CANbus 2-wire to USB adapter

Petrie · 07-14-2009, 11:10 PM

I'm looking for a 2-wire canbus to usb adapter.

I know I can get a canbus to usb but I need it to connect to a 2-wire (square) connector on a Subaru and not a much larger D style connector.

They are out there somewhere, so I have been told. I just need to find them. Anyone know where? Part numbers would be great too.

The connector is to bridge from an available 2009 Subaru STI canbus connector behind the dash to a custom UMPC. As long as the signal gets to the PC, I'll do the rest.

Wladi · 07-16-2009, 04:58 AM

http://www.canusb.com
http://www.peak-system.com/

Wladi

Petrie · 07-16-2009, 09:36 PM

Thanks. Both of those require a D-pin connection. That's the piece I am missing. The cable on the car is a small square connector and I need to go from that to the d-pin so that I can use the adapter.

BCasey · 07-16-2009, 10:41 PM

I made one for my chrysler 300.

I used a stereo wire harness and soldered a db9 plug to the can bus wires and plugged that into the can usb. works perfectly.

Superduck · 07-16-2009, 11:21 PM

Isn't the CANBus just a simple two-wire interface?

Perhaps check Subaru (Specialty Motor Cars, I guess) and see if you can buy just the pigtail for the CANBus connector and make a connecter yourself? There's enough diagrams of the pinouts (Here's One) that you should be able to just make one yourself.

I'd love to see the build up for your car. I'm hoping to be an STi owner in the next year or so too. They're awesome cars.

Cheers,

Kris

P.S. You spelled Squeamish wrong.

Petrie · 07-16-2009, 11:34 PM

So I did and now I cannot change it.

Canbus is a very simple 2 wire connector. The car comes with a connector right behind the radio; put there for the cars that come with the navigation unit and need it. It is square with a single pin in the center.

Car is only a few weeks old and already sporting a few mods. When it has a full diagnostic guage display to match the STI guages it will look awesome. I'm going to all this trouble because there is simply nowhere to mount any guages. Subaru stole all the spots.

Petrie · 08-21-2009, 06:36 PM

I have the answer for the 2008 Subaru community.

I used the Lawicel canusb adapter (www.canusb.com).
The audio head unit has Can L on pin 11 and Can H on pin 12. Use pin 10 for ground on the 20-pin connector in the back of the audio head unit.

There are 2 bus speeds in use; 500 kpbs and 125 kpbs.

Engine, brakes etc. use 500.
Audio, doors etc use 125

The bus goes to sleep after a timeout period on inactivity. If you open a door you create activity. If you close the door and then spend a few minutes getting your test ready you may find the bus activity has stopped. After opening your connection, create an activity (like opening the door).

Now I can move on to decoding the signals and building the guages.

Aberk · 08-24-2009, 09:37 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Petrie

I have the answer for the 2008 Subaru community.

I used the Lawicel canusb adapter (www.canusb.com).
The audio head unit has Can L on pin 11 and Can H on pin 12. Use pin 10 for ground on the 20-pin connector in the back of the audio head unit.

There are 2 bus speeds in use; 500 kpbs and 125 kpbs.

Engine, brakes etc. use 500.
Audio, doors etc use 125

The bus goes to sleep after a timeout period on inactivity. If you open a door you create activity. If you close the door and then spend a few minutes getting your test ready you may find the bus activity has stopped. After opening your connection, create an activity (like opening the door).

Now I can move on to decoding the signals and building the guages.

I am wondering how you plan to get data from the 500kbps bus when it sounds like you will only be connected the 125kbps bus and it sounds like you are far more interested in the 500kpbs bus. Why not go in through OBD? Assuming there is not gateway of course.

Petrie · 08-25-2009, 12:01 AM

You can make requests for data.

Using the high speed bus may be more efficient but for now, I'm staying off the important stuff so as to not interfere with the normal functioning of the car while I experiment.

I'm not connecting to the ODB2 so that I don't have to plug in under the steering column. I can tap into CAN from anywhere.

Nothing is final yet and I don't have all the answers. This is just the "where I am at right now" point.

lossol · 09-18-2009, 06:35 AM

Petrie,

So is this CAN bus on the back of the radio new for 2009 subarus? I have a 06 and have been interested in getting info off the bus. In particular I'm trying to determine when the drivers door opens. I'm also curious if you have more information about what data is on the CAN bus or data format details.

Very interesting project.

Petrie · 09-18-2009, 02:39 PM

For sure CAN signals are on the back of the 08/09 radio head units. There are wiring diagrams on nasioc. The pins are pink (high) and green/red (low) with black (ground) all next to each other.

This site claims that Subaru used CAN exclusively since MY2006 onwards.
http://www.etools.org/files/public/g...s-02-17-03.htm

Look for a wiring diagram for your head unit in the audio sections. You do also have them in the odb2 connector which is easily available. I think pin 5 is ground, 6 and the pin opposite 6 (?? 14) are can. Same colour codes as behind the stereo.

I am in the process of decoding messages that are broadcast by default to the head unit and about to start making requests of engine data. I got side tracked on plugging into the fast obd2 connector but hit too many data errors at that speed. Vehicle specific message would be especially difficult so I wrote a debug tool that monitors each message using all forms of decoding so I can scan for which modes make sense on each message. I wish I had more time to spare but at least I'm making progress.

Goal for this weekend is identify all the steering wheel controls so that I can capture and control the audio/video in Centrafuse.

Still in the learning phase unfortunately but once I have the tools I need and the knowledge, capturing messages is the easy part.

vtec · 09-29-2009, 08:32 AM

any update on that , i'm thinking on using that on my accord 2009

how can i capture the messages on can bus ?

lossol · 11-02-2009, 07:32 AM

Hey Petrie - How is the project going? Any updates?

Petrie · 11-02-2009, 01:03 PM

It's going slowly. Lots of distractions keep appearing (like work).

I have refined the message handler engine and optimized the capture to only feed through messages I am interested in. That gets set by the screen you choose which knows what it needs to display.

Right now I'm in a phase where I am building the UI for the gauges. I have finished the digital gauges (large, small, slim bar, multi-bar) and they have peak recall. The analogue gauges are under development. Most of that means I am experimenting with a style that suits my car really well.

I have 2 cars to detail for winter and then I can switch back to this job. Snow's forecast for Friday so this job is on the shelf.

I'll try to post some screenshots within the month. Sorry if it seems like things a slow (well they are). This project does not get the priority at the moment.

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