They finally got XBMC working under Linux? I gave up on that a couple years ago.

Ok. Here's a shot of where I grounded the coils. It's to the right of the picture. You can see the little yellow tab of the ground wire.

I connected it to a screw that looks like it has some other ground wires or something attached to a little metal plate thingamajiggy. I'm assuming that metal plate thing gets passed the paint issue.




My battery was down to 9 volts so I'm charging that back up and running some errands. I'll report back whether it starts better in a couple hours.

 

How much track time do you get with the BMW group? NASA is $175 per day for 80 minutes of track time.

 

That is where I grounded mine Ryan.

 

John- I'm actually thinking of transferring the wireless router downstairs so my PC, Xbox, and Xbox360 can be wired together and just have Yulia's PC upstairs wireless.
Maybe TVersity is trying to use my wireless to look for the 360 instead of the other network connection
This will rule out the network confusion I have now.
I think Yulia's Skype video conferencing will work fine with wireless-N.
She also wants me to install Windows7 so more work for me!

 

Other network connection?

 

Remember I have an onboard network connection (RJ45 port) which goes to the xbox(s) and my wireless is for the internet.

 

Shouldn't matter as it is just a system service that is responding to a request. It isn't like it goes out to find the xbox and then force feeds it information.

 

True.
I'm just out of ideas.

 

You were getting an error while working locally though so it has to be something else. Once you got it installed and you opened the application and added content what happened?

 

I haven't done a Beemer school yet. With PCA I believe it was 3 sets of 30 minute sessions so 90 overall. I think it's pretty standard to have either 4 20s or 3 30s at any HPDE. The one big difference that I'm aware of is that NASA doesn't use the bus stop and so they essentially add another passing zone and speed up the course.

The other events for BMW are cheaper. Pretty sure the fact that this falls on a holiday weekend pushes up the price a nice chunk. But I think this is one of the biggest club events at MidOhio and there will be a good number of out-of-staters coming in for the club racing.

 

Ummm... nothing.
Can't test it out if it won't recognize the 360.

 

After I reinstalled the software, the connections error went away and I was able to "connect"

The status displays what devices it recognizes (device found at 192.xxx.x.xxx).
The Xbox is not one of them, only my local address is displayed.
And on the 360, it doesn't show TVersity under the video's blade either.

 

Damnit. No joy on the ground change. I'm going to pull the coils and reinstall. If that doesn't help then I'll replace it with the OEMs again.

If the thing still sucks then I can tell for sure it's the starter having gone to bed before I ever made the coil change. If it starts fine again with the OEMs then either I got rotten coils or the starter just can't handle the coils.

I'll PM Charles again and see if any other ideas have come to him. I also grabbed some logs from the Cobb with the ignition timing/seperation. Maybe something there is effed up.

 

How do the coils impact the starter?

 

Ummm.... Aren't they ignition coils? Isn't the starter connected to the ignition system? Isn't starting the car essentially the starter + coils + plug wires + plugs?

None of those are rhetorical questions. I've got working assumptions about how a car starts. If I'm wrong about that let me know but 'ignition' and 'starting' were always inter-related to me even if they aren't synonomous.

 

No... its separate, but they work together the same way the engine injects fuel while cranking.
Remember... all the starter does is spin the flywheel (hence the gear "teeth" around the flywheel).

They are connected ONLY by the battery (because the alternator hasn't taken over charging yet).
So electrically speaking, the only way the coils are connected to the starter is through the battery (basically).
And the ONLY way the coils can impact the starter is if the coils themselves were drawing so much current that it was limiting the current to the starter.
But this is pretty far fetched.

 

Maybe looking at an electrical diagram will help show how they are separated Ryan:

 

Ok. That adds to my technical knowledge a little but what I don't understand is why the starter cranks, cranks, cranks. Then I stop it, halting any momentum the flywheel would have gained, and then crank it and it starts.

Shouldn't it just never start? What is building up during the cranks that would enable it to catch the next time I start it from scratch?

If I had that answer then I'd know what to fix. Without knowing I'm gonna drop $300 or so dollars on a starter (which is supposedly an easy install but you know how that goes with me so maybe more in labor ) and it not fix a damn thing.

And I know that my battery is at 14.5 when I go to start so I wouldn't assume it's got anything to do with it. And its a Duralast Platinum or whatever so the thing is supposed to be fine in the cold.

Frustrating.

 

Pretty much like reading Latin. Couple familiar things but it doesn't really help my understanding.

Except that I can see what that damn switch I broke on my clutch is called.

 

You're talking volts, not amps (which is current).
Like I said, your only argument is the coils drawing too much current and the starter doesn't have enough to spin like it should (putting this lightly).
But even my Optima with its massive crank amps can't get it going sometimes.

 

And I don't know why this just popped in my head, but if you're producing 14.5 (measuring at the battery) during cranking, then you know nothing is drawing too much current because then you would see a drop in voltage too.

 

I plan on getting the upgraded starter Ryan, so you can wait and see how mine starts.
I can also disassemble my old starter and test out the armature, brushes, and switch to see what is defective.
Maybe the teeth on the commutator are worn and skipping.
Then inspect your starter and see if you have the same issue.

 

I was thinking about your ignition problem for a little bit...

Jon... is there anything in the coils that need to heat up or charge up? This is basic, but hearing your rough start sounded similar to when you start a diesel when the glow plugs aren't ready yet.

You guys have more understanding than I do, but I guess I'm looking at the problem and comparing it to things I know a little bit more about.

Nothing like coming home from firing someone on the night shift and checking your sports car forums to put things into perspective.

 

With an ignition coil all you really have is an igniter and basically a transformer.

The igniter grounds the primary coil after a 5v signal is produced.
Then 12v is passed into the primary coil which creates a magnetic field.
Through induction voltage is amplified in the secondary coil to produce several thousand volts (voltage depends on the windings).
Then the voltage travels from the secondary coil to the spark plug.

Nothing inside to really charge up or is really impacted by temperature (maybe slightly by temp, but so small that you'll never notice).

 

Ok...so there is nothing wrong so far.

1) The status display will show what devices it has had connected in the past. It will not just go out and hunt your network to see what might work.

2) The xBox will not connect to TVersity on a blade unless it sees media being shared of that type. Just having the server out there is not good enough as far as I know.

Before you share media though there is a Test PC Connection option on the network config tab. That should say that it tests OK without media being shared if I remember right.