The Project Pad

This may have been asked somewhere else, but I'm curious on VEMS software running on any of the tablets that are hitting the market. There is the Surface, Dell has a new tablet and others that have full USB ports. Any chance these can run the software?

It should run no problem on the version of the surface which runs full windows, although I have no experience running VEMsTune on Win8. Same would apply to the Dell if it's running a full Windows OS.

Vemstune for android?

no for windows.. he said on a tablet that runs windows.

What i wish they would do is tweek the dashboard for android to be able to upload a config or two. That would be awesome. No need to change any tuning, just a quick config uploader.

Id ask but I used my monthly wish already...

Wait it is April!!!

It would be cool but how much better than config switch?

Vems will not run on a Surface... It uses a tablet version of Windows 8... I tried already... Boo

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mushasho wrote:Vems will not run on a Surface... It uses a tablet version of Windows 8... I tried already... Boo

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Sounds like you had an RT not the Pro.

Mcstiff wrote:

mushasho wrote:Vems will not run on a Surface... It uses a tablet version of Windows 8... I tried already... Boo

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Sounds like you had an RT not the Pro.

Yeah an RT I scored for cheap...

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Iconia w4 tablet connects for me (full windows 8), i'm guessing the iconia w511 would work too, just wasn't right size for me. You'll need a special usb otg to usb cable adapter, plus a FTDI-rs232 tho (or vems bluetooth setup). I tried the prolific usb way, did not work for crap. Also have my old nokia s70 osed cellphone connected to the tablet via bluetooth via a free plugin/app for integrated gps (cheap easy gps solution) . All useless for me since i can't get my car started lol. Ecu keeps rebooting and no teeth count when it's too cold while cranking.

If the surface is a pro with real windows and not the Mobil/tablet version Vemstune will run fine

I don't like Not having a keyboard, I use all the hot keys when tuning. In my opinion tuning off of a tablet would take twice as long as a laptop.

I have one of the Mini HP netbooks which I got on eBay for 50$. Small and compact and works great.
I have used tablet for the android display, but tuning I'd choose laptop all day

I have a galaxy note 10.1 tablet. It uses the android system and has bluetooth. I also bought a usb adapter. Would that be an option to run vems for android?

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vems for android is just a display, you cannot make adjustments to the config.. Only viewing.

like a big gauge

boost_addict wrote:vems for android is just a display, you cannot make adjustments to the config.. Only viewing.

like a big gauge

Oh I see, good to know. Thanks!

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I bought an ASUS iconia w4 with full windows 8.1 and it runs full vems tune pretty well. I might have to play with a small external keyboard for it though.

The iconia w4 seems to have terrible bluetooth functionality, I tried the VEMS bluetooth adapter and it will pair, but not stay connected. Same thing with a few others I have here. Might have to hardwire one of the FTDI adapters Carl mentioned above. Carl, have you tried any bluetooth adapters? Hopefully you got your car started

audifreakjim wrote:The iconia w4 seems to have terrible bluetooth functionality, I tried the VEMS bluetooth adapter and it will pair, but not stay connected. Same thing with a few others I have here. Might have to hardwire one of the FTDI adapters Carl mentioned above. Carl, have you tried any bluetooth adapters? Hopefully you got your car started

No still on the FTDI for the moment (0 hiccups), you might want to take a look in your device manager, under bluetooth radio, there's power management settings, make sure the Allow the computer to turn it off or something is unchecked. Also in power options in control panel make sure the tablet doesn't sleep after x minutes.

Engine starts great now

It looks like my tablet is bluetooth 4.0 only so it only probably works with BLE devices.

I got an FTDI adapter and it works great.

Then I couldn't stop there, I started thinking you MUST be able to turn your iphone into a wireless mouse and keyboard right? Then I can control the desktop on the tablet like a normal computer from my phone There are countless apps out there to do this, but they all need to teather off of your phone and connect via WIFI. The other gotcha is a lot of them use Bonjour to discover the client and server, which doesn't play well when it's just the tablet on your phone's hotspot. THey are designed to work on the same network and I assume the iphone is NAT'/Routing the traffic.

I found the Mobile Mouse app http://www.mobilemouse.com to work past all of this and it will talk to the tablet over your mobile hotspot connection when the tablet is connected to the phone's wifi service.

The next hurdle was stupid Windows 8 got rid of the option to show the pointer on the screen when there are no mice physically connected. So the Keyboard would work from the iphone, but no pointer. The solution is to install a software touchpad from these guys http://www.lovesummertrue.com/touchmousepointer/en-us/ It actually rocks in more ways than just giving you a pointer, it enables gestures like you have in tablet mode, in desktop mode.

So now I can have the tablet stuck to the dash, move the cursor around with my thumb, full keyboard, vems shortcuts, etc. I'll have to take a video, it's super geeky.

Have you hacked the java script yet to reflash the tera chip yet?

I don't have my tin foil hat on anymore Hank, that's all you guys get for a while. Now I just have to make the switch to the VEMS ECU. I hear I need to give joy rides this weekend, then it's on.

audifreakjim wrote:It looks like my tablet is bluetooth 4.0 only so it only probably works with BLE devices.

I got an FTDI adapter and it works great.

Then I couldn't stop there, I started thinking you MUST be able to turn your iphone into a wireless mouse and keyboard right? Then I can control the desktop on the tablet like a normal computer from my phone There are countless apps out there to do this, but they all need to teather off of your phone and connect via WIFI. The other gotcha is a lot of them use Bonjour to discover the client and server, which doesn't play well when it's just the tablet on your phone's hotspot. THey are designed to work on the same network and I assume the iphone is NAT'/Routing the traffic.

I found the Mobile Mouse app http://www.mobilemouse.com to work past all of this and it will talk to the tablet over your mobile hotspot connection when the tablet is connected to the phone's wifi service.

The next hurdle was stupid Windows 8 got rid of the option to show the pointer on the screen when there are no mice physically connected. So the Keyboard would work from the iphone, but no pointer. The solution is to install a software touchpad from these guys http://www.lovesummertrue.com/touchmousepointer/en-us/ It actually rocks in more ways than just giving you a pointer, it enables gestures like you have in tablet mode, in desktop mode.

So now I can have the tablet stuck to the dash, move the cursor around with my thumb, full keyboard, vems shortcuts, etc. I'll have to take a video, it's super geeky.

Pretty Neat, me i just use a homemade touch pen (soft tip and thin). The keyboard thing is pretty useful, not much space on that screen when the touchscreen one pops up. For bluetooth maybe it's bandwidth issues. Wonder if a diff bluetooth to rs232 would do the trick. I read some people having issues with bluetooth mice/touchpads, i think there is a setting in the device manager for the wifi adapter, bluetooth collaboration must be set to disabled or something.

However my phones: e-72, blackberrys, ipod and even older mp78 radio, after the settings change, now stay connected pretty rock stable for me. It will gobble up the battery faster mind you.

I wonder if a wifi to rs232 adapter would work better.

If you continue with usb, keep a spare otg cable adapter, I'm on my third.
I'm guessing you're already looking at charging usb hubs with a 12v input.

More coolness is how vemstune lets you edit gauge themes in the config and also "redline" type colors. Too bad it doesn't support gradients start/end colors for colored areas. But after some changes it looks much better than the default themes it ships with.

A phone is plenty of room for 10/12 keys which would be perfect to input cell values. I bet you can modify the gauge designs, it would be really cool to have variable telltails based on temperatures (like the BMW variable redline).

With all this talk of windows tablets, a while back I devised a plan for using a newer NUC form factor computer with a small screen and other bits and pieces and integrate all of it into the dashboard somehow. Media center machine, VEMS tuning, and possibly GPS location all in the little PC, in the car.

But that's just me over doing it and being a nerd. A tablet with a bluetooth keyboard seems like a brilliant idea.
It also added up to a lot more than I wanted to spend on a simple in car computer. at least at this point anyways.

Chiming in here just to tell what I'm running.

Bought a Dell Venue 8 pro running windows 8.1 (not RT, but the full version) from someone on the local classifieds for a dang good deal. It connects just fine using the RS-232 adapter with another USB to mini-USB adapter. Granted I've been using it for a week only so time will tell.

I did adjust the battery settings to never turn off the screen automatically when on battery. I wish there was a separate port for charging as you have to choose connection or charge but not both with this thing.

For mounting I was thinking of picking up a ram mount but might come up with something more one-off.