# Which driver/vag-com combination for alpha-bid cable



## bbass408 (Sep 26, 2008)

I've been reading all sorts of posts on this hot topic and many of the issues seem to be boiling down to which combination of software and driver to use with the alpha-bid (ftdichip based) cable.
Baed on all of my reading and almost no experience, this what I came up with:
The "VAG-COM USB 409.1" cable sold on eBay by alpha-bid should work with either of these combinations:
1. VAG-COM 409.1 USB using these drivers from alpha-bid.com:
http://www.alpha-bid.com/media...r.rar
Or:
2. VAG-COM 409.1 S for Modern Serial Interfaces using these drivers linked from alpha-bid.com site:
http://www.ftdichip.com/FTDrivers.htm
In case 1, you are using a software application that is expecting to talk to a USB device driver and a USB device driver.
In case 2, you are using software that's looking for a serial port and serial port driver. 
I'm sure much of the user pain experience comes from trying different combinations than those listed above. I.E.: If you use 409.1S with the USB drivers from ftdi, or the 409.1 USB with the serial drivers, it ain't gonna work. 2. worked fine for me and setup took less than 10 minutes.
No matter which software/driver combination you choose, you have to read every last word of the instructions and do exactly what they say. If you skip a step, you're doomed.
I have one open question that no-one seems to be able to answer...
What is the recommended configuration choice between 1 and 2 above? 
Are they basically the same?
Does one communicate more stably or quickly than the other?
I would love answers to those questions. Using 2. I did see one vag-com lockup during a port test after bringing the pc back up from hibernation. There are so many variables in that setup that it's probably not worth digging into unless I see it again.
All this is for those of us trying save a bit of money. But, all that said, I think VAG-COM is rad and they're definitely going to see $250.00 from me "real soon now." When dealing with thousands of dollars worth of car and about a grand worth of PC, it's not worth the risk to save on the cable if I'm going to do anything serious.
But, I like to learn about this stuff and many out there can't afford the ross-tech cable so it behooves us to try to get those folks up and running with these less expensive alternatives.


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## pimpbot (Jan 9, 2006)

*Re: Which driver/vag-com combination for alpha-bid cable (bbass408)*

I swear my alpha bid POS cable is smoked. I tried both of your combinations on my Vista laptop and I got nuthin either way. In fact, using the USB VAG-COM software it finds an interface on COM3 even with nothing plugged in. Naturally it doesn't read a dang thing. Vista sees the cable and can assign it a COM port number, but that is all I get. 
Then again, Vista is really wonky about this sorta thing. I have another XP laptop that I can't get to work either, but I have not gone through your setup. 
I've blown many hours on this issue, and nothing. Grrrrr










_Modified by pimpbot at 5:16 PM 12-5-2008_


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## chudzikb (Sep 21, 2000)

*Re: Which driver/vag-com combination for alpha-bid cable (pimpbot)*

Come on buy the right thing from the company. They spend lots of money developing the software, we as an enthusiest community owe it to them to buy their product. I bought the hex can USB 5 years ago and it has been worth every penny I spent. Don't do the cheap ebay route. They truly do deserve our support.
Off soapbox...


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## VWBruin (May 19, 2007)

*Re: Which driver/vag-com combination for alpha-bid cable (bbass408)*

Check here and see if that works for you: http://diyrabbit.com/projects/vagcom/index.html


_Modified by VWBruin at 11:25 PM 12-17-2008_


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## Slimjimmn (Apr 8, 2006)

*Re: Which driver/vag-com combination for alpha-bid cable (VWBruin)*

the only thing you can do on the 409 is read/erase codes and read some MVB. So its worthless unless all you want to do is read codes and erase them. thats all I have but I also have a 1500 otc scan tool that does the rest lol


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## DeDe (Jan 30, 2009)

*Re: (ChaseSavesTheDay)*

Give us more details.
So you use 409 (shareware). You can see complete codes? Or just "please register, etc..."?
What controller do you scan?


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## [email protected] (Feb 16, 2007)

Codes can only be cleared if the problem that caused the issue is corrected.


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## DeDe (Jan 30, 2009)

*Re: (ChaseSavesTheDay)*

It does and it doesn't...
You should be able to clear the code and it should reapear if the problem is there.


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## DeDe (Jan 30, 2009)

Only Ross Tech can register/activate


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