986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post

BrokenLinkage · 10-08-2014, 08:26 PM

XL - looked at your link. Seller has good feedback, including the same item. Would guess it is a PIWIS 1 clone setup.
PST2 last update was version 24, long ago. Neither PIWIS1 nor PST2 will be updateable - the former because it would be an illegal system that will be frozen on any attempt to update, the latter because Porsche stopped updating it and orphaned the legal systems in the hopes of coercing more business to their dealers (or more revenue via leasing PIWIS).
But if you are dealing strictly with 986s, updating is not an issue. If you want to work on cars after 2005, you will need PIWIS instead of a PST2 and you may want update capability. If so, consider Durametric Pro instead ( realizing you will still be limited from coding keys and flashing DMEs with Durametric, but not much else.)
BTW you may still need programming codes from a dealer with online access to Porsche headquarters, to perform these operations, even with a functional PST2 / PIWIS.
I think the referenced kit on ebay is prob your best bet for now, though I have no experience with this particular setup. It looks like his offer includes the whole enchilada, would just need a monitor to view it. PIWIS seems to have a better user interface than PST2, I presume it has all the capabilities of PST2 and then some. It is almost certainly a pirated setup, and the seller lists his location as Germany but the item ships from Slovakia, so take that for what it is worth.
Porsche is not unique in violating the spirit but not the letter of the law regarding making it possible for independent mechanics to access any necessary tools or software to work on these cars. But their endrun around the law by leasing the diagnostic tools at an exorbitant rate, somehow gives me license to relax my usual moral rigidity about intellectual property and pirated software. Particularly when it relates to PST2, which is not available at any price, is in the corporate trash bin, and is useless on cars less than 9 yrs old.

10-08-2014, 08:26 PM	#7
BrokenLinkage Registered User Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Alabama Posts: 487	Arghh! Pirates.. XL - looked at your link. Seller has good feedback, including the same item. Would guess it is a PIWIS 1 clone setup. PST2 last update was version 24, long ago. Neither PIWIS1 nor PST2 will be updateable - the former because it would be an illegal system that will be frozen on any attempt to update, the latter because Porsche stopped updating it and orphaned the legal systems in the hopes of coercing more business to their dealers (or more revenue via leasing PIWIS). But if you are dealing strictly with 986s, updating is not an issue. If you want to work on cars after 2005, you will need PIWIS instead of a PST2 and you may want update capability. If so, consider Durametric Pro instead ( realizing you will still be limited from coding keys and flashing DMEs with Durametric, but not much else.) BTW you may still need programming codes from a dealer with online access to Porsche headquarters, to perform these operations, even with a functional PST2 / PIWIS. I think the referenced kit on ebay is prob your best bet for now, though I have no experience with this particular setup. It looks like his offer includes the whole enchilada, would just need a monitor to view it. PIWIS seems to have a better user interface than PST2, I presume it has all the capabilities of PST2 and then some. It is almost certainly a pirated setup, and the seller lists his location as Germany but the item ships from Slovakia, so take that for what it is worth. Porsche is not unique in violating the spirit but not the letter of the law regarding making it possible for independent mechanics to access any necessary tools or software to work on these cars. But their endrun around the law by leasing the diagnostic tools at an exorbitant rate, somehow gives me license to relax my usual moral rigidity about intellectual property and pirated software. Particularly when it relates to PST2, which is not available at any price, is in the corporate trash bin, and is useless on cars less than 9 yrs old.