VW was advertising a lot in the early 1970s. They had the
"super beetle".

Anyway, they advertised computer diagnostics. There was
a socket to plug in. Ads for that are below:

https://books.google.com/books?id=IFcEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA24&dq=life%20volkswagen%20socket&pg=PA24#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=LVIEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA3&dq=life%20volkswagen&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false (2 pages)

I was surprised to see that as far back as 1972. I wonder how
sophisticated they were. Computers and electronics were
advanced in 1972, but nothing like that would come in just ten years

On 2021-06-16, undefined Hancock-4 <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:
> VW was advertising a lot in the early 1970s. They had the
> "super beetle".
>
> Anyway, they advertised computer diagnostics. There was
> a socket to plug in. Ads for that are below:
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=IFcEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA24&dq=life%20volkswagen%20socket&pg=PA24#v=onepage&q&f=false
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=LVIEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA3&dq=life%20volkswagen&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false (2 pages)
>
> I was surprised to see that as far back as 1972. I wonder how
> sophisticated they were. Computers and electronics were
> advanced in 1972, but nothing like that would come in just ten years

A freind who repairs my car, has a selection of those plugs. Many
mechanics have them, but they do not tell the customers about them.
A lot of stuff is recorded in the electronice of the car.

Recently, going along a country road, I came on a man whose Toyoto
Landcruiser had just stopped, so he had rang his mechanic to come. The
mechanic joined the leads of the battery for a split second, and the
vehicle started and worked as usual. The mechanit said that doing that
worked in emergencies.

greymausg@mail.com

On 22 Jun 2021 14:31:46 GMT
greymaus <maus@dmaus.org> wrote:

> A freind who repairs my car, has a selection of those plugs. Many
> mechanics have them, but they do not tell the customers about them.
> A lot of stuff is recorded in the electronice of the car.

OBDII dongles are easy to get and use, I have a woadfang one that
links with any number of apps on the phobile (I use a thing called piston[1]
usually - SFP and jbexes) and one with a display and buttons box on a wire
that I found in one of the Teutonic Twins.

[1] Broke ?

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays
C:\>WIN | A better way to focus the sun
The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
You lose and Bill collects. | http://www.sohara.org/

On 2021-06-22, Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:
> On 22 Jun 2021 14:31:46 GMT
> greymaus <maus@dmaus.org> wrote:
>
>> A freind who repairs my car, has a selection of those plugs. Many
>> mechanics have them, but they do not tell the customers about them.
>> A lot of stuff is recorded in the electronice of the car.
>
> OBDII dongles are easy to get and use, I have a woadfang one that
> links with any number of apps on the phobile (I use a thing called piston[1]
> usually - SFP and jbexes) and one with a display and buttons box on a wire
> that I found in one of the Teutonic Twins.
>
> [1] Broke ?
>

Its a bit disconcerting to know that your car will confess your driving
faults if asked nicely.

--
greymausg@mail.com
Down the wrong maushole.

On 2021-06-22, greymaus <maus@dmaus.org> wrote:

> On 2021-06-22, Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:
>
>> On 22 Jun 2021 14:31:46 GMT
>> greymaus <maus@dmaus.org> wrote:
>>
>>> A freind who repairs my car, has a selection of those plugs. Many
>>> mechanics have them, but they do not tell the customers about them.
>>> A lot of stuff is recorded in the electronice of the car.
>>
>> OBDII dongles are easy to get and use, I have a woadfang one that
>> links with any number of apps on the phobile (I use a thing called piston[1]
>> usually - SFP and jbexes) and one with a display and buttons box on a wire
>> that I found in one of the Teutonic Twins.
>>
>> [1] Broke ?
>
> Its a bit disconcerting to know that your car will confess your driving
> faults if asked nicely.

Disconcerting, yes. Surprising, no. See my .sig...

--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs |
\ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | "Alexa, define 'bugging'."
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus |
/ \ if you read it the right way. |

> On 2021-06-16, undefined Hancock-4 <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:
>> VW was advertising a lot in the early 1970s. They had the
>> "super beetle".
>>
>> Anyway, they advertised computer diagnostics. There was
>> a socket to plug in. Ads for that are below:
>>
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=IFcEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA24&dq=life%20volkswagen%20socket&pg=PA24#v=onepage&q&f=false
>>
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=LVIEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA3&dq=life%20volkswagen&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false (2 pages)
>>
>> I was surprised to see that as far back as 1972. I wonder how
>> sophisticated they were. Computers and electronics were
>> advanced in 1972, but nothing like that would come in just ten years

I had no idea! After a little googling it sounds like the car just had
a set of sensors that were wired to the connector; the dealer computer
read them and gave yea/nay results. But that's a lot more than I had
ever heard about before.

Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> writes:

> On 22 Jun 2021 14:31:46 GMT
> greymaus <maus@dmaus.org> wrote:
>
>> A freind who repairs my car, has a selection of those plugs. Many
>> mechanics have them, but they do not tell the customers about them.
>> A lot of stuff is recorded in the electronice of the car.
>
> OBDII dongles are easy to get and use, I have a woadfang one that
> links with any number of apps on the phobile (I use a thing called piston[1]
> usually - SFP and jbexes) and one with a display and buttons box on a wire
> that I found in one of the Teutonic Twins.

Yep, I use a Bluedriver.

On Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 12:31:48 AM UTC+10, greymaus wrote:
> On 2021-06-16, undefined Hancock-4 <hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:
> > VW was advertising a lot in the early 1970s. They had the
> > "super beetle".
> >
> > Anyway, they advertised computer diagnostics. There was
> > a socket to plug in. Ads for that are below:
> >
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=IFcEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA24&dq=life%20volkswagen%20socket&pg=PA24#v=onepage&q&f=false
> >
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=LVIEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA3&dq=life%20volkswagen&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false (2 pages)
> >
> > I was surprised to see that as far back as 1972. I wonder how
> > sophisticated they were. Computers and electronics were
> > advanced in 1972, but nothing like that would come in just ten years
> A freind who repairs my car, has a selection of those plugs. Many
> mechanics have them, but they do not tell the customers about them.
> A lot of stuff is recorded in the electronice of the car.
>
> Recently, going along a country road, I came on a man whose Toyoto
> Landcruiser had just stopped, so he had rang his mechanic to come. The
> mechanic joined the leads of the battery for a split second, and the
> vehicle started and worked as usual. The mechanit said that doing that
> worked in emergencies.
..
Try cleaning the battery terminals.

Robin Vowels <robin.vowels@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 12:31:48 AM UTC+10, greymaus wrote:
>> On 2021-06-16, undefined Hancock-4 <hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:
>>> VW was advertising a lot in the early 1970s. They had the
>>> "super beetle".
>>>
>>> Anyway, they advertised computer diagnostics. There was
>>> a socket to plug in. Ads for that are below:
>>>
>>> https://books.google.com/books?id=IFcEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA24&dq=life%20volkswagen%20socket&pg=PA24#v=onepage&q&f=false
>>>
>>>
>>> https://books.google.com/books?id=LVIEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA3&dq=life%20volkswagen&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false
>>> (2 pages)
>>>
>>> I was surprised to see that as far back as 1972. I wonder how
>>> sophisticated they were. Computers and electronics were
>>> advanced in 1972, but nothing like that would come in just ten years
>> A freind who repairs my car, has a selection of those plugs. Many
>> mechanics have them, but they do not tell the customers about them.
>> A lot of stuff is recorded in the electronice of the car.
>>
>> Recently, going along a country road, I came on a man whose Toyoto
>> Landcruiser had just stopped, so he had rang his mechanic to come. The
>> mechanic joined the leads of the battery for a split second, and the
>> vehicle started and worked as usual. The mechanit said that doing that
>> worked in emergencies.
> .
> Try cleaning the battery terminals.
>

AAA guy told me to just disconnect the battery. This resets the computer to
its defaults and erases all the data.

--
Pete