Mike,

I've tested my newly acquired, but previously used OBDLink SX. Here's my evaluation...

Summary
------------
The OBDLink SX scanner works well with the supplied free OBDwiz software to access the OBDII emission diagnostic data.

OBDLink SX works as expected -- manually with Hyperterminal or standalone Realterm -- to read/clear the '97 Volvo 850 OBDII emission diagnostics DTCs and the '97 Volvo 850 keyword D3 B0 protocol (KWPD3B0) ECUs DTCs, very similar to how my ELM327 clone operated.

OBDLink SX can be used with v0.5 (or later) volvo850diag distributions -- as long as they contain the edits mentioned in item 6 below -- and/or it can be used with the latest Realterm download or with Hyperterminal. At present, **if** you want to use an ELM327 style device, then volvo850diag is the easiest way to access COMBI, ABS, SRS, AW 50-42 (for non-emission diagnostics), and Power Seats, along with other KWPD3B0 ECUs which are available in '96-'97 850s, '98-'99 S70/V70, etc, since volvo850diag semi-automates the communication somewhat similar to what Vol-FCR Demo or Brick-Diag Free does. The drawback to volvo850diag is that it does not immediately interpret the data, but interpretation is provided externally via http://jonesrh.info/volvo850/kwpd3b0_interpreter.html.

Some Details
----------------
1. I followed the OBDLink SX Quick Start instructions on a PC which had no FTDI drivers installed already. The instructions were included on a piece of paper in my box. They are the same as those that can be downloaded from:

http://www.scantool.net/scantool/downloads/164/obdlink_sx-quick_start.pdf

2. The OBDII connector end of the OBDLink SX had to be pressed very firmly onto the OBDII port in order for the initial yellow light to turn green. [I use an OBDII-to-OBDII Y-connector as a go-between from the Volvo's OBDII port to the scan tool's OBDII port, so I was having to press on one of its Y legs.]

The single red / yellow / green light on the OBDLink SX is visible when plugging in directly to the Volvo's OBDII port, where with my ELM327 clone -- it's not that way on all ELM327 clones -- the 5 lights face the dash and are not visible. But if you have a connecting cable between your scan tool and the car's OBDII port, you can easily see the ELM327 clone lights, and in that case, the ELM327 clone's 5 lights are actually superior to the OBDLink SX's 1 single light, since more info is conveyed with the 5 lights.

3. OBDwiz worked fine the first time it was run. So far I like it better than the free EasyObdII software that I was previously using.

3a. OBDwiz has got a dashboard display with big analog style dials, and it's also got a nice live data display that shows averages, etc. along with the live data. There's capabilities to fiddle with what PIDs are being polled/displayed. But the things I wanted to focus on are...

3b. OBDwiz has got a very useful Raw Data screen which is where I first discovered that the terminal connection (from OBDLink SX to PC) was at 115210 instead of the expected 38400 baud. This is also where I could see that the OBDWiz software uses ATE0 and ATL0 (instead of the ATE1 and ATL1 which my Volvo 850 OBDII Portal presumes when using Hyperterminal or Realterm). For someone that doesn't know what the OBDII emission diagnostics mode $01 PIDs mean, looking at the ECU 17 PIDs in the OBDwiz Raw Data screen's log will reveal them. I like how the OBDwiz wraps request/response combos with [ and ].

3c. OBDwiz's Console screen's ability to enter commands can apparently only be used **after** you connect, so it can not be used to enter KWPD3B0 setup commands, ECU 01 (ABS) setup commands, ECU 58 (SRS) setup commands, etc. required **before** initiating a KWPD3B0 connection. So the OBDwiz software is unlikely to be useful for communicating with the Volvo 850 and S70/V70 COMBI, ABS, SRS, etc ECUs that talk via KWPD3B0.

3d. OBDwiz has an Unsupported Command tab under Advanced Communication Settings which might be useful to avoid sending commands which you're car's ECUs can not handle. I haven't tried it.

3e. There's also an interface Initialization tab which allows entering some Init commands when establishing a communication. I also haven't tried that.

3f. I'd suggest using the OBDwiz / Setup to select the "ISO 9141-2 (5 baud init, 10.4 Kbaud)" protocol, at least while you're doing the initial testing on your '98 V70. This essentially causes an "ATSP 3" to be sent to the OBDLink SX immediately before OBDwiz attempts to connect thru the OBDLink SX.

4. The FTDI drivers included on my CD were v2.6.0.0 from 2009-10-22. That's quite old. However, they worked on that WinXP system which did not have any FTDI drivers on it. On another WinXP system, I already had the newer FTDI CDM v2.8.24.0 drivers dated 2012-04-10, so on that system I bypassed the "1. Install drivers" step in the OBDLink SX Quick Start guide. I installed and ran OBDwiz successfully on that system, even though the FTDI drivers were *not* installed from the ScanTools.net CD supplied with my OBDLink SX.

Even though I haven't tried them yet, I'd probably suggest you eventually update to the latest FTDI drivers. Your OBDLink SX will more likely operate with the full capability of what its latest firmware version is capable of if you are using the latest FTDI drivers.

5. I hit a dead end in my initial attempts to communicate to OBDLink SX via the volvo850diag / Realterm combo. The ELM327 normally uses a 38400 baud terminal connection, so volvo850diag (v0.5) / Realterm uses 38400 baud. But that produced garbage. I attempted other baud rates from Realterm's Port page, but with no real success.

I finally resorted to trying Hyperterminal, since thrich at the following link mentioned Hyperterminal was successfully used to retrieve the mileage from a '96 Volvo 850R and a '96 Volvo Turbo:

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=58722

I setup a Hyperterminal "OBDII OBDLink SX" shortcut to control the OBDLink SX in the future with Hyperterminal. In the process of setting up that shortcut, I individualized that shortcut by:

5a. selecting my particular COM port # on that machine: COM10,
5b. selecting a speed of 115210 baud (since I'd seen in the OBDwiz Raw Data log that it connected at 115210), and
5c. created a log via Transfer / Captive Text, entering a filespec and suffixing the filename with a timestamp and optional short description.

If you don't want to or can't (because you're using Win7) use Hyperterminal, then that's OK. I'm mentioning it here a) to show how you might debug a terminal emulator baud rate problem in the future, and b) in case you want to use Hyperterminal exclusively, instead of using the volvo850diag / Realterm combo.

Hyperterminal responded correctly with a '>' prompt immediately after entering 1 or 2 CRs by pressing the "Enter" key twice. I then tried a few AT commands:

>ATZ
ELM327 v1.3a

>ATL1 (required to stop the overwriting)
OK

>ATE1
OK

>ATI
ELM327 v1.3a

>ATDP
ISO 9141-2

>ATDPN
3

>ATPPS
00:FF F 01:FF F 02:FF F 03:19 F
04:01 F 05:FF F 06:F1 F 07:09 F
08:FF F 09:00 F 0A:0A F 0B:FF F
0C:23 F 0D:0D F 0E:5A F 0F:FF F
10:0D F 11:00 F 12:00 F 13:F4 F
14:FF F 15:0A F 16:FF F 17:92 F
18:00 F 19:28 F 1A:FF F 1B:FF F
1C:FF F 1D:FF F 1E:FF F 1F:FF F
20:FF F 21:FF F 22:FF F 23:FF F
24:00 F 25:00 F 26:00 F 27:FF F
28:FF F 29:FF F 2A:00 F 2B:02 F
2C:E0 F 2D:04 F 2E:80 F 2F:0A F

>AT@1
SCANTOOL.NET LLC

>AT@2
?

as well as some ST commands:

>STI
STN1130 v3.3.0
>STDI
OBDLink SX r2.2

>STMFR
ScanTool.net LLC

>STSN
123456789012 (different for each device presumably)

>STSLCS
CTRL MODE: NATIVE
PWR_CTRL: LOW PWR = HIGH
UART SLEEP: OFF, 1200 s
UART WAKE: ON, 0-30000 us
EXT INPUT: HIGH = SLEEP
EXT SLEEP: OFF, HIGH FOR 3000 ms
EXT WAKE: ON, LOW FOR 2000 ms
VL SLEEP: OFF, <13.00V FOR 600 s
VL WAKE: OFF, >13.20V FOR 1 s
VCHG WAKE: OFF, 0.20V IN 1000 ms

>STSLLT
SLEEP: NONE
WAKE: NONE

>STSLXS
WAKE

At this point, you could exit Hyperterminal, answering affirmatively to the dialog boxes relating to a) do you want to disconnect, and b) "OBDII OBDLink SX" (or whatever you called your shortcut), because the 1st one will close/save the log file and the 2nd one will save the shortcut instead of discarding it.

Each time that Hyperterminal shortcut is used in the future, the log file's name could be updated with a new timestamp and a short description could be optionally appended.

I then went on -- even though I wasn't connected to the car at this point -- to reconnect using the just created Hyperterminal "OBDII OBDLink SX" shortcut, updating the log filename, then issuing the commands at:

http://jonesrh.info/volvo850/elm327_reads_volvo_850_mileage.html#cmds_to_read_mileage

using a minor variation for the protocol setting, including the recent addition of "ATRA 13" that is wise to begin using at the same time "ATTA 13" is issued, and using ATSI (to test if the ATSI is handled by the OBDLink SX):

>ATZ
ELM327 v1.3a

>ATL1 (required to stop the overwriting)
OK

>ATE1
OK

>ATSP 3
OK

>ATDP
ISO 9141-2

>ATH1
OK

>ATAL
OK

>ATKW0
OK

>ATTA 13
OK

>ATRA 13
OK

>ATIIA 51
OK

>ATWM 82 51 13 A1
OK

>ATSI
BUS INIT: BUS ERROR

>ATSH 84 51 13
OK

>B90300
BUS INIT: BUS ERROR

Right then and there I knew:

5d. There's a good PC to OBDLink SX connection using Hyperterminal (and probably the volvo850diag / Realterm mechanism could be made to work and be able to talk both OBDII emission diagnostics and KWPD3B0 via the OBDLink SX).

5e. The ELM327 v1.4 ATSI command is implemented by OBDLink SX (in the version of the firmware that I'm running -- see above "STN1130 v3.3.0" / "OBDLink SX r2.2" / "ELM327 v1.3a" responses).

5f. If a connection is not already established, then sending any request (eg, the B90300) will cause an implicit Slow Init connection attempt.

Note: The lower line of Hyperterminal shows: Auto detect, 115200 8-N-1. If you check that COM port in Device Manager, you may find it still says 9600 (or 38400 or anything else you've changed it to). The baud rate in Device Manager doesn't seem to matter with the FTDI devices. Don't ask me why?!

6. Some small changes have to be made to volvo850diag in order to use the OBDLink SX. Since I don't have time at present to make all the volvo850diag.html documentation changes which should accompany these .html changes and I don't have time at present to make all the jonesrh.info/volvo850/ portal changes to accompany it, I'll just show you the .html changes and you can make them yourself to the volvo850diag.html which is included in the volvo850diag.zip v0.5 distribution. It should take you about 5-10 minutes to make these changes.

6a. The OBDLink SX appears to talk to the PC at 115210 baud instead of my ELM327 clone's top speed of 38400 baud. Since I bought a used OBDLink SX I'm not sure if that 115210 baud is the default, but for the time being I'm presuming it is. To handle this 115210 baud rate, change the following line in volvo850diag.html:

RT.baud=38400; // Only choices for ELM327 are 38400 and 9600.

to the following 2 lines:

////RT.baud=38400; // Only choices for ELM327 are 38400 and 9600.
RT.baud=115210; // Apparent default for OBDLink SX is 115210.

You definitely need to make that change. I spent hours trying to change the baud rate on Realterm's Port pane then clicking the Open and/or Change buttons in various combinations. It was a waste of time. Changing that one line in volvo850diag.html solved my problem and I could immediately connect afterwards when pressing volvo850diag's "Start Realterm" button.

6b. The FTDI drivers create a "\VCP0" virtual terminal. Just like "\Silabser0" can be used for the CP210x based serial devices, the "\VCP0" can be used for the FTDI based serial devices. To handle the OBDLink SX's use of "\VCP0", change the following line in volvo850diag.html:

var port_default = "\\Silabser0";

to the following 2 lines:

////var port_default = "\\Silabser0"; // For my CP210x based ELM327.
var port_default = "\\VCP0"; // For my FTDI based OBDLink SX.

This change will obviate the need to define the RT_ELM327_PORT environment variable.

6c. Then, you need to remember to follow the paragraph 3e instructions from my previous 2013-10-30 post in this thread:

http://www.brickboard.com/AWD/volvo/1580229/obdlink_sx_stn1100_family_elm327like_alternative_98_v70_combi_abs_srs_etc_access_scanner_elm327.html

which basically says to use both ELM327 commands: "ATTA 13" and "ATRA 13", everywhere that previous instructions included only the "ATTA 13". The "ATRA 13" can also be immediately before the "ATTA 13". That's how I've chosen to do it in the following examples.

What this implies for volvo850diag is that you need to make the following 5 changes to volvo850diag_all_ecus_scan.js.

6c1. Add the following line:

dtcss[++i] = "ATRA 13"; dtcsdly[i] = dlyAT;

after this line:

dtcss[++i] = "ATKW0"; dtcsdly[i] = dlyAT;

6c2. Add the following line:

qss[++i] = "ATRA 13"; qsdly[i] = dlyAT;

after this line:

qss[++i] = "ATKW0"; qsdly[i] = dlyAT;

6c3. Add the following line:

fss[++i] = "ATRA 13"; fsdly[i] = dlyAT;

after this line:

fss[++i] = "ATKW0"; fsdly[i] = dlyAT;

6c4. Add the following line:

xss[++i] = "ATRA 13"; xsdly[i] = dlyAT;

after this line:

xss[++i] = "ATKW0"; xsdly[i] = dlyAT;

6c5. Add the following line:

sss[++i] = "ATRA 13"; ssdly[i] = dlyAT;

after this line:

sss[++i] = "ATKW0"; ssdly[i] = dlyAT;

Those 5 additions of "ATRA 13" will ensure that volvo850diag will be able to immediately display the responses to ABS and AW 50-42 requests like AE01, B9F0, AExx, B9xx.

Mike, in your OBDLink SX case, you'll very likely need to do 6a, 6b, and 6c1-6c5.

7. Because of the 6a thru 6c changes, the instructions in my previous 2013-10-30 post item 4 should really be modified. Try these instructions instead:

7a. Download and install the free Realterm terminal emulator:
http://realterm.sourceforge.net/
7b. Download and extract the latest, free volvo850diag distribution (v0.5 or higher):
http://jonesrh.info/volvo850/volvo850diag.zip
7c. Apply the 6a edit to the extracted volvo850diag.html, *if* your OBDII scanner does not by default talk at 38400 baud. If your device operates at some other speed besides 38400 or 115210, then adapt the edit for your speed.
7d. Apply the 6b edit to the extracted volvo850diag.html, *if* your OBDII scanner is FTDI based, eg, like the OBDLink SX.
7e. Apply the 6c edits to the extracted volvo850diag_all_ecus_scan.js to add the "ATRA 13" command when "ATTA 13" commands are used.
7f. With Internet Explorer, display the edited version of volvo850diag.html.
7g. Follow the instructions in the "Requirements" and "Installation and Setup of volvo850diag" sections of volvo850diag.htm, but ignore instructions about setting up the RT_ELM327_xxxxxx logicals, unless you want full control over them. You should only have to do this step the very first time.
7h. Remember that the automatic logs go into a temporary directory unless you control them with RT_ELM327_LOGS. After clicking volvo850diag's "Start Realterm" button and getting a Realterm window appearing with an already issued ATZ and ATL1 command, along with a timestamp, then examine the Realterm's Capture tab to see where they'll go.

8. It would be really good if on your friends' '98 XC70 with the ABS problems you can do the volvo850diag's "Full Scan All ECUs" before you clear any DTCs, then perform any "Read DTCs", "Clear DTCs", "Read DTCs" cycles to get that car's KWPD3B0 ECUs' DTCs cleared (to see if they'll stay cleared), then do another "Full Scan All ECUs" when you're done, followed by submitting the contents of the log file to http://jonesrh.info/volvo850/kwpd3b0_interpreter.html. After that initial Full Scan All ECUs, further testing with ECU 01 (ABS) could just involve the individual ECU 01 "Full Scan", before and after the ECU 01 "Read DTCs", "Clear DTCs", "Read DTCs" cycles. Good luck on getting the ABS fixed. midwest-abs.com worked out well for me. Only cost $55 + $5.70 postage, since I had a half-working ABS module that could be used as a temporary replacement during the repair downtime [same module mentioned in next paragraph].

9. If your friends' ABS consistently causes the speedometer to not register any speed, and if his COMBI shows an ECU 51 DTC 02 (equivalent to CI-221 Vehicle speed signal missing) which, after it is cleared, soon returns before or after driving anywhere, then submit the logs verifying that to kwpd3b0_interpreter.html, including either "Full Scan All ECUs" or both ECU 51 "Full Scan" and ECU 01 "Full Scan" and including your contact info. If the Full Scan logs verify what I need in a broken ABS, then I'll be willing to do an even swap with a half-working ABS module that *does* supply a speed signal correctly, but does *not* work reliably for the main ABS brake functions. At least he would get a speedometer signal for the price of mailing an ABS module. And I would have an ABS which does *not* supply a speed signal so I can test how that affects the COMBI B90A (or some other) value. Once I received his ABS module that generated the COMBI's DTC 02, I would send my ABS with the working speed signal.

10. Your car may not have any OBDII emission diagnostic DTCs now, but you might have COMBI, SRS, ABS, auto tranny DTCs, Power Seat, etc DTCs, unless you've cleared them recently with Vol-FCR or something with similar functionality. You certainly have a Power Seat DTC 14, because that DTC always exists.

You can always disconnect your MAF to generate an emission diagnostic DTC. But as long as you can get normal responses to 0100-0101, 0103-0107, 010C-010E, 0110-0111, and 0113-0114 values, I wouldn't worry about it. Those other commands are enough to show your OBDII emission diagnostics is working with your scan tool. You'll have a real emission diagnostic DTC soon enough.

And if you do the bench testing of the spare Motronic 4.4 ECU, surely it'll have DTCs.

11. If your engine ECU is Motronic 4.4, then you'll probably find you can not only use the OBDII emission diagnostics protocol (that OBDwiz and volvo850diag's "OBDII Scan" button uses), but also be able to talk to it via KWPD3B0 using ECU 7A -- just like you do for COMBI, SRS, ABS, etc. Just substitute 7A everywhere you see 51 (eg, for the COMBI). See rkam's "Diagnose and Communication" thread for examples to read some live data directly from the Motronic 4.4:

http://forum.ecuproject.com/showthread.php?1664-Diagnose-and-communication

Search down for "Motronic 4.4 Live data Volvo protocol". There's more live data there than the meager amount available from the OBDII emission diagnostics. You'll have to do the interpreting. kwpd3b0_interpreter.html doesn't yet translate any of the Motronic 4.4 ECU 7A communication.

I'm presuming that you would also be able to see those Motronic 4.4 engine ECU DTCs using the KWPD3B0 physical addressing with ECU 7A (for Motronic 4.4). A similar command sequence as for ABS or COMBI would be used, substituting 7A for 51 or 01, and using either the "ATSH 83 7A 13" / "AE 01" or the "ATSH 84 7A 13" / "AE 01 00" sequence to read Motronic 4.4 DTCs. Using KWPD3B0, you would presumably clear the Motronic 4.4 DTCs via "ATSH 83 7A 13" / "AF 01" or "ATSH 84 7A 13" / "AF 01 00". I don't know this for certain, but it seems likely.

12. After using volvo850diag, you'll likely see that ATBD is essentially useless for the OBDLink SX user. It returns all 00s. But at least it does not generate any errors. I'll try to eliminate the excess volvo850diag ATBD commands that generate 00s in future releases.

13. Concerning whether OBDLink MX can also read the '98 V70 ABS, SRS, etc...

I'm almost certain that OBDLink MX uses the same ELM327 AT commands and PP parameters and STN11xx ST commands as the OBDLink SX (with possible slight differences). I wouldn't be surprised if they use 2 different chips in the STN1100 family, since one is bluetooth oriented and the other is USB oriented. The OBDLink MX page refers one place to the STN1110 and in its documentation title refers to STN11xx, whereas the OBDLink SX page only includes the one STN1100 reference in its documentation title. But the AT and ST commands and the PP parameters should be almost exactly the same between them (if not exactly the same). See this forum thread on "STN1100 vs STN1110 vs STN1120 chips":

https://www.scantool.net/forum/index.php?topic=4683.0

The http://www.scantool.net/obdlink-mx.html page has a link to:

http://www.scantool.net/downloads/98/stn1100-frpm.pdf

which is a bit different URL from the one linked from the http://www.scantool.net/obdlink-sx.html page:

http://www.scantool.net/scantool/downloads/98/stn1100-frpm.pdf

But if you download both files, renaming them to include an MX or SX suffix, then compare via WinXP CMD's "fc /b stn1100-frpm-MX.pdf stn1100-frpm-SX.pdf", you'll see they are the same.

So it is very, very likely that OBDLink MX uses a STN1100 family chip with similar functionality as the OBDLink SX,
except for any bluetooth vs. USB interfacing (which I assume is actually done external to the STN1100).

I'd be very surprised if a WinXP laptop with Realterm and a Bluetooth interface could not talk to your '98 Volvo V70 using the OBDLink MX. If there were any problems, I'd suspect misconfiguration problems with the Bluetooth interface, or problems with the Bluetooth interface having some sort of baud rate limitation that the USB cable does not have, not an inability of the OBDLink MX problems to handle the STN1100's AT and ST commands. If it uses a baud rate lower than 115210 and you want to use the volvo850diag / Realterm combo, then you'll have to change the volvo850diag.html RT.baud edit mentioned above in 6a.

14. There looks to be some useful tools in the Troubleshooting section of the ScanTool.net installation CD for the OBDLink SX drivers, OBDwiz, etc. So don't forget to peruse the CD for its hidden nuggets.

15. The following commands might be worth noting. They are a selected extract from the changelog included in the OBDLink SX firmware v3.3.0 .zip's obdlink_sx-changelog.txt, where I've included only items that seemed possibly pertinent to us:

v3.1.0 - 2012/05/16
- NEW: STP (set protocol)
- NEW: STPR (report current protocol number)
- NEW: STPRS (report current protocol string)
- NEW: STPO (open protocol)
- NEW: STPC (close protocol)
- NEW: STPTO (set OBD response timeout)
- CHG: Changed ATST and PP 03 default to 0x19 (102 ms)

The "Changed ATST and PP 03..." line is a drastically different default than the ELM327's -- about half as much, and about 2/3 of what I use in volvo850diag when performing KWPD3B0 communication. I was worried that volvo850diag might have to change its present ATST command (for 152 ms) or that the ELM327 ATST default (205 ms) for OBDII emission diagnostics could not coexist with the OBDLink SX default (102 ms). But it all seems to work OK.

The STP... oriented lines are for new commands which might possibly be useful as alternatives to ATSP, ATDP, ATDPI, ATSI, ATPC, etc. For the time being, I don't plan on using any, since my version of OBDLink SX handles the ELM327 ATSI command (so I'll assume all of them can be upgraded with firmware to also handle ATSI commands), and my OBDLink SX works well with the volvo850diag mods mentioned above.

Conclusion
--------------
The OBDLink SX scanner can be used as a normal OBDII emission diagnostic scanner and to access some '96-'99 Volvo models (and maybe some '95 and '00 models) for ECUs that do physical connections using the keyword D3 B0 protocol, eg, Instrument Panel, SRS, ABS, auto transmission ECUs, etc. You name it, if it talks keyword D3 B0 protocol, or if it appears as a grey box on the Vol-FCR screens, then the OBDLink SX can probably be used with a terminal emulator like Hyperterminal or Realterm, and/or some dedicated communications program, eg, a recent enough version of volvo850diag. You'll have to provide your own interpretation of the messages or rely upon kwpd3b0_interpreter.html. For ECUs which are grey boxes in Vol-FCR but which aren't read yet by volvo850diag, you'll have to determine the ECU # by monitoring Vol-FCR Full communication or by adding an ATSI (or AE01) loop in volvo850diag_all_ecus_scan.js which loops through all possible ECUs.

esl_97_850_T5