TuneBoy Software

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ArcticWhite

ArcticWhite

Joined
Jun 24, 2019
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So, I thought I would post what I know so far, so this is a bit easier for those who want to try Tuneboy software. It has been a journey of non-stop discovery for me.

What you need to tune your V4:
-Tuneboy Conti programming cable (sold as a package with software key)
-Tuneboy Conti M4D software (downloadable from Tuneboy site)
-Two LC-2 Innovate Widebands (one for the front two cylinders and one for the rear two cylinders). These come with a DB9 serial cable.
-An Innovate 3846 serial patch cable (required to tie the two LC-2 widebands together on one serial channel)
-A serial (DB9) to USB adapter (most laptops don't have a DB9 serial port anymore)
-Two USB ports on the laptop you will be using for programming (if you have a Microsoft surface with one usb port like me, you need to buy a 2 or more port USB hub)

The tune boy logger software takes a data feed from the ECU via the Tuneboy USB cable and a data feed from the two widebands (via the DB9 cable from the two daisy chained LC-2 widebands). By doing this, it logs a bunch of ECU parameters along with the air fuel ratio.

Of course, there was no literature on how all of this works (on other conti bikes, the widebands got wired into the factory O2 wiring harness, eliminating the need for the serial patch cable, serial to usb adapter, etc). This is not the case currently with the V4.

So, because I didn't know this, I'm another week away from tuning my bike, as I am now waiting on the serial patch cable and serial to USB adapter.

When I finally am able to start tuning, I will do a review and a how-to.
 
Thanks for sharing, I have been thinking about doing this for a while now. Very interested in hearing how well it works.
 
Some more info on the tables available:

F1 to F4 are fuel tables for the 4 cylinders, throttle position vs. RPM
L1 to L4 are the fuel tables for the 4 cylinders, manifold pressure vs. RPM
I1_1 to I1_6 are the ignition tables, one for each of the gears

The A/F 1 to 4 (4 cylinders) are the tables used for the info from logging. This will show the AFR that was measured at each of these Throttle Position vs RPM positions. You can get a feel for how far your tune was off. You can also see which cells were hit during the riding session. The background color of the cell shows how are off of the target the reading was. green= within 0.2 of the target AFR, Red= lean (the darker the leaner). Blue = Rich
The AFR values in the A/F table are what the calculation in tune boy uses to calculate the changes required to your fuelling tables when you use the "Correct Fuel Map" function. Although these are measured values, you can modify them in the table before you run the calculation. An example of why you would want to do this: at 0% throttle at off-idle rpms, you may see lean values recorded. This will be due to the deceleration fuel cut the ecu performs. The AFR really was lean, but it was lean because the ECU was cutting fuel under closed throttle, not because the tune was off. Therefore, if you left these values in the table, fuelling would be increased in your fuelling tables at 0% throttle at those RPMS. You would not want this. Therefore, before running the correct fuel map function, you can zero out the values in the A/F table for 0% throttle. The ability to edit this table also gives you the functionality to focus on a certain part of your tune. You may have ridden around at all throttle positions and rpms, but really only want to modify wide open throttle fuelling at this time. You could therefore Zero out all values except for the ones at 100% throttle, and fuelling changes would only be calculated for 100% throttle.

I currently do not have info on what the A/F Count table is.

The A/F target table is the air fuel ratios you want the "correct fuel map" function to correct to. If you set the entire table to 13.00 it will try to correct your fuelling such that your bike runs at 13:1 AFR at all throttle positions, loads and rpms. Usually engines make the best power at 13:1 to 13.3:1, so 13:1 is a good place to start. The stock tune makes your bike run at stoichiometric (14.7:1) at low loads. This is done for emissions and fuel economy. However, the downfall to this is that exhaust temps will be hotter and throttle will not be as smooth. Therefore it is recommended to run richer than that, even at low loads.
 
I still don't have working software! The documentation is horrible and the support is only via email with a 24hr+ turnaround.

Events so far:
I was successfully able to plug the software into the bike and read the ecu serial number. There is then a check for key function that sends your ECU serial number along with a email and password (that was supplied to you via email when you made your purchase) to the Tuneboy server. The server is then supposed to generate a key tied to your ecu serial number. This process took days. Every day you press a button in the software and check if the key is available.

So, I finally get that done successfully. When it generates the key, it produces a popup window that has the key and an OK button. I pressed OK without writing the key down. Once that is done you can't generate the key again, and there is no where in the software to see what it is. You would think that is not an issue, but you generate the key with the conti flash software. You modify the tune with the tuneedit software. Well, the tune edit software appears to be locked unless you enter your key into it. I say "appears" because none of this is documented, the fuel cells won't let me modify them, and there is a place to enter your key in the software. So, I assume the software is locked unless you have the key.

I've asked Tuneboy what is going on. Do I have to enter the key in the tunedit software. If I do, where can I see the key, and if I don't need to enter the key, why can't I make changes to fuel cells? 2 days, 3 emails and still waiting on a response.

Of course, this has give the bike enough time to develop an oil leak which I now have to get fixed under warranty. Yay!

Couple other things I have learned with the limited amount I am able to play with the software. Tuneboy cannot read the tune file off of the ECU (or at least they do not allow this feature). You can only flash and then modify the .dat files tuneboy supplies. So, if you are hoping to read a Brentune or a T800 tune and then just mildly tweak it, this is not able to do it. You have to start with either the Tuneboy supplied stock tune or the tuneboy supplied Akra tune. You then have full ability to modify from there.

One other thing, he also supplied a recent Akra tune for one of his dyno sessions. It has all of the proper target AFR's in it across the entire Throttle Position vs. RPM table (AFR ranges from 12.8:1 at high throttle to 13.5:1 at low throttle). This should make self tuning very easy with the software, as you have a good starting place for what the target AFR's should be. It SHOULD be as simple as using that target AFR table and use the log/self tune option to get your bike perfect. Of course, I don't know because I can't get fully into the software yet.

IMO, Tuneboy is making this worse on themselves by not providing a detailed user manual for setting up and using their software. Of course, this then causes a bunch of questions that overwhelms their support (which appears to just be the owner). I've been so frustrated by this process, that I feel like writing it for him, just to prevent this frustration for future users.

At a minimum, I will keep posting info here, so that anyone on this forum at least knows what they need to do.
 
ArcticWhite said:
I still don't have working software! The documentation is horrible and the support is only via email with a 24hr+ turnaround.

Events so far:
I was successfully able to plug the software into the bike and read the ecu serial number. There is then a check for key function that sends your ECU serial number along with a email and password (that was supplied to you via email when you made your purchase) to the Tuneboy server. The server is then supposed to generate a key tied to your ecu serial number. This process took days. Every day you press a button in the software and check if the key is available.

So, I finally get that done successfully. When it generates the key, it produces a popup window that has the key and an OK button. I pressed OK without writing the key down. Once that is done you can't generate the key again, and there is no where in the software to see what it is. You would think that is not an issue, but you generate the key with the conti flash software. You modify the tune with the tuneedit software. Well, the tune edit software appears to be locked unless you enter your key into it. I say "appears" because none of this is documented, the fuel cells won't let me modify them, and there is a place to enter your key in the software. So, I assume the software is locked unless you have the key.

I've asked Tuneboy what is going on. Do I have to enter the key in the tunedit software. If I do, where can I see the key, and if I don't need to enter the key, why can't I make changes to fuel cells? 2 days, 3 emails and still waiting on a response.

Of course, this has give the bike enough time to develop an oil leak which I now have to get fixed under warranty. Yay!

Couple other things I have learned with the limited amount I am able to play with the software. Tuneboy cannot read the tune file off of the ECU (or at least they do not allow this feature). You can only flash and then modify the .dat files tuneboy supplies. So, if you are hoping to read a Brentune or a T800 tune and then just mildly tweak it, this is not able to do it. You have to start with either the Tuneboy supplied stock tune or the tuneboy supplied Akra tune. You then have full ability to modify from there.

One other thing, he also supplied a recent Akra tune for one of his dyno sessions. It has all of the proper target AFR's in it across the entire Throttle Position vs. RPM table (AFR ranges from 12.8:1 at high throttle to 13.5:1 at low throttle). This should make self tuning very easy with the software, as you have a good starting place for what the target AFR's should be. It SHOULD be as simple as using that target AFR table and use the log/self tune option to get your bike perfect. Of course, I don't know because I can't get fully into the software yet.

IMO, Tuneboy is making this worse on themselves by not providing a detailed user manual for setting up and using their software. Of course, this then causes a bunch of questions that overwhelms their support (which appears to just be the owner). I've been so frustrated by this process, that I feel like writing it for him, just to prevent this frustration for future users.

At a minimum, I will keep posting info here, so that anyone on this forum at least knows what they need to do.
Click to expand...


Welcome to joy of Tuneboy.

Remember TB is a small one man band outfit. And the product support is hit and miss. But it works....
TBH is best to take it to a vendor with tuneboy experience or get friendly with somebody who owns a dyno. It really helps alot especially with TB auto tune and adjusting the autoblipper.
 
RickD996 said:
Does this allow you to adjust engine breaking too?
Click to expand...
No it doesn't. As an aside, they just added support to change rev limits.

One of the biggest issues I see with Tuneboy vs say something like the T800 is: since they do not supply a read function you lose any ability to flash the bike to stock yourself. You would be forced to take it to the dealer if you ever wanted a stock tune flashed back on it.

Had I realized this before I ordered it, I probably would not have bought it and waited for a tuning solution that allowed me to read the ecu and modify the fuel tables without changing anything else. As it stands, my bike has received a few ecu updates from ducati. It is unlikely the tuneboy flash is up to date with these, therefore it will overwrite some of those ducati updates.

With the T800, you have the same issue in that you are stuck with their flash, but at least it reads the ecu before flashing the new tune, allowing you to put your bike back to stock at any time.

I love how my quickshifter works with the EVO2 upgrade. The tuneboy flash (although tuneboy confirmed it does not overwrite the suspension and traction control changes of evo2) may overwrite the evo2 quick shifter changes if they are stored in the ECU.

Sent from my SM-N975W using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Does the T800 map effect the shift software.?

I have the evo 2 update and T800 with jesters slip on and can’t remember what was done first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I had the dealer put my bike back to stock and the shifting noticeably got better. It is my belief from my experience that the t800 if applied after the evo2 upgrade does overwrite the enhanced shifting software. But I can't say this 100% for sure as I do not have knowledge on where the quickshifter settings are stored and what the T800 overwrites.

I have also been trying to determine if the tuneboy initial tune will overwrite it. If the settings are stored in the ECU then the answer is likely the tuneboy software will overwrite it as well.

This is the issue with the t800 and tuneboy. You have to flash a canned tune to start. You can't read the ecu and start with what you already have.

Sent from my SM-N975W using Tapatalk
 
I hate that i can't go update what I've written in a thread like this to keep the info straightforward and update with latest info vs. Having to read entire thread.

More things I have learned:

Tune edit does not require your key to be entered. I thought it was locked because the right click copy and paste is grayed out on mine. It turns out the editor is just a bit outdated in that it does not allow direct entry of values nor does it allow you to select cells and then cut and paste. The only way to modify cells is to: select cell and press and hold page up or down to increase/decrease value, press F8 and apply % change to selected cells or finally in the menu system up top you can copy and paste an entire table.

With this said, there IS one reason you would want to write down the key you are given. There is no way to use the flash software on another computer without the key. Once a key has been issued the server will not issue the same key for the same bike again.

For me i have two computers I tune with so it is an issue I did not write down the key. And tuneboy is horribly slow at answering questions. Days if ever.

One other interesting thing tuneboy told me. They just did a custom dyno tune on a v4 and it made 10hp more vs the brentune it came in with. That's tuneboy telling me this, take what you want from that.

Sent from my SM-N975W using Tapatalk
 
I believe tune boy would make 10 hp more than Brentune. Brentune on my bike was running 11.5 afr on top
 
What are you targeting now WOT. Tuneboy found 12.8:1 was where best power was made. I was expecting slightly leaner like 13:1

Sent from my SM-N975W using Tapatalk
 
On the v2 panigales tuneboy provided a OEM tune to reset it back to normal. Normall TB provides 4 Tune files, OEM, Cruise, Tune and Cruise & tune, then you select your Trim files to match.
Ive done this when i swap tuneboy to Rapidbike but kept the cruise control function.
Does TB turn off the 02 sensors on the V4 like the V2 platform? the V2 TB used a RPM base map as 02 were disabled.
If you research into the way the ECU firmware has been setup, unless you have the Ducati SSBK programer you wont be able to read the OEM tune. Hense why you have to reflash it first (basicly crack the ECU) in order to do adjustments
Also the DDS2.0 cant tell if you bike has a reflash tune done. But it can overwrite depending on the type of update the dealership does.
 
Tuneboy tune on V4 turns off O2's and the exhaust valve error.

Also, tuneboy for the V4 currently only provides the tune flash. Cruise is not available for the V4 and real time tuning is not available. The only files available delete O2's and the exhaust valve error. They do not supply an OEM flash that returns the bike to 100% stock. You would have to go to a dealer for that.

Sent from my SM-N975W using Tapatalk
 
OK, so finally got to flash my first tune to the bike with Tuneboy. It worked, but it takes multiple minutes to flash the ECU. You don't want to be doing too many iterations of this in a day!

So, following Tuneboy's recommendation, I took the stock tune file and added 10% fuelling to the L1 through L4 tables. These are the load (MAP) vs RPM tables. This is to richen up the stock tune a bit for the extra flow of the aftermarket exhaust, so when you are tuning, you are not starting from too lean of a condition.

I took the bike out for a ride with the initial 10% richer fuelling map. I can say this, it is already better than the T800 and stock maps with just this minor change. I can tell it is off at around 40% throttle (it is soft), but it is smooth everywhere.

I'm going to hook up the widebands and do some logging/tuning this afternoon. So far so good.

Also, it does appear that the flash overwrites the EVO2 shifting. It's not as bad as it was with the T800 tune, but it does appear to have more delay than before the Tuneboy flash. That is unfortunate, but I'm sure as development continues, eventually, someone will read an ECU with the EVO2 shifter settings and a flash file will become available for it, just like the Akra tune is out there.
 
Well, problem number 254 in trying to tune this bike. The wideband O2 sensors that come with the innovate LC2 kit are car sized O2 sensors. It turns out the narrow band O2 sensors on the V4 are smaller in diameter. This means I could not use the factory O2 bungs.

I've got a question into tuneboy. I'm hoping there are either smaller wideband O2 sensors or some kind of adapter I can use. I dont want to have to weld new O2 bungs on the bike!!!

Tuning waits yet again. Hopefully all of this makes it easier for the next person.
f439815e3a1bf9d74b8e1448575b7410.jpg


Sent from my SM-N975W using Tapatalk
 
Did a little more research, there are no 12mm wideband sensors readily available.

To do the tuning you need this. Make sure to order a set of two if you plan to use Tuneboy. Wish I would have seen this mentioned somewhere. Its a week delay to order parts each time I run into a problem (like the serial patch cable for the widebands).
b7769deca611f048ffa984d41161118d.jpg


Sent from my SM-N975W using Tapatalk
 
I was looking for adapters two years ago for my SuperDuke R and never found them. I was wondering it the Ducati headers were 12mm or 18mm
 

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