u/ImKewlLewis

Hello everyone.

I have begun developing an engine for binary/hex manipulation in C#. I've only ever coded in CMD situations and Python - so an absolute amature - but i'm learning the flow of C#.

The original idea came about due to me wanting to learn ECU mapping, but that is an expensive venture in itself. A WinOLS 5 licence from EVC Technology is £1,250, and the definition files used to describe binary addresses, maps, scalars and other ECU data can also be extremely expensive. While this may not be a huge issue for dedicated tuners who use the software professionally, it sure as hell is a lot for DIYers like me.

The main goal of this project is to make binary manipulation and ECU calibration more accessible to people who are learning. I want the software to be useful not only as a tool for editing files, but also as a way of understanding what is actually happening within a binary. Rather than hiding everything behind a complicated interface, I want to provide tools that allow users to explore addresses, data structures, scalars, maps and checksums while learning how they work.

The project will be developed with support for different uses in mind, not just ECUs, while keeping the underlying engine as flexible and reusable as possible. ECU files are currently the main focus because that's what originally motivated me to start the project, but there is no reason the underlying engine couldn't eventually be used for other types of binary data.

Currently, I'm at a stage where I have a GUI and can read .BIN files in hexadecimal. Of course, there is still a lot of work needed before the actual manipulation and editing side of things is properly implemented, but I'm willing to put the work in.

However, I'm in need of some suggestions and information on what I may need to implement, and what features or file formats I should support.

Since I'm developing this alone, I don't exactly have a team sitting behind me saying, “Oh, you should add support for SNES ROM dumps!” or whatever.

So if anyone has experience with binary manipulation, ECU calibration, ROM hacking, reverse engineering, or anything else involving binary files, I'd be interested to hear what features you think would be useful.

Suggestions for file formats, definition formats, checksum systems, visualisation methods, editing tools, ECU support or even completely unrelated uses for the engine are all welcome.

The project is still in its early stages, but I'm hoping to build something that is genuinely useful for learning and experimentation, while keeping it free and accessible.
The power to do these sort of things should be fed to the world for free, not hidden behind a 1 year license that costs as much as a new smart fridge.

TIA for any suggestions.

The Github repo is here

So, i have ordered some service items for my car and moped. A 5l Bottle of 5w-40 engine oil, 10 litres of antifreeze coolant mix and head studs for the bike.
These parcels are coming from a different sender each time, always through evri, but ‘evri’ time i order something and it comes through Evri they always get lost or returned to sender or cannot be given to me due to an addressing issue.

Originally, my 5L of oil split in transit, no biggie, it happens. When a replacement was shipped, it got ‘lost’ or could not be delivered in some way - evri were not transparent in what exactly happened. I requested a refund and got another bottle of oil, 4L, saying ‘Address Query’. The nerve. I check the tracking and it has EVRI LITTLE DETAIL about my address on the Evri Website.

Next, a different seller to the same address i get everything shipped to has sent me some coolant. 2x5l bottles to be precise and all the sudden its been sent back to the sender for being ‘too large’ yet evri managed to deliver to my grandfather a 20L drum of 5w30 Engine Oil the other day no problem and that was massive, he lives next door to me and i do all his orders for him in his name off of my account on fleabay.

But the FINAL centrepiece for what i can only describe as stamped and packaged torture is the fact they delivered my bikes head studs in 2 days. You can split some oil open, fine, you can lose a parcel once, fine, you can send a parcel back, fine, But the infuriating part is the fact they wave the head studs in my face like its the only thing i am getting from them, like hello? Wheres the other things? The address you have a query about is the same as the address on the head stud package. The coolant’s also ment to be part of the bike job as-well, i can’t do the job now. I’m Vehicle-less, it’s impacting my ability to go to work. (Before you ask, i do not have a car license, i only have a CBT. I’m close to being able to drive so i’m servicing the car to use when i can drive.)

To note: i ordered all these items on the 24th July, so they’ve had a week to arrive, but ‘evri’ time (yes i’m milking the pun, fight me.) its like my packages are targeted. Split open oil container? yeah fine. But returning my orders for being ‘too big’ yet you can deliver 20l drums, read the address on the head studs package easily when its the EXACT SAME as the other parcels and losing them is beyond my comprehension and outright stupid for it to happen evri time. The nerve. Theres £100 worth of car parts sitting in some depot in preston probably.

IT’S 14 TOTAL LITRES OF COOLANT PREMIX AND ENGINE OIL FOR GODS SAKE…

The royal snail have been better at delivering my stuff than evri and it’s genuinely is hitting a nerve for me. They had an intake manifold gasket and 1.9TDI Injector Seals delivered to me in under 48 hours.

How should i go about seeing what to do? I’ve contacted the seller(s) and they cannot offer an explanation, i’ve aranged a call with evri to discuss this because i simply cannot understand what this is.

TIA

I ride a 50cc Moped, its a bag of crap being honest but its mine 😂

So today i was in traffic - no biggie, everyone’s been in it at least once in their life. Town was practically gridlocked, nobody moving at all, i just wanted to go to halfords.

I’ve personally never filtered in my life, today however someone on a yamaha xmax 300 pulled up alongside me and said ‘i’m going to filter, do you want to duck in behind and i’ll guide you?’ And i said yeah, i got behind him, went round a good 5 cars and then he rode off, must have been doing about 25mph through this traffic as i was doing about 10mph, and i could not catch him and i sort of, to put it simply, shit myself in the thought ‘i’m now alone, what do i do? i’ve never done it before’

My question to all of you is how did you all learn to filter and not get all shakey like you’re about to drop your bike into some poor lads car?

Second question - i commute from lancaster to a little village in lancashire called borwick to visit my girlfriend, due to roadworks i am currently having to use a road probably known by alot of bikers in lancashire and cumbria for getting to devils bridge in kirkby lonsdale - kirkby lonsdale road. For those who don’t know what it is - its a national speed limit road with tons of hills and a few twists, blind-ish corners. I suffer on hills by sitting at 15mph and yestarday i nearly got hit by a BMW 335D going up a hill, i audibly shouted out ‘dont kill me!!’ As he flew past, bit of bad driving to be honest.
A few weeks ago when it was nice weather i went out to go see my girlfriend and went that way, i did use the sticking my leg out method for bikers to signal them to pass and all of them got the memo and got past me at an appropriate place and pace (shout out to the red triumph that passed a gray and blue moped if your on here, your thumbs up made me feel better about myself at that time 🥲) but no car driver got the memo and continued to ride my arse till i turned off the road, i had some dangerous overtakes aswell as when i was going downhill, i could get up to about 42mph and people were going for it the moment we got over the brow of the hill and they would match my pace as i got down the hill.

The question to you all is how would you minimise any potential incidents and how should i go about trying to get people to go past me in a safe manner, because it embarrasses me a bit to be stuck at 30mph on a national speed limit road to be honest LOL and i hate the fact people don’t understand the 2 second rule.

Thanks to all who answer.

I don’t roll coal on my own cars, i never would as it hurts the engine. its never been mapped, completely stock engine.

The history of this golf is astonishing, New engine after the original engine had its piston rings deleted from existence at 110k miles.

New turbo at 100k Miles on the original engine after it decided to turn the compressor shaft into bluetooth mode. The new turbo got transplanted to the other engine we swapped in. Its only had 11k miles of wear. We never changed the wastegate/vaccum thingy on the turbo (the thing on the turbo that connects the N75 valve to the turbo, this could be my problem but i need to confirm it as apparently the wastegates are specific to the engine)

Ever since we swapped the engine in it has intermittent faults, it will always spit smoke like we’ve fed it 1000 cuban cigars at once. It goes into limp modes up hills in 2nd or above (still does this now).

This is probably a redneck thing that you’re gonna probably slate me for but I originally thought the N18 valve was faulty, so i swapped it for an N75 as the N75 is just a high pressure version of the N18 valve and has the exact same ports as the N18 valve, that helped the issue but it still billowed out smoke like it had 12 packs of cigs a day and replaced its intake with a hookah.

Then we found a culprit which could have fixed all my issues, the boost pipe from the turbo to the intercooler had come off its mount and rubbed against the driveshaft to the drivers side wheel (passenger side if you don’t live in the UK or japan) putting a thumb sized split in the pipe.
We fixed the pipe but it STILL smokes like it lives with Winston Churchill.

Please, any ideas will help, i’ve already tested the vaccum lines so they definitely hold pressure, thats how i diagnosed the N18 valve.
The EGR valve is only 30k miles old, i cleaned the MAF and my uncle has a spare MAF i can use, my dealer level OBD2 scanner tells me nothing and when reading channel 8 on OBD it says the EGR valve is operating at normal duty cycle.

Thanks in advance 🙏

Hello everybody.

I have a Junior ISA that i can claim when i am 18 set up with Halifax and formerly managed by my mother, all my statements are managed digitally via my personal Halifax banking app.

When i turned 16 i applied to be the main account holder which was accepted, i already hold a current account with Halifax so they have my details. They have managed to send all my statements from my ISA into my banking app, they are still addressed to my mum on the PDF document, which confuses me a bit as i am the account holder? And i also cannot see my live balance and transaction history on the mobile banking app, it just shows my current account.

Does anybody have a fix for the mobile banking app not showing my ISA, and does anybody know how i can get the bank to start showing ISA letters/PDF Documents in my name?

TIA

In the united kingdom its spiking to 25°, to other parts of the world it seems fine but to us brits its like being thrown in the oven.

I have pants that are breathable + removable winter lining and some boots already, however i don’t know what to do with the jacket situation, I’ve been wearing a zavetti canada jacket that is comfy and warm, but not survivable in this weather.
I get being at speed will have the wind rushing and making me cooler but if I’m in stop start traffic with the questionable average UK driving ability around me blocking my path on my moped, I’m going to overheat considering my limbs are practically crammed into a tiny GY6 moped.

What really breathable jackets that are A: budget friendly, B: safe in a 70mph/110kph slide and C: last me for a few years till i graduate to a UK A license we recommend?

Edit: Thank you to all that have commented, i am currently considering the Revit Airwave 4. Happy riding to all of you!

Willing to learn data recovery. I have an IDE HDD With WinXP on it that i would like to recover the data off of to try and get an experiance for it (the data already on it is on another hard drive that is readable)

Now the main problem is that the hard drive i assume has no boot sector or it is corrupted, Hence why i cant boot into the drive and just recover the data via a usb transfer. It does not show in boot options even on legacy UEFI or whatever its called or disk management.

There is a possibility according to my mum that it was opened previously and then reassembled, i don’t know if the hdd had something like helium or argon gas in it or not.

The HDD In question is a Fujitsu 120gb 2.5” IDE HDD from a dell inspiron 8100 (i think, dont flame me, its definitely an inspiron and looks like a 8100)

The OS I shall be using to recover is Win11 but i have dual boot on a different pc to win 10 and 7.

Any way i should be going about trying to read it with just a IDE to USB? Any recommendations for free programs?

Thanks in advance 👍