I have Auto ECU Programmer xprog 5.55 clone a couple of years and never let me down mate. newer versions have issues.
also upa clone, old but still good, tl866 clone, and orange too
with little knowledge and searching in forum (DK or MMH) you can rework most of them and never have problems
They are pretty cheap so I suggest ,—-if you do it as a hobby—-,buy both xprog and upa with all their adapters.
But surely original devices have plenty of advantages.
Orange5:
– A must have. You can’t avoid to get it if you want to do the car work seriously. Good for EEPROMs, MCUs, has a good Immo-content. This immo-part can be very helpful: in many cases you have only to solder some vires to the PCB, and you can read/write the needed content. Contains tons of pictures of immo-boxes, ECUs, and other PCBs; chip pinouts, and lots of useful information. The basic kit costs only €350, I suggest to pay a bit more, and buy all the needed connectors with the basic kit: SOIC8 DIP8, SOIC8 14 soldering, SSOP8, Lead with clips POMONA SOIC8 & DIP8, PQFP52 PQFP80, TMS374, 912 908 and 705E6 in-circuit leads, HC11ES and 05B6 WDT VW chip connectors (be getle with ’em, otherwise you have to buy a new one after 5-10 uses), ST62xx, 908AS60/AZ60 QFP64, all Motorola connectors. You will see how often do you use this connectors, and you can re-order the frequently needed ones.
– orange5 is best for old motorola like 3d33j or 1d62j eeprom too.
– Orange5 you must push disable security button 1st on some.
– Orange5 plus v1.35 is newly available (full kits for $199 with USB Dongle and Full Adapter Full Packet Hardware + Enhanced Function Software) .
Difference between xprog version (v5.55 v5.60 v5.74 v5.84 v6.12):
– a higher sw version supports more mcu′s /eeprom a.s.o.
but some of this protocols even not work correctly on clones…
when you have a specific mcu, make a research on google and read comments on forum about possibilities read/write…
XProg-M:
– Good tool, but not necessary to have (or get a Chinese one). It was the first one what I had, but you can find where it leaks sooner as you could think. It was and is a very good eprommer. Very good if you have to deal with Motorola’s, but not so universal than the O5, or the VVDI Prog. If you buy the original one, it can be expensive: €2000 for the full set with all the sw authorization and connectors, but you can get the Chinese clone of v5.5 from $50 and Xprog V6.12 with USB dongle for $179.
Warning: The cheap version can cause troubles, because it is built from cheapest parts. Sometimes 0.01 V difference can cause expensive troubles
– Use xprog only for old ews3 and work well .
– Occasionally the old xprog will come out the box but not very often anymore.
– Be careful with whatever kit u buy – vvdi for example it’s easy to select 6 pin eeprom instead of 8.
iprog+ clone: not so good for eeprom
I’ve managed to read eeproms with iprog, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Use the Eeprom adapter, pin #1 is where the lever is.
To be upgrading…