Diagnostic VDI, VNCI, MDI with MG4

[jamakr4]

In addition to @DonBattino452 this was the before condition of the car he is talking about

 

[DonBattino452]

The tricky thing about the calibration routines is that there’s no obvious indication that they’re actually required.


You can accidentally flash as a replacement, and you’ll still end up with green checkmarks . However, before SIPS proceeds to the “Fast Learn” routines, you can abort the process — and that will cause problems later on. In that case, the process is incomplete, even though everything shows .


And then you end up wondering why warning messages appear on the dashboard or why certain functions don’t work properly.

 

[Pisuke]

I’ve attached a few pictures of the process.

Overall, it wasn’t difficult — you just had to know exactly what you were doing. For me and my friend, it was the first time flashing control units as a replacement.

And I’ll stick with this conclusion: this experience confirmed it for me — the MG4 is a “good” car. It’s quite robust and even forgives serious mistakes that can happen during improper flashing.

In general, regarding flashing as a replacement: this is absolutely NOT required under normal circumstances. This function is only intended for cases where a control unit has been physically replaced — for example due to a hardware failure or as part of repairs after an accident.

Some users here have reported that they had to use this method because normal reprogramming didn’t work for them, for whatever reason. But why was that? Because their flash setup had flaws — different kinds of flaws. Sometimes the laptop wasn’t configured correctly, sometimes people hadn’t properly familiarized themselves with SIPS. In other cases, the 12V charger was set up incorrectly: even though it was capable of delivering 5 amps, it was accidentally set to 1 amp, and the voltage dropped critically during flashing. The list of possible mistakes is long… far too long. And in every case, the issue was user error — not SIPS itself.

By now, I’ve accompanied several update processes across different setups — Standard and Luxury, MY22 and MY23. Personally, I don’t believe that a fully functional control unit would suddenly fail out of nowhere. If the setup is done correctly, you can fully update your car via standard reprogramming, and there’s no need for follow-up calibration routines with an “uncertain” success rate.

Fortunately, I have a contact within my family who works with Maxus, which is also part of the SAIC group. He confirmed my assumptions and emphasized how important it is to be thorough: this is not something you do “quickly on the side.” Installing and running SIPS on a regular consumer laptop — while also using it for things like Netflix, online banking, or other software — is absolutely not recommended. Unexpected interactions with other programs can occur. There’s a reason why workshop laptops are set up in a very specific way and are dedicated exclusively to this purpose.

I wish everyone who follows success with their updates, the necessary level of care during the process, and, afterwards, plenty of enjoyment driving their MG4s .

Congratulations on resolving the scare successfully!
When you mentioned TeamViewer, I was thinking of helping a colleague remotely using AnyDesk "remote desktop," but I'm not sure how that would work with an internet connection.

 

[Mouss]

So… now it finally happened to me as well — or rather, to a friend of mine: we had to perform calibration routines.

What happened? During the first attempt to flash with SIPS, the laptop shut down in the middle of the FVCM update because the power supply wasn’t properly connected. That was a scary moment! Especially with such an important control unit and an interruption right in the middle of the flashing process.

The result? He had four permanent yellow warning icons on the dashboard: the coffee cup, lane assist, emergency braking, cruise control, and the yellow exclamation mark . Even disconnecting the 12V battery for 24 hours didn’t fix anything.

Since we live about 250 km apart, we had to improvise and decided to use TeamViewer .

This time, we were extremely meticulous — the flash setup had to be flawless. Setting up the laptop with SIPS and VDS took almost 90 minutes. All potential sources of interference were systematically eliminated. A few keywords (even if it sounds repetitive): antivirus and firewall completely disabled via Windows Group Policy, high-performance mode enabled, all power-saving features disabled (USB selective suspend, disk sleep, PCIe power management, HDD/SSD timeout), CPU set to 100% performance. All of this can be found in the advanced power settings. No personal laptop should be configured like this normally, as it would consume too much power for everyday use.

First, we checked with VDS whether communication with all control units was working — it was, everything showed “Communication OK.”

Then we switched to SIPS. For the affected control units, the “ECU information” showed “--”, “FFFFFFFFFFFF”, and “00000000000,” as expected. When attempting a reprogramming, SIPS (version 1.0.27, available on servicenow.smil.com) threw a communication error.

However, when starting a flash process as a replacement, it went through. We only had to request a verification code via servicenow.smil.com (very easy — you just need the VIN and the short name of the control unit you want to update).

At first, everything proceeded like a normal update. We ended up with green checkmarks and proper version numbers for OS, config, etc. But SIPS then indicated that a routine was required. A pop-up at the beginning clearly explained how to proceed with the FVCM.

We decided that my friend would proceed as follows: the VNCI adapter remained plugged into the OBD port and connected to the SIPS laptop via USB. The laptop was connected to the internet via LAN in the carport, but this connection was disconnected for the calibration drive. The laptop was then placed on the passenger seat — still connected and running SIPS.

Initially, we planned that I would stay connected via TeamViewer during the calibration drive using my friend’s smartphone hotspot. Unfortunately, that didn’t work: SIPS kept throwing an “Unknown Error 32,” and the progress bar wouldn’t move.

By pure chance, we discovered that the SIPS laptop must remain connected during the calibration drive — but WITHOUT any internet connection.

And then it finally worked ! He started the calibration routine, followed the instructions, and both on the dashboard and in SIPS the progress indicators started to move. Messages like “Calibration Successful” and “Calibration OK” appeared everywhere. In the end, he parked the vehicle, locked it, and waited 60 seconds before getting back in and driving home.

To be on the safe side, we also performed the FDR routine. In the end, all yellow warning icons were gone and EVERYTHING worked properly again!

Man… that was a tough one — as we would say in Germany. We started at 14:30 and finished around 19:30.

The same here :

Post in thread 'Diagnostic VDI, VNCI, MDI with MG4'

Feb 16, 2025

updating my BCM and the car dims mid way through and then the reprogram stops. Car doesn’t start up now?? Did I just brick my car?

Hey
Same thing happened to me friday night (9 PM) while updating GW module.


After that, car was stuck in diag mode, and we couldn't do anything. I disconnected the 12V battery but nothing happened.
I relaunched SIPS and it took a while to display something. Before showing modules, the screen with "Key Module VIN Information" only shows VIN in GW. BCM and SDM where blank.
So I waited and after a moment, I disconnect the VNCI and I only saw...

• Mouss

• 
• 

 

[DonBattino452]

@Pisuke You can use AnyDesk of course, too. If you know exactly what to do you can instruct your mate on "the other side". You are in charge of mouse und keyboard input then.

Just updating? Do you need assistance with fast learn routines?

 

[Pisuke]

@Pisuke You can use AnyDesk of course, too. If you know exactly what to do you can instruct your mate on "the other side". You are in charge of mouse und keyboard input then.

Just updating? Do you need assistance with fast learn routines?

For now, it's just an update, mainly as support since it will be the first time he sees the interface.
It'll just be a matter of seeing what it asks for, although it's a difficult task since it's the 24 model and the infamous .51 is still up in the air.

 

[DonBattino452]

@Pisuke MY24: You mean the files from the large file download tool? These are for FICM MPU software updates and TBox updates.

If you just want to update all other control units, it's the same like on MY22/23. You have to use latest SIPS with verification codes now, that's the important matter to know at the moment.

 

[osis]

I have installed VDS3 and using yellow VNCI device. It is recognized and looks good in VCI Manager app. But VDS3 app does not launch. It says loading then crashes. Nothing more. I am using x64 windows 11. Tried to launch as administrator. No change. Any suggestion?

 

[jamakr4]

I have installed VDS3 and using yellow VNCI device. It is recognized and looks good in VCI Manager app. But VDS3 app does not launch. It says loading then crashes. Nothing more. I am using x64 windows 11. Tried to launch as administrator. No change. Any suggestion?

What CPU do you have (arm or x86)?

 

[osis]

It is not ARM. System info:

Device name ASUS
Processor AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 w/ Radeon 890M (2.00 GHz)
Installed RAM 32,0 GB (31,1 GB usable)
Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (8 GB)
AMD Radeon(TM) 890M Graphics (476 MB)
Storage 5,15 TB of 7,28 TB used
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

 

[jamakr4]

It is not ARM. System info:

Device name ASUS
Processor AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 w/ Radeon 890M (2.00 GHz)
Installed RAM 32,0 GB (31,1 GB usable)
Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (8 GB)
AMD Radeon(TM) 890M Graphics (476 MB)
Storage 5,15 TB of 7,28 TB used
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Ok should be fine - what does the error say?

 

[osis]

No errors. Just shuts down. I check task manager vds.exe launches then dissapears from the task manager list. No errors. I am not sure if there is log file.

 

[jamakr4]

No errors. Just shuts down. I check task manager vds.exe launches then dissapears from the task manager list. No errors. I am not sure if there is log file.

The Pc shuts down? Just wait, it takes like 5-10 minutes on my pc to start. During start nothing happens as well

 

[osis]

The Pc shuts down? Just wait, it takes like 5-10 minutes on my pc to start. During start nothing happens as well

I know it takes some time to launch but after waiting enough nothing happens. Pc doesn't shut down. I have installed hotfixes. Do I need to connect car? I just connected vnci device via usb but there is no active obd connection now.

 

[jamakr4]

I know it takes some time to launch but after waiting enough nothing happens. Pc doesn't shut down. I have installed hotfixes. Do I need to connect car? I just connected vnci device via usb but there is no active obd connection now.

I was able to start it without the VNCI Adapter connected

 

[Mouss]

I know it takes some time to launch but after waiting enough nothing happens. Pc doesn't shut down. I have installed hotfixes. Do I need to connect car? I just connected vnci device via usb but there is no active obd connection now.

You need to be connected to the car to read the VIN
Try to connect the car first, and use VCI manager then VDS. If you don't know how to use it or be not sure what you doing, it's better to stop, read the previous pages (all of them) and try again. Your car won't be nice and smooth if you do something wrong