faulty 2.0 tactrix?
 

I am having issues reading/logging my evo 8. About a month or two ago I was able to successfully read/save the map off of it. Today I needed to pull some dtc and I tried using evoscan 2.6 and was unable to connect. So I tried to read the ecu file with ecuflash, it came up with an error. So then I used another laptop and installed the latest version of ecuflash and tried again and got the same error. I then tried to pull the rom off of my 04 forester xt which ive tuned multiple times with this same cable and was unable to read the rom either. I also tried swapping the mini usb cable for a different one with no difference. However I was able to log my forester using romraider logger. Has anyone had a tactrix go bad on them in this fasion? I can't read/log evo at all, but I can log the subaru and not read the rom. This is what the screen shot looks like of ecuflash:
Attachment 272091

rom
 

Why does it say Evo7 if your car is an Evo VIII? Do you have the correct xml in your rommetadata folder?

yes, it actually says evo7-8. that is how i was previously able to read it.

battery
 

Is your battery voltage good?

Assuming it's not a low battery voltage issue (which is extremely common) because you've tried on multiple cars, I'd say yes it's the cable failing.

I have had several 1.3U cables fail over the last 10 years, and it is usually the wires breaking where it is commonly twisted/bent (especially at the connectors). I've actually been meaning to cut my last 1.3U and repair it.

The cables are surprisingly delicate (possibly suffers from high temperature in the wire). You can attempt to find where it is failing by opening ECUFlash, connecting the cable and moving the cable at small angles along its length each time attempting to read from the ROM. Or moving the cable around while it's logging your forester to see if it drops out. This will tell you if it's the cable going bad.

Yeah these cables are very fragile, I'm on my second 2.0, first one got destroyed because a guy kicked it while I was logging his car. I'll see if I can borrow someone's cable to make sure it is the cable. As for the battery voltage yes both vehicles were fully charged.

try older EcuFlash versions , it helps sometimes.

I bought one of the first cables from tactrix.com almost 10 years ago now and I have used the hell out of it on 2 different cars and it still works with no broken wires.

/\ mimics what he said...I bought mine in Dec 2006. Only one issue and that was the rewrite wire came out of the little crimp connector a month ago. Re-fitted and re-crimped, has been working fine ever since.

I did have an issue with EcuFlash 2.44 several months ago that I thought was a cable issue. On plugging in the cable, the whole computer would do a memory dump (blue screen). After dicking around for several weeks, i uninstalled and re-installed the latest drivers for the FTDI from tactrix and ...voila issue gone....somehow the FTDI driver had become corrupted and as soon as the cable went active, it crashed the computer.

Moral....If you are not having issues connecting...dont fix it.... but if you are...re-install the FTDI drivers first from Tactix.

evo
 

You should keep a dedicated laptop or tablet for tuning your car. Don't use the same computer you use for gaming and everything else because programs could get easily corrupted. It's also good to keep it in your car in case of an emergency.

My cable is connected to my obd port all the time. The usb connector is snaked around to the passenger side so I can connect it anytime I need to flash or log the car. Had it this way for years on multiple cars and never had a problem. Only time I disconnect it is when I go for smog.

I got tactrix involved, hopefully it's not the cable.

So it is not the cable, its mostly user error. After doing some research appearently evoscan 2.6 will not work with the tactrix 2.0, the reason I couldn't read/write is because I panicked and forgot to connect the reflash adapter on the evo and when I went to read my subaru I did not connect the green test mode connectors. Will be upgrading to the latest version of evoscan soon.