How to install Xhorse MVCI Toyota Techstream on MacBook

This Xhorse MVCI Toyota Techstream setup is a MackBook Pro with 8 GB RAM running VMware. In the VM I am running Win XP Pro, SP3 to which I have allocated 2 GB. This seemed to be a happy medium to get the VM running at a reasonable speed.

Anyway on further reflection, I decided to do an overview of what I believe to be the logical steps to install MVCI/TS and try not to get too bogged down in the technical minute of the detail.

I’ll quickly list the steps, then follow that with an explanation of my logic. So here goes:

1. Install the Xhorse MVCI driver MSI that came with your cable.
2. Plug in your MVCI cable. (IIRC you should see some Windows install activity in the bottom right-hand side of the screen.)
3. Run the X-Horse Firmware Updater Tool and confirm you see all the fields populated with data, including the Firmware version.
4. Install the TS software that came with your cable.
5. BEFORE opening TS (big temptation, but resist), open a Finder window and locate C: Program files\Toyota Diagnostics \Techstream\Env
6. Within this folder locate IT3System.ini and open it in TextEdit.
7. Scroll down to AVAILABLE FUNCTION SETTING
8. Switch off the TIS Function by changing TISFunction=1 (or what ever value it is) to TISFunction=0 {i.e. zero}
9. Click File, and Save.
10. Now open TS and BEFORE you do anything else, check that the TIS Techstream VIM is NOT selected, but rather the other choice (e. g. XHorse – MVCI VIM) IS selected.

Following these steps should give you a working set up.

Things to bear in mind in order to be useful the MCVI cable need to be connected even when not connected to the car, while that seems obvious, sometime we miss the obvious.

To actually use TS, the other end of the MVCI cable needs to plugged into the OBDII port of you car. Also the car needs to be in at least IG-ON, but most of the time it will need to be in READY.

My sequence to connect is:

• Boot computer and login.
• Plug in MVCI into the USB port.
• Plug in the other end into the OBDII port.
• Make car READY
• Launch TS.
• Press Connect to Vehicle; you may have to answer some questions.
• Start diagnosing/checking.

RATIONAL FOR MY INSTALL SEQUENCE
Caveat: I have tried both install TS software and then MVCI drivers and also MVCI drivers and then TS software and while I was able to get the software working in both scenarios, I found that the approach I have outlined below was easier with a higher chance of success than doing it the other way. So be aware I’m not saying it won’t work if you install TS first, I just think what I have outlined is easier. Also, doing it this way you can do updates to a newer version easier as you just pick up the process from step 4 and go to the end. YMMV.

1. Install the MVCI driver MSI that came with your cable. The MSI file is a Microsoft Setup Information file and it is essentially a container type of file (similar concept to ZIP, TAR, RAR files) that contains all the files you need to setup software or drivers. In our case the drivers for the MVCI cable. there is only 1 maybe 2 files that we really need to install, but one of the files is a script that executes a series of Win commands to achieve this. One of the commands is to copy an edited version of a TS file. If the TS file exists already it copies over the top of it to replace it. If it doesn’t exist, it just creates the TS folder and sub-folder structure to copy the TS file into place. This is important to understand because this is the method by which it avoids the necessity to go through the registration process in older versions of TS. Likewise, some packages require the running of TISKEY, they give you a key to enter in the registration screen of TS or they give you a hacked copy of the TS executable to copy over and replace the installed executable. None of this is necessary in this install sequence, because registration is achieved by the editing of the IT3System ini file in steps 4-8.
2. Plug in your MVCI cable. Windows will now connect the cable with the driver.
3. Run the X-Horse Firmware Updater Tool and confirm you see all the field populated with data, including the Firmware version. If you can see the cable info, success! If do not connect, you need to pause here and figure out why you cannot connect.
4. Install the TS software that came with your cable. I found this pretty straightforward, just launch the installer and follow the prompts.
5. BEFORE opening TS (big temptation, but resist), open a Finder window and locate C: Program files\Toyota Diagnostics \Techstream\Env. Do these next 4 steps, trust me.
6. Within this folder locate IT3System.ini and open it in TextEdit.
7. Scroll down to AVAILABLE FUNCTION SETTING
8. SwitchTIS Function.
9. Click File, and Save.
10. Now open TS and BEFORE you do anything else, check that the Toyota TIS Techstream VIM is NOT selected, but rather the other choice (e. g. XHorse – MVCI VIM) IS selected. This ensures TS is looking at your cable.

I have deliberately not put in any detail around troubleshooting if you don’t get the right result at every step. To be honest I cannot anticipate where you might get errors (or why), I have documented (as best I remember) the process I followed and I have a working setup. So I will leave it up to people to ask questions if they strike trouble, and hopefully I or the collective minds can help out.

See also How to set up MVCI Techstream on MacBook by www.obdii365.com

http://blog.obdii365.com/2016/04/19/install-mvci-techstream-on-macbook/