Anyone found a better logging software package than VCDS?

[dave_r]

Doing data logs on with VCDS is sorta painful as you have to drill down many menus and then manually select the checkbox for each item you want to display and then log to file.

A guy at work uses ecuEDIT on his WRX which also includes an impressive CSV viewer/graph tool. This application remembers the parameters you wanted to log but I don't think it knows the maps for the VAG ECU's.

We modified the CSV outputs from VCDS and plugged them into ecuEDIT's graphing tool and it makes vc-scope and diesel viewer ( i think its called) look like rubbish.

Would be nice if there was another application out there that could use the VCDS cable and log data from the OBD-II port in a nicer method than VCDS software.

[parso_rex]

Theres a freeware prog called log Analyser or logplotting.exe (same thing)that creates nice graphs out of the Logs that VCDS has created if thats what your after. If its logging itself well there's not any other choice realistically. You are saving profiles of parameters to log aren't you?, this would mean you don't have to drill down each time.
I use Ecuedit (admin version) myself as part of my kit for tuning Subarus and EVO's and the vagcom log import function does not work very well. I thinks its something they plan to work on in the future though. You still need the cable itself and this of course determines your sample rate. I might have another look at it.

[dave_r]

You are saving profiles of parameters to log aren't you?, this would mean you don't have to drill down each time.

I wasn't aware VCDS could save profiles of which parameters to log! I read the manual again without skipping the part where I can save a list in advanced measuring values

I'll keep using ecuEDIT for the display of my modified CSV files though, its much easier to read the data than the other things I've seen.

[parso_rex]

I had another play with Ecuedit and found where I'd been going wrong - It looks like I hadn't ever converted the file prior to displaying the log so a big for me there too.
Heres a pic of the two progs overlayed sort of and shrunk a bit (which explains the crapness)
Ecuedit wins but the other freeware prog is OK once you get used to it.

[dave_r]

Yeah ecuEDIT doesn't like all the extra timestamp fields, did you just remove them or do you have a nicer way of converting the CSV files for use in that application?

What was the other freeware app you were using?

[parso_rex]

Here you go

Link LogPlotting.rar

Ecuedit has a convert vagcom log option built in. You'll see it im sure, all it's doing of course is stripping out all the rubbish that you could do yourself anyway. I didnt see this before myself

[dave_r]

Opening a VCDS log in LogPlotting doesn't do anything? Tried an original file and my modified for ecuedit copy.

Grabbed the current trial version, that convert feature is nice and quick, version guy at work gave me was realllly old!

[parso_rex]

It should work fine. There is a tab button to select the group of parameters just as you would do when setting up the logging in VCDS, try selecting these.
With advanced logging though you may have selected a whole stack of parameters with a number of groups - more than three . This could be the issue, I'll have a look a bit later when I get off this silly iPhone

[dave_r]

No worries, I'm just playing around. Not like I understand half the data anyways

[parso_rex]

I just had a play and that utility can't handle the logs generated by advanced logging so Ecuedit is definitely the go.
Once you get the hang of things you'll be able to see what hardware mods result in what gains or losses. You can also monitor the general health of engine and see what differences there are when you have had any further tuning undertaken

[dave_r]

Thanks heaps for the info and help.