T2 EX (2017) stopped seeing every vehicle after August update – demo banner on 2004/2005/2008 Rams

[Farmmm]

info_2026-10-05_Ram.xml

Trinity 2 EX Platinum 9345-D, S/N 202861647, born 2017-06-06
My truck: 2004 Ram 1500 5.7 HEMI 4x4 (NGC), PCM calid 56029161AC, TCM 56028810AD
Tool is up to date via Update Agent 3.0: vehicle 3t06fk, gui 3t08df, updater 2r02b, installer 2r02m, DCX tune db 2t03hf. Never tuned, license count 1 / used 0.

In early August the tool did communicate with the truck – info.xml showed its VIN with both calids, flagged 56029161AC as unsupported, and Update Agent downloaded <VIN>_56029161ah.drg to the tool on Aug 11 and again on Aug 18.

Since the big update on Aug 11 the tool does not see ANY vehicle. With the key in RUN (also after rebooting the tool with the key already on, and with the engine running) it boots to the main menu with the "Touch here to begin interactive demo mode" banner; Tuning, Performance Tests, Gauges and Diagnostics are greyed out, only Settings and EAS Settings work. Device Info -> Vehicle Info says "could not read vehicle information". Same result on my 2004 Ram, on a 2005 Ram and on a 2008 Ram (CAN).

Ruled out:
- The trucks are fine: a Launch scan tool on the same OBD port reads every module, a DRB III reads the PCM over SCI. An OBD breakout box on my truck with the key in RUN shows 13.1 V on pin 16, J1850 traffic on pin 2 (1.2 V avg), SCI pull-ups 4.3 V on pin 12 and 4.2 V on pin 9.
- The OBD-to-HDMI cable checks out end to end with a meter (every pin, including 2, 7, 12 and 6/14), and the tool powers up from every vehicle.
- Nothing else in the OBD port, no aftermarket electronics.

- With the tool inline on an OBD breakout box its transceivers are clearly alive – they bias CAN 6/14 to 2.2 V, pins 3/11 to 2.3 V, pin 10 to 2.1 V and load the J1850 line (pin 2 drops from 1.4 to 1.0 V) – but there is never any activity on the SCI lines: pins 12 and 9 stay at a steady 4.3/4.2 V during boot and for minutes after.

Questions:
1. Can you see from your server whether the tool reported any vehicle connection after Aug 18, and whether the 56029161ah calibration update is still pending on it?
2. Does this look like a hardware failure of the vehicle interface, and is there anything you can reset or push to the tool before I go that route?
3. If it needs to come in: I'm overseas, so what are my options?
4. For later – when the tool does the AC -> AH calibration update, does it save the stock file before flashing?

Attached: info.xml from the T2 drive, photo of the screen in the truck, breakout box readings. Forum or e-mail works best for me, phone is difficult from here. Thanks!

[mikel]

1. Can you see from your server whether the tool reported any vehicle connection after Aug 18, and whether the 56029161ah calibration update is still pending on it?
The cal update is loaded to the device.
2. Does this look like a hardware failure of the vehicle interface, and is there anything you can reset or push to the tool before I go that route?
Really odd. It seems you updated again today. Still the same behavior?
3. If it needs to come in: I'm overseas, so what are my options?
We'll cross that bridge if needed, but I am thinking this is firmware based.
4. For later – when the tool does the AC -> AH calibration update, does it save the stock file before flashing?
No, it loads the AH and makes that the new 'stock file'.

[mikel]

Lets try this

Go into the settings menu and select 'clear all updates'.

Then take it to the truck and lets see if its communicating again. If so, I will have the team look into the calibration update file that was delivered to the device as a potential issue.

[Farmmm]

Done: Settings -> Help/Info -> Tech Support -> Clear Updates. It said "Updates have been successfully cleared. We will reboot the device now", rebooted, I took it straight to the truck without connecting to the PC. Key in RUN – same demo banner, Tuning and Diagnostics still greyed out.

One more data point: with the tool inline on an OBD breakout box its transceivers are alive (they bias CAN 6/14 to 2.2 V, pins 3/11 to 2.3 V, pin 10 to 2.1 V and load the J1850 line – pin 2 drops from 1.4 to 1.0 V), but there is never any activity on the SCI lines: pins 12 and 9 stay at a steady 4.3/4.2 V during boot and for minutes after. So the hardware seems to be there, the tool just never starts talking.

Would a Registry Reset or a full firmware reinstall pushed through Update Agent be the next step? Happy to try anything.

[mikel]

registry reset is our next idea...

[mikel]

OK, please update the device to reset it and let me know if it communicates from there.