DoomBook

Having just purchased a OBDPro USB scantool I’ve been getting it kicking to start troubleshooting the new-old Saab that I’m working on. The two programs that come up on Freshmeat are obdgpslogger and obdgui as a single project and FreeDiag.

Freediag wouldn’t compile out of the box on my 64 bit Debian machine, so I moved on to the first package obdgpslogger/obdgui.

OBDgpslogger compiled up in a snap and appears to work well. It’s got a nice GUI component that’s about the equal of the quickie software that came with the device. For reference, here’s the list of libraries the two programs use.

OBDGui:
linux-vdso.so.1
libfltk_images.so.1.1
libfltk.so.1.1
libfltk_gl.so.1.1
libfltk_forms.so.1.1
libSM.so.6
libICE.so.6
libX11.so.6
libXext.so.6
libpthread.so.0
libdl.so.2
libstdc++.so.6
libm.so.6
libgcc_s.so.1
libc.so.6
libpng12.so.0
libjpeg.so.62
libXft.so.2
libfontconfig.so.1
libXinerama.so.1
libGL.so.1
libxcb-xlib.so.0
libxcb.so.1
libXau.so.6
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0×00007f99dea9a000)
libz.so.1
libfreetype.so.6
libXrender.so.1
libexpat.so.1
libGLcore.so.1
libnvidia-tls.so.1
libXdmcp.so.6

OBDGPSLogger:
linux-vdso.so.1
libpthread.so.0
libdl.so.2
libgps.so.18
libc.so.6
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
libnsl.so.1
libstdc++.so.6
libm.so.6
libgcc_s.so.1

Oddball stuff I didn’t have installed already included gpsd devel packages, FLTK devel (for the gui), and “fluid” (fltk add-on?) (also for the gui).

It seems like it’s going to work well. The sensor hooks up fine on the included software package (through WINE) so long as I symlink /dev/ttyUSB0 to /dev/com1, set it to 9600bps, and make sure /dev/ttyUSB0 is permmisioned so that my user has access to it.

obdgdmlogger hooked in just fine short the GPS sensor (not installed yet) and gui output (just compiled).

So in short it all “just worked” for me. Which is nice. Occasionally the 64 bit nature of this machine makes installing things a pain.

Not wanting to invest in a new car (and seeing the hybrids as something of a boondoggle) I’ve started saving a bit on Gas.

How? Driving efficiently. Basically, when I did a quick number crunch I could either reduce my speed by 5mph or loose money on a new car.

It was pretty much a no-brainer. And the fuel economy’s gone up a good 15% or so on average (really good on some fillups, not so good on others). So instead of getting 27 miles to the gallon I’m up to, say, a solid 31~32.

Why’s that better than just buying a hybrid. Lessee…

First off, there’s the new car. It’s expensive. Really expensive. Which you might think doesn’t mean much in terms of economy.

But.

See, the issue there is that the economy of making those beasts doesn’t really work out. Lots of Nickel in the Nickel-Metal Hydride or Nickel-Metal Cadmium batteries. On top of a whole lot of crappy production runoff. It’s really not a feasible replacement for a gas burner. Also, it’s very complex.

Plus it’d be a new car. Which means I’d no longer be using my old Focus while it runs perfectly well. Since I can’t be sure someone else would be using it, all the production that went into my current car’s now a waste while it’s still pretty efficient and clean-running.

Those are my thoughts on the subject.