Diagnostic equipment - what to buy?

[steveclv]

So I'm new to these Citroen C5 models and am interested in getting a diagnostic kit up and running but there are so many options it is very confusing and I want to 'buy once' and be cost effective rather than throwing £1000 at it

So this is for a 2009 C5 2.0 HDi Auto and so far I have come across Lexia 3, Diagbox (version 7 to 9) and PP2000 - which I believe is the software diagnostic platform. Then I have found ServiceBox+SEDRE which I think is the workshop manual for repair procedures.

Now these all run on a Windows laptop - but which one as I have found reference to everything from Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 10 and 32 bit or 64 bit and then something called Virtual Machine - do all laptops run this VM ok?

And then to confuse me even more, there is the VCI - again I have found various references from J2534, Full Chip Version, Clip or no Clip, some with "relays and optoisolators" and some without - some for around £40 and some over £250

Can anyone please help me build a system by advising what I need - maybe starting from the most cost effective VCI and working backwards?

Thanks!

[Kees]

Just buy one from AliExpress.
They've one full chips vci and software for windows 7, but also windows 10, without VM.
Greetings,
Kees.

[steveclv]

I would - but when you search it comes up with 35 different variants LOL
Send me a link to one that you know works if you can? Thanks!

[steveclv]

Not sure if we can put links here but would this one work OK? (sorry it's in French)
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005006749132652.html
Thanks again

[Kees]

No, you can see, that on the pcb with optocoupler there missing a few!!

[Kees]

https://a.aliexpress.com/_msJwYU2
Look at this one.

[steveclv]

Ordered
Thanks - now to search for a suitable laptop noting the BIOS changes so that it needs to be Intel I assume

[steveclv]

Has anyone ever run DiagBox on a Macbook Pro using Parallels?

[GiveMeABreak]

Either Boot Camp or Parallels may work, but no guarantee. I know some have had issues with VMs as you'd also need to install a 32 bit Windows OS on top of that. It will be a very messy installation and fraught with problems, as it can be a nightmare installing on Windows alone!

[ekjdm14]

Agree with Marc here, it's not the most straightforward thing to set up and get working on the best of days so I'd recommend picking up a cheap old laptop running Windows 7 32 bit (since IIRC that was the OS it was most stable on) and use it exclusively for diagnostic duties.

I picked up an old notebook with ideal specs for £15 some years ago, can't imagine Win7 machines have got any more popular since then so ought to be cheap-to-free now. Not sure if it's still relevant, but another good reason to have a dedicated machine is the fact that you need the wifi to be enabled but can't allow it to actually connect to the internet when you run the software else it disables itself. (the reason I bought the notepad, one moment of inattentiveness = hours wasted doing a system restore & reinstall!)

[steveclv]

Thanks - yes I'll have a look for a cheap laptop but I did find everything I needed including detailed instructions from the Peugeot forum - the files are all here
https://mega.nz/folder/FwMkSZJa#tzQszuFExpXxDYEb3Hy43Q

[cit-rotti]

Has anyone ever run DiagBox on a Macbook Pro using Parallels?

As far as I know, nobody has ever managed to do this as a native installation.

As a VM version, this is possible if Mac users have the corresponding notbook and use the appropriate vm-ware.
See link in the Danish forum:
https://citroenforum.dk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=3899

Greetings Wolfgang

[steveclv]

Thanks Wolfgang - that was a great resource and I now have it all installed on a Macbook Pro - just waiting now for the Lexia3 box to arrive to test but it can see the USBs so that's looking promising