How to make a data-base of the Adaptation settings in a Golf mk7

Table of Contents
Why should I create a database of adaptation settings? ............................................................ 2
How do I create the adaptation channel database? ................................................................... 2
1. Identify the address of each of the controllers. ............................................................... 2
2. Make sure that the car's battery is fully charged, ........................................................... 3
3. Connect the VCDS cable to the car & laptop, and start RT's software .............................. 3
4. Select Controller Channel Map ....................................................................................... 4
How do I use the control module maps once generated? ........................................................... 4

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Why should I create a database of adaptation settings?
VW relies on two principal mechanisms for storing data that determines the way that control
modules operate; adaptation channel settings and coding values. There is little if any
information in the public domain to describe VW's protocols when deciding which aspect of
the car will held in either mechanism, but the cars' designers appear to have made different
decision for each model Golf.

For instance, in the mk5 and mk6 Golf, the clear focus was on coding values and the Long-
Coding-Helper was a favoured tool for implementing VCDS tweaks. However, the mk7 Golf
has taken the opposite approach in that there is an emphasis on adaptation channels for
storing controller data in these vehicles. As an example, the 103TSI (RoW model) which
uses first generation control modules has a total of 3,201 different adaptation channels and
mk7 vehicles with 2nd generation controllers have many more channels.

So, Mk7 Golf vehicles rely heavily on adaptation channels to hold control module settings
hence this mode of data storage becomes more important for cable users who intend to
implement VCDS tweaks on these cars.

When cable users make changes to adaptation channels, the new value is written-over the
old setting - which is lost. A database of the channel descriptors linked to the original "stored
value" is invaluable in instances where tweaks fail and there is a need to roll-back the
adaptation channel setting to its old-value,. Such a database can be particularly useful if the
records contain the original values when the car was new (i.e. before any tweaks are
implemented).

A word of caution though, these databases should not be used as a substitute for accurate
record keeping - rather they should be viewed as an adjunct to the good practice of
separately recording each of the changes made in a VCDS tweak.

How do I create the adaptation channel database?

The short answer to this question is - by generating a control module map for the adaptation
channels for each controller in your car.

Control module maps are used by Ross Tech (RT) for updating and for generating new
Label files. Label files underpin the screens that open for individual controllers when users
make Coding/Adaptation channel changes.

You will find the Label file name on the top line (RHS) for each controller listed in the auto-
scan reports. For new vehicles, the auto-scan will sometimes report "None" next to the Label
file name. In these instances, Ross Tech urge cable users to email back a copy of the
control module map (which the user generates). This enables RT to create new Label files.

So, whilst the primary purpose of control module maps is to keep RT's software up-to-date,
these maps also have a secondary use for cable users as the source-of-record for the data
in their car's controllers.

The process for creating a database for adaptation channels in your car is as follows:

1. Identify the address of each of the controllers. This information is contained in the
early part of the auto-scan report as shown in the picture below. The details in the
picture list the controllers for a Golf Mk7 103TSI (with no additional options fitted).
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 As can be seen, there are 14 different controllers in this vehicle, so a complete
database for this car will require 14 x module control maps.
Make a copy of the (hexadecimal) address for each controller and have it available
for use in the subsequent steps

2. Make sure that the car's battery is fully charged, or that the car is running, or that a
battery charger is connected for the subsequent steps
3. Connect the VCDS cable to the car & laptop, and start RT's software. Then select
Applications from the first screen

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 4. Select Controller Channel Map in the screen below

5. In the dialogue box that opens-up (as shown in the picture below), enter the address
of the first controller (from step 1) into the Controller Address box. Place a tick in
the Adaptations box and select the CSV file radio button (leave the Login or
Security access code box blank). Then press the Go button.

When the Go button is activated, the software interrogates each of the adaptation
channels in the controller that you selected. If only a few channels have been
populated in the controller, the software returns to the screen below quite rapidly.
However, where there are many channels, the process of interrogation can be
lengthy. As an example, the control map for the BMC (address 09) in the 103TSI has
over 1,700 adaptation channels. So, have patience and don't abort the process once
it's started - just wait to the end.

6. Repeat step 5 above for the remaining control module addresses (from step 1)

How do I use the control module maps once generated?

After you have completed the process above for the entire suite of controllers as listed in the
auto-scan report, the software will have placed a CSV (comma-separated-values) file for
each controller in the directory - Ross-Tech\VCDS (or VCDS-Beat)\logs. This is the same
directory where you find the auto-scan reports. I have included below a picture of the
location of these files (enclosed in the red box). As shown, the folder contains the maps for
each of the 14 controllers in the auto-scan report in step 1 above. Note the naming

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convention which starts with "admap", then the controller address, then the part number of
the controller- with a CSV file extension.

To illustrate the data that is recorded in these maps, I have enclosed below the contents of
the first admap in the series; i.e. admap-01-04E-906-016-G.CSV. This is the map for the
"Engine" controller.

As can be seen, this controller has a total of 6 x adaptation channels with the first channel
name being "Activation of interior wall auxil. heating" and the stored value for this channel is
"active". Note that the stored value and the channel descriptor is separated by a comma -
hence the CSV nomenclature for the file. When a VCDS tweak is implemented that makes a
change to an adaptation channel, the previous stored value will be overwritten by the new
value. The previous stored value is lost, so the default information in these maps become a
valuable tool if you need to roll-back a setting to the old value - i.e. in case of an error.

These maps can be used in their raw form (i.e. as a simple text file), or the data can be
imported into other applications such as MS-Excel, or MS-Access. Being CSV based files,
the data can be readily "parsed" into these applications ("parsing" is the process of breaking-
up the data block into smaller chunks by following a set of rules).

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I use MS-Excel to hold all the control map information because I can put each adaptation
map into a separate worksheet and because the "find" facility in Excel enables me to easily
locate a particular adaptation channel -when needed. Plus I can place a notation beside
each adaptation channel when changes are made (as a record of the tweak change)

The Adpmap data can be "parsed" into MS-Excel using the following process (note: these
instructions pertain to Excel 2007, but later versions have a similar arrangement):

1. Create a worksheet for each of the controllers in your car

2. Copy and paste the raw information from the CSV file for a controller into a
worksheet
3. Select and highlight all of the data that has the comma separated values (make sure
that you select only one column, even-though the data may look like its spread over
multiple columns)
4. With the data selected (remember, only one column), click the "Data" tab that sits
above the header ribbon
5. Select "Text-to-Columns" from the header ribbon
6. On the dialogue box that opens, make sure the "Delimited" radio button is selected
and press "next"
7. On the next dialogue box, place a tick in the "Comma" box and remove any other
ticks in the "Delimiters" list. Press "next"
8. On the next dialogue box, make sure that "general" radio button is selected in the
"Column data format" list and press "finish"
9. Re-size the width for the adaptation channel column and the stored value column.
10. Repeat steps 2-9 for each of the remaining adpmap files-using separate worksheets

A simple illustration of the output from the "parsing" process, is in the picture below which
shows the Excel worksheet for the 01-Engine map (i.e. the data from the text file above).

An example of the complete database for the 103TSI case that I have used throughout this
document can be found on the following link:

https://docs.zoho.com/file/mb9ur5c9605f28acd48e881ce9f28676807de

DV52 (Sept 2014)

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