of the lines in the datalog occur.


MIN = the smallest value that has occurred in each cell up to the current time in the datalog



MAX = the largest value that has occurred in each cell up to the current time in the datalog


IMPORTANT: notice the variance between MAX and MIN values. This could indicate that the axis resolution in our table is too low and we may be overlooking something in the data.
If we were to double or triple the length of both of the axis, we would have smaller variations in our MAX and MIN values (but then the table wouldn't correspond to Advantage III's table).



AVG = the average of all of the data that has occurred in each cell up to the current time in the datalog


At the start of the datalog, the averages will change rapidly but as you move towards the end of the file, there is more data to average which means the change in the averages will slow down.

If you scroll right to the end of the file, you will have averages for every cell in the histogram from all of the lines in the datafile.
This is the data that we will use to populate our Load w/Failed MAF table in Advantage.

You can click and drag to highlight multiple cells in Gen-II, then right-click to COPY them. Then, you can right-click and PASTE directly into SCT's Advantage III table:


...and we're done! Our Load w/Failed MAF table is updated with data from our car's actual running data.

[JoeBoomz]

Here's another Gen-II example - updating the Fuel Pump Voltage Table after modifying our fuel system (also covered using spreadsheets here)


The table in Advantage III and matching axis settings in the histogram:




The histogram configuration settings to match Advantage's table:



Here's the averages for a different datalog than I showed above:



We click and drag over the table, and right click to copy:


...and paste the values directly into Advantage:



All done!

[tad240]

That is the COOLEST thing! Thanks for posting that up. I just got the PRP recently and was trying to figure out how to accurately revise my LWFM.

Thanks again.

[metroplex]

I like how SCT finally added the histogram feature to LiveLink, but Gen II requires an X-Cal 3 or newer hardware. For those with X-Cal 2's, we have to stick with Live Link 6 which doesn't have the histogram. That said, I just looked at the tutorial and HP Tuner's VCM Scanner histogram is a bit more intuitive to set up. I was able to use VCM Scanner to tune the MAF very quickly and easily on my S197 Mustang and Cobalt SS Turbo. The Crown Vic is not supported by HP Tuner, and Live Link 6 doesn't have the histogram. I think I can rig up a way to use Microsoft Excel's AVERAGEIF to create a more crude histogram. I won't be buying an X-Cal 3 for the Crown Vic.

[RacerX]

You can import old live link logs right into Gen II and create a histogram for them no prob.

[metroplex]

Would I need to set up a new configuration in LiveLink Gen II, because I wouldn't be able to interface with the ECU without a X3 or TSX.

[RacerX]

In Gen II, just open an earlier livelink datalog and when you create a histo, your parameter choices will be for the earlier log.

For example, I have two laptops, one with livelink 6.x and have used for years. Laptop 2 has Gen II and I can only log for a few minutes before it loses communication with my xcal (Gen II is still in Beta development). So I transport logs from laptop 1 to 2 and use Gen II's histo feature to get my tables such as Load w/failed MAF.

[metroplex]

How do you set up a histogram for just LTFT+STFT vs MAF AD Counts?
LiveLink Gen II insists I set up my columns, but for tuning the MAF this is not needed. I am able to do this in HP Tuners VCM Scanner very easily.