Hello all, I've had my Prius now for about 11 months. I've always been a DIY type of guy. I've been reading the forums here for a while, and really appreciate the help everyone provides. Thank you every one. My question now is why isn't there a sticky dedicated to the "MINI VCI" interface cable. It is the cable/software combination that most DIYers need for this vehicle. Yes it's a china clone, but what isn't made in china today? Need access to Tire Sensors, Need to bleed brakes, Want to modify light settings in the vehicle, add a key? It's not perfect you need 32 bit OS. (Windows XP) I have read other getting it working on Windows 7 using a Virtual Machine. Other forums seem to bring praise upon this little gadget. You can get it for less than $50. But here it's only mentioned at times, it seems as it's a dirty little secret. I'm not wanting to get banned or cause a commotion. If this is improper please delete this post, I just wanted to get what I thought was important information out there. I've ordered a cable and software and will provide an update in a few weeks.
I got my miniVCI Xhorse working on my Windows 7(32bit OS) notebook several months ago, no problem. The miniVCI driver was seperate to the Techstream software and mine was on a seperate miniCD. Lately I managed to update my Techstream software to the latest version 7.10.030, it was easy. I just did a google search for "miniVCI Techstream download" and found a link to download the latest version of Techstream software which I downloaded and installed. The Techstream software for miniVCI is free. I was reading how some antivirus programs stop the miniVCI program from installing/working. My notebook uses AVG antivirus software and it was ok.
More like gray market. They're (cable and driver) sold on Ebay and Amazon. Techstream software is older version offered as a download, possibly provided.
If the Chinese company was American then Techstream could sue this company for unauthorised use of the Techstream software. But this company is Chinese and they obviously have little respect for intellectual propierty rights. I also do not think that there is some sort of international agreement on intellectual propierty rights between the USA and China.
